"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,

And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"

"Oh, no, no," said the little fly, "for I've often heard it said,

They never, never, wake again who sleep upon your bed!"

Said the cunning spider to the fly: "Dear friend, what can I do

To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?

I have within my pantry good store of all that's

Oh, no, no," said the little fly, "kind sir, that cannot be;

I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see."

"Sweet creature," said the spider, "you're witty and you're wise;

How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!

I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf; If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.”

"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say,

And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."

The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,

For well he knew the silly fly would soon come back again;

So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the fly.

Then he came out to his door again, and merrily he sings:

"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wings;

Your robes are green and purple; there's a crest upon your head;

Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas! alas! how very soon this silly little fly, Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by.

With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and

nearer drew,

Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and her green

and purple hue, —

Thinking only of her crested head,

thing! At last

-poor foolish

Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast.

He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,

Within his little parlor — but she ne'er came out again!

And now, dear little children, who may this story read, To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed.

Unto an evil counselor close heart and ear and eye, And take a lesson from this tale of the spider and the fly.

EXPRESSION: In this story the spider and the fly are supposed to talk to each other. What is such a story called? Name some other fables that you have read.

Choose parts; let one read what the spider says and another repeat the answers made by the fly.

WORD STUDY: Spell and pronounce: parlor, curtains, affection, gauzy, brilliant, subtle (pronounced sut'l), di'a mond, wil'y, coun'se lor.

Make a list of words ending in ing; in or; in Pronounce each word distinctly many times.

1

AFTER BLENHEIM

It was a summer evening,

Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun,

And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.

She saw her brother Peterkin

Roll something large and round,
Which he beside the rivulet

In playing there had found,

He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large and smooth and round.

Old Kaspar took it from the boy,

Who stood expectant by;

And then the old man shook his head,

And with a natural sigh,

""Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he, "Who fell in the great victory.

"I find them in the garden,

For there's many hereabout;

And often, when I go to plow,

The plowshare turns them out!

1By Robert Southey, a famous English poet (1774–1843).

For many thousand men," said he,
"Were slain in that great victory."

"Now tell us what 'twas all about,"
Young Peterkin he cries;
While little Wilhelmine looks up
With wonder-waiting eyes;

"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they killed each other for."

"It was the English," Kaspar cried,
"Who put the French to rout;
But what they killed each other for
I could not well make out.
But everybody said," quoth he,
"That 'twas a famous victory.

"My father lived at Blenheim then,
Yon little stream hard by;

They burnt his dwelling to the ground, And he was forced to fly;

So with his wife and child he fled,

Nor had he where to rest his head.

"With fire and sword the country round

Was wasted far and wide,

And many a childing mother then

And new-born baby died:

FIFTH READER 6