Page:Stories and story-telling (1915).djvu/270

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"The beautiful swan wants my bread," cried the boy. He was delighted.

He broke it and threw it bit by bit on a lily pad. The swan ate it, to the last crumb. Then he bent his head as if to thank the boy, and sailed away.


THE BOY AND THE FROGS

Some boys at play near a pond began to pelt the frogs with stones, just for the fun of seeing them go under water. They killed several of them.

At last one of the frogs lifted his head high out of the water, and cried out, "Pray stop, boys; what is fun for you is death to us."

"That is true," said one of the boys; "let us leave the poor creatures in peace." And they did.

—From Æsop


SWEET PORRIDGE

There was a poor but good little girl who lived alone with her mother. One day they no longer had anything to eat. The child went out into the forest, and there an old woman gave her a wonderful little pot. When you said to it, "Cook, little pot, cook," it would cook good sweet porridge. And when you said, "Stop, little pot, stop," it would stop cooking. The girl took the pot home to her mother, and they