Chapter III

16. The third health lesson I have to learn is this: _I must take plenty of exercise_. To make the body strong we must use it. The parts that are most used become the strongest, and those used least will be the weakest.

17. The arms of the blacksmith are very strong because he uses them so much. The boy who works and plays in the open air grows strong and healthy, but the boy who sits indoors and does not take exercise often grows up to be a weak and unhealthy man. It is best to take our exercise in the open air and the sunlight.

18. Games like baseball are good for boys. There are also plenty of pleasant outdoor games for girls. When no game can be played, a brisk walk in the open air is quite as good. Brisk walking is one of the easiest and best of exercises for both boys and girls.

19. But there are some things we should avoid when taking exercise. We should not work or play too long without resting. We should not try to do things that are beyond our strength. When exercise is too violent, it does harm rather than good.

20. An eastern king, who had become pale and ill, asked a wise dervish what medicine he should take.

The dervish, knowing that it was exercise alone which the idle king needed, said: "I will bring you to-morrow a remedy which will cure your disease."

21. The next day the dervish appeared before the king.

"Here," said he, "is a ball which holds the medicine that will cure you. Take it into your garden every day and knock it about till you perspire freely. This will make the medicine take effect."

The king did as the dervish told him, and the exercise in the fresh air soon made him well.

* * * * *

Ball, door, sun, cold, church, odor, milk, bitterness, bell, town,
nose, honesty, rose, industry, gold, red, heat, leather, mud, joy.

Tell which of these words name things that you can (1) see, (2)
hear, (3) touch, (4) taste, (5) smell. Which name things of which
you can only think?

* * * * *

Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,
As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.

DRYDEN

Jefferson's Ten Rules

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): An American statesman. He wrote the
Declaration of Independence and was one of the able men at the
head of the government of the United States in its early days.
Jefferson was the originator of what is called the Democratic idea
of government.

Never put off until to-morrow what you can do to-day.

Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

Never spend your money before you have earned it.

Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.

Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and cold.

We seldom repent of having eaten too little.

Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

How much pain the evils have cost us that have never happened.

Take things always by the smooth handle.

When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred.

* * * * *

Recollect that trifles make perfection, and that perfection is no trifle.

The Pet Lamb

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

1. The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink;
I heard a voice; it said, "Drink, pretty creature, drink!"
And looking o'er the hedge, before me I espied
A snow-white mountain lamb, with a maiden at its side.

2. Nor sheep nor kine were near; the lamb was all alone,
And by a slender cord was tethered to a stone;
With one knee on the grass did the little maiden kneel,
While to that mountain lamb she gave its evening meal.

3. The lamb, while from her hand he thus his supper took,
Seemed to feast with head and ears; and his tail with pleasure
shook:
"Drink, pretty creature, drink!" she said in such a tone
That I almost received her heart into my own.

4. 'Twas little Barbara Lewthwaite, a child of beauty rare!
I watched them with delight, they were a lovely pair.
Now with her empty can the maiden turned away;
But ere ten yards were gone, her footsteps did she stay.

5. Right towards the lamb she looked; and from that shady place
I unobserved could see the workings of her face;
If nature to her tongue could measured numbers bring,
Thus, thought I, to her lamb that little maid might sing:

6. "What ails thee, young one? what? Why pull so at thy cord?
Is it not well with thee? well both for bed and board?
Thy plot of grass is soft, and green as grass can be;
Rest, little young one, rest; what is't that aileth thee?

7. "What is it thou wouldst seek? What is wanting to thy heart?
Thy limbs are they not strong? and beautiful thou art!
This grass is tender grass; these flowers they have no peers;
And that green corn all day is rustling in thy ears.

8. "If the sun be shining hot, do but stretch thy woolen chain;
This beech is standing by, its covert thou canst gain;
For rain and mountain storms!--the like thou need'st not fear,
The rain and storm are things that scarcely can come here.

9. "Rest, little young one, rest; thou hast forgot the day
When my father found thee first in places far away;
Many flocks were on the hills, but thou wert owned by none,
And thy mother from thy side for evermore was gone.

10. "He took thee in his arms, and in pity brought thee home:
A blesséd day for thee!--then whither wouldst thou roam?
A faithful nurse thou hast; the dam that did thee yean
Upon the mountain-tops, no kinder could have been.

11. "Thou know'st that twice a day I have brought thee in this can
Fresh water from the brook, as clear as ever ran;
And twice in the day, when the ground is wet with dew,
I bring thee draughts of milk, warm milk it is and new.

12. "Thy limbs will shortly be twice as stout as they are now,
Then I'll yoke thee to my cart like a pony in the plow.
My playmate thou shalt be and when the wind is cold
Our hearth shall be thy bed, our house shall be thy fold.

13. "It will not, will not rest!--Poor creature, can it be
That 'tis thy mother's heart which is working so in thee?
Things that I know not of belike to thee are dear,
And dreams of things which thou canst neither see nor hear.

14. "Alas, the mountain-tops that look so green and fair!
I've heard of fearful winds and darkness that come there;
The little brooks that seem all pastime and all play,
When they are angry, roar like lions for their prey.

15. "Here thou need'st not dread the raven in the sky;
Night and day thou art safe,--our cottage is hard by.
Why bleat so after me? Why pull so at thy chain?
Sleep--and at break of day I will come to thee again!"

* * * * *

=Ĕs pī_e_d´=: saw. =Kīn_e_=: cows. =Tĕt̶h´ẽr_e_d=: fastened by
a rope for feeding within certain limits. "=If nature to her
tongue could measured numbers bring=": if she could write verse.
=Pē_e_rs̝=: equals. =Cȯv´ẽrt=: shelter. "=The dam that did thee
yean=": The mother that reared thee. =Bē̍ līk_e_´=: perhaps.

The Story of Florinda

BY ABBY MORTON DIAZ

Mrs. Abby Morton Diaz (1821--): An American author who married a
Cuban gentleman. She has written many popular books for the young:
among these are "The William Henry Letters," "William Henry and his
Friends," "Polly Cologne," and "The Cat's Arabian Nights."