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E. Louise Smythe >> A Primary Reader
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A PRIMARY READER
Old-time Stories, Fairy Tales and Myths Retold by Children
By
E. LOUISE SMYTHE
PREFACE.
This book originated in a series of little reading lessons prepared
for the first grade pupils in the Santa Rosa public schools. The
object of the lessons was three-fold: to provide reading matter for
the little ones who had only a small vocabulary of sight-words; to
acquaint them early with the heroes who have come down to us in song
and story; and to create a desire for literature.
It has been my endeavor to follow Dr. G. Stanley Hall's suggestions in
his monograph, "How to Teach Reading," where he asks for "true
child-editions, made by testing many children with the work piece-meal
and cutting and adapting the material till it really and closely
fitted the minds and hearts of the children."
Various stories were given to the pupils; discussions followed. After
a time the story was produced orally by the children. Notes were made
on expressions used and points of interest dwelt upon. Later the story
was either written on the blackboard or mimeographed and put into the
pupils' hands to read.
It gave great delight to the children to recognize an old friend in a
new dress, and as interest was aroused, but little difficulty was
encountered in recognizing words that were indeed "new" in their sight
vocabulary, but old servants in their oral vocabulary.
The spirit of the book may be illustrated by referring to the roast
turkey in the story of The Little Match Girl. The story was told as
dear old Hans Christian Andersen gave it to the little German children
of fifty years ago. But American children have a different idea of the
fowl which graces the table at Christmas time. The story as it came
from the lips of the children referred to the "turkey," and "goose"
was used in only one instance. As the story was to appeal to our
children, the word was changed to suit their ideas.
Again, in the story of Red Riding-Hood we preferred to use the German
ending, as it leaves a far happier impression on the minds of the
children than the accepted English version. The incongruity of the
wolf's swallowing whole the grandmother and child does not destroy the
child's enjoyment of the story, while the happy release of both
grandmother and little girl forms a suitable close.
Also, as this old story handed down in so many languages is an
interpretation of one of the Sun myths, it seems better to cling to
the original, especially when it meets so entirely with the child's
approval.
Before presenting the Norse myths for reading, they had been the
subject of many conversations, queries and illustrations. Some were
even dramatized--in a childlike way, of course. Detailed descriptions
of Mt. Ida, Asgard, and some of the principal heroes, were given. But,
though the little audience seemed interested in the introductory
remarks, these never came back when the children were called upon to
reproduce the story. The narrator at once plunged into the story part.
It is for this reason descriptions of heroes and places have been
omitted in these stories. It is thus left for each teacher who uses
this book to employ her own method of introducing the gods of the
hardy Norseman to her pupils.
The following works will be found useful and quite available to most
teachers: Andersen's Norse Mythology, Mabie's Norse Stories, Mara
Pratt's Stories from Norseland, Fiske's Myths and Myth Makers,
Taylor's Primitive Culture, Vol. I.; and Longfellow's Poems.
Hoping these stories will interest other children as they have
interested those who helped build them, I send them forth.
E. LOUISE SMYTHE.
_Santa Rosa, California._
CONTENTS.
THE UGLY DUCKLING
THE LITTLE PINE TREE
THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD
THE APPLES OF IDUN
HOW THOR GOT THE HAMMER
THE HAMMER LOST AND FOUND
THE STORY OF THE SHEEP
THE GOOD SHIP ARGO
JASON AND THE HARPIES
THE BRASS BULLS
JASON AND THE DRAGON
[Illustration: THEY DRESSED THOR LIKE FREYJA.]
THE UGLY DUCKLING.
under broke does
keep only turkey
warm ugly water
A duck made her nest under some leaves.
[Illustration: THE DUCK'S NEST.]
She sat on the eggs to keep them warm.
At last the eggs broke, one after the other. Little ducks came out.
Only one egg was left. It was a very large one.
At last it broke, and out came a big, ugly duckling.
"What a big duckling!" said the old duck. "He does not look like
us. Can he be a turkey?--We will see. If he does not like the water,
he is not a duck."
* * * * * * *
mother jumped duckling
splash swim bigger
called began little
The next day the mother duck took her ducklings to the pond.
[Illustration: THE DUCK TAKES HER DUCKLINGS TO SWIM.]
Splash! Splash! The mother duck was in the water. Then she called
the ducklings to come in. They all jumped in and began to swim. The
big, ugly duckling swam, too.
The mother duck said, "He is not a turkey. He is my own little duck.
He will not be so ugly when he is bigger."
* * * * * * *
yard alone while
noise hurt that
eating know want
Then she said to the ducklings, "Come with me. I want you to see the
other ducks. Stay by me and look out for the cat."
They all went into the duck yard. What a noise the ducks made!
While the mother duck was eating a big bug, an old duck bit the ugly
duckling.
"Let him alone," said the mother duck. "He did not hurt you."
[Illustration: "HE DID NOT HURT YOU," SAID THE MOTHER DUCK.]
"I know that," said the duck, "but he is so ugly, I bit him."
* * * * * * *
lovely help there
walked bushes afraid
The next duck they met, said, "You have lovely ducklings. They
are all pretty but one. He is very ugly."
[Illustration: "YOUR CHILDREN ARE ALL PRETTY EXCEPT ONE."]
The mother duck said, "I know he is not pretty. But he is very good."
Then she said to the ducklings, "Now, my dears, have a good time."
But the poor, big, ugly duckling did not have a good time.
The hens all bit him. The big ducks walked on him.
The poor duckling was very sad. He did not want to be so ugly. But
he could not help it.
He ran to hide under some bushes. The little birds in the bushes were
afraid and flew away.
* * * * * * *
because house would
away hard lived
"It is all because I am so ugly," said the duckling. So he ran away.
At night he came to an old house. The house looked as if it would fall
down. It was so old. But the wind blew so hard that the duckling went
into the house.
[Illustration: THE UGLY DUCKLING FINDS THE OLD HOUSE.]
An old woman lived there with her cat and her hen.
The old woman said, "I will keep the duck. I will have some eggs."
* * * * * * *
growl walk
corner animals
The next day, the cat saw the duckling and began to growl.
The hen said, "Can you lay eggs?" The duckling said, "No."
"Then keep still," said the hen. The cat said, "Can you growl?"
[Illustration: THE CAT SAID, "CAN YOU GROWL?"]
"No," said the duckling.
"Then keep still," said the cat.
And the duckling hid in a corner. The next day he went for a walk. He
saw a big pond. He said, "I will have a good swim."
But all of the animals made fun of him. He was so ugly.
* * * * *
summer away cake
winter swans spring
flew bread leaves
The summer went by.
Then the leaves fell and it was very cold. The poor duckling had a
hard time.
It is too sad to tell what he did all winter.
At last it was spring.
The birds sang. The ugly duckling was big now.
One day he flew far away.
[Illustration: "OH, SEE THE LOVELY SWAN!"]
Soon he saw three white swans on the lake.
He said, "I am going to see those birds. I am afraid they will kill
me, for I am so ugly."
He put his head down to the water. What did he see? He saw himself in
the water. But he was not an ugly duck. He was a white swan.
The other swans came to see him.
The children said, "Oh, see the lovely swans. The one that came last
is the best."
And they gave him bread and cake.
It was a happy time for the ugly duckling.
THE LITTLE PINE TREE
pine leaves other
woods needles better
fairy gold sleep
A little pine tree was in the woods.
It had no leaves. It had needles.
The little tree said, "I do not like needles. All the other trees in
the woods have pretty leaves. I want leaves, too. But I will have
better leaves. I want gold leaves."
Night came and the little tree went to sleep. A fairy came by and gave
it gold leaves.
[Illustration: THE FAIRY GIVES THE PINK TREE GOLD LEAVES.]
woke cried glass
little again pretty
When the little tree woke it had leaves of gold.
It said, "Oh, I am so pretty! No other tree has gold leaves."
Night came.
A man came by with a bag. He saw the gold leaves. He took them all and
put them into his bag.
The poor little tree cried, "I do not want gold leaves again. I will
have glass leaves."
* * * * * * *
night sunshine bright
looked wind blew
So the little tree went to sleep. The fairy came by and put the glass
leaves on it.
The little tree woke and saw its glass leaves.
How pretty they looked in the sunshine! 'No other tree was so bright.
Then a wind came up. It blew and blew.
The glass leaves all fell from the tree and were broken.
* * * * *
again green
goat hungry
Again the little tree had no leaves. It was very sad, and said, "I
will not have gold leaves and I will not have glass leaves. I want
green leaves. I want to be like the other trees."
And the little tree went to sleep. When it woke, it was like other
trees. It had green leaves.
A goat came by. He saw the green leaves on the little tree. The
goat was hungry and he ate all the leaves.
[Illustration: THE GOAT EATS THE GREEN LEAVES.]
happy best
Then the little tree said, "I do not want any leaves. I will not
have green leaves, nor glass leaves, nor gold leaves. I like my
needles best."
[Illustration: THE PINE TREE WITH NEEDLES.]
And the little tree went to sleep. The fairy gave it what it wanted.
When it woke, it had its needles again. Then the little pine tree
was happy.
THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL.
almost match across
dark running bare
year slippers fell
It was very cold. The snow fell and it was almost dark.
It was the last day of the year.
A little match girl was running in the street. Her name was Gretchen.
She had no hat on.
Her feet were bare. When she left home, she had on some big slippers
of her mama's. But they were so large that she lost them when she ran
across the street.
* * * * * * *
apron curly lights
bunch about smelled
could matches cooking
Gretchen had a lot of matches in her old apron.
She had a little bunch in her hand.
But she could not sell her matches. No one would buy them.
Poor little Gretchen!
She was cold and hungry.
The snow fell on her curly hair. But she did not think about that.
She saw lights in the houses.
She smelled good things cooking.
She said to herself, "This is the last night of the year."
* * * * * * *
knew window fire
money even pile
Gretchen got colder and colder.
She was afraid to go home. She knew her papa would whip her, if she
did not take some money to him.
It was as cold at home as in the street. They were too poor to have
a fire. They had to put rags in the windows to keep out the wind.
Gretchen did not even have a bed. She had to sleep on a pile of rags.
* * * * * * *
frozen candle sitting
lighted thought stove
near think step
She sat down on a door step.
[Illustration: GRETCHEN ON THE DOOR STEP.]
Her little hands were almost frozen.
She took a match and lighted it to warm her hands. The match looked
like a little candle.
Gretchen thought she was sitting by a big stove. It was so bright.
She put the match near her feet, to warm them. Then the light went
out. She did not think that she was by the stove any more.
* * * * * * *
another dishes roast
table cloth ready
fork knife turkey
Gretchen lighted another match.
Now she thought she could look into a room. In this room was a table.
A white cloth and pretty dishes were on the table. There was a roast
turkey, too. It was cooked and ready to eat. The knife and fork were
in his back. The turkey jumped from the dish and ran to the little
girl.
The light went out and she was in the cold and dark again.
Christmas candles
many until
Gretchen lighted another match. Then she thought she was sitting by
a Christmas tree. Very many candles were on the tree. It was full
of pretty things.
Gretchen put up her little hands. The light went out.
The lights on the Christmas tree went up, up--until she saw they
were the stars.
* * * * * * *
grandma never before
dying going been
Then she saw a star fall.
"Some one is dying," said little Gretchen.
Her grandma had been very good to the little girl. But she was dead.
The grandma had said, "When a star falls some one is going to God."
The little girl lighted another match. It made a big light.
Gretchen thought she saw her grandma. She never looked so pretty
before. She looked so sweet and happy.
* * * * * * *
take goes
"O grandma," said the little girl, "take me. When the light goes out
you will go away. The stove and the turkey and the Christmas tree all
went away."
Then Gretchen lighted a bunch of matches. She wanted to keep her
grandma with her. The matches made it very light.
The grandma took the little girl in her arms. They went up, up--where
they would never be cold or hungry.
They were with God.
* * * * * * *
found next burned
dead froze death
The next day came.
Some men found a little girl in the street. She was dead.
In her hand were the burned matches.
They said, "Poor little thing, she froze to death."
They did not know how happy she was in heaven.
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD.
six take cake
coat butter basket
hood always off
When May was six years old, her grandma made her a red coat with a
hood. She looked so pretty in it that the children all called her
"Red Riding-Hood."
One day her mama said, "I want you to take this cake and some butter
to grandma."
Red Riding-Hood was very glad to go. She always had a good time at
grandma's.
[Illustration: LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD AND HER MOTHER]
She put the things into her little basket and ran off.
* * * * * * *
wolf mill shall
going first wood
When Red Riding-Hood came to the wood, she met a big wolf.
[Illustration: SHE MEETS THE WOLF.]
"Where are you going?" said the wolf.
Red Riding-Hood said, "I am going to see my grandma. Mama has made
her a cake and some butter."
"Does she live far?" said the wolf.
"Yes," said Red Riding-Hood, "in the white house by the mill."
"I will go too, and we shall see who will get there first," said the
wolf.
* * * * * * *
short flowers soft
stopped tapped pull
pick voice string
The wolf ran off and took a short way, but Red Riding-Hood stopped to
pick some flowers.
When the wolf got to the house, he tapped on the door.
The grandma said, "Who is there?" The wolf made his voice as soft as
he could. He said, "It is little Red Riding-Hood, grandma."
Then the old lady said, "Pull the string and the door will open."
The wolf pulled the string and the door opened.
He ran in and ate the poor old lady.
Then he jumped into her bed and put on her cap.
* * * * * * *
tapped thank dear
arms hug called
When Red Riding-Hood tapped on the door, the wolf called out, "Who is
there?" Red Riding-Hood said, "It is your little Red Riding-Hood,
grandma."
Then the wolf said, "Pull the string and the door will open."
When she went in, she said, "Look, grandma, see the cake and butter
mama has sent you."
"Thank you, dear, put them on the table and come here."
* * * * * * *
better hear eyes
ears how teeth
ate cruel poor
When Red Riding-Hood went near the bed, she said, "Oh, grandma, how
big your arms are!"
"The better to hug you, my dear."
"How big your ears are, grandma."
"The better to hear you, my dear."
"How big your eyes are, grandma."
"The better to see you, my dear."
"How big your teeth are, grandma!"
"The better to eat you."
Then the cruel wolf jumped up and ate poor little Red Riding-Hood.
* * * * * * *
just hunter scream
killed heard open
Just then a hunter came by. He heard Red Riding-Hood scream. The
hunter ran into the house and killed the old wolf.
[Illustration: THE GRANDMOTHER, THE HUNTER AND LITTLE RED RIDING-
HOOD.]
When he cut the wolf open, out jumped Little Red Riding-Hood and
her grandma.
THE APPLES OF IDUN.
once hills field
journey rocks cattle
walked pieces three
Once upon a time three of the gods went on a journey.
One was Thor and one was Loki. Loki was ugly and mean.
The gods liked to walk over the hills and rocks. They could go very
fast for they were so big.
The gods walked on and on.
At last they got very hungry. Then they came to a field with cattle.
[Illustration: LOKI AND ANOTHER GOD TAKE A WALK.]
Thor killed a big ox and put the pieces into a pot.
* * * * *
meat share talking
cross eagle right
They made a big fire but the meat would not cook. They made the fire
bigger and bigger, but the meat would not cook.
Then the gods were very cross.
Some one said, "Give me my share, and I will make the meat cook."
The gods looked to see who was talking. There in an oak tree was a big
eagle.
[Illustration: THE THREE GODS TRY TO COOK THE OX.]
The gods were so hungry that they said, "Well, we will."
* * * * *
supper stuck enough
minute claws stones
pole against flew
The supper was ready in a minute.
Then the eagle flew down to get his share. He took the four legs
and there was not much left but the ribs.
This made Loki cross for he was very hungry. He took a long pole
to hit the eagle. But the pole stuck to the eagle's claws. The other
end stuck to Loki.
Then the eagle flew away. He did not fly high. He flew just high
enough for Loki to hit against the stones.
* * * * *
please giant flying
tried feathers suit
Loki said, "Please let me go! Oh, please let me go!"
But the eagle said, "No, you tried to kill me. I will not let you go."
And the eagle hit him against the stones.
Loki said again, "Please let me go!"
But the eagle said, "No, I have you now."
Then Loki knew the eagle was a giant and not a bird.
This giant had a suit of eagle's feathers. He was flying in his eagle
suit when he saw Loki.
* * * * *
city beautiful apples
felt growing young
Now the gods lived in a city named Asgard.
In this city Idun kept the beautiful golden apples. When the gods
felt they were growing old, they ate the apples and were young again.
The giant wanted to be like the gods. So he said to Loki, "I will
let you go, if you will get me the apples of Idun."
[Illustration: IDUN WITH HER APPLES.]
But Loki said, "I can't do that."
* * * * *
bumped gate putting
stayed golden morning
So the eagle bumped him on the stones again.
Then Loki said, "I can't stand this. I will get the apples for you."
Loki and the eagle went to the city. The eagle stayed by the gate, but
Loki went into the city. He went up to Idun. She was putting the
apples into a beautiful golden box.
[Illustration: LOKI AND IDUN]
Loki said, "Good morning, Idun Those are beautiful apples."
And Idun said, "Yes, they are beautiful." "I saw some just like them,
the other day," said Loki.
[Illustration: IDUN WITH HER APPLES.]
strange show
bring picked
Idun knew there were no other apples like these, and she said, "That
is strange. I would like to see them."
Loki said, "Come with me and I will show them to you. It is only a
little way. Bring your apples with you."
As soon as Idun was out of the gates the eagle flew down. He picked
her up in his claws. Then he flew away with her to his home.
* * * * *
after pale falcon
passed story began
Day after day passed and Idun did not come back. The gods did not have
the golden apples to eat, so they began to get old.
At last they said, "Who let the apples go?"
Then Loki looked pale and the gods said, "Loki, you did it." And Loki
said, "Yes, I did."
[Illustration: THE GODS ASK WHERE IDUN IS.]
He did not tell a story that time.
Then Loki said, "I will get Idun and the apples back, if I may have
the falcon suit."
* * * * *
changed faster
The gods said, "You may have it, if you will bring the apples back."
Loki put on the falcon suit and flew away. He looked like a big bird
flying.
When Loki came to the giant's home, he was glad the giant was not
there. He changed Idun into a nut and then flew away with the nut.
[Illustration: THE GIANT SEES THE BIRD FLY AWAY]
When the giant came home, Idun was gone. The golden apples were gone,
too.
Then the giant put on his eagle suit and flew after Loki.
Loki heard the eagle coming. Loki flew faster.
* * * * *
breath over changed
walls blazed burned
Poor Loki was all out of breath. The eagle flew faster and faster.
Then the gods got on the walls to look for Loki. They saw him coming
and the eagle after him.
So they made fires on the walls. At last Loki flew over the walls.
Then the gods lighted the fires. The fires blazed up.
The eagle flew into the fire and was burned.
As soon as Loki put the nut down, it changed to Idun.
The gods ate the beautiful golden apples and were young again.
[Illustration]
HOW THOR GOT THE HAMMER.
proud porch lying
journeys tricks wife
always alone asleep
Sif was Thor's wife.
Sif had long golden hair. Thor was very proud of Sif's golden hair.
Thor was always going on long journeys. One day he went off and left
Sif alone. She went out on the porch and fell asleep.
Loki came along. He was always playing tricks.
He saw Sif lying asleep. He said, "I am going to cut off her hair."
[Illustration]