LESSON XXXIII.
1. Cattle do not hunt rats and mice like the cat, nor watch like the dog, nor do we ride them as we do a horse or a donkey; but in some ways they are more useful to us than any of the others.
2. When Johnny sat down to breakfast this morning, a cow gave him that bowl of fresh, rich milk, which he ate with his bread. Then, when we drank the nice cup of coffee that mamma had made, the cow gave us the cream which we put into it.
3. When the dinner was put up for school, the cow gave the cheese and the butter that was spread upon the bread. In the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating the curds and whey” which the old cow gave her.
4. This morning Johnny’s hair was in a snarl, and mamma got it out with the help of the old cow, who gave the horn to make the comb.
5. When we go out in wet weather, the cow gives her hide to be made into the leather out of which our coarse boots are made; and the calf gives its hide for our fine boots and shoes.
6. When our new room was plastered, a little while ago, the cow gave the hair to mix with the mortar, so that the plaster would stick together and stay on the wall.
7. Before we get our chairs and tables, the cow takes off her hoofs and gives us the glue with which they are put together. Then Santa Claus could not bring Johnny his white-handled knife till the old cow had given a bone for the handle.
8. “Sleepy-head goes to bed” at night, and the candle he carries is another present from the old cow. The flesh of grown cattle that we eat we call beef, and the flesh of calves, veal.