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 52	"When the Pie Was Opened, the Birds Began To Sing" from The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin	The Birdling Flies Away from The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin	Peter Sees Two Terrible Feathered Hunters from The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess	Karen Perplexed from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein	The King's Messenger from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein	Gabriel's Christmas from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein	The King's Illuminator from Gabriel and the Hour Book by Evaleen Stein
	Lord De la Warr's Arrival from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis The Young Planters from Richard of Jamestown by James Otis	Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe from The Children's Book of Christmas Stories by Asa Don Dickinson	Christmas Eve Again from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein	The Porringer Finds a Resting-place from The Christmas Porringer by Evaleen Stein	Sheltering Wings from The Pearl Story Book by Eleanor L. Skinner	Babouscka from Christmas in Legend and Story: A Book for Boys and Girls by Elva S. Smith	The Driftwood Story from The Sandman: His Sea Stories by Willliam J. Hopkins
	I Saw Three Ships, Old Carol	An Old English Carol, Anonymous	Old King Winter by Anna E. Skinner	The Glad New Year by Mary Mapes Dodge	Who Loves the Trees Best?, Anonymous	I Heard a Bird Sing by Oliver Herford	Christmas Song by Eugene Field

The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher by Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Jeremy Fisher

O NCE upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher; he lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond.

T HE water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder and in the back passage.

But Mr. Jeremy liked getting his feet wet; nobody ever scolded him, and he never caught a cold!

H E was quite pleased when he looked out and saw large drops of rain, splashing in the pond—

"I WILL get some worms and go fishing and catch a dish of minnows for my dinner," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "If I catch more than five fish, I will invite my friends Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise and Sir Isaac Newton. The Alderman, however, eats salad."

M R. JEREMY put on a macintosh, and a pair of shiny goloshes; he took his rod and basket, and set off with enormous hops to the place where he kept his boat.

T HE boat was round and green, and very like the other lily-leaves. It was tied to a water-plant in the middle of the pond.

M R. JEREMY took a reed pole, and pushed the boat out into open water. "I know a good place for minnows," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

M R. JEREMY stuck his pole into the mud and fastened the boat to it.

Then he settled himself cross-legged and arranged his fishing tackle. He had the dearest little red float. His rod was a tough stalk of grass, his line was a fine long white horse-hair, and he tied a little wriggling worm at the end.

T HE rain trickled down his back, and for nearly an hour he stared at the float.

"This is getting tiresome, I think I should like some lunch," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

H E punted back again amongst the water-plants, and took some lunch out of his basket.

"I will eat a butterfly sandwich, and wait till the shower is over," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

A GREAT big water-beetle came up underneath the lily leaf and tweaked the toe of one of his goloshes.

Mr. Jeremy crossed his legs up shorter, out of reach, and went on eating his sandwich.

O NCE or twice something moved about with a rustle and a splash amongst the rushes at the side of the pond.

"I trust that is not a rat," said Mr. Jeremy Fisher; "I think I had better get away from here."

M R. JEREMY shoved the boat out again a little way, and dropped in the bait. There was a bite almost directly; the float gave a tremendous bobbit!

"A minnow! a minnow! I have him by the nose!" cried Mr. Jeremy Fisher, jerking up his rod.

B UT what a horrible surprise! Instead of a smooth fat minnow, Mr. Jeremy landed little Jack Sharp the stickleback, covered with spines!

T HE stickleback floundered about the boat, pricking and snapping until he was quite out of breath. Then he jumped back into the water.

A ND a shoal of other little fishes put their heads out, and laughed at Mr. Jeremy Fisher.

A ND while Mr. Jeremy sat disconsolately on the edge of his boat—sucking his sore fingers and peering down into the water—a much worse thing happened; a really frightful thing it would have been, if Mr. Jeremy had not been wearing a macintosh!

A GREAT big enormous trout came up—ker-pflop-p-p-p! with a splash—and it seized Mr. Jeremy with a snap, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"—and then it turned and dived down to the bottom of the pond!

B UT the trout was so displeased with the taste of the macintosh, that in less than half a minute it spat him out again; and the only thing it swallowed was Mr. Jeremy's goloshes.

M R. JEREMY bounced up to the surface of the water, like a cork and the bubbles out of a soda water bottle; and he swam with all his might to the edge of the pond.

H E scrambled out on the first bank he came to, and he hopped home across the meadow with his macintosh all in tatters.

"W HAT a mercy that was not a pike!" said Mr. Jeremy Fisher. "I have lost my rod and basket; but it does not much matter, for I am sure I should never have dared to go fishing again!"

H E put some sticking plaster on his fingers, and his friends both came to dinner. He could not offer them fish, but he had something else in his larder.

S IR ISAAC NEWTON wore his black and gold waistcoat,

A ND Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise brought a salad with him in a string bag.

A ND instead of a nice dish of minnows—they had a roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce; which frogs consider a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty!