THE
NURSERY
A Monthly Magazine
For Youngest Readers.
BOSTON:
THE NURSERY PUBLISHING COMPANY,
No. 36 Bromfield Street.
1881.
THE NURSERY PUBLISHING COMPANY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
IN PROSE.
| PAGE | |
| The Bold Soldier-Boys | 129 |
| Papa Robin | 132 |
| Carlo and the Ducks | 135 |
| Picking Oranges | 139 |
| Mary and Jenny | 144 |
| Drawing-Lesson | 145 |
| Piggy’s Spoon | 146 |
| Bouncer | 148 |
| Harry and John | 154 |
| “Inches” | 155 |
IN VERSE.
| PAGE | |
| The Army of Geese that Came over the Lea | 131 |
| The Naughty Cat | 136 |
| The May-Queen | 141 |
| Sing, Pretty Birds | 143 |
| The Traveller | 147 |
| The Mouse-Trap | 151 |
| One Cat and Two Pigs | 152 |
| Small Beginning | 157 |
| Jenny Wren | 159 |
| Daddy Frog (with music) | 160 |
VOL. XXIX.—NO. 5.
THE BOLD SOLDIER-BOYS.
ORWARD, my brave boys!” shouted Colonel Bob,
rising in his stirrups, and waving his sword. “You
see the enemy before you. Charge!”
There stood the enemy in stern defiance,—four chairs,[130]
one table, and a sofa,—there they stood, with a plastered
wall in their rear, and calmly awaited the attack.
The fiery steed of Colonel Bob reared and plunged, as if
eager to dash upon the foe. The roll of the drum made a
fearful sound. The standard-bearer waved his flag. The
army came rushing on. Snap the dog barked furiously.
But above all the din was heard the shout of Colonel Bob,
“Forward, my brave boys!”
Not a picture started from its frame. Not a chair moved.
But all of a sudden the door opened, and a face looked in.
It was Colonel Bob’s papa.
“What’s all this noise about, Robert?” said he. “This
is not the place for such games. Go out of doors if you
want to play soldier. I can’t have such a drumming and
shouting in the house.”
This was rather a damper on Colonel Bob’s military zeal;
but what came next was still worse.
“Do any of you boys know where to-day’s ‘Advertiser’
is?” asked papa.
Colonel Bob came down from his high horse, threw aside
his plume, took off his chapeau, and handed it to his papa.
There was the “Advertiser” of that very day, folded up
as a soldier-cap.
“Well, that’s pretty business,” said his papa, laughing.
“Please give me a chance to read the papers before you use
them in this way.” And he went out and shut the door.
Colonel Bob stood leaning on his horse as if in deep
thought. At last he said, “Boys, this movement has failed.
We must change our base. Follow me.” And he led the
army out into the back garden.
THE GEESE THAT CAME OVER
THE LEA.
As we went to the sea,
When an army of geese
Came over the lea,
With a cack, cack, cackle,
And a pat, pat, patter;
And, oh, what a fright
[132]We were in, all three!
Which were the greater geese,—
Just we three,
Or the army of geese
That came over the lea?
PAPA ROBIN.
NE summer morning Elizabeth sat on the doorstep,
reading. But she looked up often to see the birds
fly about, or to watch the butterflies go sailing past.
By and by she heard a shrill chirping. “Poor
little bird,” she thought, “where can it be? Is it
hurt?” She went out into the yard, and looked about her.
There, under a tree, was a baby-bird that had fallen out of
its nest. Elizabeth took it up gently. As it lay in her
hand, it looked like a soft ball. It chirped as loud as it
could, and fluttered.
“Poor birdie,” said Elizabeth, “I will try and take you
home.” And she looked up into the tree. She could see
the nest the fledgling had tumbled out of; but she was not[133]
tall enough to reach it: so she stood on a knot in the trunk
of the tree, and put the nestling in its home.
She saw the father and the mother-bird in the tree, and
said to herself that they would take care of the little one.
Then she went back to her reading.
Pretty soon she heard the chirping again. This time she
knew where to look, and there was the baby-bird on the
ground, crying and fluttering as before.
“Papa and mamma Robin ought to take care of you,
birdling,” she said. But she stepped on the knotted tree-trunk,
and put back the bird a second time.
Then she sat down on the doorstep, and watched to see[134]
what the parent-birds would do. They flew here and there
about the nest, and sang a few notes that Elizabeth knew
must be bird-talk. She wondered if they were trying to
find a better place for their baby.
But as she was thinking how much care they were taking
of it, out tumbled the little one a third time. “You stupid
old robin!” she cried. “Do you expect some one to be
putting back your birdie for you all day? Why don’t you
keep it in the nest?”
She picked up the birdie, and was about to put it back a
third time, when, as she held it, a strange thing happened;
for down flew the robin, and gave her a sharp peck on the
forehead.
Elizabeth stood still. She didn’t know what to make of
this. But soon she began to laugh; and then she put the
baby-bird gently on the ground, and went away. She at
last understood what papa Robin meant to say to her by his
peck. This is it: “Don’t interfere when I’m teaching my
child to fly. You are very big, and perhaps you know a
great deal; but you don’t seem to know that it’s not right
to keep birds in the nest all summer. They would never
find out what their wings are for.”
CARLO AND THE DUCKS.
TOP, Carlo! Come back, sir! Be still!” cried Jane,
trying to hold the little dog by a string tied to his
collar.
But Carlo was in chase of two ducklings, and did
not mind Jane’s call. Of course the ducklings took
to the water. Carlo ran after them to the water’s edge, but
there he stopped.
What stopped him? Jane was tugging pretty hard at the
string. That was one thing that held him back; but that[136]
was not all. Carlo was not fond of the water; but he would
not have stopped for that.
I will tell you what stopped him. While the ducklings
were swimming away for dear life, the old mother-duck
came sailing boldly up, with her great yellow beak, and
faced Master Carlo.
She looked like a sloop-of-war all ready for action. Carlo
was a brave dog; but he was afraid of her, for all that. So
he stood still and barked.
Madam Duck did not mind his noise in the least. She
quacked at him fiercely. This is what she meant to say:
“Look here, my young friend, you are a dog, and I am a
duck. You are at home on the land, but I am at home on
the water. Bark as much as you please, but, if you know
what is good for your health, keep out of this pond, and let
my ducklings alone.”
“Do you hear that, Carlo?” said Jane. “Now don’t
stop to answer, but come with me like a good dog, and we
will have a run in the woods.”
And then Carlo gave up his chase of the ducks, and went
quietly where Jane led him.
THE NAUGHTY CAT.
LITTLE JACK.
Old Tab, that’s owned by aunty Gray:
She growls, and spits, and shows her claws,
As sharp as needles in her paws;
She always seems so full of spite,
She’s sure to scratch me, or to bite.
My hands,—they were a frightful sight
[138]When I came home last Saturday;
I’m sure that she would be no loss,
If she were killed, she is so cross;
Now, when I see her, “Scat, scat, scat!”
I mean to say, “you naughty cat!”
LITTLE JANE.
I’m sure she’s very good with me;
For, when I go to aunty Gray’s,
She always close beside me stays.
If I sit down, she climbs my knee,
And rubs her head against my cheek,
And acts as though she’d like to speak,
And say she wants my friend to be.
I’d rather have her for my own
Than all the cats I’ve ever known:
Black, yellow, Maltese, large and small,
Old Tab’s the nicest of them all.
JAMES.
When you have been at aunty Gray’s,
She’s proved you both, and learned your ways:
She finds that Jack would never fail
To try and swing her by the tail,
While Jane will softly stroke her fur;
[139]So she will answer by a purr,
To show Jane’s gentle touch she likes,
But Jack, with her sharp claws, she strikes.
My mother says we ought to treat
With love each living thing we meet,
And even pussy-cats can tell
Who are the ones that use them well.
PICKING ORANGES.
ILLY and Ben are two little boys who live in the
old city of Saint Augustine. They do not have
sleigh-rides and coasts; for Saint Augustine is way
down South, in Florida, where snow never falls.
But, while the boys and girls in the North are
wearing mittens and tippets and thick coats when they go
out to play, Willy and Ben are running about bare-headed
in the orange-groves, or plucking roses from the garden.
All around the house are orange-trees, and in among the
glossy green leaves hang the great yellow juicy oranges.
The fruit is ripe early in December, and ready to be picked.
Miles, the colored man, takes his big clippers and goes up
the high step-ladder which he has placed near the tree. He
cuts each orange from the branch, taking care not to get
hurt by the long, sharp thorns.
Willy stands at the foot of the ladder, ready to catch the
oranges as Miles tosses them down. Sometimes they pick
five or six baskets in an afternoon. Miles says Willy is a
“bery good catch.” He sometimes tires of catching them;
but he never tires of eating them.
I looked into the packing-room this morning, and there[140]
lay seventeen hundred yellow balls. Papa lets both his little
boys help wrap the oranges. Each orange is wrapped in a
piece of tissue-paper that is cut just the right size. Willy
always says as he begins, “Now let’s see who’ll beat!” Do
you know what he means?
Ben cannot wrap oranges as fast as Willy; but, as they
are wrapped, he hands them to papa to pack in boxes. He
can read the word “Boston”
that papa writes
in black letters
on the outside of
the boxes.
Of course papa
pays his workers,
and they take
their money all to
mamma to keep
for them. They
have so much
whispering to do
about it, that
I think they are
saving it
to buy
holiday
gifts.
THE MAY-QUEEN.
“When I was little,” said grandma Gray, “We used to welcome the month of May With a song and a dance on the village green, Choosing and crowning our May-day queen. We used to choose of the prettiest girls, The one who had the sunniest curls, The one who had the merriest eyes, As clear and bright as the May-day skies. “We made her throne of the daisies white, |
And the cushioned footstool for grandma’s feet,
And led her merrily to the throne,
And crowned her queen of their hearts alone.
They twined the daisies and buttercups bright
In the queen’s soft hair so silvery white,
And better than jewels or necklace rare,
Were the clasping arms of those children fair.
And the bees and butterflies hovered around;
[143]And the sunbeams danced all over the ground;
And the birds sang merrily in the trees;
And the breath of summer was in the breeze;
And the delicate hue of the azure skies
Seemed to lend new light to the loving eyes
Of happy, dear old grandmamma Gray,
Crowned by the children their “Queen of May.”
SING, PRETTY BIRDS.
| Sing, pretty birds, and build your nests, The fields are green, the skies are clear; Sing, pretty birds, and build your nests, The world is glad to have you here. Among the orchards and the groves, At early dawn your notes are heard Sing, pretty birds, and build your nests,
M. E. N. HATHAWAY. |  |
MARY AND JENNY.
 | Mary strikes the shuttle-cock |
Jenny stands with her hands
G. H. I. |  |
DRAWING-LESSON.
VOL. XXIX.—NO. 5.
PIGGY’S SPOON.
IGGY had a little house close by the barn. There
were two rooms in his house. In one room he had
his bed; in the other he had a trough.
On one side of his house there was a door that
opened into a pen. The pen was in the orchard
where the sweet apples grew. Sometimes in summer the
apples would fall down from the trees into the pen; then
piggy would pick them up and eat them. Sometimes they
would strike him on his back when they fell; but he did not
mind that; he was always glad to get them.
He had his bed of warm straw to sleep in at night, and
every day he had as much as he wanted to eat. He had all
a pig could wish for: so he was contented. One morning
farmer Jackson brought a pailful of milk for piggy’s breakfast.
He poured the milk into the trough, and piggy made
haste to come and eat it.
While he was eating, something hard and cold came into
his mouth. He bit it, but found that it was not good: so he
left it. He ate up all the milk. When it was gone, he saw
a bright silver spoon in the bottom of the trough.
“Oh!” said piggy, “I see how it is. They would like to
have me eat with a spoon; but they would never make me
fat in that way. I should be hungry all the time. Now I
can eat fast and grow fast, and I like my own way best.”
So piggy turned up his nose at the spoon. Then he went
out into the pen, and began to root in the dirt to find bits
of apple. “Fine work I should make using a spoon,” said
piggy, and he laughed whenever he thought of it.
At night farmer Jackson came to bring his supper. He
saw the spoon in the trough, took it out and carried it into
the house. When his wife saw it, she said somebody had
been very careless, and dropped the spoon into piggy’s pail.[147]
She could not find out who had done it, though she asked
everybody. Then she thought that perhaps she had done it
herself. She was glad to get her spoon back again, and
piggy was glad to have it taken from the trough.
He had left the print of his teeth on it: so it was afterwards
called “Piggy’s spoon.”
THE TRAVELLER.
(A bench turned upside down,)
Sometimes his mother’s rocking-chair
Takes him from town to town.
He always has a plan,
He’ll be a famous traveller
When he grows to be a man.
BOUNCER.
RANDMA, grandma, may we have it? may we have
it?” cried three excited little voices, as three little
boys came running into the room.
“Have what?” said grandma smiling, as she
looked up from her book. “The measles?”
“Why, grandma, of course it isn’t the measles,” said Ned,
the eldest. “It is a dog,—a real puppy. Mrs. James told
Arthur she would give it to him, if you were willing.”
Grandma thought of her nice flower-beds and her well-kept
driveway. She did not want to have a dog running
about in them. But then she saw the three wistful faces
waiting for her answer, and so she said “Yes.”
Mrs. James had promised that she would bring it to
Arthur by Saturday. All the boys were in haste for the[150]
day to come, and Arthur said, “Now, mamma, there will
be three days more and then ‘dog-day.'”
Saturday came at last. Arthur sat by the front-door
watching. About four o’clock in the afternoon, he came
to me and said, very sadly, “Do you really think she will
come to-day, mamma?”—”Yes,” said I.
He took his seat on the steps, and in a few minutes I
heard a joyful cry: “Here’s my dog! here’s my dog!”
The other boys joined in the shout. Was there ever such
joy!
Bouncer,—for that was the puppy’s name,—was a fine
water-spaniel. He grew very fast, and proved very kind
and playful. The three boys became very fond of him.
The first thing in the morning, and the last thing at night,
they would all rush out of doors for a romp with Bouncer.
He was always ready for a frolic. Nothing pleased him
so much as a dash into the lake. Then he was in his glory.
He would spring into the water after any thing that the
boys would throw.
Once he saved a man’s hat that had blown overboard;
and if the man had gone over with his hat, I have no doubt
that Bouncer would have saved him too. But, as the man
was safe on shore all the time, Bouncer had no chance to
prove himself a hero. That wasn’t Bouncer’s fault, you
know.
THE MOUSE-TRAP.
 |  |
THE cheese smelt tempting in its little house: “I’ll get it, never fear!” cried Master Mouse. | Caught in the trap, with all their might and main, His parents try to get him out again. |
 |  |
| Alas! alas! exertions well applied Bring but a swift collapse undignified. | A happy thought: “We’ll roll the box about, And thus, perchance, get valiant Brownie out!” |
 |  |
| Still happier thought: a wall its aid extends; And Brownie, thankful for such clever friends, | Darts out in triumph, bearing high the cheese, Then shares the well-won spoil, and feasts at ease. |
ONE CAT AND TWO PIGS.
Without any sister, without any brother,
Was very unhappy,
Was very unhappy;
Oh, very unhappy indeed!
She couldn’t find any companions to stay with;
She couldn’t find any companions to play with;
And so she was lonely,
Oh! ever so lonely;
Oh, yes! she was lonely indeed.
One morning she noticed two little pigs running
Along by the house; they were pretty and cunning,
And it made little kitty
Feel bad—what a pity!—
A very great pity indeed.
She made their acquaintance, and then in clear weather
The three funny playmates would frolic together,
And kitty was happy,
No doubt she was happy;
[153]Oh, yes! very happy indeed.
The piggies would drink up the milk that was given
To kitty, who oft from the basin was driven;
For they were quite greedy,
Yes, rather too greedy;
Oh, yes! very greedy indeed.
While kitty looked on, wondering how they could do it:
‘Twas queer that she couldn’t,
Quite strange that she couldn’t;
She’d tried—but she couldn’t indeed!
At night, when the piggies in slumber were dozing,
Miss Kitty curled up on their backs was reposing,
And all were quite happy,
Remarkably happy;
Oh, yes! very happy indeed.
HARRY AND JOHN.
 | Harry waves his flag to stop John stands and looks on.
J. K. L. |  |
“INCHES.”
IS real name was Miles; but one of his papa’s friends
said that such a little chap was too small to be called
Miles, and it would be better to begin with “Inches”
and go up gradually: so we nicknamed him “Inches.”
His papa and mamma were Americans; but their
little boy was born in Assam, and until he was four years
old he had never seen any other country.
Now, you will want to know where Assam is. I will tell
you. It is a kingdom in India, lying west of China, and
south of the great Himalaya Mountains. Some peaks of
these mountains can be seen on a clear day from the house
where Inches lived.
One morning early, our little friend woke, and called out
in the Assamese language (for he could not speak English),
“Tezzan, take me.”
Tezzan his “bearer”—so a man-nurse is called in Assam—came
quickly, and dressed his little charge. Then, after
giving him a slice of dry toast and a nice plantain for his
breakfast, he took the little boy by the hand, and started
out with him for their regular morning-walk.
They went down along the bank of the Brahmaputra
River, and saw many sights that would look very strange
to Americans. A little below the house, Inches called on
Tezzan to stop, and let him watch some elephants that were
swimming across the river. He called the elephant a hatee,
giving the “a” in the word the same sound we give it when
we say father.
All they could see of the elephants was the tops of their
heads, and occasionally their trunks when they threw them
out of the water for a fresh breath of air. The drivers
stood on the necks of the elephants, with only a rope, tied
round the great creatures’ necks, to hold on by.
By and by they came struggling up the bank, one after
another,—eight of them,—and stood panting and dripping
to rest a little. Scarcely had they set their feet on dry land
when a little ferry-boat came steaming along, and just as
she got close to the bank she blew a long, loud whistle.
The elephants were frightened, and ran snorting and
trumpeting right up the road where Inches and his bearer
were standing. Inches was
very much frightened, and
ran too. But no harm was
done, and after a little while
Inches had a good laugh, when
he thought how the elephants
ran away from the little bustling
steamer.
After this was all over and the
elephants were slowly jogging along,
Inches and his bearer started on again. They met many
people; but very few of them were white. There were
only fifteen white children to be found for many miles:
so they, of course, knew each other well.[157]
Down the road, further on, they came to a sweetmeat-vender’s
shop. His candies and sweets were put on flat
bamboo or cane plates, and all arranged outside the shop
itself, on a platform made of bamboo.
Inches wished Tezzan to buy some sweets for him; but
they had brought no pice, so could not. (Pice are small
copper coins used in India, worth about three-fourths of one
cent each.)
The little boy was on the point of crying, when he heard
his mamma calling; and, sure enough, there she was, and
papa, too, waiting for him in the pony-carriage. He ran
quickly, and climbed into his mamma’s lap, and was soon
home again.
SMALL BEGINNING.
And slyly looked round,
Not a flower was awake, not a bit of new green
Was anywhere seen;
And it seemed, with a shiver the little one said,
“Oh, I am afraid,
The trees are so naked, the earth is so black!
Please let me go back!
You have called me too early, my dear Mother Spring,
I am such a wee thing!”
It is good you are here;
For now we are sure that spring is near.”
Then a sober old robin came bustling by
With the sleep in his eye;
“Ah, me! how stupid I was to wait;
And now I am late!
The bluebird has piped, and the crocus has come;
And you know by the hum
The hot little bee is beating his drum.”
Then sweet Mother Spring, with a sunshine kiss,
Said something like this:
“Thanks, brave little crocus, so slender and small,
[159]For heeding my call
While orchards were leafless, and snow-drifts staid
In the all-day shade:
You are telling us sweetly that soonest begun
The soonest is done;
That little by little makes up the great,
And early obeying is better than late.”
JENNY WREN.
|
Jenny Wren’s a lady, Very quiet she: That’s her pretty mansion In the hollow tree. Peep into her parlor, Carpeted with down; There you’ll see her sitting In her modest gown. Jenny Wren is busy, Jenny Wren is moving:
GEORGE COOPER. |  |
DADDY FROG.
and a larger image
of the music sheet may be seen by clicking on the image.]
1 Old Daddy Frog lives in a bog,
And his coat is bottle-green;
Yellow his vest;
handsomely drest,
His pretty shape is seen.
Puffing with pride,
there at his side
His dame is sure to be.
Smiling, he says,
“No one could raise
A finer family;”
Chorus.
Singing “Cou, cou, cou, Ker-chunk!”
2 Old Daddy Frog leaps on a log,
In a spry and jaunty way;
Calling his boys—
Oh, what a noise!
He joins them in their play.
Hipperty-hop!
Under they pop,
And Daddy Frog, says he,
“Isn’t it fine?
How they will shine,
This polished family.”
3 Old Daddy Frog lives in the bog
Till the summer days are done;
Little frogs grow,
Dressed like a beau
Now is each model son;
Daddy Frog’s eyes
Wink with surprise,
Quite filled with delight is he;
Dame at his side
Chuckles with pride,
“There’s no such family!”
Transcriber’s Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
The original text for the January issue had a table of contents
that spanned six issues. This was divided amongst those issues.
Additionally, only the January issue had a title page. This page
was copied for the remaining five issues. Each issue had the number
added on the title page after the Volume number.