Mother Stories by Maud Lindsay
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6 MOTHER STORIES
BY
MAUD LINDSAY
ILLUSTRATED _by_ SARAH NOBLE-IVES
"_Mother, a story told at the right time
Is a looking-glass for the mind_."
FROEBEL.
TWENTY-EIGHTH EDITION
MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY
SPRINGFIELD MASS. 1928
=Bradley Quality Books=
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DEDICATED _to_ MY MOTHER
PREFACE
I have endeavored to write, for mothers and dear little children, a few
simple stories, embodying some of the truths of Froebel's Mother Play.
The Mother Play is such a vast treasure house of Truth, that each one
who seeks among its stores may bring to light some gem; and though,
perhaps, I have missed its diamonds and rubies, I trust my string of
pearls may find acceptance with some mother who is trying to live with
her children.
I have written my own mottoes, with a few exceptions, that I might
emphasize the particular lesson which I endeavor to teach in the story;
for every motto in the Mother Play comprehends so much that it is
impossible to use the whole for a single subject. From "The Bridge" for
instance, which is replete with lessons, I have taken only one,--for the
story of the "Little Traveler."
Most of these stories have been told and retold to little children, and
are surrounded, in my eyes, by a halo of listening faces.
"Mrs. Tabby Gray" is founded on a true story of a favorite cat. "The
Journey" is a new version of the old Stage Coach game, much loved by our
grandmothers; and I am indebted to some old story, read in childhood,
for the suggestion of "Dust Under the Rug," which was a successful
experiment in a kindergarten to test the possibility of interesting
little children in a story after the order of Grimm, with the wicked
stepmother and her violent daughter eradicated.
Elizabeth Peabody says we are all free to look out of each other's
windows; and so I place mine at the service of all who care to see what
its tiny panes command.
MAUD LINDSAY.
LIST OF STORIES
The Wind's Work
Mrs. Tabby Gray
Fleet Wing and Sweet Voice
The Little Girl with the Light
The Little Gray Pony
How the Home Was Built
The Little Traveler
The Open Gate
Inside the Garden Gate
The Journey
Giant Energy and Fairy Skill
The Search for a Good Child
The Closing Door
The Minstrel's Song
Dust Under the Rug
The Story of Gretchen
The King's Birthday
_THE WIND'S WORK_
MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER
_Power invisible that God reveals,
The child within all nature feels,
Like the great wind that unseen goes,
Yet helps the world's work as it blows_.
One morning Jan waked up very early, and the first thing he saw when he
opened his eyes was his great kite in the corner. His big brother had
made it for him; and it had a smiling face, and a long tail that reached
from the bed to the fireplace. It did not smile at Jan that morning
though, but looked very sorrowful and seemed to say "Why was I made? Not
to stand in a corner, I hope!" for it had been finished for two whole
days and not a breeze had blown to carry it up like a bird in the air.
Jan jumped out of bed, dressed himself, and ran to the door to see if
the windmill on the hill was at work; for he hoped that the wind had
come in the night. But the mill was silent and its arms stood still. Not
even a leaf turned over in the yard.
The windmill stood on a high hill where all the people could see it, and
when its long arms went whirling around every one knew that there was
no danger of being hungry, for then the Miller was busy from morn to
night grinding the grain that the farmers brought him.
When Jan looked out, however, the Miller had nothing to do, and was
standing in his doorway, watching the clouds, and saying to himself
(though Jan could not hear him):--
"_Oh! how I wish the wind would blow
So that my windmill's sails might go,
To turn my heavy millstones round!
For corn and wheat must both be ground,
And how to grind I do not know
Unless the merry wind will blow_."
He sighed as he spoke, for he looked down in the village, and saw the
Baker in neat cap and apron, standing idle too.
The Baker's ovens were cold, and his trays were clean, and he, too, was
watching the sky, and saying:--
"_Oh! how I wish the wind would blow,
So that the Miller's mill might go,
And grind me flour so fine, to make
My good light bread and good sweet cake!
But how to bake I do not know
Without the flour as white as snow_."
Jan heard every word that the Baker said, for he lived next door to him;
and he felt so sorry for his good neighbor that he wanted to tell him
so. But before he had time to speak, somebody else called out from
across the street:--
"_Well! I'm sure I wish the wind would blow,
For this is washing day, you know.
I've scrubbed and rubbed with all my might,
In tubs of foam from morning light,
And now I want the wind to blow
To dry my clothes as white as snow_."
This was the Washerwoman who was hanging out her clothes. Jan could see
his own Sunday shirt, with ruffles, hanging limp on her line, and it was
as white as a snowflake, sure enough!
"Come over, little neighbor," cried the Washerwoman, when she saw Jan.
"Come over, little neighbor, and help me work to-day!" So, as soon as
Jan had eaten his breakfast, he ran over to carry her basket for her.
The basket was heavy, but he did not care; and as he worked he heard
some one singing a song, with a voice almost as loud and as strong as
the wind.
[1]"_Oh! if the merry wind would blow,
Yeo ho! lads, ho! yeo ho! yeo ho!
My gallant ship would gaily go,
Yeo ho! lads, ho! yeo ho!
In fresh'ning gales we'd loose our sails,
And o'er the sea,
Where blue waves dance, and sunbeams glance,
We'd sail in glee,
But winds must blow, before we go,
Across the sea,
Yeo ho! my lads, yeo ho!"_
[Footnote 1: Air _Nancy Lee_.]
Jan and the Washerwoman and all the neighbors looked out to see who was
singing so cheerily, and it was the Sea-captain whose white ship Jan had
watched in the harbor. The ship was laden with linen and laces for fine
ladies, but it could not go till the wind blew. The Captain was
impatient to be off, and so he walked about town, singing his jolly song
to keep himself happy.
Jan thought it was a beautiful song, and when he went home he tried to
sing it himself. He did not know all the words, but he put his hands in
his pockets and swelled out his little chest and sang in as big a voice
as he could: "Yeo ho! my lads, yeo ho!"
While he sang, something kissed him on the cheek; and when he turned to
see what it was his hat spun off into the yard as if it were enchanted;
and when he ran to pick his hat up he heard a whispering all through the
town. He looked up, and he looked down, and on every side, but saw
nobody! At last the golden weather-vane on the church tower called
down:--
"Foolish child, it is the wind from out of the east."
The trees had been the first to know of its coming, and they were bowing
and bending to welcome it; while the leaves danced off the branches and
down the hill, in a whirl of delight.
The windmill's arms whirled round, oh! so fast, and the wheat was ground
into white flour for the Baker, who kindled his fires and beat his eggs
in the twinkling of an eye; and he was not quicker than the Sea-captain,
who loosed his sails in the fresh'ning gales, just as he had said he
would, and sailed away to foreign lands.
Jan watched him go, and then ran in great haste to get his kite; for the
petticoats on the Washerwoman's clothesline were puffed up like
balloons, and all the world was astir.
"Now I'm in my proper place," said the kite as it sailed over the roofs
of the houses, over the tree tops, over the golden weather vane, and
even over the windmill itself. Higher, higher, higher it flew, as if it
had wings; till it slipped away from the string, and Jan never saw it
again, and only the wind knew where it landed at last.
[Illustration: "Now I am in my proper place," said the Kite.]
_MRS. TABBY GRAY_
MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER
"_All mother love attracts the child,
Its world-wide tenderness he feels.
And ev'ry beast that loves her young,
His mother's love to him reveals_."
Mrs. Tabby Gray, with her three little kittens, lived out in the barn
where the hay was stored. One of the kittens was white, one was black,
and one gray, just like her mother, who was called Tabby Gray from the
color of her coat.
These three little kittens opened their eyes when they grew old enough,
and thought there was nothing so nice in all this wonderful world as
their own dear mother, although she told them of a great many nice
things, like milk and bread, which they should have when they could go
up to the big house where she had her breakfast, dinner, and supper.
Every time Mother Tabby came from the big house she had something
pleasant to tell. "Bones for dinner to-day, my dears," she would say, or
"I had a fine romp with a ball and the baby," until the kittens longed
for the time when they could go too.
One day, however, Mother Cat walked in with joyful news.
"I have found an elegant new home for you," she said, "in a very large
trunk where some old clothes are kept; and I think I had better move at
once."
Then she picked up the small black kitten, without any more words, and
walked right out of the barn with him.
The black kitten was astonished, but he blinked his eyes at the bright
sunshine, and tried to see everything.
Out in the barnyard there was a great noise, for the white hen had laid
an egg, and wanted everybody to know it; but Mother Cat hurried on,
without stopping to inquire about it, and soon dropped the kitten into
the large trunk. The clothes made such a soft, comfortable bed, and the
kitten was so tired after his exciting trip, that he fell asleep, and
Mrs. Tabby trotted off for another baby.
While she was away, the lady who owned the trunk came out in the hall;
and when she saw that the trunk was open, she shut it, locked it, and
put the key in her pocket, for she did not dream that there was
anything so precious as a kitten inside.
As soon as the lady had gone upstairs Mrs. Tabby Gray came back, with
the little white kitten; and when she found the trunk closed, she was
terribly frightened. She put the white kitten down and sprang on top of
the trunk and scratched with all her might, but scratching did no good.
Then she jumped down and reached up to the keyhole, but that was too
small for even a mouse to pass through, and the poor mother mewed
pitifully.
What was she to do? She picked up the white kitten, and ran to the barn
with it. Then she made haste to the house again, and went upstairs to
the lady's room. The lady was playing with her baby and when Mother Cat
saw this she rubbed against her skirts, and cried: "Mee-ow, mee-ow! You
have your baby, and I want mine! Mee-ow, mee-ow!"
By and by the lady said: "Poor Kitty! she must be hungry"; and she went
down to the kitchen and poured sweet milk in a saucer, but the cat did
not want milk. She wanted her baby kitten out of the big black trunk,
and she mewed as plainly as she could: "Give me my baby--give me my
baby, out of your big black trunk!"
The kind lady decided that she must be thirsty: "Poor Kitty, I will give
you water"; but when she set the bowl of water down Mrs. Tabby Gray
mewed more sorrowfully than before. She wanted no water,--she only
wanted her dear baby kitten; and she ran to and fro, crying, until, at
last, the lady followed her; and she led the way to the trunk.
"What can be the matter with this cat?" said the lady; and she took the
trunk key out of her pocket, put it in the lock, unlocked the trunk,
raised the top--and in jumped Mother Cat with such a bound that the
little black kitten waked up with a start.
[Illustration: The lady followed her; and she led the way to the trunk.]
"Purr, purr, my darling child," said Mrs. Tabby Gray, in great
excitement; "I have had a dreadful fright!" and before the black kitten
could ask one question she picked him up and started for the barn.
The sun was bright in the barnyard and the hens were still chattering
there; but the black kitten was glad to get back to the barn. His mother
was glad, too; for, as she nestled down in the hay with her three little
kittens, she told them that a barn was the best place after all to raise
children.
And she never afterwards changed her mind.
_FLEET WING AND SWEET VOICE_
MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER
_Make the home-coming sweet!
The gladness of going,
The pleasure of knowing
Will not be complete
Unless, at the ending,
The home-coming's sweet.
Make the home-coming sweet!
No fear of the straying,
Or dread of the staying
Of dear little feet,
If always you're making
The home-coming sweet_.
Mother and Father Pigeon lived with their two young pigeons in their
home, built high on a post in the king's barnyard. Every bright morning
they would fly away through the beautiful sunshine wherever they
pleased, but, when evening came, they were sure to come to the
pigeon-house again.
One evening, when they were talking together in their sweet, cooing way,
Mother Pigeon said:--
"We each have a story to tell, I know; so let each one take his turn,
and Father Pigeon begin."
Then Father Pigeon said:--
"To-day I have been down to the shining little stream that runs through
the wood. The green ferns grow on either side of it, and the water is
cool, cool, cool! for I dipped my feet into it, and wished that you all
were there."
"I know the stream," cooed Mother Pigeon. "It turns the wheels of the
mills as it hurries along, and is busy all day on its way to the river."
"To-day I have talked with the birds in the garden," said Sweet Voice,
one of the young pigeons, "the thrush, the blackbird, and bluebird, and
all. They sang to me and I cooed to them, and together we made the world
gay. The bluebird sang of the sunshine, and the blackbird of the
harvest; but the thrush sang the sweetest song. It was about her nest in
the tree."
"I heard you all," said Fleet Wing, the other young pigeon; "for I sat
and listened on the high church tower. I was so high up, there, that I
thought I was higher than anything else; but I saw the great sun shining
in the sky, and the little white clouds, like sky pigeons, sailing above
me. Then, looking down, I saw, far away, this white pigeon-house; and it
made me very glad, for nothing that I saw was so lovely as home."
"I never fly far away from home," said Mother Pigeon, "and to-day I
visited in the chicken yard. The hens were all talking, and they greeted
me with 'Good morning! Good morning!' and the turkey gobbled 'Good
morning!' and the rooster said 'How do you do?' While I chatted with
them a little girl came out with a basket of yellow corn, and threw some
for us all. When I was eating my share, I longed for my dear ones. And
now good night," cooed Mother Pigeon, "it is sleepy time for us all."
"Coo, coo! Good night!" answered the others; and all was still in the
pigeon-house.
Now over in the palace, where the king, and queen, and their one little
daughter lived, there was the sound of music and laughter; but the
king's little daughter was sad, for early the next morning her father,
the king, was to start on a journey, and she loved him so dearly that
she could not bear to have him leave her.
The king's little daughter could not go out in the sunshine like Sweet
Voice and Fleet Wing, but lay all day within the palace on her silken
cushions; for her fine little feet, in their satin slippers, were always
too tired to carry her about, and her thin, little face was as white as
a jasmine flower.
The king loved her as dearly as she loved him; and when he saw that she
was sad, he tried to think of something to make her glad after he had
gone away. At last he called a prince, and whispered something to him.
The prince told it to a count, and the count to a gentleman-in-waiting.
The gentleman-in-waiting told a footman, and the footman told somebody
else, and at last, the boy who waited on the cook heard it.
Early next morning he went to the pigeon-house, where Mother and Father
Pigeon and their two young pigeons lived; and putting his hand through a
door, he took Sweet Voice and Fleet Wing out, and dropped them into a
basket.
Poor Sweet Voice, and Fleet Wing! They were so frightened that they
could not coo! They sat very close to each other in the covered basket,
and wondered when they would see their mother and father and home
again.
All the time, as they sat close together in the basket and wondered,
they were being taken away from home; for the king had started on his
journey, and one of his gentlemen was carrying the basket, very
carefully, with him on his horse.
At last the horses stood still and the basket was taken to the king; and
when he opened it, the two little pigeons looked up and saw that the sun
was high in the sky, and that they were far from home.
When they saw that they were far from home, they were more frightened
than before; but the king spoke so kindly and smoothed their feathers so
gently, that they knew he would take care of them.
Then the king took two tiny letters tied with lovely blue ribbon out of
his pocket; and, while his gentlemen stood by to see, he fastened one
under a wing of each little pigeon.
"Fly away, little pigeons!" he cried; and he tossed them up toward the
sky. "Fly away, and carry my love to my little daughter!"
Fleet Wing, and Sweet Voice spread their wings joyfully, for they knew
that they were free! free! and they wanted to go home.
Everywhere they saw green woods, instead of the red roofs and shining
windows of the town, and Sweet Voice was afraid; but Fleet Wing said:--
"I saw these woods from the tall church steeple. Home is not so far away
as we thought."
Then they lost no time in talking, but turned their heads homeward; and
as they flew the little gray squirrels that ran about in the woods
called out to ask them to play, but the pigeons could not stay.
The wood dove heard them, and called from her tree: "Little cousins,
come in!" But the pigeons thanked her and hurried on.
"Home is not so far away," said Fleet Wing; but he began to fear that he
had missed the way, and Sweet Voice was so tired that she begged him to
fly on alone.
[Illustration: The little pigeons were taken in to see the king's
daughter.]
Fleet Wing would not listen to this; and, as they talked, they came to a
little stream of water with green ferns growing all about, and they knew
that it must be the very stream that Father Pigeon loved. Then they
cooled their tired feet in the fresh water, and cooed for joy; for they
knew that they were getting nearer, nearer, nearer home, all the time.
Sweet Voice was not afraid then; and as they flew from the shelter of
the woods, they saw the tall church steeple with its golden weather
vane.
The sun was in the west, and the windows were all shining in its light,
when Fleet Wing and Sweet Voice reached the town. The little children
saw them and called: "Stay with us, pretty pigeons." But Sweet Voice and
Fleet Wing did not rest until they reached the white pigeon house, where
Mother and Father Pigeon were waiting.
The cook's boy was waiting, too, and the little pigeons were taken in to
see the king's little daughter. When she found the letters which they
carried under their wings, she laughed with delight; and Fleet Wing and
Sweet Voice were very proud to think that they had brought glad news to
their princess.
They told it over and over again out in the pigeon-house, and Mother and
Father Pigeon were glad, too.
In the morning, the birds in the garden were told of the wonderful
things that had happened to Fleet Wing and Sweet Voice; and even the
hens and chickens had something to say when they heard the news.
The thrush said that it all made her think of her own sweet song; and
she sang it again to them:--
"_Wherever I fly from my own dear nest,
I always come back, for home is the best_."
_THE LITTLE GIRL WITH THE LIGHT_
MOTTO FOR THE MOTHER
_We can never dwell in shadows
If our souls are full of light.
Let the brightness of our being
Make the whole wide world as bright_
"_Jesus bids us shine for all around.
Many kinds of darkness in this world are found.
There's sin and want and sorrow, so we must shine,
You in your small corner, I in mine."
S.S. Hymn_.
There once lived a little maiden to whom God had given a wonderful
light, which made her whole life bright.
When she was a wee baby it shone on her face in a beautiful smile, and
her mother cried:--
"See! the angels have been kissing her!" And when she grew older it
lighted up her eyes like sunshine, and gleamed on her forehead like a
star.
All lovely things that loved light, loved her. The soft-cooing pigeons
came at her call. The roses climbed up to her windows to peep at her,
and the birds of the air, and the butterflies, that looked like
enchanted sunbeams, would circle about her head.
Her father was king of a country; and though she was not so tall as the
tall white lily in the garden, or the weeds that grew outside, she had
servants to wait on her, and grant her every wish, as if she were a
queen.
She was dearer to her father and mother than all else that they
possessed; and there was no happier king or queen or little maiden in
any kingdom of the world, till one sad day when the king's enemies came
upon them like a whirlwind, and changed their joy to sorrow.
Their palace was seized, the servants were scattered, and the king and
queen were carried away to a dark prison-house, where they sat and wept
for their little daughter, for they knew not where she was.
No one knew but the old nurse, who had nursed the king himself. She had
carried the child away, unnoticed amid the noise and strife, and set her
in safety outside the palace walls.
"Fly, precious one!" she cried, as she left her there. "Fly! for the
enemy is upon us!" And the little maiden started out in the world alone.
She knew not where to go; so she wandered away through the fields and
waste places, where nobody lived and only the grasshoppers seemed glad.
But she was not afraid,--no! not even when she came to a great forest,
at evening;--for she carried her light with her.
'T is true that once she thought she saw a threatening giant waiting by
the dusky path; but, when her light shone on it, it was only a pine
tree, stretching out its friendly arms; and she laughed so merrily that
all the woods laughed too.
"Who are you? Who are you?" asked an owl, blinking his eyes at the
brightness of her face; and a little rabbit, startled by the sound,
sprang from its hiding place in the bushes and fell trembling at her
feet.
"Alas!" it panted as she bent in pity to offer help, "Alas! the hunters
with their dogs and guns pursue me! But you flee, too! How can you help
me?" But the child took the tiny creature in her arms and held it close;
and when the dogs rushed through the tanglewood, they saw the light that
lighted up her eyes like sunshine and gleamed on her forehead like a
star, and came no further.
Then deeper into the great forest she went, bearing the rabbit still;
and the wild beasts heard her footsteps, and waited for her coming.
"Hush!" said the fox, "she is mine; for I will lead her from the path
into the tanglewood!"
"Nay, she is mine!" howled the wolf; "for I will follow on her
footsteps!"
"Mine! mine!" screamed the tiger; "for I will spring upon her in the
darkness, and she cannot escape me!"
[Illustration: The child took the tiny creature in her arms and held it
close.]
So they quarreled among themselves, for they were beasts and knew no
better; and as they snarled and growled and howled, the maiden walked in
among them; and when the light which made her lovely fell upon them,
they ran and hid themselves in the depths of the forest, and the
child passed on in safety.
The rabbit still slept peacefully on her breast. At last she, too, grew
weary, and lay down to sleep on the leaves and moss; and the birds of
the forest watched her and sang to her, and nothing harmed her all the
night.
In the morning a party of horsemen rode through the forest, looking
behind each bush and tree as if they sought something very precious.
The forest glowed with splendor then, for the sun had come in all its
glory to scatter darkness and wake up the world. The darkest dells and
caves and lonely paths lost their horror in the morning light, and there
were violets blooming in the shadows of the pines.
The leaves glistened, the flowers lifted their heads, and everything was
glad but the horsemen, whose faces were full of gloom because their
hearts were sad.
They did not speak or smile as they rode on their search; and their
leader was the saddest of them all, though he wore a golden crown that
sparkled with many jewels.
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