Five Minute Stories

The forest gives us chairs,
The bureau and the sideboard,
The flooring and the stairs;
The ships that skim the ocean,
The cars in which we ride,
The crib in which the baby sleeps,
Drawn close to mother’s side.
Bow down, green Forest, so fair and good,
Bow down, green Forest, and give us wood!

Give up, ye Mines, so dark and deep,
Give up the treasure that close ye keep!
The mines are dug
In the earth so deep,
’Tis there that silver
And gold do sleep.
Copper and iron,
And diamonds fine,
Coal, tin and rubies,
All come from the mine,
Give up, ye Mines, so dark and deep,
Give up the treasure that close ye keep!

O Sea, with billows so bright, so blue!
Full many a gift we ask of you:
Corals, yes, and sponges,
Clams and oysters, too,
And the radiant pearl-drop
The oyster hides from view.
The fish we eat for dinner,
The shells upon the shore,
The whalebone for our mother’s gown,
All these and many more.
O Sea, with billows so bright, so blue!
Full many a gift we ask of you.

Ye broad, green Meadows, so fresh and fair,
Oh, ye have many a treasure rare!
Flowers the loveliest,
Barley and corn,
Oats, wheat and clover tops,
Berry and thorn;
Grass for the flocks and herds,
Herbs for the sick;
Rice, too, and cotton,
The darkies do pick.
Ye broad, green Meadows, so fresh and fair,
Oh, ye have many a treasure rare!

So earth and air, so land and sea
Give kindly gifts to you and me.
Should we not be merry,
Gentle, too, and mild?
Then the whole wide earth doth wait
On each little child.
Should we not, in quiet,
At our mother’s knee,
Praise our Heavenly Father,
Thank Him lovingly, —
Since earth and air, and land and sea
Give kindly gifts to you and me?
Since earth and air, and sea and land,
Come from our Heavenly Father’s hand?

THE PATIENT CAT

When the spotted cat first found the nest, there was nothing in it, for it was only just finished. So she said, “I will wait!” for she was a patient cat, and the summer was before her. She waited a week, and then she climbed up again to the top of the tree, and peeped into the nest. There lay two lovely blue eggs, smooth and shining.

The spotted cat said, “Eggs may be good, but young birds are better. I will wait.” So she waited; and while she was waiting, she caught mice and rats, and washed herself and slept, and did all that a spotted cat should do to pass the time away.

When another week had passed, she climbed the tree again and peeped into the nest. This time there were five eggs. But the spotted cat said again, “Eggs may be good, but young birds are better. I will wait a little longer!”

So she waited a little longer and then went up again to look. Ah! there were five tiny birds, with big eyes and long necks, and yellow beaks wide open. Then the spotted cat sat down on the branch, and licked her nose and purred, for she was very happy. “It is worth while to be patient!” she said.

But when she looked again at the young birds, to see which one she should take first, she saw that they were very thin, – oh, very, very thin they were! The spotted cat had never seen anything so thin in her life.

“Now,” she said to herself, “if I were to wait only a few days longer, they would grow fat. Thin birds may be good, but fat birds are much better. I will wait!”

So she waited; and she watched the father-bird bringing worms all day long to the nest, and said, “Aha! they must be fattening fast! they will soon be as fat as I wish them to be. Aha! what a good thing it is to be patient.”

At last, one day she thought, “Surely, now they must be fat enough! I will not wait another day. Aha! how good they will be!”

So she climbed up the tree, licking her chops all the way and thinking of the fat young birds. And when she reached the top and looked into the nest, it was empty!!

Then the spotted cat sat down on the branch and spoke thus, “Well, of all the horrid, mean, ungrateful creatures I ever saw, those birds are the horridest, and the meanest, and the most ungrateful! Mi-a-u-ow!!!!”

MATHEMATICS

I studied my arithmetic,
And then I went to bed,
And on my little pillow white
Laid down my little head.

I hoped for dreams of dear delight,
Of sugar-candy bliss;
But oh! my sleep, the livelong night,
Was filled with things like this.

Add forty jars of damson jam
To fifty loaves of cake,