ページの画像
PDF
ePub

And when he had got it as big and deep as he chose, Jack took out his walnut, and laid it in one corner of the well, and pulled the plug of moss out.

'Trickle and run!' said Jack; and so the nut trickled and ran, till the water gushed out of the hole in a stream, and in a short time the well was brimful.

Thus Jack had felled the oak which shaded the king's palace, and dug a well in the palace-yard; and so he got the princess and half the kingdom, as the king had said. But it was lucky for Peter and Paul that they had lost their ears, else they would have heard each hour and day how every one said: 'Well, after all, Jack was not so much out of his mind when he took to wondering!'

THE THREE FISHERS.

1.

Three fishers went sailing away to the west-
Away to the west as the sun went down;

Each thought on the woman who loved him best,

And the children stood watching them out of the town; For men must work, and women must weep, And there's little to earn, and many to keep, Though the harbour-bar be moaning.

2.

Three wives sat up in the lighthouse-tower,

And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down ; They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower, And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown.

But men must work, and women must weép,
Though storms be sudden, and waters deep,
And the harbour-bar be moaning.

3.

Three corpses lay out on the shining sands,

In the morning gleam as the tide went down, And the women are weeping and wringing their hands

For those who will never come home to the town;

For men must work, and women must weep,
And the sooner 'tis over, the sooner to sleep,
And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.

PAST AND PRESENT.

1.

I remember, I remember

The house where I was born,

The little window where the sun

Came peeping in at morn;

He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day;
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away.

2.

I remember, I remember
The roses, red and white,
The violets, and the lily-cups-
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday—
The tree is living yet!

3.

I remember, I remember

Where I was used to swing,

And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;

My spirit flew in feathers then

That is so heavy now,

And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow.

4.

I remember, I remember

The fir-trees dark and high;

I used to think their slender tops

Were close against the sky :

It was a childish ignorance,

But now 'tis little joy

To know I'm further off from Heaven

Than when I was a boy.

T. HOOD.

THE CHAIN OF DESTRUCTION.

(SCENE.-American Prairies.)

[Spell and write]

inquired, cautiously, approached, curiosity, concealing, opportunity, distinguished.

Directly in front of the tent, and at no great distance from it, a thick network of vines stretched between two trees. Over the leaves grew flowers so thickly as almost to hide them; the whole surface shining as if a bright carpet had been spread from tree to tree, and hung down

between them.

Francis, who had for some time kept his eyes in that direction, all at once exclaimed: 'Look yonder-humming-birds!'

'Where are they?' inquired Lucien. 'Softly, brothers, approach them gently.'

As Lucien said this, he walked cautiously forward, followed by Basil and Francis.

'Ah!' exclaimed Lucien, as they drew near, ‘I see one now; it is the ruby-throat: see his throat how it glitters !'

'Shall we try to catch it?' asked Francis.

'No, I would rather observe it a bit. You may look for the nest, as you have good eyes.'

When the curiosity of the boys was satisfied, they were about to return to the tent; but Lucien suddenly made a motion, which caused his brothers to look on the ground.

Crouching among the leaves, now crawling side-ways, now making short springs, and then hiding itself, went a fearful-looking creature about the size of the hummingbird. Its body consisted of two pieces joined about the middle, and covered all over with a reddish-brown wool or hair, that stood upright like bristles. It had ten limbs, long, crooked, and covered with hair like the body-two curved claw-like feelers in front, and two horns projecting behind, so that but for its sharp fiery eyes, it would have been difficult to tell which was its head.

[ocr errors]

"The leaping-spider,' whispered Lucien to his brothers; it is after the humming-bird!'

see,

This was evident. Step by step, and leap after leap, it was approaching the cluster of blossoms where the humming-bird was at that moment. Sometimes the spider would hide itself among the leaves of the vine, then when

the bird settled for a moment to feed, it would advance nearer by a quick run or a leap, concealing itself again to await a fresh opportunity. At last, the bird poised itself at the mouth of a flower, sucking out the honey with its long tongue, and in a moment the spider sprang forward and clutched it round the body with his feeler. The bird, with a wild chirrup, flew outwards and upwards as if to carry the spider away. But its flight was suddenly checked; and, on looking more closely, the fine thread of the spider was seen attached to the tree at one end and his body at the other, strong enough to prevent the poor bird from escaping from his enemy. Soon the little wings ceased to move. The boys could see that the bird was dead, and the mandibles of the spider were buried in its shining throat.

And now the spider began reeling in his line, in order to carry up his prey to his nest among the branches. But the eyes of the boys were caught at this moment by a shining object stealing down the tree. It was a lizard of the most brilliant colours; its back of golden green, the underneath part of its body a greenish-white, its throat of the brightest scarlet. It was not more than six inches in length. As it was crawling onward, its bright eye fell on the spider and his prey. All at once the lizard stopped, its colour changed; the red throat became white, the green body brown, so that it could hardly be distinguished from the bark of the tree on which it crouched. Soon it was evident that it meant to attack the spider, and to do this it ran round the tree to the nest, where it crouched down, waiting the return of the master of the house. The spider, no doubt exulting in the thought of the feast he was going to have, and little suspecting a foe so near, came up. In a moment the lizard sprang upon him, and

« 前へ次へ »