Chapter II

Day after day Ulysses sailed his boat safely over the sea. But one night when he was asleep, his sailors wondered what was in the large bag made of skin.

“It must be full of gold,” they said. “Let us take it.”

The sailors opened the bag and at once all the winds flew out.

How they made the waters roar around the boat! Even Ulysses could do nothing to quiet them. For many days the boat was tossed about by the waves.

At last the sailors saw land. They were very glad to pull the boat upon the shore, and rest.

They did not know where they were. The winds had made the boat go far from its path.

The sailors were sorry that they had opened the bag which King Æolus had given Ulysses.

A long-time afterward the travelers came home. Ulysses often told the story of his friend, King Æolus, and his gift of the Bag of Winds.

THE FEAST OF DOLLS.

The Feast of Dolls is the happiest day in the year for the little girls in Japan. It is the third day of March.

The night before, while the little girls are asleep, great boxes of dolls are taken from the store-room.

There are all kinds,—large dolls, small dolls, girl dolls, and boy dolls.

The mothers and grandmothers of the little girls played with some of these. Others are very much older.

On the day of the Feast of Dolls, the little girls wake up early and run to the feast room.

Each doll must be dressed. This takes a long time, for some of the little girls have a great many dolls.

By this time the feast is ready. The dolls cannot eat the rice cakes and drink the tea, so their little mothers do this for them.

When the long, happy day is over, the dolls are undressed. Then they are put away until the Feast of Dolls comes again.

THE FEAST OF FLAGS.

The fifth of May is the great day for boys in Japan. It is called the Feast of Flags.

Everywhere poles with gold paper balls on the top may be seen. Paper flags of all colors fly from these.

The boys get up early on the day of the Feast of Flags. They go to the room where the dolls had their feast.

Now the room is filled with flags, toy soldiers, and the games that boys like. Their grandfathers and great-grandfathers played with some of these.

All day long the boys play at war with their soldiers. Sometimes they go into the garden and shoot at straw soldiers.

On the morning of the Feast of Flags each father gives his son a paper fish.

Every one in the house stands near while the boy ties this to a string. Then they watch him raise it to the top of the pole which is set before the house.

The wind fills out the hollow body of the fish. It pulls at the end of the string as if it were alive.

The name of this fish is the carp. It is so strong that it can swim very fast and even jump over waterfalls.

In America, fathers tell their sons to be brave and strong like the eagle. But in Japan, they tell them to be brave and strong like the carp.

FRANKLIN’S KITE.

A long time ago there lived a wise man named Benjamin Franklin.

People did not know much about lightning in those days. Franklin made a kite to catch some of it.

He knew that rain would spoil paper, so he covered his kite with silk. He put a piece of pointed wire at the top of the kite to draw the lightning into it.

At the end of the string he tied a key for the lightning to follow. Then he tied a piece of ribbon to the string and held it in his hand.

One rainy night when it was lightning he went out to fly his kite.

After a while he held his hand near the key. He saw a little spark of lightning go from the key to his hand.

After that he brought the lightning into his house on wires. He made it ring bells and do many strange things.

Other wise men have told us how to make lightning without drawing it from the skies.

It lights houses, runs street-cars, and does many other useful things.

It is called electricity.

BOATS SAIL ON THE RIVERS.

Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas,
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier far than these.

There are bridges on the rivers,
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these.

CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI.

THE STORY OF A WATER-DROP.

Once there was a little drop of water. It lived in the great sea with hundreds of other water-drops.

When the sun shone all the little water-drops danced up and down. They looked like diamonds sparkling in the sunshine.

One day something happened. The little water-drop broke into a great many tiny drops.

At the same time it went up in the air. Other drops were going up, too. Up, up, they went, higher, and higher.

At last the water-drops were sailing far above the sea. A strong wind blew them over the land.

A man looked up at them and said, “See this big dark cloud. I think it is going to rain.”