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Page 15
"I mean rev--enge," he said; "now you under'tand." And he looked so
happy and proud at having said the word right at last that I quite
envied him. I rather think Sylvie didn't "under'tand" at all; but she
gave him a little kiss on each cheek, which seemed to do just as well.
So they wandered off lovingly together, in among the buttercups, each
with an arm twined round the other, whispering and laughing as they
went, and never so much as once looked back at poor me. Yes, once, just
before I quite lost sight of them, Bruno half turned his head, and
nodded me a saucy little good-bye over one shoulder. And that was all
the thanks I got for _my_ trouble.
I know you're sorry the story's come to an end--aren't you?--so I'll
just tell you one thing more. The very last thing I saw of them was
this: Sylvie was stooping down with her arms round Bruno's neck, and
saying coaxingly in his ear, "Do you know, Bruno, I've quite forgotten
that hard word; do say it once more. Come! Only this once, dear!"
But Bruno wouldn't try it again.
THE MOCKING-BIRD AND THE DONKEY.
(_From the Spanish of the Mexican poet Jos� Rosas_.)
BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
A mock-bird in a village
Had somehow gained the skill
To imitate the voices
Of animals at will.
And singing in his prison,
Once, at the close of day,
He gave, with great precision,
The donkey's heavy bray.
Well pleased, the mock-bird's master
Sent to the neighbors 'round,
And bade them come together
To hear that curious sound.
They came, and all were talking
In praise of what they heard,
And one delighted lady
Would fain have bought the bird.
A donkey listened sadly,
And said: "Confess I must
That these are shallow people,
And terribly unjust.
"I'm bigger than the mock-bird,
And better bray than he,
Yet not a soul has uttered
A word in praise of me."
THE FAMOUS HORSES OF VENICE.
BY MARY LLOYD.
No doubt you all know something of Venice, that wonderful and
fairy-like city which seems to rise up out of the sea; with its bridges
and gondolas; its marble palaces coming down to the water's edge; its
gay ladies and stately doges. What a magnificent pageant was that which
took place every Ascension Day, when the doge and all his court sailed
grandly out in the "Bucentaur," or state galley, with gay colors
flying, to the tune of lively music, and went through the oft-repeated
ceremony of dropping a ring into the Adriatic, in token of marriage
between the sea and Venice! This was a custom instituted as far back as
1177. The Venetians having espoused the cause of the pope, Alexander
III., against the emperor, Frederic Barbarossa, gained a great victory
over the imperial fleet, and the pope, in grateful remembrance of the
event, presented the doge with the ring symbolizing the subjection of
the Adriatic to Venice.
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