Loe raamatut: «The Nursery, April 1873, Vol. XIII», lehekülg 2
THE SONG OF THE KETTLE
My house is old, the rooms are low,
The windows high and small;
And a great fireplace, deep and wide,
Is built into the wall.
There, on a hanging chimney-hook,
My little kettle swings;
And, in the dreary winter-time,
How cheerily it sings!
My kettle will not sing to-day—
What could it sing about?
For it is empty, it is cold:
The fire is all gone out.
Go, bring to me, to fill it up,
Fresh water from the spring;
And I will build a rousing fire,
And that will make it sing!
Bring white bark from the silver birch,
And pitch-knots from the pine;
And here are shavings, long and white,
That look as ribbons fine.
The little match burns faint and blue,
But serves the fire to light;
And all around my kettle, soon,
The flames are rising bright.
Crack, crack! begins the hemlock-branch,
Snap, snap! the chestnut stick;
And up the wide old chimney now
The sparks are flying thick.
Like fire-flies on a summer night,
They go on shining wings;
And, hark! above the roaring blaze
My little kettle sings!
The robin carols in the spring;
In summer hums the bee:
But, in the dreary winter, give
The kettle's song to me.
Marian Douglas.
CLARENCE'S KITTENS
Clarence is a little boy who loves to read "The Nursery," and often laughs at the funny stories in it.
Where Clarence lives, there are two kittens. He calls them kittens; but they are both grown-up kittens, and the elder of the two is a full-grown cat. One is named Ring, because she has such a pretty white ring about her neck; and the other is named Daisy.
Now, Daisy is Ring's aunt, and is sometimes very cross to her niece. Being a sedate cat herself, she tries to stop Ring's fun; but Ring is a happy kitten, and always tries to have a good time.
One day, after coming from church, Clarence's aunt was reading, when the dinner-bell rang. So she left her book on the window-sill, and laid her spectacles upon it.
Pretty soon old Daisy seated herself in a very dignified way right in front of the book. In a few minutes, little Ring came frisking along, and, without paying the least regard to Madam Daisy, up she jumped, and whisked the spectacles down on the carpet.
She was just ready to send them flying across the room, when down came Madam Daisy as stern as a police-officer. She looked at Ring a moment, in a crushing way, then lifted her paw, and boxed the naughty kitten's ears till she mewed for mercy.
Ring ran away as soon as she could, and left the spectacles for Clarence's mamma to pick up; while old Daisy took her seat on the window-sill again, and seemed to feel that she had done her duty.
Clarence thought it was a funny sight to see one cat punish another. What do you think about it, little Nursery people?
Mrs. L. A. White.
THE TIGER'S TOILET
This splendid tiger lived in the Zoölogical Gardens at Berlin. He had a very kind keeper named Peens, who used to comb out the long waving hair that grew on his cheeks.
He looks in the picture as though he were very angry, and were growling and snarling terribly; but though he did gnash his teeth, and make a fearful noise, he enjoyed his hair-dressing very much. I have seen some children who acted like this tiger when their hair was combed; but that was because they were really cross. He is not.
Whenever he saw Peens coming toward his cage with the comb in his hand, this tiger would at once throw himself down close to the bars, with his head pressed against them, as you see him here, as if he would say, "I'm all ready, Peens, go ahead!" This showed how much he liked the feeling of the comb.
But, after all, he never forgot that he was a tiger; for if, by accident, Peens pulled his hair, he would give a dreadful growl, and look as if he would like to eat him up in a minute. Then Peens would stop for a moment, until he was good natured again.
A few weeks ago this beautiful and intelligent tiger died. In his last hours he mewed constantly with pain, like a great cat, and was only quiet when Peens came to the bars, and stroked his cheeks. When the keeper went away, he would call after him.
Peens felt very badly at losing his tiger; and I am sure he must have been a very kind keeper to him.
Even a tiger may be taught love and gratitude by kind treatment.
Elizabeth Sill.
