Body (continued)

NARRATIVE COMPOSITION.

Ridicule of other servants.
Ship anchored in a foreign port.
Captain invited to dinner by King.

King and guests annoyed at table by rats.
Captain brings Dick's cat.

Destruction of rats.

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Cat sold for rare jewels and a fabulous sum of

money.

Ship returns home.

Servants called to receive their money.

Master tells Dick of his fortune.

Dick's astonishment and joy.

Conclusion: Rich and generous Sir Richard Whittington becomes Lord Mayor of London three times.

LESSON 8.

THE LAZY FARM-BOY.

Lazy in spring-time, before the leaves are green,
Lazy in summer-time, beneath their leafy screen,
Sure a lazier farm-boy never yet was seen!

His cheeks are round as apples, and browned by sun and breeze,
He bears a pair of patches upon his sturdy knees,

And wears the pleasant countenance of one who loves to please.

The weeds are growing fast, and the master takes his hoe,
And bids his farm-boy follow him, whether he will or no;
He follows, as a farm-boy should, but he follows very slow.
His master leads him to the field, and shows him all his task,
And leaves him when in sunbeams the earth begins to bask,
Just as the boy would like "How long ere dinner-time?" to ask.

After awhile he thinks he hears an early apple fall,
Now surely from the little wood he hears a phoebe call!
So he halts among the pumpkins beside the pasture-wall.

For half an hour he gazes to find the apple-tree,
And listens for the phoebe, but is not sure 't is she,

Then he takes his hoe and marvels so many weeds should be.

And now the face of heaven wears not a single cloud,
The lazy boy above his hoe is for a brief space bowed,
But soon, despondent, he stops short before a weedy crowd.

"I think," he says, ("I am so tired!)—it must be nigh to noon;
I'll listen for the mid-day bell; it should be ringing soon."
He lies down in the shade to hear, and whistles a slow tune.

There is no sound, the breezes die, he soon falls fast asleep;
The weeds do not stop growing-thus will our labors keep.
He wears a smile, for in his dream he hears a squirrel cheep.

Roused by the clanging bell of noon, he wakes with startled moan;
"I wonder how it is," he says, "so many weeds were sown!"
"Because,” I answer, "smart farm-boys are not like clover grown."

-St. Nicholas.

With the following helps make an outline for writing a narrative from the foregoing poem:

From stanza one make one point for the introduction. Select the main thought in stanza two for the first point in the body of your story.

Make three points of the three things told in stanza three. From the remaining stanzas make points of the different things that the boy does.

Draw your own conclusion.

Write a story from the outline that you have made.

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUBJECTS FOR NARRATIVE COMPOSITIONS.

"St. Nicholas," both prose and

poetry.

"Wide Awake."

Children's Reading Books.

Children's stories and poems of

standard authors. Stories of Animals.

Stories of Plants.

IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION.

LESSON 9.

IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS.

BUTTERFLIES.

The bees were too busy making honey,
The birds were too busy building nests,
To carry one morning a message grave,
To Elfland, for one of the fairy guests:
(For this was before the butterflies
Had ever been thought of under the skies.)
Then the vexed fairy, who wished to send
The message, leaned from a lily-bell,
And in her tiny, silvery voice,

She scolded poor old Dame Nature well:
"Find us," said she, "a messenger light,
Or else we fairies troop home this night."
Dame Nature, who sat on a high green knoll,
Spinning away in the golden light,
Pushed her spectacles back on her brow,

And thought for a moment with all her might;

"I must do something, for well I know

The flowers will pine if the fairies go!"

Then some pansies she picked and gave them wings,

A velvet poppy petal or two,

Streaked them with gold and set them afloat,

And they sailed away in the breezy blue.

And this is the way that Dame Nature wise,

Fashioned the first of the butterflies.

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Tell in prose what the writer of the preceding poem has said. Introduction . . Birds, bees, message.

Why fairy could not send message.

The fairy's anger.

What the fairy told Dame Nature.

Body.

Where she was.

Dame Nature.

Her appearance.

What she thought.

What Dame Nature did.

Conclusion: From last two lines of poem.

LESSON 10.

Read the following story, then write it from memory in your own words:

NARCISSUS.

One day a youth named Narcissus, who had been hunting in the forest, lost sight of his companions, and while looking for them, chanced to see a fountain flashing beneath a stray sunbeam.

He drew near, and as he knelt upon the mossy bank, he saw his own image, as in a glass. He thought it some lovely water-sprite that lived within the fountain.

"You are the most beautiful being my eyes ever looked upon," said he, "you shall have all that is mine and I will forever be your faithful friend, if you will only come with

me."

The image only smiled and poor Narcissus, in the hope of winning so beautiful a companion, hung over the brink of the fountain forgetting his food and rest, but not losing sight for an instant of the lovely face.

Day after day and night after night he stayed there, gazing and grieving. He grew thin and pale and weak, until, worn out with disappointment, he pined away and died.

When his friends found poor dead Narcissus, they were filled with sorrow, and they went about sadly to prepare a funeral pile. But, most wonderful to tell! when they returned to bear away the body, it could nowhere be found, and before their astonished eyes a little flower rose from the water's edge, just where their friend had died.

They named the flower in memory of him, and it has been called Narcissus unto this very day.-St. Nicholas.

LESSON 11.

A VISIT TO SANTA CLAUS.

Study the following outline, then write the story:

IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITION.

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Introduction .

Body.

Thinking of Santa Claus and wondering what he would bring.

Sudden appearance of a chubby little messenger.

An invitation to the realm of Santa Claus.

Queer little sleigh drawn by twelve tiny reindeer.
Our trip through the air.

Things that we saw.

Everything covered with ice and snow, but no feeling of cold.

Arrival at the Palace of Santa Claus.

Its size and appearance.

Welcome of Santa Claus.

What was seen.

Length of visit.

Heigh-ho! What frolics we might see,
If it only had happened to you and me,
To be born in some beautiful far-off clime,
In the country of Somewhere, once-on-a-time!

Why, once-on-a-time there were mountains of gold,
And cans full of jewels, and treasures untold;
There were birds just waiting to fly before,
And show you the way to the magical door.

And, under a tree, there was sure to be
A queer little woman to give you the key;
And a tiny, dancing, good-natured elf,
To say, with his scepter: "Help yourself!"
For millions of dollars grew from a dime,
In the country of Somewhere, once-on-a-time.

If we lived in the country of Somewhere, you
Could do whatever you chose to do.

Instead of a boy, with a garden to weed,
You might be a knight, with a sword and steed.
Instead of a girl, with towel to hem,