STORY OF KING ATHELSTANE. "Once I was reading a very old book, and I found something in it about this Athelstane that I will tell you. A king of the Danes, and three other kings, who all lived in very cold poor countries, agreed that they would come to England, and take part of it for themselves. So they got a great many soldiers to come with them in ships; and then landed, and began to take a part of the country. But Athelstane soon heard of their coming, and went to meet these kings at a place called Brunanburgh, and fought with them, and conquered them, and took some of them pri soners. "One of the prisoners was called Egill, and he told the man who wrote the oid book I mentioned to you, that King Athelstane behaved very kindly to all the people after the battle, and would not let even the enemies that were beaten be killed, or vexed in any manner; and that he invited him and some of the other prisoners to supper, at a large house which he had near the place where the battle was fought. "When they went to supper, they found that the house was very long and very broad, but not high, for it had no rooms up stairs, and there was no fire anywhere but in the kitchen and the great hall. "In the other rooms they had no carpets, but the floors were strewed over with rushes, and there were only wooden benches and high stools to sit upon. "The supper was in the great hall. I do not know what they had to eat, but after supper the king asked the company to go and sit round the fire, and drink ale and mead. Now, they had no fire-place, like ours, at the side of the hall; but there was a great stone hearth in the very middle of the floor, and a large fire was made on it, of logs of wood, bigger than one man could lift, and there was no chimney, but the smoke went out at a hole in the roof of the hall. "When the company came to the fire, King Athelstane made King Egill sit on a high stool face to face with him, and King Athelstane had a very long and broad sword, and he laid it across his knees, that if any of the company behaved ill, he might punish them. And they all drank a great deal of ale, and while they drank there were several harpers, called minstrels, singing to them about the great battles they had fought, and the great men who were dead; and the kings sang in their turn, and so they passed the evening very pleasantly. "The next morning, when Egill and his friends expected to be sent to prison, King Athelstane went to them, and told them he liked such brave and clever men as they were, and that if they would promise not to come to England to plague the people any more, they might go home. They promised they would not come any more, and then Athelstane let them go home, and gre them some handsome presents." EDMUND. When Athelstane died, there was another king called EDMUND. This king, when he had reigned nearly six years, was stabbed by a wicked robber called Leolf, in the year 946. SUMMER-WOODS. COME ye into the summer-woods; All greenly wave the chestnut leaves, I cannot tell you half the sights The bursts of golden sunshine, There, lightly swung, in bowery glades, The honeysuckles twine; There blooms the rose-red campion, And the dark-blue columbine. There grows the four-leaved plant "true-love," There grows the enchanter's night-shade, The blue-winged jay, the wood-pecker, Come down, and ye shall see them all, For their sweet life of pleasantness, I've seen the freakish squirrels drop And far within that summer-wood, There come the little gentle birds, Down to the murmuring wator's elge, And freely drink their fill! And dash about and splash about, The merry little things; And look askance with bright black eyes, And flirt their dripping wings. The nodding plants they bowed their heads, They spake unto those little things, "Tis merry living here!" Oh, how my heart ran o'er with joy! And how we might glean up delight MARY HOWIIT. COCOA. M. We alked last week about the Coffee. Ada. And to-day, mamma, you are to tell us about papa's Cocoa. Why does he not drink coffee, as you do? M. Because he is under Homœopathic treatment. W. Pray what is that, mamma ? is it good treatment? M. Well, never mind now. You had better ask papa. Tell me what Cocoa is. Ion. I have read, mamma, that it is the seed of a tree, but I don't know where it grows. M. You know where South America is. You had better fetch the map, I think, then we shall see its place more clearly. If you were to go there, particularly in those parts which belong to the Spaniards, you would see some large cocoa plantations. Ada. What are "plantations," L. Coffee grows in plantations, mamma- they plant the coffeetrees. The sugar-canes and teatrees, too, are planted. W. Corn is not grown in plantations, but in the fields. Ion. Apples and other fruits are grown in orchards; but, the vegetables we have for dinner, most of those are grown in gardens, kitchen-gardens, by the market-gardener-so that Vegetables and flowers grow in gardens. Most fruits grow in orchards. Coffee, tea, sugar, and cocoa, grow in plantations. M. Cocoa plantations are found not only in South America, but in the West Indies. In one of the West India islands, called GRENADA, the plantations are pleasantly situated amongst the mountains. Thus, there is always cool shade for the Negroes to work in. The trees, which are twenty feet high, about four times as tall as papa, are arranged in rows, forming what are called "cocoa walks." When the young leaves come out they are of a pale red colour, and as they get older they become green. Then you will see numbers of small flowers springing from the thick branches of the treesthey are of a light red colour, mixed with yellow. When the flowers have dropped off, they are followed by small pods of an oval shape, like an egg. These pods, when they have grown to their full size, and are green, are very nice. They contain the unripe seeds, and a beautiful white pulp, which is sweet and cooling to the taste. Very often the poor blackamoor travellers, when they feel hot and weary, stop to pick a few pods, and refresh themselves by eating their pulp. So excellent and good is this pulp, that the great botanist, Linnæus, gave to the cocoa - tree a name which means "food for a god." These trees were so valuable at one time, that in a West India island called Trinidad, when people were so foolish and wicked as to keep slaves, there was a law, that if a slave planted one thousand cocoa-trees, and could make them all bear fruit, he could claim his liberty from his master or his manumission, as it was called. you would like to examine one, and give me its description?* L. I should, mamma, if I may. I notice, 1st, That it is of a long oval shape. 2ndly, It has a rich deep brown colour. 3rdly-thirdly W. I'll give you a "thirdly"feel it!-it feels rather oily and greasy. Ion. Just try and break it, Lucy, and see if it is brittle. L. It does break easily, but not with very sharp edges, like a brittle substance. Ion. Yet it is not friable, because it does not crumble. L. These pieces are not crumbs, certainly. No, the proper word to use is "crisp"-it is crisp. W. Let me taste it, Lucy, please. Well, I should call such a taste peculiar. It has On opening one of these pods, you would see three rows of long seeds, lying parallel to each other, and close together-as closely as not a saline flavour, peas are packed in their pods. not a bitter flavour, You may remember the history of not a sour flavour, coffee, and the way in which the not a sweet flavour. Its taste Negroes prepare it. They have is oily, rather bitter, rather sweet, almost the same plan in preparing and it has an aromatic flavourthe cocoa. The pods are dried in all four flavours mixed together. the sun, or in hot clay, until the We had better say that it has a husks are crisp, and can easily be rich taste. broken off. If the seeds, which are called "nibs," are to be made into cocoa, they are ground into a powder; but, if they are to be made into chocolate, they are formed into a thick paste. L. Where is the cocoa sent to, mamma? M. Some is exported to England; some to France. The French make many different drinks from it; but the largest quantity is consumed in Spain. The Spaniards have always been famous for eating as well as drinking chocolate. I have brought you, from the grocer's, two or three of the seeds, or rather the cocoa nibs. Which of Ion. And it has a smell-so it is odorous. Then we will say that it is of a long oval shape, reddish Brown colour, oily, crisp, odorous, and with a rich taste. Now let us make the lesson. Lesson 9. Cocoa. (1.) Cocoa nibs are the seed of a tree growing in SOUTH AMERICA and the WEST INDIES, where the It would be well for the children who read Pleasant Pages to be supform the subjects of the lessons, in plied with the different objects which order that they themselves may exercise their observation. Every child should form a collection, and keep an "object box." sugar and coffee grow. They are of a long, oval shape, reddish brown colour, oily, crisp, odorous, and with a rich taste. (2.) The trees are cultivated in plantations, where they form long rows called cocoa walks. The pods which contain the seeds are nearly of an oval shape. When they are green, they contain not only the unripe seeds, but a pup which is so sweet and refreshing that it is of great service to travellers, and has been called "the food for a God." These seed pods, when ripe, are picked, prepared almost in the same way as the coffee-berries, and exported to other countries. A GARLAND OF SPRING FLOWERS. A GARLAND! a garland! Of blossoms fresh and fair; A garland a garland! We twine for Spring to wear. The snowdrop! the snowdrop! It shows its little bell, The crocus! the crocus! Comes peeping up again. So charming to the sight, We scarce can find its fellow, For colours pure and bright. The daisy! the daisy! Spread wide o'er hill and dale; The daisy! the daisy! No season knows to fail. The violet! the violet! Of March's angry blast. The primrose! the primrose! Beneath the ancient trees; Seeks shelter from the breeze. Its carly flow'rets peep. With leaves so fresh and green! The cowslip! the cowslip! With speckled bells is seen. Its bold and hardy flowers Shoot up among the grass; Nor fear the driving showers, That o'er the meadows pass. A garland! a garland! Of blossoms rich and fair; A garland a garland! We'll bind for Spring to wear. With butter cups entwining, The blue-bells shall be there, With hawthorn's bloom combining, And lilies white and fair." TRAINING-SCHOOL SONG-BOOK. |