Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for May


The Duel

The gingham dog and the calico cat

Side by side on the table sat;

'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)

Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!

The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate

Appeared to know as sure as fate

There was going to be a terrible spat.

(I wasn't there; I simply state

What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)


The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!"

And the calico cat replied "mee-ow!"

The air was littered, an hour or so,

With bits of gingham and calico,

While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place

Up with its hands before its face,

For it always dreaded a family row!

(Now mind: I'm only telling you

What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)


The Chinese plate looked very blue,

And wailed, "Oh, dear! what shall we do!"

But the gingham dog and the calico cat

Wallowed this way and tumbled that,

Employing every tooth and claw

In the awfullest way you ever saw—

And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!

(Don't fancy I exaggerate—

I got my news from the Chinese plate!)


Next morning where the two had sat

They found no trace of the dog or cat;

And some folks think unto this day

That burglars stole the pair away!

But the truth about the cat and the pup

Is this: They ate each other up!

Now what do you really think of that!

(The old Dutch clock it told me so,

And that is how I came to know.)

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 2 Master Cherry Gives a Present to Geppetto from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi King Alfred and the Beggar from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin The Snowball from The Seasons: Winter by Jane Marcet Fruit for the King's Son from The Girl Who Sat by the Ashes by Padraic Colum Julius Caesar from On the Shores of the Great Sea by M. B. Synge Aunt Harriet Has a Cough (Part 2 of 3) from Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher How the River Jordan Became Dry from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
The Tooth Thrall from Viking Tales by Jennie Hall Suet Pudding for Woodpeckers (Part 2 of 3) from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch The Tortoise and the Ducks from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter I Make My First Voyage from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin Cupid and Apollo from A Child's Book of Myths and Enchantment Tales by Margaret Evans Price The Stranger from the North from The Adventures of Prickly Porky by Thornton Burgess The Blacksmith Story from The Sandman: His Ship Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
The Mountain and the Squirrel by Ralph Waldo Emerson Wynken, Blynken, and Nod by Eugene Field How Doth the Little Crocodile by Lewis Carroll The Plaint of the Camel by Charles Edward Carryl Tired Tim by Walter de la Mare Norse Lullaby by Eugene Field Granny by James Whitcomb Riley
First row Previous row          Next row Last row
The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox

A Dog and a Cock, who were the best of friends, wished very much to see something of the world. So they decided to leave the farmyard and to set out into the world along the road that led to the woods. The two comrades traveled along in the very best of spirits and without meeting any adventure to speak of.

At nightfall the Cock, looking for a place to roost, as was his custom, spied nearby a hollow tree that he thought would do very nicely for a night's lodging. The Dog could creep inside and the Cock would fly up on one of the branches. So said, so done, and both slept very comfortably.

With the first glimmer of dawn the Cock awoke. For the moment he forgot just where he was. He thought he was still in the farmyard where it had been his duty to arouse the household at daybreak. So standing on tip-toes he flapped his wings and crowed lustily. But instead of awakening the farmer, he awakened a Fox not far off in the wood. The Fox immediately had rosy visions of a very delicious breakfast. Hurrying to the tree where the Cock was roosting, he said very politely:

"A hearty welcome to our woods, honored sir. I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you here. I am quite sure we shall become the closest of friends."


[Illustration]

"I feel highly flattered, kind sir," replied the Cock slyly. "If you will please go around to the door of my house at the foot of the tree, my porter will let you in."

The hungry but unsuspecting Fox, went around the tree as he was told, and in a twinkling the Dog had seized him.

Those who try to deceive may expect to be paid in their own coin.