LESSON I
GERMANY TO-DAY
Germany is now one of the most powerful nations in the world. We already know something about her. 
In 1938, Germany sent her bright young men to our country. They are called the  " Hitler Jugend," and they made such a deep impression upon us that we shall never forget them. 
Towards the end of the year, the Germen flyers, in the plane "Condor," arrived at Tatikawa, only about 47 hours after leaving Berlin.
Now I think you would like to know more about this nation.
Germany is not exactly like a single country. The State is made up of several countries, and some of them used to have their own kings. The two largest of these countries are Prussia and Bavaria. The former is almost as large as the British Isles, while the latter is as big as Ireland. The population is nearly 70,000,OOO in all. 
Up to 1918 Germany was an empire, and the King of Prussia was the Emperor. After the War the Emperor gave up his ruling power and Germany became a republic with a president. General von Hindenburg, the famous soldier, was President from 1925 to 1934. Next to the President, the most important person in the Republic is the Chancellor, who actually does the work of ruling the country for the President. Herr Hitler, the leader of the Nazis, became Chancellor in 1933.
The Nazis are a political party. They are now in power in Germany, and their symbol is, as you know, the swastika. The Nazis always salute the swastika and one another by holding out their arm. When Hindenburg died, Herr Hitler became President as well as Chancellor. He is now ruling his country with a strong hand.

LESSON II
THE SLEEPING APPLE 
A little apple hung high up on an apple-tree in the orchard.
It slept and grew, and slept and grew.
At last it was big and ripe, but it still slept on.
One day a little girl came walking under the tree and saw the apple. 
'' Why does the apple sleep so long? "  said the little girl. " The world is so beautiful! I wish the apple would wake up and see.  
Maybe I can wake it." 
So she called out, " Oh, apple, wake up! and come with me! " 
But the sleeping apple did not wake. 
"If I were the sun," she said to herself.
"I could wake it."
Then the girl said,
"Oh, Sun, beautiful Sun! Will you kiss the apple and make it wake? That is the way mother wakes me. "  
"Oh, yes," said the sun. "indeed I will." 
So he kissed the apple until it was a golden yellow. 
It was as golden as the sun. 
But still the apple slept on. 
By and by a robin flew to the tree. 
"Dear Robin," said the little girl, " can you help me to wake the sleeping apple? I cannot wake it, and the sun cannot wake it, either. We have tried and tried. It will sleep too long." 
"Oh, yes, little girl, I can wake the apple," said the robin. " I will sing to it just as I sing to my little birdies in their nest. I wake my birdies every morning with a song." 
"Cheer up! wake up! Cheer up! wake up ! " sang the robin in the apple-tree. 
But the sleeping apple did not wake. 
"Oo-oo-oo! Oo-oo-oo-oo!"
"Who is that coming through the trees?"
said the little girl.
"Oh, it is my friend, the Wind. Oh, Wind," said the robin. "You wake me sometimes at night. Can you not wake this beautiful apple? I would do so, if I were you. It has slept so long."
"Indeed I can," said the wind.
"It is time for all apples to wake up. Summer will soon be over."
"Oo-oo-oo," he said, and shook the tree. 
The apple waked and fell down, down, down to the ground.
The little girl kissed its golden cheeks. 
"Oh, thank you, kind Wind," she said. "If you had not come, the apple would have slept all the summer long." 

LESSON III
AN AEROPLANE RIDE 
1
Not long ago, learning to fly was thought to be a dangerous thing, and it was tried only by men with the strongest of nerves. So safe has flying now become that any one, man or woman, boy or girl, who can drive a motor-car, or a motor-cycle, can learn to fly in a few hours. 
So popular is flying, indeed, that there are now more than fifty flying-clubs in the British Isles. Each club has hundreds of members, and several expert pilots are attached to it. 
Uncle George joined one of these clubs a few years ago, and he is now a good flyer. One day he offered to take us up for a joy-ride. 

2. 
On the Ground. (Fred and I went to the aerodrome and met Uncle George in his fly-ing dress.) 
Fred. Good Morning, Uncle. 
Uncle. Hullo, Fred! Oh, Edith, you've come, too. 
Edith. I thought it would be fun to go up with you. 
Uncle. What a brave little girl, my dear! Come along, then. Take this back seat, Fred. Take the seat beside him, Edith. Now let me make both of you secure. (Strapping them in.) Is this all right? 
Fred. Thank you very much. 
Uncle. Are you ready? Let's start. 
Edith. (Laughing). I'm a little afraid, brave girl as I am. Going Up.  
Uncle. Here we go! 
Fred. How do you feel, Edith?  
Edith. I can't hear you. It's too noisy. 
Fred. (More loudly.) Do you feel dizzy? 
Edith. Yes, a little. The ground is rushing past us.
Fred. (Cried to his uncle.) Uncle, it is too noisy here. How do you talk in the air? Uncle. Usually we talk through telephone tubes. 
Fred. Edith feels dizzy.  
Uncle. Oh, it doesn't matter at all. Soon we shall be high up in the air and she'll be all right. One can't feel dizzy, unless one has some sort of connection with the ground. 
Edith. I'm glad to hear that. 
Fred. Look, Edith! There is a river glistening under us. Isn't it beautiful?  
Edith. Oh, how beautiful! It looks like a thin bright silk thread. 
Uncle. Do you want me to do a loop? 
Fred. Yes, please do. 
Edith. Oh, please don't. 
Uncle. Don't be afraid, my girl! Your body is quite secure.
Fred. Splendid! Everything is upside-down.
Edith. How pleasant I feel now! I am now free and joyful like a bird. 

LESSON IV
THE STORY OF SILK
Silk first came to us from the country called China. It is many thousand miles west of America, across the Pacific Ocean. The way that the Chinese first discovered silk is very interesting. It was discovered by accident, many, many years ago. 
At that time China was ruled by an emperor. One day his wife was walking in the garden. and she stopped to watch some little worms that were eating the leaves of a mulberry-tree. 
One of the little worms was spinning a long fine thread that came from a part of his body near the head. As she watched, he wound himself up in this thread. 
The Emperor's wife stayed a long time watching these worms. Many others were also spinning this kind of thread. She had never seen anything like it before. The thread was long and thin and glistening. It is what we call silk to-day. When enough of it was wound about the worm's body, it made a little house for him to live in. We call this a cocoon. 
She found a way to unwind the cocoon. Then she wove this thread into a piece of glistening silk material. But the Chinese people kept all this a great secret. For many years they did not let anybody else know where silk came from or how it was made. 
But in time other countries learned that it came from silkworms eating mulberry-leaves, and they began to make it. But it can be made only where there are mulberry-trees. The Japanese now have many silkworms. They call the silkworm " the honorable little gentleman " and they take great care of him. He is a very hungry little gentleman, too. He loves to eat the mulberry-leaves and he gobbles them up as soon as the farmer's wife and children bring them to him. 
Silkworms come from very small eggs. When these eggs are laid, the people keep them warm until the little worms hatch out. Then the worms are put on trays filled with straw, and kept in a dark, quiet room. 
After several weeks, these little worms are ready to begin spinning their silk cocoons. Some twigs are put into the trays. The worms climb up the twigs. They spin the silk and wind themselves up in their little houses called cocoons. 
Then the people take these cocoons and sort them out. Later they are put into hot water, and this makes the thread unwind. This thread is called raw silk, and it goes to factories to be made into cloth. 
--Adapted from Maud and Miska Petersham: " The Story Book of Clothes " 


LESSON V 
KING MIDAS (I) 
Once upon a t me, there lived a very rich King, whose name was Midas. King Midas had a little daughter. I do not know her name, so I will call her Marygold. 
This King was very fond of gold. He loved it more than anything else in the world. If he loved anything better, or half so well, it was the one little maiden who played so merrily around him. 
When Marygold picked buttercups and dandelions, he used to say, " If these flowers were as golden as they look, I would pick them myself." 
One day King Midas was in his treasure-house, counting his precious things. He looked up and saw a stranger at the door. 
"You are a rich man, friend Midas," said the stranger. 
"Yes, I have some gold," answered Midas, "but it is not enough." 
" What!" cried the stranger.  "Are you not satisfied? "  
Midas shook his head. 
"What will satisfy you? What do you wish? " 
King Midas thought and thought. At last he looked at the stranger and said, " I wish everything I touch would turn to gold." 
"Are you sure that you would be satisfied then? " 
" Yes," answered Midas." I would ask for nothing more." 
" It shall be as you wish," said the stranger. 
" To-morrow at sunrise you shall have the Golden Touch." 
When the sun peeped into the room, King Midas jumped out of bed. 
He touched a chair. It turned to gold at once. 
He touched the bed and the table, and they changed to solid, shining gold. He was extremely delighted. 
He dressed himself, and all his clothes were gold. 
Then King Midas went into the garden. 
" Now," he thought, " I can have the most beautiful garden in the world." 
So he touched all the leaves and flowers, and they became shining gold as he had 
expected. 
When the King had done this, he was hungry, so he went into the palace for his breakfast. He tried to drink some coffee. When he touched it with his lips, it changed to gold. He touched the fish on his plate. It became a pretty gold fish and he could not eat it. 
He took an egg. That, too, turned into gold. You might have thought it was laid by the golden goose. 
Just then Marygold ran to her father and put her arms about his neck. " Good morning, dear Father," she said. 
The King kissed his little daughter. " My dear, dear Marygold," he cried. But Marygold did not answer.

LESSON VI
KING MIDAS (II) 
Alas! What had he done! His dear daughter, his sweet little Marygold, was changed to gold by his kiss. 
King Midas wept. 
Now, at last, he did not care for gold. 
His little daughter was now dearer to him than all the gold in the world. 
" How can I live without my dear Marygold?" he thought. "I would give all my gold if only my little girl could come back to me." 
Then the stranger came again. " Well, friend Midas, " he said, " how do you like the Golden Touch? " 
" I am very unhappy," said Midas. " I know now that gold is not everything." 
" Let us see, " said the stranger. " Which do you think is worth more--the Golden Touch, or a cup of clear cold water? " 
" A cup of water!" cried the King. 
" The Golden Touch, or a crust of bread? " 
" Give me a crust of bread," answered the King. 
" The Golden Touch, or your dear little Marygold? " 
" Oh my child, my dear child! " cried Midas. " She is worth more than all the gold in the world." 
" You are wiser than you were, King Midas!" said the stranger. " Your own heart has not been entirely changed from flesh to gold. Now go to the river at the foot of your garden. Plunge into it, and the water of the river will wash away the Golden Touch. Take a vase of the same water and sprinkle it over everything you have touched." 
King Midas ran through the garden and jumped into the river. 
Then he filled the vase and ran back to the palace. The first thing he did, as you need not be told, was to sprinkle the water over the golden figure of Marygold, and she became his own dear little laughing, dancing Marygold once more. 

LESSON VII 
THE SPHINX'S RIDDLE 
1 
Jessica: Can you guess my riddle, Mummy? 
Mother: Yes, I think I can. 
J. Then let me ask you a riddle. It is a very difficult one. 
M. All right. 
J. What flowers can you find between the nose and the chin? 
M. Well, let me see. 
J. Do you give it up, Mummy? 
M. No, I don't. I can easily guess it. It's so common. 
J. What are they? 
M. Tulips--two lips. 
J. How clever you are! 

2 
M. Now let me ask you the most difficult riddle in the world. 
J. Oh, yes. What is it? 
M. Can you guess it, dear?
J. Of course, I can. I know every riddle in the world. 
M. I don't believe you, Jessica. Now you will give me the answer, will you? 
What is it that goes on four feet in the morning, on two feet at noon, and on three feet in the evening? 
J. What a long riddle!
M. And difficult as well. Can you guess it, dear? 
J. Well--. 
M. I will give you five minutes. 
J. I am afraid I can't. 
M. Why, you said you knew every riddle in the world. 
J. Yes, Mummy, but yours is too difficult for me to guess. 
M. If you can't guess it, I'm afraid you will be killed. Jessica.  
J. Oh, oh, oh! But I couldn't. 
M. Of course, you couldn't, if you tried your best. It is the famous Sphinx's riddle, and in old days nobody could solve it except one. 
J. Mummy, will you give me the answer? 
M. Yes, certainly. The answer is Man, who crawls on all fours in the morning of life, walks upright in the noon of life, and uses a stick in his old age. 
J. How wonderful! Who was the wise man that could guess the right answer? 
M. It is said that the Sphinx killed every one who could not solve her riddle, and she killed herself, when a man called Oedipus guessed the difficult riddle at last. 

LESSON VIII
THE EARTH
We live on the earth. Do you know that the earth is round like a ball? Before Columbus most people believed that the earth was quite flat like the palm of our hands. 
But we know that the earth is round, because many people have sailed round it. That is one proof. There is another proof: the shadow of the earth on the moon is round. Do you know how far it is round the earth? Well, it is about twenty-five thousand miles round the earth. 
The outside of the earth is called the surface. About one fourth of this surface is land, and the rest is water. So there is about three times as much water as land. Men and beasts live on the land. Fish live in the water. The greater part of the water is called the ocean.  
In some places, the ocean is ten thousand miles wide. Ships can sail on it for days, and even weeks, before they come to land. 
The earth does not stand still, but turns round from west to east, once every twenty-four hours. This causes day and night. 
During some hours, we are turned towards the sun; then it is day. During the other hours, we are turned away from the sun; then it is night. 
The earth has another motion. It moves round the sun once a year, though ancient people believed that the sun moved round the earth. This causes the four seasons, --spring, summer, autumn and winter. 
The earth is but a small dot in the universe; the sun, the moon and the stars are only part of the universe. 

LESSON IX
WHAT AM I TO WEAR THIS EVENING?
Joan: What time is it now, Bob?
Robert: Half-past four.
Joan: Then we have no time to spare. The party begins at five. 
Robert: The five-o'clock tea is purely English, isn't it? I'm told that the Japanese drink their tea at three.  
Joan: Really? 
Robert: Where's my blue suit. Joan? 
Joan: Mother sent it to the cleaner's yesterday. 
Robert: How awkward! What am I to wear this evening?
Joan: You know you have a dark gray one.
Robert: Yes, but it doesn't fit me very well.
Joan: I don't agree with you. Well, put it on and let me look at it. 
Robert: (Having the suit on.) How do you think? 
Joan: I can't see what's wrong with it.  
Robert; I'm quite uncomfortable in the shoulder here. 
Joan: But it looks nice enough to me. 
Robert: I'm afraid all my collars are gone to the laundry. 
Joan: I bought new ones for you this morning. 
Robert: Thanks.
Joan: If I were you, I'd take off that blue shirt and put on a white one. 
Robert: What's the matter with this shirt? You know the blue shirt is fashionable now, don't you? 
Joan: Don't be foolish, Bob! Fashion is one thing, and taste is quite another.  
Robert: Why do you insist on the white one? 
Joan: I think the white shirt would go better with your gray coat and trousers.  Robert: Well, I'm no match for you in such a thing. I'll follow your advice for this once. 

LESSON X
THE STORY OF FLOWERS (I)
"Can you come for a walk, Edwin? " asked Grace. 
Edwin was only a little boy, so he had to run and ask his mother. She said he might go with Grace.
So Edwin put his cap on, and they went to call for Harry and Kate. They all knew the way to the field, for there was only one field in the neighborhood. 
How sunny and warm it was, and how nice and green was the grass! They had a long walk, and so they sat down to rest.  
But Edwin did not like to sit still; he soon got up, and went to see what he could find. 
Not far away, he saw such a dear, little wild flower. " Oh, what a pretty, little, yellow thing! "  
Then he ran to the others, and said, " Oh, do come and look at my little flower." So they all went to look at it, and Grace said it was a primrose. 
They soon found ever so many more primroses in the field. 
" I will get some, and take them home to mother, " said Edwin. 
Then the others said they would take some to their mothers too.  
So they ran here and there to pick the flowers. The sun shone, and the birds sang their songs as they sat on the trees. Soon Edwin was tired, so he sat down to rest under one of the trees. 
In a little while he lay back on the grass and went to sleep. As he lay asleep, he had such a nice dream. 
His dream was all about a fairy. Such a dear, little fairy, not so big as Edwin's finger. 
He saw her first as she sat by the side of a yellow primrose. 
" Who are you? " he asked of the fairy. 
" I am the Fairy Primrose, and I come from the Land of Dreams," she said. 
Then Edwin saw that she had on a yellow silk frock, made just like a primrose flower. " What would you like to talk about? " she asked, sitting by the side of the little boy. 
" Oh, please tell me all about the little primroses," said Edwin. 
" Well look at one of them while I talk, and you will see that what I tell you is true." 
So Edwin took one of the flowers in his hand, and the fairy said to him, " Do you know what we call that pretty yellow part of the Primrose? " 
" I am only a little boy," said Edwin, " and this is the first time I have seen a Primrose." 
" Well, take out the yellow part very gently, but mind you, do not hurt the little flower." 
So Edwin did as the fairy told him; and when he had done so, she said that the yellow part was the crown of the flower.  
Edwin took a good look at the green part of the flower which he held in his other hand. It was a stalk, and at the top there was a little green part which held the crown. 
"What do you call this part? " he asked.
"We call that part the cup," she said.
Just then, Harry ran up. The fairy flew away, and Edwin awoke from his sleep. 

LESSON XI
THE STORY OF FLOWERS (II)
A few weeks after this Grace came for Edwin again. As they went to call for Kate and Harry, Edwin said, " Oh, I do hope I shall see my fairy! "  
When they got to the field, they looked all about, but could not see even the wings of the fairy. This time there were many more flowers in the field. 
Grace said this was because Spring had gone, and Summer was come. All over the field there were so many buttercups that the field looked like a yellow carpet. 
" Oh, the charming, little flowers! " said Kate. " Let us get ever so many of them." So they all got as many as they could carry in their hands. 
After a time they sat down to rest, and then Edwin said, " Grace, do you know that this yellow part is the crown of the buttercup? " 
" Yes, of course, I do, as I am a big girl, " said Grace. 
" Why is it yellow? " asked Harry. 
" It is yellow so that the bees can see it, when they want to get honey from it," answered Grace. 
" Oh, yes, I see," said Kate, " if the flower were all green, the bees could not find it so well." 
Then they tried to take out the crown of the buttercup in just the same way as Edwin had done with the primrose. But they could not do that, for the crown was in five parts, and not all in one piece. 
Grace said that her mother had told her that each of these parts was called a petal. " What sweet, little, yellow petals they are!" said Kate; and then she pulled the petals out of a great many flowers. 
" The cup is cut up into parts, just like the crown," said Harry, as he held one up in his hand. 
"Yes, and the green parts are called sepals," said Grace.
"Oh, I shall be glad when I am a big girl," said Kate, " then I shall know a lot of things."  
" I wish we could see the fairy; I am sure she would tell us all about the flowers," said Grace. 
" Oh, no! I will not tell you all about my pretty flowers," said a voice quite near them. 
They all looked up, and there, on a bush close by, sat Fairy Primrose. Her little. yellow dress shone in the light of the sun, and her white wings were wide open. 
But the boys and girls did not think she looked very kind just then. 
" I will not tell you all about my pretty flowers," said the fairy again.  
" But we have been ever so good," said Edwin.  
" Oh, no! You are not good at all; look at those nice flowers as they lie on the ground about you." 
Then they saw that many of the flowers were dead, and their petals were all faded. The fairy told them that it was not right to pick so many flowers, just to let them die.  
" But we said we would take them home to mother," said Edwin. 
" Mother does not want so many as that," said the fairy. 
" And there are three mothers," said Grace.  
" But three mothers do not want a lot of dead flowers," replied the fairy. 
Then they told her they were very sorry, and would not pull so many again. And when the fairy saw that they were really sorry, she said, " Well, if you come here again next week, I will tell you all about the primrose, for, as you know, I am Fairy Primrose." 

LESSON XII
THE STORY OF FLOWERS (III) 
The next week they went to the field again. 
The fairy did not come to them as soon as they got to the field. Edwin was going to pick many flowers, but Grace said to him, " Stop, my dear boy, or the fairy will be angry as before." And they each got no more than three primroses, and sat down under the hedge to wait. 
All at once, they heard some one singing in sweet, low tones. It was a song about the flowers. 
When it was ended, they saw that Fairy Primrose was quite near them. 
She stood just under a primrose which grew near by. 
" I am glad to see that you have not got so many flowers this time," she said. 
" No, we would not like to hurt the dear, little things," said Kate. 
" We did not think what we were doing last time," said Grace. 
Then the fairy sat down on a blade of grass. The grass did not bend, for the fairy was such a little thing, and not at all heavy. 
She held out her tiny hand to Edwin for one of his flowers. He had to break off a long piece of the stalk, for it was too big for the fairy to hold. 
" Now," said she, " I will tell you all about my flower."  
" We know all that you told Edwin, when he first saw you," said Grace.
"Oh, then you can tell me about it," replied the fairy. 
So they told her which was the crown, and which was the cup of the primrose. 
" And the crown has five petals, " said Harry. 
" Yes, and the cup has five sepals," said Kate. 
Then the fairy told them to take out the crown of one of the primroses, but they had to do it very gently.  
When they had done that, she told them to lay the cup down, and look inside the crown.  " To do this, you may break open just one crown," said she, " for you must learn all about it." 
When they had broken open the crown, they saw that there were five little things inside, one near each petal. 
" Those are the five stamens, " said the fairy. 
" They help to make the flower grow, don't they? " asked Grace. 
"Yes; each stamen has a little bag of pollen at the end," said the fairy. 
Then they saw that each stamen was made up of a stalk, with a bag of pollen at the top of it. 
" Now put the crown down, and take up the cup, " said the fairy. This they did. 
" Why, there is something in the cup too," said Edwin. 
" Yes, that is the pistil," replied the fairy. 
" What is the knob at the top for? " asked Kate. 
The fairy took up the crown, and shook it over the pistil. As soon as she did this, the pollen fell out of the little bags on the knob on the pistil. 
The fairy told them that every primrose flower has stamens and a pistil, and that when the pollen falls on the pistil, the seeds grow. 
Just then, there was a great ringing of bells. 
" I must go now," said the fairy, " but come again some day, and I will tell you more about the pretty flowers." Then she flew away.  
After a time the children went home to tea. They had spent a very happy day, and 
had learnt many new things about the flowers, from little Fairy Primrose. 

LESSON XIII 
WHY ARE FLOWERS OF DIFFERENT COLORS? 
The primrose and the buttercup please our eyes with their yellow flowers. The pink flowers of the wild rose are very charming. How beautiful the woods appear when the Wild Hyacinths spread like a blue carpet under the trees!  
Our world is full of those flowers and many other beautiful flowers, and we love Nature for her lovely dress of flowers. 
But if you should think those colors were produced for our pleasure, you would be quite wrong. It is for insects' eyes that they are really produced.  
Plants need the help of insects to pollinate their flowers, and just like our tradesmen, they have to advertise. Each show of colored petals is simply an announcement to flying insects that they may get sweet nectar or rich pollen there.
Since there are many kinds of insects with different tastes, it follows that special colors have a particular appeal. Thus those plants which need bees' help to pollinate their flowers, specialize in purple and blue-violet. 
Yellow and red flowers have little or no attraction for the bees. Recent experiments have shown that bees are blind to red; to them it means black. And it is discovered that they can see the ultra-violet, which cannot be seen by our eyes. 
Bees do sometimes visit what we call red flowers, but such flowers always have some mixture of other colors. 
A wild rose called the Dog Rose attracts all kinds of insects with its pink flowers. It does not give nectar, but supplies rich pollen. 

LESSON XIV
LITTLE BROTHER'S SECRET
When my birthday was coming 
Little Brother had a secret: 
He kept it for days and days 
And just hummed a little tune when I asked him. 
But one night it rained 
And I woke up and heard him crying: 
Then he told me. 
"I planted two lumps of sugar in your garden 
Because you love it so frightfully.  
I thought there would be a whole sugar tree for your birthday, 
And now it will all be melted." 
O the darling! 
--Katherine Mansfield

LESSON XV
THE TOWN MUSICIANS (I)
A donkey, who was too old to work, heard his master say that he must be sold. 
" I will not stay here to be sold," thought the donkey. " I will go to Bremen and play in the band."  
He had not gone far, when he saw a dog lying on the ground. 
" Why are you lying there? " he asked. 
" Oh!" said the dog, " I am too old to help my master. He says that I must be killed, so I have run away." 
" Will you come with me?" said the donkey. " I am going to Bremen in order to play in the band. I will blow the horn and you can beat the drum." 
" Very well," said the dog, and they went on together. 
They soon came to a cat, sitting in the road, and looking as sad as three wet days. " Why are you sad? " asked the donkey.  
" How can I be happy? " said the cat. 
" I am too old to catch mice, and I like to lie behind the stove and purr. My master says that I must be killed, so I have run away." 
" Come with us to Bremen," said the donkey. " You often sing at night, so you can be in our band." 
" With all my heart," said the cat, and they went on together. 
After a long walk they came to a farmyard. A rooster stood on the gate, crowing and screaming. 
" Why are you screaming so? " asked the donkey. 
"I will tell you," said the rooster. " My master says that I must be cooked for the Sunday dinner. I do not wish to be eaten, so I shall scream as long as I can." 
" Listen," said the donkey. " Would you like to run away with us? We are going to Bremen. You have a good voice and can sing in our band." 
" Thank you," said the rooster, and they all went on together. 
At night they came to a forest. 
" Let us stay here," said the donkey, and he lay down on the ground. The dog lay down, too. The rooster flew to one of the trees and the cat climbed on to one of the branches. 

LESSON XVI
THE TOWN MUSICIANS (II) 
Before they went to sleep, the rooster saw a light in the forest. 
He called to his friends and told them what he saw. 
" It must come from a house," said the donkey. " Let us go on and see. " 
" Yes, " said the dog. " I should like some meat or a good bone for my supper." 
When they reached the house, they saw that the light came from a very high window. " How can we see into the room?" said the cat. 
"I am not tall enough to do so," said the dog. 
"Nor am I," said the donkey. 
At last they thought of a plan. 
The donkey stood under the window and the dog stood on his back. The cat climbed to the dog's back, and the rooster flew up and stood on the cat's head.  
" What can you see?" asked the donkey.  
" What can I see? " said the rooster. " I can see four robbers sitting at a table. They have bread and meat, and many good things to eat." 
" That ought to be our supper," said the dog. 
" Yes! yes! " cried the cat. " I wish we could get into the room. I am so hungry that I cannot go to sleep." 
" We must drive the robbers away," said the rooster. " How can it be done? "  
Then the four friends tried and tried to think of a good plan.  
At last the donkey said, " I know how we can frighten the robbers. When I count three, make as much noise as you can. Now! One! Two! Three!" 
What a noise they made! The donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed and the rooster crowed. 
The robbers jumped up from the table and ran into the woods as fast as they could. The four friends went into the house and helped themselves to the food. 
When they had eaten their supper, they put out the light and went to bed.  
The donkey lay down in the yard. The dog went behind the door. The cat curled up in front of the fire and the rooster flew to the back of a chair.  
They were all very tired and they soon fell fast asleep. 
It was in the middle of the night that one of the robbers came back to the house. It was dark and still. 
He went into the room to light a match. 
The cat's eyes looked burning like so many balls of fire and he tried to scratch the match on them. 
The cat did not like this, so she flew up and scratched him in the face. The robber was frightened and ran to the door. 
The dog jumped out and bit him in the leg. 
The donkey gave him a kick as he ran through the yard. 
The rooster cried out, " Cock-a-doodle-doo!  
" I shall never go near that house again," cried the robber, as he ran back to his friends. 
" Nor shall I! Nor shall I!" they said one after another, and they ran out of the woods as fast as they could. 
The donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster liked their new home enough to live in. The last time that I heard of them, they were still living in the little house in the woods. 

CLOTHS(2)
Cotton calico corduroy 
Korean cloth muslin
Velveteen silk
rayon(=artificial silk) velvet
Plush linen(=flax)
Staple fibre

LESSON XVII
THE RAILWAY TRAIN 
Railway trains started in England. There were many coal-mines there, and men had found that the carts carrying coal could be pulled more easily if they were put on tracks.  Then they laid the same kind of tracks on roads for other carts to run on. These carts roads were pulled by donkeys and horses. 
But the steam-engine had been invented, and a man thought of using the steam-engine to pull the carts or cars. So trains of cars on tracks began to be pulled by steam-power. This was a little over a hundred years ago, but trains did not come until men had tried many different plans for fifty years or more. 
The picture shows one of the first carriages run by steam. It had a large copper boiler in front, and it went only three miles an hour. Every fifteen minutes it had to stop so that the boiler might be filled with water again. 
Then came the locomotive, which pulled carriages filled with passengers. It was called the Iron Horse. The smoke and sparks from the engine blew back in the people's faces, and they were afraid that it would blow up or set something on fire.  
Here is a picture of the second locomotive built in the United States. The car in front was piled high with bales of cotton. This was to protect the passengers. The cotton would save them if the engine blew up. 
In a few years locomotives were made to run faster and faster, and railroads were built in many parts of our country. The passenger-cars were made more comfortable, and heavy loads of freight were carried.  
--Adapted from " The Story Book of Transportation " 

LESSON XVIII
BURIED SUNSHINE  
Long, long ago, there was an age when fish and reptiles lived in the sea, but neither animals nor people lived upon the earth.  
At that time thick, green forests covered the land. The great trees of these forests had strange-looking bark and fernlike leaves. Grasses and ferns grew as high as the trees. 
The ground was a swamp. The air was always hot and damp. Everything grew very fast in the steaming air and swampy ground. 
Storms often raged through the forests, and huge tree trunks crashed to the ground and lay half buried in the mud and water. 
The beautiful green trees and ferns died and decayed in the mud. Then they slowly turned into a black-looking mass. 
Layers of sand and clay were washed into the swamps by the rivers and were left on top of these black, decaying masses. In the hot, steaming air, more of these forests grew up. Through ages this happened again and again and again. 
Then a time came when earthquakes and volcanoes shook the earth's surface. The earth's crust was pushed up and down, and crumpled together. These masses of decaying matter were buried under great weights of earth and clay. 
The different lavers of vegetable matter, which had once been the growing forest, were slowly pressed into thin, dark layers of coal.  
Now you see that it took many, many forests one on top of another to make those layers of coal which are found to-day. Coal is sometimes called buried sunshine, because the years of hot sunshine helped to form it. 
--Adapted from " The Story Book of Coal"  

LESSON XIX
NEW YEAR'S FOOD 
In Japan the first month of the New Year is called Syogatu and the Japanese welcome the New Year with as much joy as Westerners do Christmas. 
Just as Western people celebrate the birth of Christ on the twenty-fifth of December, so the Children of the Rising Sun all pray for the glory of their Emperor and Empress on the first day Gwantan. 
In every Japanese house, they congratulate one another by wishing " A Happy New Year," drinking a spiced wine called toso, and eating a rice-cake soup called zoni. 
On the seventh day of the month, the pines and bamboos in front of the gate are taken down, and in the morning a rice-gruel containing the seven New Year herbs is eaten for health. This gruel is called nanakusagayu. 
Moti (rice-cake) is a special New Year's food, and in every Japanese home, two large round cakes of moti, are offered to the Gods before all the family sit around the table to eat the same food. This kind of moti is called kagamimoti, and the name seems to have come from the round shape of the ancient metal mirrors of the country.  
Other happy dishes of the New Year are made up of gomame, kuromame and kazu-noko. They are used because all of them suggest health and prosperity. 

LESSON XX 
THE ARROW AND THE SONG 
I shot an arrow into the air, 
It fell to earth, I knew not where; 
For, so swiftly it flew, 
the sight 
Could not follow it 
in its flight. 
I breathed a song into 
the air,  
It fell to earth, I knew
not where; 
For who has sight so 
keen and strong 
That it can follow the 
fight of a song ? 
Long, long afterward, 
in an oak 
I found the arrow, still 
unbroke; 
And the song from 
beginning to end,  
I found again in the 
heart of a friend. 
--H. W. Longfellow. 

LESSON XXI 
A VISIT TO AN ORANGE GROVE 
As we travel up the St. Johns in Florida, we learn that this region is the chief winter fruit garden for supplying the cities and towns of the North. We see many orchards and gardens all around us. Florida produces large quantities of early tomatoes, millions of watermelons and muskmelons, and about four million bushels of sweet potatoes a year. It gives New York and Boston their early strawberries, and produces also Japanese persimmons and plums. It has many lemon and grapefruit trees, while its two chief fruit crops are oranges and pineapples.  
We have to go some way south to reach the best orange districts. There are oranges in all parts of the state, but in the north the fruit is sometimes spoiled by frost. The orange orchard we visit lies on the banks of a river. We have no trouble in getting permission to see it. Oranges are as common here as apples are in New England, and the men tell us to go in among the trees and pick all we can eat. 
How delicious the fruit tastes when fresh from the tree! It is more juicy than any we can buy in the stores. How full the trees are! Some are so loaded that the golden balls shine out everywhere through the emerald green leaves. Single trees sometimes bear as many as five thousand oranges a year. 
We ask the owner of the grove to tell us how oranges are grown. He replies that the trees have to be planted and cultivated five or ten years before they come into bearing, and adds that certain trees have been known to be still producing fruit when more than one hundred years old. 
The orange crop is important. We produce one third of all the oranges grown in the world, and there are none more delicious than those of Florida and California. Hundreds of millions of oranges are eaten in the United States every year. We import some from Sicily, and also from the West Indies, but our best oranges are from our own country. 
--Adapted from Frank G. Carpenter: 
" North America " 

LESSON XXII
THE GAME OF TWENTY QUESTIONS 
Elizabeth--Let us play the game of " Twenty Questions." 
Jane--Yes, we will. Have you ever played the game, Helen? 
Helen--No, never, and I don't know how to play it. 
Elizabeth--Then I'll explain. One of us goes out of the room and the others choose one thing for her to guess. Then she is called back to the room, and she asks questions, but she must ask only those questions that can be answered by " Yes " or " No," and she must guess within twenty questions. You go out of the room first, Jane. 
(Elizabeth points to Annie's gold wrist-watch.) 
Elizabeth--Girls, shall we take that? 
Everybody--All right. Bessie. That will do.  
Frances--Now Jane, you may come in. 
Jane--(She goes to Frances first.) Is it something that belongs to the animal kingdom? 
Frances--No. 
Jane--(Then goes to Elizabeth.) Does it belong to the vegetable kingdom? 
Elizabeth--No. You asked twice. 
Jane--Is it in this room? 
Helen--Yes. 
Jane--Is it a small thing?
Annie--Yes. 
Jane--Is it square? 
Frances--No. 
Jane--Is it long? 
Elizabeth--No. 
Jane--Is it on the table? 
Helen--No. 
Jane--Is it on the wall? 
Annie--No. 
Jane--Then is it near the ceiling?
Frances--No.
Jane--Is it on somebody, then? 
Elizabeth--Yes. You already asked ten times, didn't you?  
Jane--Is it on Frances? 
Helen--No. 
Jane--Is it on you, Annie? 
Annie--Yes. 
Jane--Is it made of silver? 
Frances--No. 
Jane--Is it made of glass and gold, then? 
Elizabeth--Yes. Fourteen times. 
Jane--Is it something to see with? 
Helen--No.  
Jane--Has it a face? (Some one laughs.) 
Annie--Yes.  
Jane--Has it two hands? (All laugh.) 
Frances-(Laughing.) Yes. 
Jane--Now I know what it is. It is Annie's wrist-watch. 
All--Yes, you've guessed right.  
Elizabeth--Jane, you've succeeded in eighteen questions. 

LESSON XXIII 
WHERE COFFEE COMES FROM 
Our coffee supplies come largely from the tropics of the New World. Brazil, a country in South America, produces more than two-thirds of the world's annual crop.  
That is the more remarkable since the coffee plant is a native of the mountains in the south-west of Abyssinia. Abyssinia is another name for Ethiopia, which is situated in the north of Africa. 
The custom of drinking coffee probably began with the Abyssinians, but early in the fifteenth century, it was introduced into Arabia, where it was more largely used. It was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that it began to be used in England. 
In 1718, from a coffee plant cultivated in the botanical gardens at Amsterdam, some seeds were carried to Dutch Guiana in South America, and so far as we have learnt, that was the origin of all the vast coffee plantations of the New World. 
Later, the West Indies and Java have taken the place of Arabia in producing the world's supplies, and then came Brazil's chief industry, as more than 2,000,000,000 Ibs. are exported annually. 
India is the chief coffee-growing, region in the British Empire, and exports largely to England. But in the British Isles coffee is not so popular as tea, while the opposite is the case in most Continental countries.
--Adapted from John J. Ward: "The Wonder Book of Tell Me Why"

THE THREE INNKEEPERS OR THE KING'S LEGS
There was once a farmer who got tired of farming, so he thought he would go to the town and start an inn. 
But when he got there, he found that there were two inns there already; and one of them was called The King's Head, and the other was called The King's Arms.  
"Very well," he said, " I shall call my inn The King's Legs." 
So he had a beautiful sign painted with the King's legs on it, and hung up outside. Now this turned out very well. Nobody had ever heard of an inn being called The King's Legs before, so all strangers used to come in out of curiosity, to ask why on earth the inn had got such a strange name. Then, of course, they had at least to buy a drink, and sometimes they stayed the night so as to be able to use note-paper with such a lovely address when writing to their friends; and so The King's Legs inn became the most prosperous in the town, and the new innkeeper got rich and the old innkeepers began to get poor.  
So they put their heads together, and wondered what was the reason. " I know," said the landlord of The King's Arms. " It is because he has got such a funny name for his inn. I'm going to change the name of mine." 
So he decided to call his inn in future The King's Stomach; and he took down the old sign to get a new picture painted. " Mind you make it a big one," he said to the sign-painter, " or else it won't look royal "--though, as a matter of fact, the king of that country was not particularly fat at all. 
Then he hung up the new sign and waited to see what happened. 
But what happened was not at all what he expected. Some courtiers of the King happened to be traveling that way; and, when they saw the sign, they were very angry and shocked. " What!" they cried, " The impudent creature! Fancy calling that great fat stomach the King's! As if everyone didn't know he had the slimmest and most elegant little stomach in the kingdom! " 
" What shall we do? " asked one of the courtiers. " Shall we arrest him for high treason and have his head cut off? " 
" We might do that," said another of the courtiers. " But, on the whole, wouldn't it be more fun just to throw some stones through his windows? " 
The others all agreed; so they got off their horses and began throwing stones through the windows of The King's Stomach inn until there wasn't a single pane of glass left unbroken. Then they rode on. 
So the landlord said to the landlord of The King's Head. " Well, my plan didn't work very well. Have you got one? " 
" Yes, I have," said the landlord of The King's Head. " I have thought of a very funny idea." He went and bought a curious sort of gilt bird, and shut it up tight in a glass case, and put a label on it, ' Weather-cock,' and put it in the window of his inn. 
Now it wasn't long before some people came by. "Hullo," they said, " that's a funny thing to do, to keep your weather-cock shut up in a glass case where the wind can't get at it! I wonder why he does that? " 
So they went in to ask. 
" Why do you call that funny golden bird in a glass case a ' weather-cock? ' " they asked, when they had ordered some beer. 
" Because " said the landlord, " whether cock or hen, I can't decide." 
Lots of people came in to ask the same question, and he gave them all the same answer. So now the landlord of the new inn, The King's Legs, found all the people going back to The King's Head, and himself not getting rich any more. 
So he got a large gilt egg, and went along quietly at night, and slipped it in the glass case along with the bird.  
Next day some people came by and asked the usual question and were given the usual answer. 
" But, you silly old ass!'' they cried out to the innkeeper, " anyone can see it's a hen! Why, it's laid an egg! " 
And they were so angry that they took up several of the big glass beer tankards that were about and started hitting the landlord with them on the head. It didn't hurt his head much because it was very hard, but it broke all the tankards, and he went along to see his friend about it. 
" It's a funny thing," said his friend, " but whatever we do, it always seems to end in glass being broken." 
" That means," said the other one, " there must be some sort of magic in it." 
" Well, in that case," said the first one, " we had better go and see the Village Witch, and ask for her advice." 
So they went to the Village Witch, who happened to be also the District Nurse. 
" There is only one thing to be done," said the witch. " We must kill him." 
" Well, will you do it for us if we pay you? " asked the innkeepers. 
" Certainly," said the witch, and putting on her nurse's uniform, she bicycled round to The King's Legs. There she found the landlord in the parlor at the back. 
" Dear, dear! " she said. " I am sorry to hear you are so ill." 
" Am I? " said the landlord " I hadn't heard." 
" Perhaps not, but I had! " said the witch firmly, " You had better go to bed." 
So he went to bed, and she nursed him a bit and then said she would come back the next morning to see how he was. 
The next day she came in the morning and went up to his room, looking very sad.  
" You can't think," she said, " how sorry I was when I heard you had died in the night." At that the innkeeper looked very pale and frightened. 
" What! " he said. " Died in the night! Are you sure? Nobody told me." 
" No," she said firmly; " but they told me! I'll send the undertaker round this afternoon to measure you for your coffin." 
It happened that the undertaker was busy that afternoon and couldn't come; but he came the next morning. 
" Good morning," he said, " I have come to bury you." 
" What!" cried the innkeeper, who was just as clever as the witch; " hadn't you heard? "" Heard what? " said the undertaker. 
" Why, I was buried yesterday afternoon! When you didn't come, I got the undertaker from the next town, and he buried me." 
The undertaker was very sorry at that because he didn't like losing a job, but there was nothing to be done if the innkeeper had been buried already; so he just went away. Then the innkeeper got up and dressed and went down and started serving drinks in the bar. Presently the witch and the two other innkeepers looked in, to see if he was safely buried yet.  
When they saw him quite well and serving drinks they were very upset. 
" Good gracious! " exclaimed the witch,"what are you doing here? " 
"What! " exclaimed the innkeeper. " But surely you must have heard! I am the new landlord of The King's Legs! They buried the last one yesterday afternoon, poor chap! " 
At that the two other innkeepers and the witch were so upset that, without saying a word, they all three ran hand in hand down the village street to the village pond and drowned themselves; and the landlord of The King's Legs got a small paint-brush and wrote on the bottom of his sign in white paint: Under Entirely New Management. --From Richard Hughes: " The Spider's Palace " 

FATHER CHRISTMAS
(A Play for Children)
CHARACTERS
Helen
Richard
Father Christmas
Scenery.--A night nursery. Fireplace at back. A bed on each side of the room with foot facing front. Richard and Helen are asleep in the beds. The room is almost dark when the curtain goes up. There is a window at the back, and a moonlight effect can be produced by electric torch behind the window. Helen and Richard are asleep. There is a thumping noise which comes from the chimney. Some small pieces of brick and some soot fall on to the floor.

Scene I
H. Richard, Richard! Are you awake?
R. (Sleepily). Yes. What is it? Has he come?
H. (Louder). Richard! (More thumps in chimney.)
R. What's the matter?
H. Don't you hear? There's a noise. Listen. (More noise.)
R. (Sits up in bed). Do you think it's Father Christmas?
H. (Sits up) I think it must be.
Voice. (From chimney). Help! Help!
H. What is it?
Voice. I'm stuck.
H. How dreadful! You got down last year. 
Voice. (Puffing). I know. Must have got fatter. Wife made me put on extra waistcoat.
R. (Softly). Helen!
H. It's all right, Dickie. He won't hurt you. Don't be frightened.
R. (Indignantly). I'm not frightened.
H. (Loud). Can we do anything?
Voice. Only one thing's any good.
H. What?
Voice. A spell to make the chimney give way a bit; and I can't get at my spelling book.
R. Helen's very good at spelling.
H. Sh! Richard!
Voice. (Hopefully). Is she?
R. (Eagerly). Yes.
Voice. Can she spell the first column in the book? It's got something about chimney in it, I'm certain.
H. Yes. I know.
C-H-I-M-N-E-Y. Chimney.
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S. Christmas.
R-E-L-E-A-S-E. Release.
Voice. That's it. That's it. Say it there times.
(Helen repeats there times.)
Voice. Hooray. I'm coming!
H.&R. He's coming! (Noise of bricks and soot.)
(Father Christmas's legs appear in fireplace.)
--Curtain-

Scene II
(Father Christmas is in the middle of the floor. It is lighter. Helen and Richard are sitting up in bed. Toys on the beds at the end.)
F.C. There, I think that's all there is for you. But remember, no looking till tomorrow.
H. Of course not. Thank you so much. I'm sure they're lovely. Thank Father Christmas, Richard.
R. (Shyly). Thank you very much.
F.C. Well, I'd better be off. It'll have to be the window this time. I don't want to try that chimney again. 
H. Oh, dear, I'm afraid you won't be able to get through. It's got bars outside.
F.C. Good gracious! I certainly can't stay here all night.
R. Can't you go through the door?
F.C. (Indignantly). My dear Richard! Did you ever hear of Father Christmas going through a door? It would never do. I won't hear of it.
H. At the pantomime the Fairy Queen came through the floor.
F.C. The very thing! Do you remember how she did it?
H. Oh, yes, she said:--
Di, doh, dum, doo,
Open, floor, and let me through!
F.C. Of course, of course. That's how it is done. My memory's shocking. What is there underneath?
H. The dining-room. And it has very large windows.
F.C. Capital. (Louder.) Hullo, you reindeer!
Can you hear me? (Noise of bells above.)
Meet me outside the dining-room windows in three minutes sharp. (Bells again.) I think, if you don't mind, we'd better all say the charm together; it's stronger that way. But be sure to say "him" instead of "me" or you might find your beds in the dining-room.
R. That would be fun!
H. Oh no, Dick! 
F.C. Of course not. Now then.
All Together. Di, doh, dum, doo,
Open, floor, and let him through!
F.C. Good-bye, Helen. Good-bye, Richard.
H.&R. Good-bye. Good-bye.
(Father Christmas disappears through floor. Bumps, and then bells.)
H. He's off. Was'nt it exciting?
R. I'm going to sleep to make to-morrow come quickly so that I can see my presents.
H. But was'nt it exciting? Dick! Dick! 
He's asleep. I shan't go to sleep. I shall lie awake and think about it all.
About Father Christmas, and chimneys, and charms, and fairies, and ...good night, Dick.
R. (Sleepily). Good night.
--Curtain-
--From Rose Fyleman: "Eight Little Plays For Children"

The Last Rose of Summer
'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone,
All her lovely companions 
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rose-bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
Or give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one,
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o'er the bed.
Where thy mates of the garden 
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow, 
When friendships decay,
And from Love's shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered,
And fond ones are flown, 
Oh! Who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?
--Thomas Moore