Hop, hop, hop! Go and never stop; Where 'tis smooth, and where 'tis stony, Trudge along, my little Go and never stop, pony, Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop! Hey, hey, hey! Go along, I say; Don't you kick, and don't you stumble, Don't you tire, and don't you grumble; Go along, I say; Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Jump, jump, jump! Don't you hit that stump! Till I further yet have tried you; you Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump! Tramp, tramp, tramp ! Make your feet now stamp, On the highway no one faster; But take care! don't throw your master! Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp! It was a bright spring morning, and I was standing at the cross roads in the village, where the bridge leads, on the right, to the school, and the highway runs on, winding, on the left, to the meadow, where the fair is held. There I heard two boys speaking as follows "Good day, Charles." "Good day, George." "Where are you going, Charles ?" "Into the school, George." "What! it is nasty inside the school. You must learn something there. Out in the meadow, if you saw it, everything is so nice. Come, let us go there and play, Charles." C. "In the evening, George. Now, I must go learn. Good-bye." G. "For my part, if you go to work, Charles, I shall go to play.” Twenty years later I was in the same village, at the same place. It was a raw, cold, winter day. A pale, badly-dressed man, knocked at the door of the school-house, opened it, and I heard what follows "Good day, dear sir." man." "Good day, good "What do you I will clean out "Ah, sir, have pity on me!" wish from me?" "Work, sir. your school for you, will light the fire, or do anything you like. Do take me." "Can you not do better than that?" "No, sir." "Why?" "I'm no scholar, sir." "What's your name?" "George." "Come in. It is cold outside, and the school is nice. I shall teach you, old though you be." The beggar was George. The teacher was Charles. Two hunters had heard of a bear that lived in a wood. No bear so strong and large had been seen for long, and its skin must be worth a good deal, so the two hunters fell into a talk about what they would do with the skin when the bear was killed. "If I shoot him," said the one, "I shall make a nice fur cloak of his skin, to keep me warm in winter." "No," said the other; "if I shoot the bear I shall sell the skin. The furrier offered me two pounds for it, and the money will clink finely in my pocket." They had now got to the wood, far away from any one, and soon found the bear's footsteps, and next heard it. Then they began to be afraid. Not long after, the bear saw them, and gave a great growl. On this the hunter who was to sell its skin threw away his gun, and got up a tree as fast as he could. But the other, who wanted just as much to get away, found he was too late. By good luck, it struck him that a bear will not touch a dead man; so he threw himself on the ground, held his breath, and stretched himself out, as if he were dead. The bear came fiercely up; but when he saw that the man did not move, he thought he must be dead. He smelt him over, and went away without hurting him. After a time both hunters got over their fears; the one rose from the ground, and the other came down from the tree. Then the one who had been in the tree asked, "What did the bear say to you when he had his nose at your ear?" "Well," said the other, "I hardly know it all; but he said one thing plainly in my right ear, 'Never sell a bear's skin before you get the bear,' and he said, in my left ear, 'He who runs away from his friend at a pinch is a very mean fellow.'" |