"Come, " he said, "own up. You were only joking just now. You didn"t really mean what you said? ""Oh! yes, " replied the bulb. "It was the truth. I know I shall be a flower some day, when I have outgrown this old brown cloak of mine. ""How do you know it? " asked the sparrow. " Who told you?""Something inside me, " replied the bulb, in a grave voice. "And I know it tells the truth. "The sparrow was silent for a moment.
"Well, " he said at last, " I can"t believe there can be anything so nice as a flower under that old brown cloak of yours. So I"ll wish you good morning, Miss Brown Bulb. "He had hardly flown away when a lady came with a garden trowel and a little red flower-pot, half full of earth, in which she planted the bulb, and then took it away with her.
About a month later, the sparrow came again to the window-sill, and, peeping through the open window, he saw a flower-pot on a table, from which something green was beginning to shoot up.
He was going to hop away, when a voice he seemed to know said, "Good-morning! ""Good morning, " said the sparrow; "though I haven"t the least idea who you are. ""Don"t you remember the brown ball on the window-sill? The one that you pecked at? ""Let me see, " said the sparrow. "Why, yes, to be sure. You don"t mean to say that it was you? I mean that you were it? ""Yes, " said the bulb. "I told you I was going to be a flower.
And so I am. "
"Then there was something under that old brown cloak of yours after all, " said the sparrow. "And what do you call yourself now, Miss Bulb? Have you found out what your Christian name is yet? ""My name is Hyacinth," was the answer. "I told you the raindrops would christen me, and they did. "" Well, " remarked the sparrow, " it seems you were right, and I was wrong. All the same, I"d rather be a bird than a flower. Flowers may be all very well, but they can"t do anything but just smell sweet. Birds can. How do you think the garden would get on without me? Why, it would be all eaten up with grubs. That reminds me that I mustn"t wastemy time talking. The round bed in the middle of the lawn needs attention. So, good morning, Miss Hyacinth Bulb. "And he flew away, leaving the bulb feeling rather sad. For,after all, what can one little hyacinth bulb do in the big world?
But, one day, the same lady who had planted it in the pot where it was now growing came into the room.
She came and looked very carefully at the little green shoot which had struggled so bravely to throw off the old, ugly brown cloak in which it had been muffled.
"Yes, " she said. "I think you are strong enough to go out into the world now. I want you to help to cheer up a little sick child. "As the hyacinth heard these words, a throb of joy went right through it to think that, after all, there was something it could do. It could be a cheerer-up.
And so it found itself standing on a little round table in a cottage window; while facing the window was a little white bed, with a little pale face lying on the pillow.
And a little tired voice said, "Oh dear, darling hyacinth, do make haste and flower! I do want to see what colour you will be. And, if you can, please be a pink hyacinth, because pink is such a beautiful, cheerful colour. "The heart of the hyacinth stirred and said to itself: " If I can be, I will. " And it folded its green leaves together, and sent up a little prayer that it might be a cheerful pink hyacinth.
It grew and grew until one night it felt a wonderful, new, strange feeling.
"I believe I am going to flower, " it said. "And oh! I do hope I shall be pink. "And lo and behold, in the morning there was a fine tall stalk covered with little pink blossoms! And the sick child clapped her hands, and the colour came back into her face as she said: "Oh! Mother, Mother, it is a pink hyacinth after all. " And, when the mother saw the colour in the child"s face, and the light in her eyes, she took the flower- pot in her hand and said: " God bless you, little hyacinth! I believe you have done more good than all the doctor"s stuff by cheering herup."
And the heart of the hyacinth swelled and swelled until it seemed as though it must burst the flower- pot, as it said to itself:
"Oh! what a wonderful thing it is to think that once I was only a little brown bulb. And now I am a pink hyacinth and a cheerer-up."From Tiny Tots
Author.-The author is not known except as the writer of this article, which appeared in an English children"s magazine.
General Notes.-Make a list of all the speakers. Which one seemed to beugly and stupid? What happened to him in the end? Was not that like the fate of the Ugly Duckling? Do you think that some children who seem to be ugly and stupid may turn out otherwise? Discuss the question.
Lesson 30
BOATS SAIl ON THE RIVERS
Boats sail on the rivers, Ships sail on the seas;But the clouds that sail across the sky Are prettier far than these.
There are bridges on the rivers, As pretty as you please;But the bow that spans the heavens, And overtops the trees,And builds a road from earth to sky, Is prettier far than these.
-Christina Rossetti
Author.-Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) was an English poetess, a sister of the poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She was born in London. She wrote short lyrics chiefly. One of her most famous poems is"Goblin Market"; another one that is well known begins " Does the road wind up-hill all the way? "General Notes.-What are on the rivers? What are on the seas?
Why is the bow prettier than these? Find out how the bow is made. What strange stories have you heard about the bow? Write down one of these.
Lesson 31
HOW DuMB ANIMAlS TAlk
Can dumb animals talk? It is true that they are not able to use words like ours, but most of them can talk in their own way.
When the cat is happy and pleased, how does she show it? She purrs; and this is her way of saying, "I am quite happy now. "If she is unhappy, or in pain, or hungry, she mews. If she is angry, she sets up her back and her fur, moves her tail from side to side, and spits. If teased, she growls and puts back her ears. If she is treated in a way she does not like, up goes her tail straight in the air, and she marches out of the room.