"Don't make so much noise, children! You make so much noise, nobody can hear himself talk." 5. One day Emma's mother was away. But all the little girls were there together. And such a time as they had! The noise got to be so great at last that the parrot could stand it no longer, and from his cage he shrieked out in a loud voice, "Don't make so much noise, children! You make so much noise, nobody can hear himself talk!" 6. Then all the little girls laughed. And Emma said, "Polly knows more than we do. We ought to behave better. We make too much noise. Let us play nicer." So they were more quiet. 7. When Polly saw the little girls playing so nicely, he said to them in his sweetest way, "Now, that's what I like to see! That's the way children ought to play!" And that was just what the mother always said to them when she was at home. 8. Parrots are not the only birds that can talk. The starling, the magpie, the raven, and the mino bird can be taught to speak. Even canary birds have been taught to talk a little. The blue-jay, too, is a pretty good talker. 1. AN old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked sixpence. "What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I will go to market, and buy a little pig." As she was coming home again, she came to a stile; the pig would not go over the stile. 2. She went a little farther, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog, " Dog! dog! bite pig. Pig won't go over the stile, and I sha'n't get home to-night." But the dog would not. 66 3. She went a little farther, and she came to a stick. So she said, Stick! stick! beat dog. But the stick would not, 4. She went a little farther, and she came to a fire. stick." 66 So she said, Fire! fire! burn But the fire would not. She went a little farther, and she came to some water. So she said, "Water! water! quench fire." But the water would not, 5. Then she asked an ox to drink the water, and a butcher to kill the ox, and a rope to hang the butcher, and a rat to gnaw But not one of them would do the rope. what she wanted. 6. Then she went a little farther, and she met a cat. So she said, "Cat! cat! kill rat." And the cat said to her, " If you will go to that cow and bring me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat." So away went the old woman to the cow. 7. And the cow said to her, “If you will go to the haystack, and bring me a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk." So away went the old woman to the haystack, and she brought the hay to the cow. 8. As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; and away she went with it in a saucer to the cat. 9. As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little pig in a fright jumped over the stile; and so the old woman got home that night. bloom XLI. SUMMER. mer'ri ly morn wher e'er' 1. ALL the birds are here again, 2. Now the sun is shining bright, So sing merrily, merrily O. 000 |