2

from his courtiers. Some of his flatterers, breaking out one day in admiration of his grandeur, exclaimed that every thing was possible [for] him: upon which the monarch, it is said, ordered his chair to be set on the sea-shore, while the tide was rising, aud as the waters approached, 2he commanded them to retire and to obey the voice of him' who was lord of the ocean.

5

He feigned to sit some time in expectation of their submission. But when the sea still advanced towards him, and began to wash him with its billows, he turned9 towards his courtiers, and remarked to them that every creature in the universe was 10 feeble and impotent, and that power 11 resided with 12 one Being alone, in whose hands were all [the] elements of nature; who could say to the ocean, thus far shalt thou go and no farther; and who could level with his nod the most towering piles. of human pride and ambition.

Hume.

2) every thing, Alles. 3) Subj. 4) Hierauf soll der König befohlen haben, daß man ... stelle. 5) Put the dative. 6) Observe that to retire is in German a reflective verb with sich. 7) deffen, der; Correlative pronoun (see Gram. Less. 24, VI, § 2). 8) als ob er ... säße. 9) refl. verb, wandte er sich 10) Subj. 11) Use the article. 12) in or bei.

4

19.

...

Columbus' egg.

2

Petro Gonzalez de Mendoza, the Grand Cardinal of Spain, invited Columbus to a banquet, where he assigned him the most honorable place at table, and had3 him served with the ceremonies which, in those punctilious times, were observed towards sovereigns. At this repast is said to have occurred the well known anecdote of the egg. A 2shallow courtier present, impatient of the honors paid to Columbus, and jealous of him as a foreigner, 2 abruptly asked him, whether he thought that in case he had not discovered the Indies, there were not other men who would be capable of the enterprise.

1

6

1) zu. 2) bei. 3) had him served, ließ ihn . . . bedienen. 4) is said to have occurred, soll ... geschehen or vorgekommen sein (see Gram. Less. 40, IV, § 4). — 5) Translate: which were paid to C., welche dem C. erwiesen wurden. 6) Westindien, without an article.

8

To this Columbus made no immediate reply, but, took an egg, invited the company to make it stand upon one end. Every one attempted it, but in vain; whereupon he struck it upon the table, so as to break 29 the end, and left it standing on the broken part; illustrating 12 in this simple manner, that, when he had once shown the way to the new world, nothing was easier than to follow it.

11

This anecdote rests on the authority of the Italian historian Benzoni. It has been condemned as trivial, but the simplicity of the reproof constituted its severity and was characteristic1s of the practical sagacity of Columbus. The universal popularity of the anecdote is a proof of its merit.

Washington Irving.

7) to this, Hierauf or auf dieses. 8) gab. 9) to make it stand, es... zu stellen. 10) so daß er ... brach (see Gram. Less. 41, III, § 5). 11) Use the Infinitive. 12) illustrating; begin a new sentence: Auf diese einfache Art zeigte er. 13) charakteristisch für.

20.

The painter who endeavoured to please every one.

A celebrated painter of antiquity' resolved one day to paint a picture the most perfect imaginable. He had already become celebrated and excelled in his art; but in this case, endeavouring to surpass any things he had ever done before, he formed the project to paint one entirely without defect. The picture being finished,* and not considering himself a sufficient judge, she exhibited it in the market place, and begged the spectators to give their opinion, by marking with a pencil, which he had left for the purpose, all the defects they could possibly discover.

7

5

Every one marked that which appeared to him faulty; and the painter coming in the evening to take home his picture, perceived to his great astonishment, that almost every feature of the face, and every fold of the drapery had been disapproved [of]. However, having a good

1) Put the def. art.; see Gram. Less. 38, § 2. — 2) so vollkommen als es nur denkbar war. 3) Alles was. 4) How to translate these Part. absolute see Gram. Less. 45, § 10, b. 5) halten. 6) dadurch, daß sie 2c. 7) zu. 8) add which.

opinion of his own talents, he had the courage to make a second trial.

1

The next day he again exhibited his painting to the public eye, and begged the spectators, to mark with the pencil, as 11 the day before, those parts which they considered most excellent; but when he came in the evening to examine it, 2 he found that the public had approved [of] every lineament.

13

1

This shows clearly, that he who pleases the one,12 may displease the other, and that it is a folly for an author, whoever he may be, to aspire 1 to please every

one.

14)

12

9) von. 10) am. 11) wie am Tage vorher. 12) dative. 13) fann. zu wollen.

21.

3

The Dervise.

4

A Dervise, travelling through Tartary,' being arrived at the town of Balk, went into the king's palace by mistake, as thinking it to be a public inn or caravansary. Having looked about him for some time, he entered into a long gallery, where he laid down his wallet, and spread his carpet in order to repose [himself] upon it after the manner of the eastern nations. He had not been long in this posture, before he was discovered by some of the guards, who asked him what was his business in that place? The Dervise told them he intended to take [up] his night's lodging' in that caravansary. The guards let him know, in a very angry manner, that the house he was in, was not a caravansary, but the king's palace.

6

It happened that the king himself passed through the gallery during this debate, and smiling at the mistake of the Dervise, asked 10 him how he could possibly be so dull as not to distinguish a palace from a caravansary? "Sire," says the Dervise, "give me leave to ask your

1) Durch die Tartarei. 2) in (dat.) 3) da er ihn für ... hielt. 4) um sich. 5) als. 6) what was his business, was er zu thun hätte. 7) seine Nachtherberge or seine Schlafftätte. 8) he was in, translate in which (worin) he was. 9) und indem er über (acc.) lächelte. 10) translate: asked he. 11) as not to d., daß er nicht unterscheiden könnte.

majesty a question or two. "Who were the persons that lodged in this house when it was first built?" The king replied, his ancestors. "And who," says the Dervise "was the last person that lodged here?" The king replied, his father. "And who is it," says the Dervise, "that lodges here at present?" The king told him, that it was he himself. 12 "And who," says the Dervise, “will be here after you?" The king answered, the young prince, his son. "Ah, Sire," said the Dervise, "a house that changes its inhabitants so often, and receives such a perpetual succession of guests, is not a palace, but a caravansary."

12) daß er es selbst wäre (Gram. Less. 43, § 7).

22.

General Ziethen.

1

Spectator.

It is well known that the late king of Prussia, Frederick the Great, during the many and long wars in which he was engaged, not only shared all [the] dangers, but also the inconveniences of a common soldier.

2

8

1

2

1

3

1

Once 2 he marched with his grenadier-guards till very late at night. At last 2 they halted. The king dismounted and said: "Grenadiers, it is a cold night, therefore light a fire." This was done immediately. The king wrapped himself [up] in his blue cloak, sat down on a few pieces of wood near the fire, and the soldiers placed themselves around him. At last General * Ziethen came and took his place also on a bundle of wood. Both were extremely fatigued, and 2 gently fell asleep. But the king very often opened his eyes, and, as he perceived that Ziethen had slipped off his seat, and that a grenadier was placing a faggot under his head for a pillow, 2 he said, with a loud voice: "Bravo! the old gentleman is fatigued."

1

5

Soon afterwards a grenadier got up, half asleep, in order to light his pipe by the fire, but 2carelessly touched the General's foot. The good king, who was glad to

1) verstorben, selig. 2) Passive voice. 3) setzte sich. 4) Put the article. 5) von seinem Size herab.

6

see Ziethen take a little rest, arose suddenly, waved his hand, and whisperingly said: "Hist, grenadier! Take care not to wake the General; he is very drowsy."

The officer 20nce fell into a doze at the king's table. As some one present made a motion to rouse him, the king said: "Let him sleep: he has watched long enough, that we might rest."

6) 3. ein wenig ruhen zu sehen. 7) damit wir schlafen können.

23.

The bagpiper revived.

The following event happened in London during the great plague, which in 1665 carried off nearly 100,000 of the inhabitants.

1

1

A Scotch bagpiper used to get1 his living by2 sitting and playing his bagpipes every day on the steps of3 St. Andrew's church in Holborn. In order to escape the contagion, he drank a great deal of gin; and, one day, having taken more than usual, 2 he became so drunk, that he fell fast asleep on the steps. It was the custom, during the prevalence of that terrible disease, to send carts about every night to collect the dead, and carry them to a common grave or deep pit, of which several had been made in the environs of London.

7

6

5

The men passing with the cart up Holborn-hill, and seeing the piper extended on the steps, 2 naturally 1 thought it was a dead body, and tossed him into the cart among the others, without observings that he had his bagpipe under his arm, and without paying any attention to his dog, which followed the cart, barking and howling most 10 piteously.

The rumbling of the cart over the stones and the cries of the poor dog, 2soon awoke the piper from his drunken lethargy, and not being able to discover where 1) to get his living, sein Brod zu verdienen. 2) dadurch, daß er saß 2c. (see Gram. Less. 45, § 9). 3) Use the article: der SanktAndreaskirche. 4) fell asleep, einschlief. 5) um

...

zu (see Gram. Less. 44, § 10). 6) Als die Männer ... H. hinauffuhren_und 7) Insert fie (they). 8) Use the Infinitive with zu (Gram. Less. 44,

. § 9). 9) auf with the acc. 10) ganz jämmerlich.

...