Georgie | Page 4

well what a lecture was, but they thought that
any thing which their mother would propose would be interesting.
"Do you know what a lecture is?" said she.
"Not exactly," said Rollo.
"Why, I should explain to you about playthings,--the various kinds,
their use, the way to keep them, and to derive the most pleasure from
them, &c. Giving you this information will not be as interesting to you

as to hear a story; but it will be more useful, if you attend carefully, and
endeavor to remember what I say."
The boys thought they should like the lecture, and promised to attend.
Rollo said he would remember it all; and so his mother began.
"The value of a plaything does not consist in itself, but in the pleasure it
awakens in your mind. Do you understand that?"
"Not very well," said Rollo.
"If you should give a round stick to a baby on the floor, and let him
strike the floor with it, he would be pleased. You would see by his
looks that it gave him great pleasure. Now, where would this pleasure
be,--in the stick, or in the floor, or in the baby?"
"Why, in the baby," said Rollo, laughing.
"Yes; and would it be in his body, or in his mind?"
"In his face," said James.
"In his eyes," said Rollo.
"You would see the signs of it in his face and in his eyes, but the
feeling of pleasure would be in his mind. Now, I suppose you
understand what I said, that the value of the plaything consists in the
pleasure it can awaken in the mind."
"Yes, mother," said Rollo.
"There is your jumping man," said she; "is that a good plaything?"
"Yes," said Rollo, "my kicker. But I don't care much about it. I don't
know where it is now."
"What was it?" said James. "I never saw it."
"It was a pasteboard man," said his mother; "and there was a string

behind, fixed so that, by pulling it, you could make his arms and legs
fly about."
"Yes," said Rollo, "I called him my kicker."
"You liked it very much, when you first had it."
"Yes," said Rollo, "but I don't think it is very pretty now."
"That shows what I said was true. When you first had it, it was new,
and the sight of it gave you pleasure; but the pleasure consisted in the
novelty and drollery of it, and after a little while, when you became
familiar with it, it ceased to give you pleasure, and then you did not
value it. I found it the other day lying on the ground in the yard, and
took it up and put it away carefully in a drawer."
"But if the value is all gone, what good does it do to save it?" said
Rollo.
"The value to you is gone, because you have become familiar with it,
and so it has lost its power to awaken feelings of pleasure in you. But it
has still power to give pleasure to other children, who have not seen it,
and I kept it for them."
"I should like to see it, very much," said James. "I never saw such a
one."
"I will show it to you some time. Now, this is one kind of
plaything,--those which please by their novelty only. It is not generally
best to buy such playthings, for you very soon get familiar with them,
and then they cease to give you pleasure, and are almost worthless."
"Only we ought to keep them, if we have them, to show to other boys,"
said Rollo.
"Yes," said his mother. "You ought never to throw them away, or leave
them on the floor, or on the ground."
"O, the little fool," said Rollo suddenly.

His mother and James looked up, wondering what Rollo meant. He was
looking out at the side of the carryall, at something about the wheel.
"What is it," said his mother.
"Why, here is a large fly trying to light on the wheel, and every time his
legs touch it, it knocks them away. See! See!"
"Yes, but you must not attend to him now. You must listen to my
lecture. You promised to give your attention to me."
So James and Rollo turned away from the window, and began to listen
again.
"I have told you now," said she, "of one kind of playthings--those that
give pleasure from their novelty only. There is another kind--those that
give you pleasure by their use;--such as a doll, for example."
"How, mother? Is a doll of any use?"
"Yes, in one sense; that is, the girl who has it, uses it continually.
Perhaps she admired the looks of it, the first day it was given to her; but
then,