Second Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Songs for April

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 33	Pinocchio Is Sold from Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi	The Ungrateful Guest from Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin	Peter Gets a Lame Neck from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	The Sea-Maiden Who Became a Sea-Swan (Part 2 of 2) from The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said by Padraic Colum	Prince Henry, the Sailor from The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge	How Balser Got a Gun (Part 1 of 2) from The Bears of Blue River by Charles Major	How David Spared Saul's Life from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
	A Touch of Homesickness from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Master Hunt's Preaching from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis Neglecting To Provide for the Future from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	A Spider's Tower from Outdoor Visits by Edith M. Patch	The Ass Carrying the Image from The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter	I Am Again Alarmed from Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children by James Baldwin	The Straw Ox from Nursery Tales from Many Lands by Eleanor L. and Ada M. Skinner	The Runaway Cabbage from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton Burgess	Safe from The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
	A Sand Castle, Anonymous	The Wonderful World by William Brighty Rands		The Fairy Shoemaker by William Allingham	The Bees' Song by Walter de la Mare	Summer Woods by Mary Howitt	A Sea Song from the Shore by James Whitcomb Riley

The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter

The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf

A Shepherd Boy tended his master's Sheep near a dark forest not far from the village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull. All he could do to amuse himself was to talk to his dog or play on his shepherd's pipe.

One day as he sat watching the Sheep and the quiet forest, and thinking what he would do should he see a Wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself.

His Master had told him to call for help should a Wolf attack the flock, and the Villagers would drive it away. So now, though he had not seen anything that even looked like a Wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice, "Wolf! Wolf!"

As he expected, the Villagers who heard the cry dropped their work and ran in great excitement to the pasture. But when they got there they found the Boy doubled up with laughter at the trick he had played on them.

A few days later the Shepherd Boy again shouted, "Wolf! Wolf!" Again the Villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at again. Then one evening as the sun was setting behind the forest and the shadows were creeping out over the pasture, a Wolf really did spring from the underbrush and fall upon the Sheep.

In terror the Boy ran toward the village shouting "Wolf! Wolf!" But though the Villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him as they had before. "He cannot fool us again," they said.

The Wolf killed a great many of the Boy's sheep and then slipped away into the forest.

Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.