An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubbyhole, an' press, An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess; But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout: An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out! An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin, was there, She mocked 'em, an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care! An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide, They was two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side, An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about! An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out! An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue, An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-00! An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray, An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away— You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond an' dear, An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear, An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out! - James Whitcomb Riley. From "Afterwhiles." Copyrighted. By permission of The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Publishers. THE DONKEY AND THE LION'S SKIN. A donkey, roaming idly through a forest one day, found a lion's skin. Much pleased, he, at once, put on the skin, resolving to pass himself off for a lion. Every beast in the wood," said he, "will tremble at my approach, and flee in terror from my presence." Greatly delighted with the thought, the pompous donkey started out, and, for some time, his satisfaction was complete. Timid little animals, deceived by the lion's skin, were terrified at the sight of the supposed lion, and fled from his path. At length, an old fox came in sight, and the donkey, elated by his previous success, determined to frighten him thoroughly. To do this, he attempted to roar like a lion. His roar was nothing but the well-known bray of his kind, and the fox, hearing the sound, stopped short and laughed till his sides were sore. "You base pretender!" said he, at last; "do you think to personate a lion with that voice? Begone! Begone! I say. All the lion skins in the world will never make a donkey anything but a donkey." To begin with, the name China is not a Chinese word at all, and such a word had never been known in that country before Europeans visited the land. The original name was much more difficult, and was gradually changed, and shortened, into the word China. China proper is made up of provinces, just as the United States is made up of single states. These provinces have remarkable names, which show something of the poetical vein in the Chinese character. For example: For example: Kiang-Si means "the * See preface. country of the happy river"; Che-Kiang, "the coun try of the winding river"; Kan-Soo, "the province of profound peace," and Fo-Kiang means "the consummation of happiness." The Chinese claim that their history dates back to millions of years before the Christian Era; but we, of to-day, find this hard to believe. However, there is no doubt that China is a very old country and its early history quite as wonderful as anything which can be found in the pages of the "Arabian Nights," or in the mythological tales of Greece. According to the most ancient of the annals, the Chinese owe their civilization to the emperor Fuh-he, who lived about three thousand years before Christ. Up to this time, the Chinese were but savages, living in tribes, having no laws, no established mode of government, no fixed ideas of right and wrong. Fuh-he did wonderful things for his people. He noticed the regularly recurring seasons, and invented a system for measuring time, and divid ing it into periods. Seeing the need of preserving great thoughts and deeds, and desiring to recall melodious sounds for future use, he taught his people |