Fourth Grade Read Aloud Banquet

Hunting Song

Waken, lords and ladies gay,

On the mountain dawns the day,

All the jolly chase is here,

With hawk, and horse, and hunting spear!

Hounds are in their couples yelling,

Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling,

Merrily, merrily, mingle they,

"Waken, lords and ladies gay."


Waken, lords and ladies gay,

The mist has left the mountain gray,

Springlets in the dawn are steaming,

Diamonds on the brake are gleaming;

And foresters have busy been,

To track the buck in thicket green;

Now we come to chant our lay,

"Waken, lords and ladies gay."


Waken, lords and ladies gay,

To the greenwood haste away;

We can show you where he lies,

Fleet of foot and tall of size;

We can show the marks he made,

When 'gainst the oak his antlers fray'd;

You shall see him brought to bay,

"Waken, lords and ladies gay."


Louder, louder chant the lay,

Waken, lords and ladies gay!

Tell them youth, and mirth, and glee

Run a course as well as we;

Time, stern huntsman! who can balk,

Stanch as hound, and fleet as hawk?

Think of this, and rise with day,

Gentle lords and ladies gay.

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Week 28 Happy Camp of the Freebooters from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain The Commonwealth—The Lord Protector from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall The Chase from The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre The Tailltenn Fair from Our Little Celtic Cousin of Long Ago by Evaleen Stein The Fall of the Bastile from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge The Little Humpbacked Horse from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Across the Lake by Lisa M. Ripperton At the Feast of Tabernacles from Hurlbut's Story of the Bible by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
The Children's Crusade from Heroes of the Middle Ages by Eva March Tappan The Wild Animals at Play from Summer by Dallas Lore Sharp The King and His Province from Four American Patriots by Alma Holman Burton The Frog, the Crab, and the Serpent from The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton The Story of Sigmund and Signy from The Children of Odin: A Book of Northern Myths by Padraic Colum Pelopaeus Provisions Her Nest from Will o' the Wasps by Margaret Warner Morley The Escape from The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
Song of the River by Charles Kingsley Birds in Summer by Mary Howitt Little Birdie by Alfred Lord Tennyson A Song of Sherwood by Alfred Noyes What the Burdock Was Good For from Poems, Anonymous The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll Nurse's Song by William Blake
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The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Fox without a Tail

A Fox that had been caught in a trap, succeeded at last, after much painful tugging, in getting away. But he had to leave his beautiful bushy tail behind him.

For a long time he kept away from the other Foxes, for he knew well enough that they would all make fun of him and crack jokes and laugh behind his back. But it was hard for him to live alone, and at last he thought of a plan that would perhaps help him out of his trouble.

He called a meeting of all the Foxes, saying that he had something of great importance to tell the tribe.

When they were all gathered together, the Fox Without a Tail got up and made a long speech about those Foxes who had come to harm because of their tails.


[Illustration]

This one had been caught by hounds when his tail had become entangled in the hedge. That one had not been able to run fast enough because of the weight of his brush. Besides, it was well known, he said, that men hunt Foxes simply for their tails, which they cut off as prizes of the hunt. With such proof of the danger and uselessness of having a tail, said Master Fox, he would advise every Fox to cut it off, if he valued life and safety.

When he had finished talking, an old Fox arose, and said, smiling: "Master Fox, kindly turn around for a moment, and you shall have your answer."

When the poor Fox Without a Tail turned around, there arose such a storm of jeers and hooting, that he saw how useless it was to try any longer to persuade the Foxes to part with their tails.

Do not listen to the advice of him who seeks to lower you to his own level.