第4章 BIG AND LITTLE WORKERS

23

The Red Wagon

Once there was a beautiful big red wagon in the window of a toy store.

Billy and George often came to the store window and looked at the toys.Among them were tops and sleds,books and balls,and other fine things.But the boys liked the red wagon best of all.

"I wish I had that wagon,"said Billy."I could use it for so many things."

"I wish it were mine,"said George."I would play with it all day."

The man who kept the store heard the boys talking about the big red wagon.

"Both of those boys want that wagon,"he said to himself."I wonder which boy will get it."

One day George's mother wanted to bake a cake.She called George.

"I am going to bake a cake,"she said."I need some flour and butter.Will you go to the store for me?"

"Wait a minute,Mother,"said George."I want to spin my top for a while."

But he had such a good time spinning his top that he forgot all about going to the store.

The very same day Billy's mother said,"Billy,I need some things from the store.Will you get them for me,please?"

"Yes,Mother,"answered Billy."I'll go right now."

When Billy went past George's house,he saw George spinning his top on the walk.

"Come here,Billy,"George called."Let's spin our tops."

"I can't stop just now,"answered Billy."Mother sent me on an errand.I'll play with you after I come back."

Billy went on.Soon he came past again with his arms full of packages.

That evening Billy helped his father rake the leaves.They raked them into a big pile.Then they carried them to the garden and burned them.

"I could do more work,"said Billy,"if I had a big red wagon."

George's father was raking leaves,too.He needed a helper,but George was in the park,playing ball.

The two boys would often meet at the toy store.One day when they saw the big red wagon,it had a green card on it.

"Oh,look!"said George."The card says SOLD.Some boy is going to get the red wagon."

The boys walked home slowly.They felt sad because the red wagon was sold.They wondered if any of their playmates would get it.

Next morning Billy's mother called,"Billy!Wake up!Wake up!"

Billy opened one eye.Then he opened the other eye.He saw something in his room that made him very wide awake.

There was the big red wagon!It had a card on it,but this card did not say SOLD.It said,"Happy Birthday to a good helper who needs a red wagon."

24

Grandmother's Churn

John,Tom,and Sally were visiting Grandmother and Grandfather at the farm.One day when the postman came down the road,he brought the children a letter from their mother.

Sally read the letter."Oh,listen,"she cried."Mother is coming!She will be here Saturday afternoon."

"Let's do something to surprise her,"said Grandmother."Can you think of something she would like?"

"I know something Mother likes,"said Tom."She likes gingerbread with good,fresh butter on it.We all like it,too."

"Yes,"cried Sally."Let's make some gingerbread when Mother comes."

Grandmother said,"I'll show you how to make gingerbread,and Grandfather will get the butter in town Friday."

"Oh,Grandmother,"said Tom,"let us children make the butter in your old churn that is down in the cellar."

Grandmother thought for a minute.

"You can try,"she said."We must have sour cream to make butter.We will save the cream from the milk that the cows give tonight.It will be sour enough to churn by Saturday morning."

"Won't that be fun!"cried Sally.

"It will be hard work,"said Tom,"but each of us can do part of it."

When Grandfather milked the cows that evening,the children helped him carry the milk from the barn to the house.Then Grandmother put the milk into big pans.

Saturday morning every pan had thick,sour cream on top.The children took off the cream and put it into the churn.

"Now,who will churn first?"asked Grandmother.

"Let Sally try it,"said Tom.So Sally began to churn.

At first it was easy.Up and down went her arms.In a short time Sally became tired,but she kept on working.She made up this little song,

"Oh,the cream to butter turns,

As it churns,churns,churns."

"Let me churn now,"said John.

John was too short to reach the churn.So Tom got a box for him to stand on.

When John began to churn,he made up a song,too.He sang,

"It will turn,turn,turn,

As I churn,churn,churn."

Soon Grandmother said,"John,your arms must be tired.Who is next?"

Tom took his place at the churn and worked with all his might.He made up a song like this,

"Hurry,hurry,little churn,

And the cream to butter turn."

By and by Grandmother opened the churn and showed the children little pieces of butter."The butter is coming,"she said."Now churn very slowly."

Soon all the butter was in a few big pieces.Grandmother took it out of the churn and put it into a big bowl.

Then she poured cold water over the butter and showed the children how to wash the buttermilk out of it.

"When Mother comes,"said Tom,"we will ask her to guess what we made for her supper."

Next,the children helped Grandmother make the gingerbread.They had just taken it from the oven when Grandfather called,"It's time to meet Mother."

At supper time Sally brought in the gingerbread.Then John carried in a dish with a cover on it."Now,Mother,"he said,"you must guess what else we made to surprise you.It is in this dish."

"It is yellow as gold,"said Sally.

"It is good on gingerbread,"said Tom.

"The cows helped make it,"said John.

Mother laughed."That's easy enough,"she said."It's butter.But how did you children make butter?"

Then they told her how they had made the butter in Grandmother's old churn.

Mother said with a smile,"I learned to make butter in that old churn when I was a little girl."

25

The Postman

You must,I think,be very strong

To be a postman all day long;

For though it snows,or rains,or sleets,

You still go walking through the streets.

26

How the First Dishes Were Made

Torad,the Cave-Boy

A long,long time ago there lived a little boy named Torad.

In those days there were no houses like ours,and Torad lived in a cave with his family.

They sat and slept on the floor of the cave,for they had no chairs or beds.And no one knew what dishes were.

Torad liked to run and play with the other children.But best of all,he liked to play with the soft,yellow mud which he found along the bank of the river.

Sometimes he would sit for hours making mud balls,rolling them on a flat stone until they were round and smooth.

One day Torad was playing with a big mud ball.He took a sharp stick and dug a round hole in the ball.This made it look like a small round bowl.

Torad thought it looked like one of the large nut shells which his mother used to carry water from the river.

He was just going to show the bowl to his mother when he heard his playmates calling him.So he ran away to play and forgot all about the mud bowl.

The next day,when Torad went to get the bowl,he found it dry and hard.

"Mother might use this for carrying water instead of a nut shell,"he said.So he took the bowl to his mother.

When Torad's mother saw the bowl,she did not know what it was.She held it in her hands and looked at it.

"Where did you find this?"she asked.

Torad smiled."I made it myself,"he said."I made it out of mud.I thought you might carry water in it."

Torad's mother was pleased."We will see,"she said."Bring me some fresh,cool water from the river.I want a drink."

Torad ran to the river and came back to the cave with the bowl full of water.But when his mother took the bowl,she saw that the water was muddy.

"Why do you bring me muddy water?"she asked."I cannot drink it."

Torad was surprised."It was clean when I got it from the river,"he said.

"We cannot carry water in this thing,"said his mother."It is made of mud,and will always make the water muddy.We had better throw it away."

She threw the bowl into the fire.

Poor Torad!He was sorry to see his bowl in the fire.But the fire was so hot that he could not get the bowl out.So he ran away to play.

The Beautiful Red Bowl

When Torad came back to the cave,the fire had burned down.He raked his bowl out with a long stick.

As soon as the bowl was cool enough,Torad took it up in his hands and looked at it.He was surprised to see that it was not the same color.It had changed from yellow to a bright red.

Then Torad saw that a piece of the bowl had been broken off.

"I will hold the bowl in the water until it is soft,"he said."Then I will stick the broken piece on again."

Torad took the red bowl to the river and held it under the water for a while.Then he let some water stand in it for a long time.But the bowl did not get soft.

This seemed very strange to Torad.

When he saw that the water did not get muddy,he was happy.Now he knew how to make a bowl that his mother would like better than any nut shell.

So he got some more mud.He made a larger bowl this time,taking great care to make it round and smooth.Then he left it on a stone until it was dry.

That night,when everyone was asleep,Torad put his new bowl into the fire.

Next morning he raked it out of the fire.The new bowl was not broken,and had the same red color as the first one.He carried it to the river and filled it with water.Then he took it to the cave.

"Look,Mother!"he cried."This bowl does not make the water muddy."

Many people came to see the bowl.Soon Torad was busy teaching others how to make bowls like his and how to bake them in the fire.

So people began to make bowls,big ones and little ones,deep ones and flat ones.These were used for eating and drinking,and they were the first dishes.

27

Little Pig and His Garden

Ever so long ago there was a little pig who lived by himself in a small brick house.Back of the house was a fine big garden.

Little Pig was always digging in his garden.He dug out all the weeds and raked the dirt close around the little plants,so that they would grow tall and strong.

Everyone heard of Little Pig's garden and came from far and near to see it.

But after a time Little Pig grew tired of such hard work.

"I want to work at something else,"he said to himself."I will go out into the world,and maybe I can find some work that is easy."

So Little Pig shut up his little brick house and started down the road.

After a while he heard the sound of music.When he stopped to listen,he saw a small white house among the trees.

Little Pig went toward the house.A big yellow cat was sitting in the door,playing a fiddle.

"It must be easy to play a fiddle,"thought Little Pig."It can't be so hard as digging in the dirt all day."

So he went up to the big yellow cat and asked,"Will you teach me to play the fiddle,Friend Cat?"

"To be sure,"answered the cat."Try it now.Just do as I am doing."

Little Pig took the fiddle and began to play.But no sweet music came from it."Squeak,squeak,squeak!"went the fiddle.

The pig felt very sad.

"Oh,I can't make sweet music as you do,"he said.

"Yes,you can,"said the cat,"if you try long enough.It takes hours and hours of work to learn to play the fiddle."

"Then I won't learn to play the fiddle,"said the little pig."That is harder work than weeding a garden.I will look for something else.Good-by."

Little Pig went on and on until he came to a little stone house.There he saw a big dog,who was making butter.

"That seems easy enough,"thought Little Pig.So he asked the dog to teach him to make butter.

The dog said,"Go to work,my friend.The churn is full of thick,sour cream."

The pig churned for a few minutes.But he soon became tired and stopped a while to rest and fan himself.

"Go on,"said the dog."You can't stop to rest until the butter is churned."

"Oh,dear me,"said Little Pig,"this is harder work than digging in the dirt.I don't want to make butter.I will hunt for something easy.Good-by."

So the pig went on farther.

By and by he came to a green meadow.There he saw a man taking honey out of a large bee-hive.

"That seems easy,"thought the pig."And I like to eat honey myself."

So he ran quickly to the man and asked,"May I help you?"

The man said,"Yes,Little Pig.I have been wanting a helper for a year and a day.I will teach you how to take honey out of a bee-hive."

Little Pig started to work at once.But the bees did not like him.They stung him on his back and legs and snout until he cried.

"Oh,oh,"cried Little Pig."The bees are hurting me."

"Well,"said the man,"sometimes they hurt me,too,but I get the honey just the same.You must try again."

"No,"said Little Pig."I will go home."

So Little Pig went back to his garden."All work is hard,"he said."There is no easy work.Making a garden is the best work for me."