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Page 33
How bad all this looks, and how very bad it really is! The friends of such
children are never encouraged to make them presents. They rather avoid
doing so; for they know that their greedy, envious, covetous spirit, will
turn the good things they would offer them into causes of strife and
unhappiness.
THE BOY AND THE ROBIN.
I.
So now, pretty robin, you've come to my door;
I wonder you never have ventured before:
'Tis likely you thought I would do you some harm;
But pray, sir, what cause have you seen for alarm?
II.
You seem to be timid--I'd like to know why--
Did I ever hurt you? What makes you so shy?
You shrewd little rogue, I've a mind, ere you go,
To tell you a thing it concerns you to know.
III
You think I have never discovered your nest;
'Tis hid pretty snugly, it must be confessed.
Ha! ha! how the boughs are entwined all around!
No wonder you thought it would never be found.
IV.
You're as cunning a robin as ever I knew;
And yet, ha! ha! ha! I'm as cunning as you!
I know all about your nice home on the tree--'Twas
nonsense to try to conceal it from me.
V.
I know--for but yesterday I was your guest--
How many young robins there are in your nest;
And pardon me, sir, if I venture to say,
They've had not a morsel of dinner to-day.
VI.
But you look very sad, pretty robin, I see,
As you glance o'er the meadow, to yonder green tree;
I fear I have thoughtlessly given you pain,
And I will not prattle so lightly again.
VII.
Go home, where your mate and your little ones dwell;
Though I know where they are, yet I never will tell;
Nobody shall injure that leaf-covered nest,
For sacred to me is the place of your rest.
VIII.
Adieu! for you want to be flying away,
And it would be cruel to ask you to stay;
But come in the morning, come early, and sing,
For dearly I love you, sweet warbler of spring.
SOMETHING ABOUT CONSCIENCE:
OR MR MASON'S STORY.
Two little boys, Robert and Samuel, were one day assisting the gardener
about some flower-beds. They were rather young to be of much service to the
old man, and gave him some trouble, once in a while, by the clumsy way in
which they did their work. Still, they meant to please the gardener, and he
ought not to have got out of patience, if they did now and then make a
blunder. Well, he was usually very patient and kind; but that day, for some
reason or another, things did not go right with him at all. Pianos and
violins, though they sometimes make sweet music, get out of tune
occasionally, and then, no matter what you try to play on them, nothing
sounds well. It is so with men and women too often; and with boys and
girls, too, it is to be feared. At any rate, it was so with Mr Mason's
gardener, at the time I speak of. He was peevish and fretful, and said some
harsh things to Robert, because he accidentally destroyed a fine tulip with
his spade. Robert cried, and said he did not mean to do it. Then the old
man was sorry, but, probably feeling too proud to confess it, he was silent
for a long time. By and by, however, he told Robert that his conscience
troubled him on account of his speaking so unkindly, and he hoped the
little boy would forgive him. So you see the gardener was a good man,
although he was hasty at that time. Robert cheerfully forgave him, and
things went on a good deal better. The boys tried to be more careful, and
the gardener tried to be more patient.
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