第3章 JUST FOR FUN

13

Carlo and the Big Bird

Carlo was a big dog.He lived with Grandfather on the farm.

Carlo was a good farm dog.

He helped Grandfather.

Every day he went after the cows.

Carlo liked to go to the fields with Grandfather.

One day Jim came to the farm.

He was playing with Carlo.

Jim wanted Carlo to do tricks.

"Carlo can not do any tricks,"said

Grandfather.

"But he is a good farm dog and knows how to help a farmer.

He gets the cows for me.

He runs after the crows that come to eat the corn.

The crows do not like him."

Jim said,"Oh,Grandfather!

It must be fun to see Carlo go after the crows.

Let us take him to the field now.

We may see some crows there.

I want to see Carlo run after the crows."

Grandfather and Jim took Carlo to the corn field.

They saw some big black crows.

"Go,Carlo!"cried Grandfather.

"Go after the crows!"

Carlo started after the crows.

The big birds flew away,but some of them came back soon.

Carlo ran after the crows again and again.

He thought it was fun.

"Good dog!Good Carlo!"said Jim.

Just then they heard a noise over their heads.

They all looked up.

"See the airplane!"said Jim.

"Here it comes,"said Grandfather.

"It is coming over the field."

Jim said,"It looks like a big bird.

Carlo sees it,too.

There he goes after it."

Carlo ran after the airplane as fast as he could go.

By and by the dog came back to the corn field.He was very tired.

Grandfather laughed at him,and Jim laughed,too.

"That is a good joke on you,Carlo,"said Jim."You thought the airplane was a big bird."

14

Mother Pig's Joke

Once upon a time a little pig lived in a little house.

He lived there with his mother.

Two very fine apple trees grew in Mother Pig's front yard.

They had big red apples on them.

One morning Little Pig said,"I wish I had an apple pie."

Mother Pig said,"I will make some apple pies.

But first I must go to the store.

You must stay at home.Don't let any one take the big red apples."

Little Pig said,"Yes,Mother.

I will stay at home and look after the apples."

So Mother Pig took her basket and went to the store.

By and by White Cow came along.

"What fine red apples!"she said.

"May I have one?"

"No,no,White Cow,"said Little Pig.

"Mother is going to make apple pies for dinner today.

Come back this evening,and I will ask her to give you a pie.

Mother Pig's apple pies are fine."

"All right,"said White Cow,and away she went down the road.

Soon Gray Pony came along.

"Hello,Little Pig!"he said.

"What fine red apples you have on your trees!May I have one?"

Little Pig shook his head and said,"No,no,Gray Pony.

Mother is going to make apple pies today.

She makes very good apple pies.

If you come back this evening,I will ask her to give you a pie."

"All right,"said Gray Pony,and away he went.

Then Billy Goat came along.

"What big red apples!"he said.

"I'll just take three or four."

"No,no,Billy Goat,"said Little Pig.

"Mother wants to make apple pies.

If you come back this evening,I will ask her to give you a pie."

But Billy Goat shook the tree and took four of the big red apples.

"I will come back for the pie,too,"he said.

By and by Mother Pig came home.

Little Pig told her about White Cow,Gray Pony,and Billy Goat.

Mother Pig said,"I do not like old Billy Goat.

I think I will play a joke on him."

Little Pig helped his mother make apple pies all that morning.

Mother Pig said,"Now I will make a very big pie for Billy Goat."

That evening White Cow and Gray Pony and Billy Goat came to dinner.

They all sat down at the table.

Then Mother Pig put a big pie at each place.

Billy Goat had the biggest pie,and he began to eat very fast.

All at once Billy Goat cried out,"Look here!Is this a joke?

There are no apples in my pie."

Mother Pig laughed and said,"You had your apples this morning."

They all laughed at Mother Pig's joke.

But Billy Goat was so angry that he jumped up from the table and ran home.

15

The Gum-drop Tree

One fine morning Bobby Squirrel was playing.

The sun was shining,and he was very happy.

He ran up and down trees.

He ran along the ground.

"I wish I could find something good to eat,"thought Bobby.

Just then he heard the children coming along the street.

It was time for school.

Bobby liked to see the children going to school.

Sometimes they gave him nuts.

Sometimes other good things fell out of their pockets.

Bobby sat up on the ground and looked at the children.

But they ran to school so fast that they did not see him.

After the children had gone by,Bobby Squirrel saw something on the ground.

He ran to see what it was.

It was something round.

It was something green.

"What is this round green thing?"said Bobby."It is not a nut.

It smells good.I will eat it."

So he ate a little of it.

It was very sweet and very good.

He ate it all.

"Oh,oh,"said Bobby Squirrel.

"That green thing was good.

Maybe I can find another one."

He looked along the ground,and soon he found another one.

"I will take it home,"he thought.

"I will ask Mother what it is."

Away he ran to his home in a tree.

All the other squirrels wanted to see what Bobby had found.

"It is just a green nut,"said one.

"Or a green acorn,"said another.

Then Mother Squirrel came home.

"Oh,I know what it is,"she said.

"It is a gum-drop.It is candy.

Candy is not good for little squirrels because it is too sweet.

You must not eat it,Bobby."

Bobby Squirrel did not know what to do with his gum-drop.

He thought,and he thought.

All at once he said,"Now I know."

Then he ran down to the ground and began to dig a hole.

All the other squirrels ran down to watch him.

"What are you doing?"they asked.

Bobby Squirrel said,"I am going to plant my gum-drop in the ground.

Some day I'll have a gum-drop tree with pretty green gum-drops on it."

16

The Little Rooster

Once there was a man who had a little rooster.

The little rooster liked to get up early in the morning.

The man did not like to get up so early.

He wanted to sleep.

But each morning the little rooster began to crow very early.

"Cock-a-doodle-do!"he called.

Then the man could not sleep and had to get up.

One morning the little rooster began to crow very,very early.

"Cock-a-doodle-do!"he called.

The noise woke the man up.

"That little rooster will not let me sleep,"he said.

"I will plant my garden."

So he planted his garden.

One night the man caught the rooster.

He put him into the barn.

"Now,"said the man,"I will stay in bed in the morning."

Early the next morning the rooster flew out of the barn.

He ran to the house and began to crow again.

"Cock-a-doodle-do!"he called.

The man heard the little rooster and woke up.He was very angry.

"Oh,dear!"he said."There is that little rooster again.

I'll find another place to put him this evening.

I can not sleep now,and so I will weed my garden."

That night the man caught the little rooster again.

He took him to the barn and put him under a big basket.

Then he went to bed.

But very early the next morning the little rooster got out again.

"Cock-a-doodle-do!"he called.

The man woke up.

He caught the little rooster again and gave him away.

That night the man had a long sleep.

And the next night,and the next,and the next.

He did not weed his garden.

All summer long the weeds grew and grew.

Then the man had nothing to eat.

17

The Boy and His Goats

Once there was a boy who had three fine goats.

Every morning he took them up a hill to eat grass.

The goats ate the green grass all day long.

When night came,the boy took them home again.

One summer morning the boy took his goats to the hill.

They began to eat grass.

The boy was tired,and he sat down under a tree.Soon he fell asleep.

When he woke up,he could not see the goats on the hill.

They had gone into a corn field.

The boy soon found them,but he could not get them out of the field.

What do you think he did then?

He sat down and cried.

Then a rabbit came along.

"Why are you crying,little boy?"asked the rabbit.

"Oh,oh!"said the boy.

"I am crying because I can not get my goats out of the field."

"Stop crying,"said the rabbit.

"I will get them out."

Away ran the rabbit to get the goats out of the field.

But he could not get them out.

So he sat down and cried.

Soon a red fox came along.

"Good morning,Little Rabbit,"he said."Why are you crying?"

The rabbit said,"I am crying because the boy is crying.

He is crying because he can not get his goats out of the field."

The fox said,"Stop crying.

I will get them out for you."

So the fox ran after the goats,but he could not get them out.

Then the fox sat down,too,and they all cried and cried.

At last a little bee flew by.

"Why are you crying,Red Fox?"asked the bee.

The fox said,"I am crying because the rabbit is crying.

The rabbit is crying because the boy is crying.

The boy is crying because he can not get his goats out of the field."

"Stop crying!"said the bee.

"I will get them out for you."

Then they all looked at each other and laughed.

"How can a little bee do something that we can not do?"asked the boy.

"You will see,"said the bee.

Away it flew after the goats.

It stung every goat.

The goats ran out of the field and all the way home.

The boy laughed and ran home after them.