FOR THE CHILDREN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2443, 6 March 1909, Page 12 (Supplement)

FOR THE CHILDREN.

STORIES OF GREECE AND ROME. < the foolish emperor and HIS FOWLS. Xu old days, the most important person in the world was the Roman Emperor. There are plenty of kings and emperors nowadays, and there is plenty for them to do in making good .laws, and seeing that people keep them. . _ , , , But the Roman Emperor used to be - more important, because he had to look after everyone in his empire, which was a very big one indeed. BuJ*y once there was an emperor whoso name was Honorius, and that was just at a time when the whole empire was in very great danger. But Honorius paid no heed to that; the only things he thought really interesting were cocks and hens and chickens! So when his Ministers or great officers of the court or the army came to him to ask w'hat they were to do, he would say: “Go away and wait. Can’t you see that I have to feed my chickens!” v A Nobody was sorry when the Emper- ' or died and was no longer the most important 'person in the world. THE FAIRY MAID OF VAN LAKE. A shepherd lad from Mothvey was tending his sheep one afternoon b< side Van Lake, in the Black Mou. tains of Wales, when three fairy maids came out of the water ind began to play on the grass. All of them were beautiful, with a beauty never seeen ;» ' s ->-©r-' a mortal face, but the youngest vas •w the loveliest; and the shop bird fell madly in love with her, and won tier as his bride. On the wed iug-d ly.tbe fairy maid came out >f Tan Lake, and'brought with her as a dowry, three cows, two oxen, and a bull, and the marriage was joyfully celebrated at Mothvey Church. “Now r mind,’ said the fairy maid to her husband, “if ever you strike me three times without cause, I shall have to return to Van Lake.”

The shepherd said he never would dream of touching her, and they liv- 'yr ed happily together, and three little • boys were born to them. But when the shepherd asked his wife to go for a horse for them to ride to the christening, she quite forgot to do so, and, without thinking anything at all about her threat, lie slapped her on the shoulder, telling her to do as she had been bidden. “That’s one,” said the fairy maid. Soon afterwards they went to a wedding, and instead of merrymaking the fairy maid cried all the tE-r, just as though she were at a funeral and everybody was sad. “Wily do you cry?"’ said the shepherd, slapping her' on the shoulder. “Because the marriage will prove unhappy,” she replied. “And mind! You have now struck me twice.”

The shepherd became very careful, for he certainly was very anxious not to lose his wife, but later, at a funeral, his wife shocked everybody by laughing and dancing. Clean lorgetting himself, the shepherd tapped her, saying: “Is this a time for rejoicing?” “Yes,” said the fairy maid. “The s , baby has escaped the sorrows of earth and entered the Kingdom of Heaven. But that’s the third blow. Farewell!” As she entered Van Lake her cattle followed her. When her three sons grew up, however, the fairy maid ap- 3 * peared again, and gave them the gift of healing ..and they all became famous physicians.

THE FABLES OF AESOP THE SLAVE. THE FARMER AND HIS SONS. An old farmer lay very ill. and it was soon seen that he was going to die. So he called his two sons, and said: ‘•My boys, all the fortune that I have to leave you is my farm ana fields, which I give to you in equal shares; but you are on no account to let the ground pass out of your own occupation, for whatever treasure I have besides lies bulged somewhere in the ground within a foot or two of the surface.' 5 . £ The two sons thought that their lather was talking about some money that he had buried ;so after Jus death—> y they set to work and carefully dug every inch of the ground. They found no buried treasure, but the result of their digging was that the ground was so well "stirred and turned over that it produced splendid crops, and the two sons were well repaid for their trouble. “The way to get rich is to work hard.” THE FOX AND THE MASK.

A fox was walking along one clay wlien, by tlie roadside, he found a mask, carved an the shape of a man s face. He picked it up and looked at it carefully, then he turned it over and found that it was hollow inside. The fox then laughed, and said: “What a pity it is that such a wiselooking head should have no braius insido it!” “Good looks are worth nothing without good sense.” THE BOYS AND THE FROGS. A party of mischievous boys were playing in a field near a pond. 'When they got tired of running about, tliev gathered at the side of the pond and amused themselves by throwing stones at the unfortunate frogs as often as they showed their heads above water. At last an old frog' put his head out, and said: “Bovs, you don't seem to remember that, although this may bo play to you, it is death to us.” “Never play games which are cruel.” THE WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING. A wolf one day dressed himself in tlio skin of a sheep, and so was able to creep'in among the Hock and kill and eat a great many of them. One day the shepherd found him out, and, tying a rope about his neck, hung him to a branch of a.tree by the roadside. Some other shepherds passing by asked the man what lio meant by hanging one of liis sheep; hut lib showed them that it was really a wolf dressed up as a sheep, they all agreed that the animal deserved his fate. “Hypocrites always get found out.”