Large bee hives.
Large bee hives.
How many living things there are in the world besides boys and girls, and men and women! Some of them have legs, and they creep and run on the ground; some have fins, and they swim in the water; and some have wings, and they fly in the air.
And thus they run,And swim, and fly;And eat, and drink,And live, and die.
And thus they run,And swim, and fly;And eat, and drink,And live, and die.
And thus they run,And swim, and fly;And eat, and drink,And live, and die.
And thus they run,
And swim, and fly;
And eat, and drink,
And live, and die.
If God had not been very wise he would not have known how to make so many live things unlike each other, and if he was not very good he would never have made them so happy. See how the gnat sports in the sun! Hark! how the bird sings in the air!
God has made all things just as they ought to be made. What would the bird do with fins? he could not swim with them. What would the fish do with wings? he could not fly with them,—he would, indeed, be “like a fish out of water.”
If a cow had wings, what a fright she would be to look at in the air! I would run and hide myself; would not you? Why, if she came down, and fell upon us, she would crush us and kill us. There is a picture, in a book that I have, of a horse with wings; but that is all fancy. A horseis very swift, but swift as he is, he does not fly. No, no! Let people say what they like,
There is no such thingAs a horse with a wing.
There is no such thingAs a horse with a wing.
There is no such thingAs a horse with a wing.
There is no such thing
As a horse with a wing.
The other day, when the sun was very bright, I saw some gnats at play under a tree. How they did fly up and down! Well, all at once, what should one of them do but settle on my nose! when I spoke to him—
“O, O! Mr. Gnat,Pray, what are you at?”
“O, O! Mr. Gnat,Pray, what are you at?”
“O, O! Mr. Gnat,Pray, what are you at?”
“O, O! Mr. Gnat,
Pray, what are you at?”
Soon he flew away again, and began to playas before.
I once heard of a gnat that teased a lion half out of his senses. What the lion had done to make him angry I do not know. No doubt you wonder that the lion did not kill him; but he could not. The gnat flew close to his eyes, and sat on his nose, and flew away again every time the lion liftedup his great paw. If the little gnat was able to plague the great lion, let us act kindly to all, for we see that the weak may vex the strong. The best way is to live in love with every one; and the Bible says much the same thing.
Horse standing with head down.
Just as I came away from the tree an old horse went under it. Poor thing! his hipbones stood up very high. I could almost count the number of his ribs; and one of his legs a little above the hoof was a great deal bigger than it ought to have been.
In less than a minute all the gnats were flying about the old horse. He laid down his ears, and shook his head, and then he lifted up one of his feet and struck his iron hoof on the ground. He did not like the gnats to be about his eyes and ears, any more than I did to have one on my nose. At last the old horse walked away; some of the gnats went with him, and the rest began their game again under the tree.
Hark! do you not hear a loud buzz? It is the large blue fly there that makes it. Now he is on the beam above me, with his head down and his heels up; now he is flying about the room. I cannot follow him with my eyes, he flies so fast. There! what a bang he gave the window pane with his head! Flies are very swift on thewing; they fly faster than a horse can gallop.
An odd tale has been told, which I will tell you. A bear and a man once acted kindly one to the other. The man fell asleep on the ground, but he had not much rest, for a fly would settle on his face.
“O,” thought the bear, “I will do a kind deed for my friend. I will kill the fly that teases him.” With this, he lifted up his great, heavy paw; but, alas! in killing the fly he tore with his claws the face of the man also.
Let us learn a lesson from this tale. Let us take care that every kind act we do is done in a proper manner, or we may do very little good, or do a great deal of harm.
Then let us not be cruel to any of the creatures God has made, whether they fly in the air, swim in the water, or creep and run on the ground. We ought not to ill use any thing, not even the poor snail thatgoes along the ground so slowly, with his house on his back,—
“For God above, the Lord of all,Made me to walk, and it to crawl.”
“For God above, the Lord of all,Made me to walk, and it to crawl.”
“For God above, the Lord of all,Made me to walk, and it to crawl.”
“For God above, the Lord of all,
Made me to walk, and it to crawl.”
Tree branch with fruit.
Transcriber’s Notespg5Removed extra letter A before: A Teacher’s Giftpg35Added beginning quote to: I do not like
pg5Removed extra letter A before: A Teacher’s Giftpg35Added beginning quote to: I do not like