Aye, still depressed, and dim with dew;
But wait a little while,
And, with the radiant, deathless rose, The wilderness shall smile.
And every tender, living thing Shall feed by streams of rest;Nor lambs shall from the flock be lost,
Nor nestling from the nest.
John Ruskin
Author.-John Ruskin (1819-1900) was born in London and educated at Oxford. He was an author, art critic, and social reformer.
General.-The whole poem is a free rendering of the 52nd chapterof Isaiah, with fragments from other chapters of the same book. What benefits would follow the abolition of war? Discuss what is being done now to rid the world of war. How can one help the movement?
Lesson 28
THE UGLY DUCKLING
Part I.
I T w a s g l o r i o u s o u t i n t h e countr y . I t w a s s u m m e r , a n d the cornfields were yellow, and the oats were green; the hay had been put up in stacks in the green meadows, and the stork went about on his long, red legs, and chattered Egyptian, for this was the languagehe had learned from his good mother. All around the fields andmeadows were great forests, and in the midst of these forests lay deep lakes. Yes, it was really glorious out in the country. In the midst of the sunshine there lay an old farm, surrounded by deep canals, and from the wall down to the water grew great burdocks, so high that little children could stand upright under the loftiest of them. It was just as wild there as in the deepest wood. Here sat a duck upon her nest, for she had to hatch her young ones; but she was almost tired out before the little ones came, and then she so seldom had visitors. The other ducks liked better to swim about in the canals than to run up to sit downunder a burdock, and cackle with her.
At last one egg-shell after another burst open. "Peep ! peep!" it cried, and in all the eggs there were little creatures that stuck out their heads.
"Rap! rap ! " they said; and they all came rapping out as fast as they could, looking all around them under the green leaves; and the mother let them look as much as they chose, for green is good for the eyes.
"How wide the world is! " said the young ones, for they certainly had much more room now than when they were in the eggs.
"Do you think this is all the world? " asked the mother. "That extends far across the other side of the garden, quite into the parson"s field, but I have never been there yet. I hope you are all together, " she continued, and stood up. "No, I have not all. The largest egg still lies there. How long is that to last? I am really tired of it. " And she sat down again.
"Well, how goes it? " asked an old duck, who had come to pay her a visit.
" It lasts a long time with that one egg, " said the duck, who sat there. "It will not burst. Now, only look at the others; are they not the prettiest ducks one could possibly see? They are all like their father: the bad fellow never comes to see me. ""Let me see the egg which will not burst, " said the old visitor. " Believe me, it is a turkey"s egg. I was once cheated in that way, and had much anxiety and trouble with the young ones, for they are afraid of the water. I could not get them toventure in. I quacked and clucked, but it was of no use. Let mesee the egg. Yes, that"s a turkey"s egg! Let it lie there, and you teach the other children to swim. ""I think I will sit on it a little longer, " said the duck. "I"ve satso long now that I can sit a few days more. ""Just as you please, " said the old duck; and she went away.
At last the great egg burst. "Peep! peep! " said the little one, and crept forth. It was very large and very ugly. The duck looked at it.
"It"s a very large duckling, " said she; "none of the others look like that. Can it really be a turkey chick? Now we shall soon find out. It must go into the water, even if I have to thrust it in myself. "The next day the weather was splendidly bright, and the sun shone on all the green trees. The mother-duck went down to the water with all her little ones. Splash ! she jumped into the water. "Quack! quack! " she said, and then one duckling after another plunged in. The water closed over their heads, but they came up in an instant, and swam capitally; their legs went of themselves, and there they were all in the water. The ugly grey duckling swam with them.
"No, it"s not a turkey, " said she; "look how well it can use its legs, and how upright it holds itself. It is my own child! On the whole it"s quite pretty, if one looks at it rightly. Quack! quack! Come with me, and I"ll lead you out into the great world, and present you in the poultry-yard; but keep close to me, so that no one may tread on you, and take care of the cats !" And so they came into the poultry-yard. There was a terrible riot going on in there, for two families were quarrelling aboutan eel"s head, and the cat got it after all.
"See, that"s how it goes in the world! " said the mother- duck; and she whetted her beak, for she, too, wanted the eel"s head. "Only use your legs, " she said. "See that you can bustle about, and bow your heads before the old duck yonder. She"s the grandest of all here; she"s of Spanish blood-that"s why she is so fat; and do you see she has a red rag around her leg? That"s something particularly fine, and the greatest distinction a duck can enjoy; it signifies that one does not want to lose her, and that she"s to be recognized by man and beast. Shake yourselves-don"t turn in your toes; a well-brought up duck turns its toes quite out, just like father and mother, so! Now bend your necks and say "Rap!" "And they did so; but the other ducks round about looked at them, and said quite boldly :
" Look there! now we"re to have these hanging on, as if there were not enough of us already! And-fie!- how that duckling yonder looks; we won"t stand that! " And one duck flew up immediately, and bit it in the neck.
