Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader | Page 6

her
blissful dream. "Bring back my flowers!" she wildly cried; "Bring back
the flowers I flung to thee!" But echo's voice alone replied, As danced
the streamlet down the lea; And still, amid night's gloomy hours, In
vain she cried, "Bring back my flowers!"
O maiden, who on time's swift stream Dost gayly see the moments flee,

In this poor child's delusive dream An emblem may be found of thee.
Each moment is a perfumed rose, Into thy hand by mercy given, That
thou its fragrance might dispose And let its incense rise to heaven; Else
when death's shadow o'er thee lowers, Thy heart will wail, "Bring back
my flowers!"
Lucy Larcom.

LESSON X
THE USE OF TRIFLES
A certain painter once said he had become great in his art by never
neglecting trifles. It would be well for all of us to follow that simple
and easy rule. No man's house but would be more comfortable, and no
family but would be more cheerful, if the value of trifles and the art of
using them were better understood. Attention to trifles is the true art of
economy.
We must, however, take care not to confound economy with parsimony.
The former means a frugal and judicious use of things without waste,
the latter a too close and sparing use of things needed. Now a person
who understands the use of little things is economical; for instance. If
you wipe a pen before you put it away it will last twice as long as if
you do not.
Generally the habits we acquire in our youth we carry with us into old
age; hence the necessity of proper training in childhood. A woman who
attends to trifles and has habits of economy will not hastily throw away
bits of cotton or worsted, nor will she waste soap by letting it lie in the
water. She will keep an eye to the pins and matches, knowing that the
less often such things are bought, the more is saved. She will not think
it above her care to mend the clothes or darn the stockings,
remembering that "a stitch in time saves nine."

LESSON XI
ROSA BONHEUR
Rosa Bonheur was born at Bordeaux, France, the daughter of a painter.
Her father was her first teacher in art.
At an early age, when most children draw in an aimless way, her father

guided his little girl's efforts with his own experienced hand. He taught
her to study and sketch from nature instead of relying on copies.
As a child she cared nothing for dolls and toys, but loved animals
dearly. Is it any wonder, then, that she took them for her subject when
she began to paint?
In her childhood she had two dogs and a goat for pets, and later on kept
a sheep in her Parisian apartment. Still later, when she had become a
distinguished woman, her studio included a farmyard.
Her animal paintings are so real and life-like that a study of the faces of
all the horses in that wonderful picture, "The Horse Fair," will reveal
distinctly different expressions in each face.
Although most simple in her personal habits and in her life, Rosa
Bonheur was the greatest woman artist that ever lived.
"The Horse Fair," Rosa Bonheur's most famous painting, was bought
by an American gentleman and presented by him to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, in New York.

LESSON XII
ALEXANDER AND THE ROBBER
_Alexander_--What! art thou that Thracian robber, of whose exploits I
have heard so much?
_Robber_--I am a Thracian, and a soldier.
_Alexander_--A soldier!--a thief, a plunderer, an assassin, the pest of
the country; but I must detest and punish thy crimes.
_Robber_--What have I done of which you can complain?
_Alexander_--Hast thou not set at defiance my authority, violated the
public peace and passed thy life in injuring the persons and properties
of thy fellow-subjects?
_Robber_--Alexander, I am your captive. I must hear what you please
to say, and endure what you please to inflict. But my soul is
unconquered; and if I reply at all to your reproaches, I will reply like a
free man.
_Alexander_--Speak freely. Far be it from me to take advantage of my
power, to silence those with whom I deign to converse.
_Robber_--I must, then, answer your question by another. How have
you passed your life?
_Alexander_--Like a hero. Ask Fame, and she will tell you. Among the

brave, the bravest; among sovereigns, the noblest; among conquerors,
the mightiest.
_Robber_--And does not Fame speak of me too? Was there ever a
bolder captain of a more valiant band? Was there ever--but I scorn to
boast. You yourself know that I have not been easily subdued.
_Alexander_--Still, what are you but a robber,--a base, dishonest
robber?
_Robber_--And what is