Cr?sus answered, "I was but naming the name of a wise man- of one who told me a great truth-a truth that is of greater worth than all earthly riches, than all our kingly glory. "And Cr?sus related to Cyrus his conversation with Solon. The Emperor bethought him that he too was but a man, that he too knew not what Fate might have in store for him. So in the end he had mercy upon Cr?sus, and became his friend.
From the Russian of Tolstoy
Author.-Leo Nikolaievitch, Count Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a Russian novelist and social reformer. Among his published works are Childhood, Boyhood and Youth, War and Peace, Anna Karenina.
General.-What was the "great truth " that Solon told to Cr?sus? Would you sooner have or be? Argue the point.
Lesson 45
THE SLAVE"S DREAM
Beside the ungathered rice he lay, His sickle in his hand;His breast was bare, his matted hair Was buried in the sand;Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep, He saw his native land.
Wide through the landscape of his dreams
The lordly Niger flowed;
Beneath the palm-trees on the plain Once more a king he strode,And heard the tinkling caravans Descend the mountain road.
He saw once more his dark-eyed queen Among her children stand;They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks, They held him by the hand!
A tear burst from the sleeper"s lids, And fell into the sand.
And then at furious speed he rode Along the Niger"s bank;His bridle-reins were golden chains,
And, with a martial clank,
At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steelSmiting his stallion"s flank. Before him, like a blood-red flag, The bright flamingoes flew;From morn till night he followed their flight,O"er plains where the tamarind grew,
Till he saw the roofs of Kaffir huts,
And the ocean rose to view. At night he heard the lion roar,And the hyena scream,
And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds Beside some hidden stream;And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums, Through the triumph of his dream.
The forests, with their myriad tongues, Shouted of liberty;And the blast of the desert cried aloud With a voice so wild and free,That he started in his sleep, and smiled At their tempestuous glee.
He did not feel the driver"s whip Nor the burning heat of day;For death had illumined the Land of Sleep, And his lifeless body layA worn-out fetter, that the soul Had broken and thrown away.
Longfellow
General.-In what actual country was the slave? Of what country did he dream? Did he ride up or down the Niger? What birds, beasts, and trees are mentioned? Could several days" events be crowded into one dream? What is wrong with slavery? Mention some people that tried to abolish it. Are the negroes now better off? What is liberty?
Lesson 46
AN AUSTRALIAN TORNADO
The boys were suddenly roused from sound sleep about three o"clock next morning by some one in the room shouting at them : "Hi, there ! Hi ! Get up, it"s coming. Get up quick. "The next instant the bed-clothes were jerked back and a man was pulling them roughly to their feet. It was all so sudden and unexpected that each boy thought that he was dreaming; but, as the man shook and punched them into activity, they became aware of a terrifying noise coming at them across the desert through the black darkness of the night. The air vibrated with a tremendous booming which affected their ears like the deep notes of a huge organ, and the loudest shout was only just heard.
"It"s me. It"s Peter, " said a voice at their side. "Come for your lives. The tornado"s right on top of us. "He caught each boy firmly by the wrist and dragged them, dressed only in pyjamas just as they had tumbled out of bed, out of the room, down the corridor, and out at the back of the hotel. Everything was in confusion. They bumped into people and upset chairs and things in their mad rush. Now and again Peter"s voice rose above the din, shouting, "The tank ! The tank! " but nobody paid any attention, even if they heard thevoice of the man above that other and more dreadful voice which was coming nearer and nearer and striking terror into the hearts even of the brave dwellers in the desert.
The shock of the night air did more than anything else fully to arouse the boys. It was like a dash of cold water, and though Peter still kept a tight grip of them, they ran along level with him of their own accord. Out into the yard they dashed, round one or two corners, over a fence at the back of an outhouse, and, suddenly, the man stopped dead and began pulling at something on the ground. It was a grating with a big iron handle. It stuck. The approaching tornado roared with anger while the man put forth all his great strength. The booming sound rose to a shriek of triumph, as if the storm actually saw that these escaping human beings were delivered into its power. But Peter"s muscles were like steel and leather. He strained till the veins stood out on his forehead like rope. At last the thing loosened and came up, and the bushman sprawled on his back. But he was on his feet again instantly. Speech would have been no good, so he gripped Vaughan by the collar of his pyjamas and swung him into the hole in the ground and waited only long enough for the boy to find a foothold before he did the same with Stobart. Then he scrambled down himself. They were in a big cement rain-water tank built in the ground at the back of the hotel. There was no water in it.