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THE
BEACON SECOND READER

BY
JAMES H. FASSETT

GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON - NEW YORK - CHICAGO - LONDON
ATLANTA - DALLAS - COLUMBUS - SAN FRANCISCO


COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY JAMES H. FASSETT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
431.1

The Athenaeum Press

GINN AND COMPANY - PROPRIETORS -
BOSTON - U.S.A.




PREFACE


In the "Beacon Second Reader" the author has chosen for his stories only
those of recognized literary merit; and while it has been necessary to
rearrange and sometimes rewrite them for the purpose of simplification,
yet he has endeavored to retain the spirit which has served to endear
these ancient tales to the children of all ages. The fairy story appeals
particularly to children who are in the second school year. It has been
proved by our ablest psychologists that at about this period of
development, children are especially susceptible to the stimulus of the
old folklore. They are in fact passing through the stage which
corresponds to the dawn of the human race, when demons, dragons,
fairies, and hobgoblins were as firmly believed in as rivers and
mountains.

As a test of this theory the author asked hundreds of second-grade and
third-grade school children to recall the stories which they had read
during the preceding year, and to express their preferences. The choice
of more than ninety per cent proved to be either folklore stories, pure
and simple, or such tales as contained the folklore element. To be sure,
children like other stories, but they respond at once with sparkling
eyes and animated voices when the fairy tale is suggested. How unwise,
therefore, it is to neglect this powerful stimulus which lies ready at
our hands! Even a pupil who is naturally slow will wade painfully and
laboriously through a fairy story, while he would throw down in disgust
an account of the sprouting of the bean or the mining of coal.

It can hardly be questioned, moreover, that the real culture which the
child derives from these literary classics is far greater than that
which he would gain from the "information" stories so common in the
average second and third readers.




CONTENTS


                                                              PAGE
THE SHIP                            _Old English Rhyme_         13
THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN YOUNG KIDS   _William and Jacob Grimm_   14
THEY DIDN'T THINK                   _Phoebe Cary_               22
TOM THUMB                           _English Fairy Tale_        24
SUPPOSE                             _Alice Cary_                34
CINDERELLA                          _English Fairy Tale_        36
RAINDROPS                           _Ann Hawkshawe_             43
THE FOUR FRIENDS                    _William and Jacob Grimm_   44
LITTLE BIRDIE                       _Alfred Tennyson_           54
MOTHER FROST                        _William and Jacob Grimm_   55
IF EVER I SEE                       _Lydia Maria Child_         65
WHY THE BEAR'S TAIL IS SHORT        _German Folk Tale_          66
RUMPELSTILTSKIN                     _William and Jacob Grimm_   70
BED IN SUMMER                       _Robert Louis Stevenson_    81
THE GOLDEN TOUCH                    _Greek Myth_                82
OVER IN THE MEADOW                  _Olive A. Wadsworth_        89
THE BELL OF ATRI                    _German Folk Tale_          92
THE BABY                            _Hugh Miller_               96
BRUCE AND THE SPIDER                _Scottish Tradition_        97
THE WISE LITTLE PIG                 _Anonymous_                100
AN INDIAN STORY                                                102
A GOOD PLAY                         _Robert Louis Stevenson_   112
DICK WHITTINGTON                    _English Folk Tale_        113
THE NEW MOON                        _Eliza Lee Follen_         124
BRIAR ROSE                          _William and Jacob Grimm_  126
ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL                _Mrs. C.F. Alexander_      135
THE BAKER BOYS AND THE BEES         _German Folk Tale_         136
FALLING SNOW                        _Anonymous_                142
LITTLE GOODY TWO SHOES              _Ascribed to Goldsmith_    143
ONE STEP AND THEN ANOTHER           _Anonymous_                157
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING         _Lord Houghton_            158
DAVID AND GOLIATH                   _Adapted from the Bible_   160
PHONETIC TABLES                                                167





[Illustration]




THE SHOEMAKER AND THE ELVES--I

shoemaker  beautiful  to-morrow  leather
already  bought  sew  enough


A shoemaker and his wife lived in a little house on the edge of a wood.

They were very, very poor, and each day they grew poorer and poorer.

At last there was nothing left in the house but leather for one pair of
shoes.

"I will cut out this last pair of shoes," the shoemaker said to his
wife.

"To-morrow I will sew them and peg them."

So he cut out the leather and left it on his bench.

The next morning he went into his shop to make the shoes.

What did he see!

A pair of shoes, all nicely made and ready to be sold.

The stitches were so fine and the shoes so well made that they were
quickly sold.

With the money the poor shoemaker bought leather for two pairs of shoes.

Then he said to his wife, "I will cut out the leather for two pairs of
shoes.

To-morrow I will sew them and peg them."

So he cut out the leather for the shoes and left it on his bench.

The next morning when he went into his shop to make the shoes, what did
he find!

[Illustration]

Yes, there were two pairs of shoes already made.

The work was so well done that those shoes were also sold very quickly.

With the money the poor shoemaker bought enough leather for four pairs
of shoes.

Those he also cut out and left upon his bench.

The next morning he found four pairs of beautiful shoes, all well made.

And so it went on and on. Instead of being a very poor shoemaker, he
became a very rich shoemaker.

His shoes were so well made that even the queen herself wore them.

[Illustration]


THE SHOEMAKER AND THE ELVES--II

At last the shoemaker said to his wife, "We must find out who makes the
shoes."

So one bright moonlight night they hid behind a curtain, where they
could watch the bench and not be seen.

Just on the stroke of midnight, two little elves jumped through the
window.

They went skipping and dancing up to the bench.

Sitting cross-legged they took up the leather and began to work.

How their needles flew back and forth, back and forth!

How their little hammers beat rap-a-tap-tap, rap-a-tap-tap!

Almost before the shoemaker and his wife could think, the work was all
done.

The tiny elves ran about, skipping and dancing, skipping and dancing.

Then, whisk! quick as a wink, they were gone.

The next morning the good shoemaker said to his wife, "What can we do
for those dear little elves?"

"I should like very much to make some clothes for them," said his wife.
"They were almost naked."

"If you will make their coats, I will make them some shoes," said the
shoemaker. "Their little feet were bare."

When the clothes and shoes were ready, they were put upon the bench.

[Illustration]

The shoemaker and his wife again hid behind the curtain.

Just as before, when the clock struck twelve, in jumped the tiny elves.

They went skipping and dancing, skipping and dancing, to their work.

They saw the little coats, the tiny stockings, and the neat little
shoes.

They clapped their hands for joy.

Then, slipping on their clothes, they skipped, hand in hand, out of the
window.

The shoemaker and his wife never saw the little elves again, but after
that night, good luck seemed always to be with them.

_English Folk Tale_




    THE SHIP

    laden  move


    I saw a ship a-sailing,
      A-sailing on the sea;
    And, oh, it was all laden
      With pretty things for thee!

    There were comfits in the cabin,
      And apples in the hold;
    The sails were made of silk,
      And the masts were made of gold.

    The four and twenty sailors
      That stood between the decks
    Were four and twenty white mice,
      With chains about their necks.

    The captain was a duck,
      With a jacket on his back;
    And when the ship began to move,
      The captain said, "Quack! quack!"


    _Old English Rhyme_




[Illustration]

THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN YOUNG KIDS--I

quietly  rough    piece  scissors
learned  thought  chalk  youngest


There was once an old goat who had seven little kids.

She loved them all as much as any mother ever loved her children.

One day the old goat wished to go into the woods to get food for her
kids.

Before she started she called them all to her and said:

"Dear children, I am going into the woods.

Now do not open the door while I am away.

If the old wolf should get into our hut, he would eat you all up, and
not a hair would be left.

You can easily tell him by his rough voice and his black feet."

"Dear mother," cried all the young kids, "we will be very careful not to
let the old wolf in.

You need not think of us at all, for we shall be quite safe."

So the old goat went on her way into the dark woods.

She had not been gone long when there came a loud rap at the door, and a
voice cried:

"Open the door, my dear children. I have something here for each of
you."

But the young kids knew by the rough voice that this was the old wolf.

So one of them said, "We shall not open the door. Our mother's voice is
soft and gentle. Your voice is rough. You are a wolf."

The old wolf ran away to a shop, where he ate a piece of white chalk to
make his voice soft.

Then he went back to the goat's hut and rapped at the door.

He spoke in a soft voice and said, "Open the door for me, my dear
children. I am your mother."

But the oldest little goat thought of what his mother had said.

"If you are our mother, put your foot on the window sill, that we may
see it."

When the wolf had done this, all the little goats cried out, "No, you
are not our mother. We shall not open the door. Our mother's feet, are
white and yours are black. Go away; you are the wolf."

[Illustration]

Then the wolf went to the miller's, and said to him, "Mr. Miller, put
some flour on my foot, for I have hurt it."

The miller was so afraid of the wolf that he did as he was told.

Then the wicked wolf went to the goat's house again and said, "Open the
door, dear children, for I am your mother."

"Show us your foot," said the little kids.

So the wolf put his one white foot on the window sill.

When the little kids saw that it was white, they thought this was really
their mother, and they opened the door.

In jumped the ugly old wolf, and all the little kids ran to hide
themselves.

The first hid under the table, the second in the bed, the third in the
oven, the fourth in the kitchen, the fifth in the cupboard, the sixth
under the washtub, and the seventh, who was the smallest of all, in the
tall clock.

The wolf quickly found and gobbled up all but the youngest, who was in
the clock.

Then the wolf, who felt sleepy, went out and lay down on the green
grass.

Soon he was fast asleep.


THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN YOUNG KIDS--II

Not long after this the old goat came home from the woods.

Ah, what did she see! The house door was wide open; the tables and
chairs were upset.

The washtub was broken in pieces, and the bed was tipped over.

"Where are my dear children?" cried the poor goat.

At last she heard a little voice crying, "Dear mother, here I am in the
tall clock."

The old goat helped the little goat out.

Soon she learned how the wolf had eaten her dear children.

Then she went out of the hut, and there on the grass lay the wolf sound
asleep.

As the goat looked at the wicked old wolf, she thought she saw something
jumping about inside him.

"Ah," she said, "it may be that my poor children are still alive."

So she sent the little kid into the house for a pair of scissors and a
needle and some thread.

She quickly cut a hole in the side of the wicked old wolf.

At the first snip of the scissors, one of the kids stuck out his head.

As the old goat cut, more and more heads popped out.

At last all six of the kids jumped out upon the grass.

They went hopping and skipping about their mother.

Then the old goat said to them, "Go and bring me some large stones from
the brook."

The seven little kids ran off to the brook and soon came back with seven
large stones.

They put these stones inside the wicked old wolf.

[Illustration]

The old goat sewed up the wolf's side so gently and quietly that he did
not wake up nor move.

When at last the wicked wolf did wake up, the great stones inside him
made him feel very heavy.

He was thirsty, too, so he walked down to the brook to drink.

The stones were so heavy that they tipped him over the edge of the bank
into the deep water, and he was drowned.

WILLIAM AND JACOB GRIMM




    THEY DIDN'T THINK

    danger  folks  seized


    Once a trap was baited
      With a piece of cheese;
    It tickled so a little mouse,
      It almost made him sneeze.
    An old rat said, "There's danger,
      Be careful where you go!"
    "Nonsense!" said the other,
      "I don't think you know!"
    So he walked in boldly--
      Nobody in sight--
    First he took a nibble,
      Then he took a bite;
    Close the trap together
      Snapped as quick as wink,
    Catching mousey fast there,
      'Cause he didn't think.

    Once there was a robin,
      Lived outside the door,
    Who wanted to go inside
      And hop upon the floor.
    "No, no," said the mother,
      "You must stay with me;
    Little birds are safest
      Sitting in a tree."
    "I don't care," said Robin,
      And gave his tail a fling,
    "I don't think the old folks
      Know quite everything."
    Down he flew, and kitty seized him
      Before he'd time to blink;
    "Oh," he cried, "I'm sorry,
      But I didn't think."

    PHOEBE CARY

[Illustration]




[Illustration]

TOM THUMB--I

thumb  people  suit  reins  fought
frightened  brought  thistledown


In the days of King Arthur, there lived a wise man named Merlin.

He knew all the fairies and where they lived.

Even the fairy queen was a friend of his.

Once, while he was traveling, night overtook him in a deep forest.

He rapped at the door of a small cottage and asked for some food.

Merlin looked so hungry and poor that the farmer and his wife took pity
on him.

They not only gave him a bowl of milk with some brown bread, but they
said he might stay through the night.

Merlin saw that, in spite of their pleasant cottage, both the farmer and
his wife were very sad.

"Why are you sad?" asked Merlin.

"You seem to have a good farm, a pleasant cottage, and many things to
make you happy."

"Ah!" said the woman, "we are unhappy because we have no child.

I should be the happiest woman in the world if I had a son.

Why, even if he were no bigger than my husband's thumb, we should love
him dearly."

"That would be indeed a very strange kind of child," said Merlin, "but
I hope you may have your wish."

Now Merlin was on his way to call on the queen of the fairies.

When he came to her castle the next day, he told the fairy queen the
wish of the farmer's wife.

The queen of the fairies said, "The good woman shall have her wish. I
will give her a son no larger than her husband's thumb."


TOM THUMB--II

Soon after this the good farmer's wife had a son. He was, indeed, just
the size of his father's thumb.

People came from far and wide to see the tiny boy.

One day the fairy queen and some other fairies came to see him.

The queen kissed the little boy and named him Tom Thumb.

[Illustration]

Each of the other fairies made Tom a gift.

He had a shirt made of silk from a spider's web, a coat of thistledown,
a hat made from the leaf of an oak, tiny shoes made from a mouse's skin,
and many other gifts besides.

Tom never grew any larger than a man's thumb, but he could do many
clever tricks.

One day his mother was mixing a pudding.

Tom leaned over the edge of the bowl to see how it was made.

He slipped, and in he went, head first.

His mother did not see him fall, and kept stirring and stirring the
pudding.

Tom could not see nor hear, but he kicked and kicked inside the pudding.

The pudding moved and tossed about.

His mother was afraid.

She did not know what to think.

"There must be witches in it," she said.

She went to the window to throw the pudding out.

Just then a poor beggar was passing by the house.

"Here is a pudding you may have, if you like," said Tom's mother.

The beggar thanked her and put it into his basket.

He had not gone very far, when Tom got his head out of the pudding and
shouted in a shrill voice:

"Take me out!