The New McGuffey Fourth Reader(新迈克高斐第四读者2)

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The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

The New McGuffey

Fourth Reader

William H. McGuffey, Compiler

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

PREFACE

It is now nearly three quarters of a century since the appearance of the

first edition of McGuffey's Readers, compiled by Dr. William H.

McGuffey. Revisions have since been made from time to time as the

advancement in educational theories and the changes in methods of

teaching seemed to demand. No other school text- books have retained the

popular favor so long or have exerted so general and so wholesome an

influence as has this series of Readers.

In preparing the present revision the aim of thie compiler has been to

introduce such new matter and methods as the experience and judgment of

the best teachers have found most commendable and desirable. He has at

the same time endeavored to preserve those essential features which have

always distinguished the McGuffey Readers and have so largely

contributed to their success. While the majority of the selections are new

to the series, care has been taken to maintain the same high literary and

ethical standard that has hitherto so distinctly characterized these books.

Lessons inculcating kindness, courage, obedience, industry, thrift, true

manliness, patriotism, and other duties and obligations form no small

portion of the contents. Selections from the masterpieces of English

literature include both the older classical productions, without which no

school can be complete, and also choice extracts from many of the latest

and most popular writers.

The Elocutionary Introduction, by Professor F. Townsend Southwick,

presents in brief scope the most important rules for oral reading and those

principles of the art that are most necessary for the pupils to master. The

teacher should, at the very onset, become thoroughly familiar with the

subjects here presented, and the pupils should be referred to this

discussion of elocutionary principles as often as occasion may require.

The more difficult words are defined, and their pronunciation is

indicated by diacritical marks. The object of this is to aid the pupil in the

ready preparation of the reading lesson, and not to supply merely an

exercise in the study of words. Short explanatory notes are given wherever

required for a full understanding of the text. It is assumed, however, that

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

the pupils have already a general knowledge of most of the subjects

alluded to, or that they have ready access to the more common books of

reference, and therefore only occasional notes of this character are

necessary.

An alphabetical list of the authors of the various selections, together

with the brief biographical and critical notes, is given as an appendix to

the volume.

Acknowledgments are due to Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., Charles

Scribner's Sons, the Century Company, and other publishers who

generously permitted the use, in this series, of selections from their

copyrighted works.

The selections from Hawthorne, Longfellow, Whittier, Emerson, and

Lucy Larcom are used by special arrangement with and permission of

Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., the authorized publishers of the

writings of these authors.

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

FOURTH READER

YOUNG BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

When Benjamin Franklin was a boy he was very fond of fishing; and

many of his leisure hours were spent on the margin of the mill pond

catching flounders, perch, and eels that came up thither with the tide.

The place where Ben and his playmates did most of their fishing was a

marshy spot on the outskirts of Boston. On the edge of the water there was

a deep bed of clay, in which the boys were forced to stand while they

caught their fish.

"This is very uncomfortable," said Ben Franklin one day to his

comrades, while they were standing in the quagmire.

"So it is," said the other boys. "What a pity we have no better place to

stand on!"

On the dry land, not far from the quagmire, there were at that time a

great many large stones that had been brought there to be used in building

the foundation of a new house. Ben mounted upon the highest of these

stones.

"Boys," said he, "I have thought of a plan. You know what a plague it

is to have to stand in the quagmire yonder. See, I am bedaubed to the

knees, and you are all in the same plight.

"Now I propose that we build a wharf. You see these stones? The

workmen mean to use them for building a house here. My plan is to take

these same stones, carry them to the edge of the water, and build a wharf

with them. What say you, lads? Shall we build the wharf?"

"Yes, yes," cried the boys; "let's set about it!"

It was agreed that they should all be on the spot that evening, and

begin their grand public enterprise by moonlight.

Accordingly, at the appointed time, the boys met and eagerly began to

remove the stones. They worked like a colony of ants, sometimes two or

three of them taking hold of one stone; and at last they had carried them

all away, and built their little wharf.

"Now, boys," cried Ben, when the job was done, "let's give three

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

cheers, and go home to bed. To-morrow we may catch fish at our ease."

"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" shouted his comrades, and all scampered off

home and to bed, to dream of to-morrow's sport.

In the morning the masons came to begin their work. But what was

their surprise to find the stones all gone! The master mason, looking

carefully on the ground, saw the tracks of many little feet, some with

shoes and some barefoot. Following these to the water side, he soon found

what had become of the missing building stones.

"Ah! I see what the mischief is," said he; "those little rascals who were

here yesterday have stolen the stones to build a wharf with. And I must say

that they understand their business well."

He was so angry that he at once went to make a complaint before the

magistrate; and his Honor wrote an order to "take the bodies of Benjamin

Franklin, and other evil-disposed persons," who had stolen a heap of

stones.

If the owner of the stolen property had not been more merciful than the

master mason, it might have gone hard with our friend Benjamin and his

comrades. But, luckily for them, the gentleman had a respect for Ben's

father, and, moreover, was pleased with the spirit of the whole affair. He

therefore let the culprits off easily.

But the poor boys had to go through another trial, and receive sentence,

and suffer punishment, too, from their own fathers. Many a rod was worn

to the stump on that unlucky night. As for Ben, he was less afraid of a

whipping than of his father's reproof. And, indeed, his father was very

much disturbed.

"Benjamin, come hither," began Mr. Franklin in his usual stern and

weighty tone. The boy approached and stood before his father's chair.

"Benjamin," said his father, "what could induce you to take property

which did not belong to you?"

"Why, father," replied Ben, hanging his head at first, but then lifting

his eyes to Mr. Franklin's face, "if it had been merely for my own benefit, I

never should have dreamed of it. But I knew that the wharf would be a

public convenience. If the owner of the stones should build a house with

them, nobody would enjoy any advantage but himself. Now, I made use of

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

them in a way that was for the advantage of many persons."

"My son," said Mr. Franklin solemnly, "so far as it was in your power,

you have done a greater harm to the public than to the owner of the stones.

I do verily believe, Benjamin, that almost all the public and private misery

of mankind arises from a neglect of this great truth,--that evil can produce

only evil, that good ends must be wrought out by good means."

To the end of his life, Ben Franklin never forgot this conversation with

his father; and we have reason to suppose, that, in most of his public and

private career, he sought to act upon the principles which that good and

wise man then taught him.

DEFINITIONS:--In defining words, that meaning is given which is

appropriate to them in the connection in which they are used. The pupil

should look in the dictionary for the meaning of all the others with which

he is not perfectly familiar.

Quagmire, soft, wet, miry land. Outskirt, borders. Plague, bother, great

trouble. Plight, condition. Wharf, a platform on the shore of a harbor, river,

or lake, extending some way into the water. Comrades, companions,

playfellows. Magistrate, an officer of the law, justice of the peace.

Ringleader, the leader of several persons acting together. Culprits, wrong-

doers. Solemnly, with great dignity. Induce, lead persuade. Benefit, profit,

accomodation. Verily, truly.

EXERCISE.--Where is Boston? How long ago did Benjamin

Franklin live? Learn all that you can about his life and work, and repeat it

to the class at the next recitation.

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

A HARD WORD.

"P-o po, p-o po, Popo, c-a-t cat, Popocat--Oh dear, what a hard word!

Let me see, Po-po-cat-e-petl. I can never pronounce it, I am sure. I wish

they would not have such hard names in geography," said George Gould,

quite out of patience. "Will you please tell me how to pronounce the name

of this mountain, father?"

"Why, do you call that a hard word to pronounce, George? I know

much harder words than that."

"Well, father this is the hardest word I ever saw," replied George. "I

wish they had put the name into the volcano, and burned it up."

"I know how to pronounce it," said Jane. "It is Po-po' ca-ta'petl."

"Po-po' ca-ta'petl," said George, stopping at each syllable. "Well, it is

not so very hard, after all; but I wish they would not have any long words,

and then one could pronounce them easily enough."

"I do not think so," said his father. "Some of the hardest words I have

ever seen are the shortest. I know one little word, with only two letters in

it, that very few children, or men either, can always speak."

"Oh, I suppose it is borne French or German word; isn't it, father?"

"No: it is English; and you may think it strange, but it is just as hard to

pronounce in one language as another."

"Only two letters! What can it be?" cried both the children.

"The hardest word," replied their father, "I have ever met with in any

language--and I have learned several--is a little word of two letters--N-o,

no."

"Now you are making fun of us!" cried the children: "that is one of the

easiest words in the world." And, to prove that their father was mistaken,

they both repeated, "N-o, no; n-o, no," a great many times.

"I am not joking in the least. I really think it is the hardest of all words.

It may seem easy enough to you to-night, but perhaps you cannot

pronounce it to-morrow."

"I can always say it, I know I can;" said George with much

confidence--"NO! Why, it is as easy to say it as to breathe."

"Well, George, I hope you will always find it as easy to pronounce as

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

you think it is now, and that you will be able to speak it when you ought

to."

In the morning George went bravely to school, a little proud that he

could pronounce so hard a word as "Popocatepetl." Not far frown the

schoolhouse was a large pond of very deep water, where the boys used to

skate and slide when it was frozen over.

Now, the night before, Jack Frost had been busy changing the surface

of the pond into beautiful crystals of ice; and when the boys went to

school in the morning they found the pond as smooth and clear as glass.

The day was cold, and they thought that by noon the ice would be strong

enough to skate upon.

As soon as school was dismissed the boys all ran to the pond,--some to

try the ice, and others merely to see it.

"Come, George," said William Green; "now we shall have a glorious

time sliding."

George hesitated, and said he did not believe it was strong enough, for

it had been frozen over only one night.

"Oh, come on!" said another boy: "I know it is strong enough. I have

known it to freeze over in one night, many a time, so it would bear:

haven't you, John?"

"Yes," answered John Brown: "it did so one night last winter; and it

wasn't so cold as it was last night, either."

But George still hesitated, for his father had forbidden him to go on the

ice without special permission.

"I know why George won't go," said John; "he's afraid he might fall

down and hurt himself."

"Or the ice might crack," said another; "and the noise would frighten

him. Perhaps his mother might not like it."

"He's a coward, that's the reason he won't come."

George could stand this no longer, for he was rather proud of his

courage. "I am not afraid," said he; and he ran to the pond, and was the

first one on the ice. The boys enjoyed the sport very much, running and

sliding, and trying to catch one another on its smooth surface.

More boys kept coming on as they saw the sport, and soon all thought

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

of danger was forgotten. Then suddenly there was a loud cry, "The ice has

broken! the ice has broken!" And sure enough, three of the boys had

broken through, and were struggling in the water; and one of them was

George.

The teacher had heard the noise, and was coming to call the boys from

the ice just as they broke through. He tore some boards from a fence close

by, and shoved them out on the ice until they came within reach of the

boys in the water. After a while he succeeded in getting the three boys out

of the water, but not until they were almost frozen.

George's father and mother were very much troubled when he was

brought home, and they learned how narrowly he had escaped drowning.

But they were so glad to know that. he was safe that they did not ask him

any questions until he was warm and comfortable again. But in the

evening, when they were all gathered together about the cheerful fire, his

father asked him how he came to disobey his positive command.

George answered that he did not want to go on the ice, but the boys

made him.

"How did they make you? Did they take hold of you, and drag you

on?" asked his father.

"No," said George, "but they all wanted me to go."

"When they asked you, why didn't you say 'No'?"

"I was going to do so: but they called me a coward, and said I was

afraid to go; and I couldn't stand that."

"And so," said his father, "you found it easier to disobey me, and run

the risk of losing your life, than to say that little word you thought so easy

last night. You could not say 'No.'"

George now began to see why this little word"No" was so hard to

pronounce. It was not because it was so long, or composed of such

difficult sounds; but because it often requires so much real courage to say

it,--to say "No" when one is tempted to do wrong.

After that, whenever George was tempted to do wrong, he remembered

his narrow escape from drowning, and the importance of the little word

"No." The oftener he said it, the easier it became; and in time he could say

it, when necessary, without much effort.

The New McGuffey Fourth Reader

DEFINITIONS:--Popocatepetl, a volcano in Mexico (sometimes

inaccurately pronounced po po cat' a petl). Prounounce, say distinctly.

Syllable, one of the distinct parts of a word. Attracted, drawn. Hesitated,

paused. Importance, value. Special, particular.

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TheNewMcGuffeyFourthReader1TheNewMcGuffeyFourthReaderWilliamH.McGuffey,CompilerTheNewMcGuffeyFourthReader2PREFACEItisnownearlythreequartersofacenturysincetheappearanceofthefirsteditionofMcGuffey'sReaders,compiledbyDr.WilliamH.McGuffey.Revisionshavesincebeenmadefromtimetotimeastheadvancementineducati...

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