THE

PHONIC READING BOOK.

PART I.-IN PROSE.

1. THE DOG AND THE SHADOW.

A DOG had stolen a piece of meat out of a butcher's shop, and was crossing a river on his way bōme, when he saw his own shadow reflected in the stream below. Thinking that it was another dog, with another piece of meat, he resolved to make himself mäster of that âlsō; but in snapping at the suppōṣed treasure, he dropt the bit he was carrying, and sō lost âll.

Grasp at the shadow and lose the substance the common fate of those who hazard a real blessing for some viŝionary good.

2. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER.

A Crow, ready to die with thîrst, flew with joy to a Pitcher which he saw at a distance. But when hē came up to it, he found the wâter so low that with âll his stooping and straining he was unable to reach it. Thereupon he tried to break the Pitcher; then

A

to overturn it; but his strength was not sufficient to do either. At last, seeing some smâll pebbles at hand, he dropt a great many of them, one by one, into the Pitcher, and so raised the wâter to the brim, and quenched his thîrst.

Skill and patience will succeed where fōrce fails. Necessity is the mother of invention.

3.—THE BUNDLE OF STICKS.

A Husbandman who had a quârrelsome family, after having tried in vain to reconcile them by words, thought he might mōre readily prevail by an example. Sō he câlled his sons and bade them lay a bundle of sticks before him. Then having tied them into a fagot, he told the lads, one after the other, to take it up and break it. They all tried, but tried in vain. Then untying the fagot, hē gave them the sticks to break one by one. This they did with the greatest ease. Then said the father, "Thus yoû, my sons, as long as yoû remain ūnīted, are a match for âll your enemies; but differ and separate, and you are undone."

Union is strength.

4. THE LION AND HIS THREE

COUNSELLORS.

The Lion câlled the Sheep to ask her if his breath smelt. She said, Ay; he bit off her head for a fool. He called the Wolf, and asked him. He said, Nō; hē

tōre him in pieces for a flatterer.

At last he called

the Fox, and asked him. Trûly he had got a cold,

and could not smell.

Wişe men say nothing in dangerous times.

5. THE BOY AND THE FILBERTS.

A certain Boy put his hand into a pitcher where great plenty of Figs and Filberts were deposited; hē graspt as many as his fist could possibly hōld, but when he endeavoured to pull it out, the narrowness of the neck prevented him. Unwilling to lose any of them, but unable to draw out his hand, he burst into tears, and bitterly bemoaned his härd fortune. An honest fellow who stood by, gave him this wiṣe and reasonable advice: Grasp only hälf the quantity, my boy, and you will easily succeed."

6. THE WIND AND THE SUN.

A dispute once arose between the Wind and the Sun, which was the stronger of the two, and they agreed to put the point upon this issue, that whichever soonest made a traveller take off his cloak should be accounted the more powerful. The Wind began, and blew with âll his might and main a blast, cōld and fierce as a Thracian storm; but the stronger he blew the closer the traveller wrapt his cloak around him, and the tighter he graspt it with his hands. Then broke out the Sun: with his welcome beams he dispersed the vapor and the cold. The

traveller felt the genial wârmth; and as the Sun shone brighter and brighter, he sat down, ōvercome with the heat, and cast his cloak on the ground.

Thus the Sun was declared the conqueror; and it has ever been deemed that persuaŝion is better than force; and that the sunshine of a kind and gentle manner will sooner lay ōpen a poor man's heart ṭhan âll the threatenings and fōrce of blustering authority.

7. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.

Aș a Wolf was lapping at the head of a running brook, he spied a stray Lamb paddling, at some distance, down the stream. Having made up his mind to seize her, he bethought himself how he might justify his violence. Villain!" said hē, running up to her, "how dare yoû muddle the wâter that I am drinking?" "Indeed," said the Lamb, humbly, "I do not see how I can disturb the wâter, since it runs from yoû to mē, not from me to yoû.” "Be that as it may," replied the Wolf, "it was but a year ago that yoû câlled mē many ill nāmeṣ.” Oh, Sîr!" said the Lamb, trembling, “a ÿear agō I was not born." 'Well," replied the Wolf, "if it was not you, it was your father, and that is âll the same; but it is nō use trying to ärgūe mē out of mỹ supper"-and without another word he fell upon the poor helpless Lamb and tōre her to pieces.

A tyrant never wants a plea. And they have little chance of resisting the injustice of the powerfül whose only weapons are innocence and reason.

8. THE COUNTRY MAID AND HER

MILK-CAN.

A Country Maid was wâlking along with a can of milk upon her head, when she fell into the following train of reflections. "The money for which I shall sell this milk will enable me to increase my stock of eggs to three hundred. These eggs, allowing for what may prove addle, and what may be destroyed by vermin, will produce at least two hundred and fifty chickens. The chickens will be fit to carry to märket just at the time when poultry is âlways dear; so that by the new-year I cannot fail of having money enough to purchase a new gown. Green-let me consider-yes, green becomeṣ mỹ complexion best, and green it shall be. In this dress I will go to the fair, where all the young fellows will strive to have me for a pärtner; but nō I shall refuse every one of them, and with a disdainful toss turn from them." Transported with this idea, she could not forbear acting with her head the thought that thus passed in her mind; when, down came the can of milk! and âll her imaginary happiness vanished in a moment.

9. THE MILLER, HIS SON, AND THEIR ASS.

A Miller and his Son were driving their Ass to a neighbouring fair to sell him. They had not gone