5. And he saw a bee flying about, from flower to flower; so he said, "Pretty bee, will you come and play with me?”

6. But the bee said, "No, I must not be idle, I must go and gather honey."

7. Then the idle boy met a dog; and he said, "Dog, will you play with me?"

8. But the dog said, "No, I must not be idle, I am going to watch my master's house. I must make haste, for fear bad men may get in."

9. Then the little boy saw a bird pulling out some straw from the thatch of a house, and he said, "Bird, will you come and play with me?"

10. But the bird said, "No, I must not be idle, I must get some straw to build my nest with, and some moss and some wool." So the bird flew away.

11. Then the little boy thought to himself, What, is no one idle? then little boys must not be idle neither.

12. So he made haste, and went to school and learned his lesson very well, and the master said he was a very good boy.

THE SHIP.

Samuel and James.

S. Shall we go to the water-side?

J. Yes, if you like.

S. What is that large wooden house called? J. It is a ship: it does not always stop there; it goes about from place to place on the

water.

S. Can it walk on the water?

J. No. Those white cloths are called sails, the sailors spread them out, and when the wind blows, the ship moves.

S. And can people live in the ship?

J. Yes; it has rooms at one end, as a house has, called cabins; and in the middle of the ship they put the goods they want to carry from one place to another. That piece of woollen cloth came from a long way off, in a ship.

Thunder and Lightning.

1. There has not been any rain for a great while. The ground is very dry and hard. The grass and the plants are scorched by the sun.

2. The sun does not shine now: but it is very hot. It is quite sultry. There is no wind at all. The leaves on the trees do not move.

3. The sky looks very black; and how dark it is! Ha! what a bright light shone through the room! Now it is gone. It did not last long. What was it? It was lightning.

4. Now it lightens again. What a noise there in the air, just over our heads! That is thunder. How loud thunder is! It begins to rain. O what large drops! Now it rains very fast.

5. Sometimes it happens that the lightning falls on men or animals, and kills them. The thunder alarms us most, but it does not injure us. We see the lightning first, and a short time after we hear the thunder.

6. In like manner, when a gun is fired at a distance from us, we see the flash some time before we hear the report. This is because light

flies faster than sound.

The Blind Boy.

1. Look! there is a blind boy at the door. Poor boy! is he quite blind? He is, and brightly as the sun shines, he does not see it.

2. What a sad thing it is to be as if there were no light in the world!

3. If you wish to know how this poor boy feels, you must shut yourself up in a dark room, and then you will be just the same, while you are there, as he is always.

4. How kind God is to us, to spare us our sight! We can see the sun, the moon, and the stars. We can see the cows and sheep graze in the fields, and the lambs skip and play.

5. We can see the corn and grass, and the plants, and trees, bearing their blossoms, and fruits. We can see the birds soar in the air, or fly from tree to tree.

6. We can see to read in books, and we can see many of those things of which we read and hear; but this poor blind boy can see nothing.

7. We can see our parents and friends, who love us and are kind to us. Poor boy! let us

be kind to him, as it is such a sad thing to want sight.

The Man and the Goose.

1. A poor foolish man once had a goose which laid golden eggs; and this made him as proud as could be.

2. "Come, come," said he, "I may now hold up my head with the best of them all; for in a short time I may have a coach to ride in, and make the dust fly before me like smoke.

3. "But why did I say, in a short time? How silly I am! It is but to cut open the goose; and then I shall be as rich as a king at once."

4. So he set about it, and ripped up the goose the same day but this was very foolish ; for when the poor goose was dead, she could not lay any more eggs.

5. Those who covet great riches are often too sharp for themselves, and so become poor.

BIRDS:

John and Hënrij.

J. What large bird is that, pray?
H. It is called an adjutant.

J. How very long its legs are! and what a large bill!-How does it live?

H. It lives upon fish, which it catches with its bill. It lives also on dead animals.

J. Will it hurt us if we go near it?

H. No, it is very tame, and is used to people passing very near it.