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THE SHEPHERD BOY AND THE WOLF

THERE was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get

a little company and some fun. He rushed down toward the village, calling out "Wolf! Wolf!" and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stayed with him for a time. This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterward he 5 tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help. But shortly after this a Wolf really did come out from the forest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course cried out "Wolf! Wolf!" still louder than before. But this time 10 the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody went to his help. So the Wolf made a good meal of the boy's flock, and when the boy complained, the wise man of the village said:— "A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth."

- Esop's Fables.

shep'herd, one who takes care of sheep; villagers, those who live in a small town; deceiv'ing.

Copy these sentences and fill the blanks with one of the following words: dark, forest, lonely, flock.

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Everything can something do;
But what kind of use are you?"

"Nay, my little master, nay,
Do not serve me so, I pray!
Don't you see the wool that grows
On my back to make your clothes?
Cold, ah, very cold you'd be,
If you had not wool from me.

"True, it seems a pleasant thing
Nipping daisies in the spring;
But what chilly nights I pass
On the cold and dewy grass,
Or pick my scanty dinner where
All the ground is brown and bare!

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Then the farmer comes at last,
When the merry spring is past,
Cuts my woolly fleece away,
For your coat in wintry day.
Little master, this is why
In the pleasant fields I lie."

- ANN TAYLOR.

Who says the first stanza? Who says the other three? Where does the sheep sleep at night? Who takes care of him? Is his life always happy? Why?

LONG ago in England there was a little boy named Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very young.

He knew nothing about them, and he was left, a 5 poor little ragged, dirty fellow, to run about the streets of a small country village.

For

As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was in a sad state; he got but little for his dinner, and often had nothing at all for his supper. 10 all the people in the village were very poor. They could seldom spare Dick so much as a crust of bread.