Enormous, motionless, seated on his tail, he was looking at the little white goat, and smacking his lips in advance. As he knew very well he would eat her up, the wolf was not in a hurry; but, when she turned round and saw him, he began to laugh wickedly. "Ha, ha! the little white goat ! " And he licked his great red tongue round his wily chops.
"She put herself on guard. "
Blanchette felt she was lost. For an instant, she thought toherself it was better, perhaps, to be eaten at once; but then, thinking otherwise, she put herself on guard, head low, horns forward, like the brave little goat that she was. Not that she had any hope of killing the wolf-goats can"t kill wolves-but only to hold out as long as she could. Then the monster advanced, and the pretty little horns began to dance.
Ah, the brave goatling, with what heart she went at it! More than ten times she made the wolf draw back to get breath. During each of these truces, the dainty little thing nibbled one more blade of her dearly loved grass; then, with her mouth full, she returned to the combat. It lasted all through the night. From time to time, the little white goat looked up at the stars as they danced on the cloudless sky, and said to herself, " Oh, if I can only hold out till dawn ! "On e a fter a n o th er , th e sta r s wen t o ut. B la n ch ette redoubled the blows of her horns, and the wolf the snap of his teeth. A pale gleam showed on the horizon. The hoarse crowing of a cock arose from a barnyard. " At last ! " said the poor little goat, who had only awaited the dawn to die; and she stretched herself out on the ground in her pretty white coat all spotted with gore. Then the wolf fell upon her, and ate her up.
Alphonse Daudet, in Letters from my Mill
Author.-Alphonse Dauted, born 1840, died 1897, was a popular French novelist. His best-known works are Letters from my Mill and Tartarin of Tarascon. He is a master of delicate wit and simple pathos.
General.-What is the character of this story? Why didn"t the goat stay at home? Why didn"t she give in to the wolf and have done with it? Is the story well told? Why the name Blanchette? What foreign plants and animals are mentioned? Pick out a few striking phrases. Judging by the story, what kind of man was Alphonse Daudet?
Lesson 37
SHERWOOD
Sherwood in the twilight, is Robin Hood awake?
Grey and ghostly shadows are gliding through the brake; Shadows of the dappled deer, dreaming of the morn, Dreaming of a shadowy man that winds a shadowy horn.
Robin Hood is here again. All his merry thievesHear a ghostly bugle-note shivering through the leaves, Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Love is in the greenwood building him a houseOf wild rose and hawthorn and honeysuckle boughs. Love is in the greenwood, dawn is in the skies;And Marian is waiting with a glory in her eyes.
Hark! the dazzled laverock climbs the golden steep, Marian is waiting-is Robin Hood asleep?
Round the fairy grass-rings frolic elf and fay,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Oberon, Oberon, rake away the gold,
Rake away the red leaves, roll away the mould, Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.
Friar Tuck and Little John are riding down together,With quarter-staff and drinking can and gray goose-feather. The dead are coming back again; the years are rolled away In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Softly over Sherwood the south wind blows, All the heart of England hid in every roseHears across the greenwood the sunny whisper leap- Sherwood in the red dawn, is Robin Hood asleep?
Where the deer are gliding down the shadowy glen All across the glades of fern he calls his merry men;Doublets of the Lincoln green glancing through the may In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day;Calls them and they answer. From aisles of oak and ash Rings the Follow! Follow! and the boughs begin to crash; The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly;And through the crimson dawning the robber band goes by.
Robin! Robin! Robin! All his merry thieves
Answer as the bugle-note shivers through the leaves, Calling as he used to call, faint and far away,In Sherwood, in Sherwood, about the break of day.
Alfred Noyes
Author.-Alfred Noyes, a living English poet, was born in 1880. He was for a time a professor of English in American universities. Many of his poems deal with the sea, one of his best-known books being entitled Forty Singing Seamen.
General.-Do you like the metre? Can you find a distinct pause or break in each line? Why does such romance cling to Robin Hood if, in plain terms, he was a thief? How many members of Robin"s band are mentioned At what period did they live? What great Scottish author writes of Robin Hood? In which book? Who was Oberon? What do you notice about this line- "The ferns begin to flutter and the flowers begin to fly "? Which line in the poem do you like best?
Lesson 38
THE STORY OF ABOU HASSAN THE WAG
There was a merchant of Bagdad, in the reign of the Caliph Haroun al-Raschid, and he had a son named Abou Hassan the Wag. And this merchant died, leaving to his son vast wealth; whereupon Abou Hassan divided his property into two equal portions, one of which he laid aside, and the other he spent. He took as his familiar friends a number of the sons of the merchants, and others, and gave himself up to the delights of good drinking and good eating, until half his wealth was consumed. Upon this he repaired to his associates, relations, and boon companions, and exposed to them his case, showing them how little property remained in his possession; but none of them paid any regard to him, or uttered a word in reply. So he returned to his mother with a broken heart, and told her of the treatment that he had experienced from his associates- that they would neither do him justice nor even reply to him. But she said, "O Abou Hassan, thus are the sons of this age; as long as thou hast anything, they draw thee near to them." She was grieved for him, and he sighed and wept.