&&000 CANADIAN SCHOOLBOOKS                                                             CA306.TXT
GRADE 6, books from the 1930s-1945
sampled from Toronot by dph 9-10 Dec 2003
1st edited by dph 19 dec 03
RE-EDITED 20 June 2005

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WHEN SNOW FIRST CAME
A Tale of a West Coast Tribe
Before the White People came to make their homes in =America, this great country was
inhabited only by many tribes of =Indians. These tribes had different ways of building places to
live in, different ways of dressing themselves, of fighting, of getting food; but there is one thing
in which they were very like each other, and that was in their great love of hearing and telling
stories. Every campfire, and every family circle gathered in the wigwam or tepee, would become
a place where these stories would be often told, and we may be sure that the best listeners would
be the little children with their shining eyes and eager faces.
Here is a legend that comes from the tribes of =Vancouver Island.
In the years of long, long ago, whenever the Winter Season came round, there would be plenty of
rain, wind and cold, but there was never such a thing as snow!
In one village the cold weather came on as usual, and found the people prepared for it. Each
house had its winter provisions in. Long rows of salmon, cleaned, dried and smoked, hung along
the rafters. Then there were strings of dried clams filling up spaces where there was no salmon.
Both fish and clams grew browner every day with the smoke; for the Indians built their fires on
the earthen floor. 



plains below, the inheritance of the Three Brothers was a desert. What had once been the richest
soil in the kingdom, became a shifting heap of red sand; and the brothers, unable longer to
contend with the adverse skies, abandoned their valueless patrimony in despair, to seek some
means of gaining a livelihood among the cities and people of the plains. All their money was
gone, and they had nothing left but some curious, old-fashioned pieces of gold plate, the last
remnants of their ill-gotten wealth.
"Suppose we turn goldsmiths?" said =Schwartz to =Hans, as they entered the large city. " It is a
good knave's trade; we can put a great deal of copper into the gold, without any one's finding it
out."
The thought was agreed to be a very good one; they hired a furnace, and turned goldsmiths. But
two slight circumstances affected their trade; the first, that people did not approve of the
coppered gold; the second, that the two elder brothers, whenever they had sold anything, used to
leave little =Gluck to mind the furnace, and go and drink out the money in the alehouse, next
door. So they melted all their gold, without making money enough to buy more, and were at last
reduced to one large drinking mug, which an uncle of his had given to little =Gluck, and which
he was very fond of, and would not have parted with for the world; though he never drank
anything out of it but milk and water. The mug was a very odd mug to look at. 


Alas! alas for =Hamelin!
There came into many a burgher's pate
A text which says that heaven's gate
Opes to the rich at as easy rate
As the needle's eye takes a camel in!
The Mayor sent east, west, north, and south To offer the Piper by word of mouth
Wherever it was men's lot to find him Silver and gold to his heart's content, If he'd only return the
way he went And bring the children behind him.
But when they saw it was a lost endeavor, And Piper and dancers were gone for ever, They made
a decree that lawyers never Should think their records dated duly, If, after the day of the month
and year, These words did not as well appear:
"And so long after what happened here
On the twenty-second day of July, Thirteen hundred and seventy-six"; And the better in memory
to fix.   The place of the children's last retreat, They called it the =PiedPiper's Street. Where
anyone playing on pipe or tabor was sure for the future to lose his labor. Nor suffered they
hostelry or tavern. To shock with mirth a street so solemn; But opposite the place of the cavern
They wrote the story on a column.


and bright, and yet it is raining. The climate in the north of =Europe is really dreadful. The
=Reed used to like the rain, but that was merely her selfishness. "
Then another drop fell.
"What is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off?" he said. "I must look for a good
chimney pot, " and he determined to fly away.
But before he had opened his wings, a third drop fell, and he looked up and saw  Ah! what did he
see? The eyes of the =HappyPrince were filled with tears, and tears were running down his
golden cheeks. His face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little Swallow was filled with
pity. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am the =HappyPrince."
"Why are you weeping then?" asked the =Swallow. "You have quite drenched me."
"When I was alive and had a human heart, " answered the statue, "I did not know what tears
were, for I lived in the Palace of =SansSouci without care, where sorrow is not allowed to enter.
In the daytime I played with my companions in the garden, and in the evening I led the dance in
the =GreatHall. Round the garden ran a very lofty wall, but I never cared to ask what lay beyond
it, everything about me was so beautiful. My courtiers called me the =HappyPrince, and happy
indeed I was,



=AliBaba did not come down from the tree at once, because he thought the robbers might have
forgotten something and might come back, and that he should thus be caught. Then, recalling the
words the captain had used to open and shut the door, he made his way to it and called out,
"Open, Sesame!" Instantly the door flew wide open.
=AliBaba expected to find only a dark cave, and he was much astonished at seeing a fine large
room dug out of the rock and higher than a man could reach. It received its light from a hole in
the top of the rock. In it were piled all sorts of rare fruits, bales of rich merchandise, silk stuffs
and velvets, and great heaps of money, both silver and gold, some loose and some in large leather
bags. The sight of all these things almost took =AliBaba's breath away.
But he did not hesitate long as to what he should do. He went boldly into the cave, and as soon as
he was there the door shut. But he knew the secret of how to open it, and this gave him no fear.
Leaving the silver, he turned to the gold which was in the bags. When he had gathered enough to
load his three donkeys, he brought them to the rock, loaded them, and covered the sacks of gold
with wood, so that no one would suspect anything. This done, he went to the door and had no
sooner said the words, "Shut, Sesame!" than it closed.
=AliBaba took the road to town, and when he reached home drove his donkeys into the yard and.


sufficient honour or encouragement in =England, repaired to =Spain, where the ardor for
discovery still continued. He was readily received into the service of the =Catholic King, and
sent to the coast of =Brazil, where he made the important discovery of the =RiodelaPlata. He
became the most eminent person of his age in the sciences connected with his favorite pursuits
 the construction of maps, geography and navigation; and after age had rendered him unfit for the
active exertions of a seafaring life he guided and directed others in this career, and obtained the
honourable title of =PilotoMayor Grand Pilot of =Spain. Afterward, on the accession of =Edward
=VI to the throne of =England, when the nation caught at last the enthusiasm of maritime
adventure, =Cabot was invited back to =England, and made =GrandPilot of =England with an
ample salary. In this capacity he formed the plan and drew up the instructions for the expedition
sent under Sir =HughWilloughby and Chancellor to attempt the discovery of =India by the
north-east.
The work of the =Cabots is important for several reasons. Their voyage was the first discovery of
the mainland of =America after the voyages of the =Norsemen in the tenth and eleventh
centuries, for it was not till the following year, and in his third voyage, that =Columbus saw the
coast of =SouthAmerica, where the =Orinoco pours its vast flood into the ocean. The rich
fishing-grounds spoken of.


THE EMPEROR'S CHOIR SINGER
Did you ever have a tune run through your head? Wherever you went, it was always with you.
You could no more get away from it than you could from your shadow. When you got up in the
morning, you heard it. You were humming or whistling it when you went down to breakfast. If
you play the piano or the violin or any other instrument, you could hardly wait until you had
played it over and over.
Many of the tunes you know are like great stories. Every one is supposed to know them. And
most of the people you will meet will love these same tunes. They are like the stories you
enjoyed so much a few years ago, such as "=Cinderella," "=TheThreeBears," "=RedRidingHood,"
and "=JackandtheBeanstalk " they belong to people everywhere.
Over a hundred years ago, a boy named =FranzSchubert, who lived in =Vienna, =Austria, heard
tunes just as you do. All his days he was writing down the wonderful songs that sang themselves
to him.
This boy's father was a poor schoolmaster. Many and many a day there was hardly enough in the
little house to feed all the children. Clothes were shabby; shoes were full of holes; often the
house was cold because there was no money to buy fuel.
One day when he was twelve years old, he was waiting in a large gloomy room in the Imperial
Music.


 I said, "No, it isn't the nose. Perhaps it's the hair." Then he looked rather grave, and
said, "Now I understand: you've been playing too many hairs on the pianoforte." "No, indeed I
haven't,  I said, "and it isn't exactly the hair : it's more about the nose and chin. " Then he looked
a good deal graver, and said, "Have you been walking much on your chin lately? " I said, "No. " "
Well ! " he said, "it puzzles me very much. Do you think that it's in the lips?" "Of course!" I said.
"That's exactly what it is! " Then he looked very grave indeed, and said, " I think you must have
been giving too many kisses. " " Well, " I said, " I did give one kiss to a baby child, a little friend
of mine." "Think again," he said; "are you sure it was only one ?" I thought again, and said,
"Perhaps it was eleven times. " Then the doctor said, "You must not give her any more till your
lips are quite rested again. " "But what am I to do?" I said, "because you see, I owe her a hundred
and eighty-two more." Then he looked so grave that the tears ran down his cheeks, and he said,
"You may send them to her in a box." Then I remembered a little box that I once bought at
Dover, and thought I would some day give it to some little girl or other. So I have packed them
all in it very carefully. Tell me if they come safe, or if any are lost on the way.
Yours affectionately,


THE DOG THAT MADE GOOD
He was the biggest fool pup I ever saw, chock-full of life and spirits, always going at racing
speed. generally into mischief, nearly breaking his neck over some small matter; breaking his
heart if his master did not notice him; chewing up clothing, hats, and boots; digging up garden
stuff that he could not eat; going direct from the pigsty to frolic in the baby's cradle; getting
kicked in the ribs by horses and tossed by cows; but still the same hilarious, rollicking,
good-natured pup, and given by common consent the name of "=SillyBilly."
It was maddening to find on the first cold morning that he had chewed up one's leather glove; but
it was worse to have that good-natured little idiot come wagging his tail, offering the remaining
glove as much as to say that one glove was enough for anyone. You had to forgive him, and it did
not matter much whether you did or not, for the children adored him. Their baby arms were
around his neck as much of the time as he could spare from his duties, and, in a sense, those
protecting arms were around him all the time.
Every member of the family loved =SillyBilly, but they wished that he might soon develop at
least a glimmer of common dog sense, for he was already past the time when with most bull
terriers puppyhood is ended. Although he was in time to take a place.

THE WORLD ABOUT US
The next morning he was again taken to the lake. Several ducks saw him; but when they flew
toward him, he called to them, "Away! away! Don't come near! There's a hunter hiding in the
reeds. I'm only a decoy bird." And to his great joy they did not come within shooting distance.
That day the farm hand had to go home without firing off a single shot. =Caesar looked less
displeased than on the previous day; and when evening came, he took =Jarro in his mouth,
carried him to the chimney corner, and let him sleep between his forepaws.
For several days =Jarro was made to perform his distressful service, and he became known all
over =Takern. He was grievously unhappy. His heart suffered at the thought that human beings
had never loved him.
One morning as he was wading in shallow water at the end of his halter, he suddenly saw
something swimming towards him. Thinking it was a duck or some other water bird, he shouted:
"Have a care! Don't come this way. I'm only a decoy duck."
Then he saw that it was no bird, but only an old grebe nest from the year before. There was
nothing strange about this; for grebe nests are built in such a way that they float upon the water,
and sometimes it happens that the wind drives them out into the lake. Still =Jarro gazed at the
nest; for it came straight.


THE AGE OF CHIVALRY
was pacing slowly along the sandy deserts which lie in the vicinity of the =DeadSea.
Crossing himself as he viewed the dark masses of rolling waters, in colour as in quality unlike
those of every other lake, that sea which holds no living fish in its bosom, bears no skiff upon its
surface, and sends not, like other lakes, its waters to the ocean. The land as well as the lake might
be called dead. Nothing in the way of plants grew on the shores, the very air was without any
sign of winged insects, and the burning sun turned the rolling waters into steaming clouds.
Upon this scene of desolation the sun shone with intense heat. All living nature seemed to have
hidden itself from the rays, except the lonely figure which appeared to be the only breathing thing
on the wide plain.
The dress of the rider and the trappings of his horse were unfit for the traveler in such a country.
The knight wore a coat of mail with long sleeves, metal gloves, and a steel breastplate.
Suspended around his neck was his shield, and upon his head was a helmet of steel. His lower
limbs were sheathed, like his body, in flexible mail, and his feet rested in shoes of metal like the
gloves. In his belt on one side was a broadsword, with a handle framed like a cross, and on the
other side was a slender dagger. He carried also, with one end resting on his stirrup, a long
steel-headed lance to which was fastened a small.


THE AGE OF CHIVALRY
beard for the place that is empty in the hem of my mantle." Right glad was the king to find
occasion to chastise this insolent knave. Therefore he, the more willingly, marched to the .help of
King =Leodegrance and put King =Rience to flight and slew many of his people.
This adventure of King =Arthur in ridding =Leodegrance of his enemies was the cause of his
getting for himself a wife. His barons had counseled him to marry, and =Leodegrance had a
daughter, =Guinevere by name, that was passing fair; and when =Arthur saw her he loved her
with all his heart, saying to himself, "This shall be my wife."
So he said to =Merlin, "My barons would have me marry. Now what is your counsel?"
=Merlin answered, "They counsel well. Is there any damsel on whom your heart is set?"
"Yes," said the King, "there is even =Guinevere, the daughter of King =Leodegrance."
"Then," said Merlin, "if your heart is set on her, counsel is idle, be it of the wisest man upon
earth." "You speak truth," answered the King. Nevertheless, =Merlin warned him privately that
this marriage should not be to his good, but the King would not hearken to him. Thereupon
=Merlin went to King =Leodegrance and told him what =Arthur desired.
"There is nothing," said the King, "that I could hear with more pleasure than that so brave a
knight.


THE WORKADAY WORLD
It might have been better for =Pandora if she had had a little work to do, or anything to employ
her mind upon, so as not to be so constantly thinking of this one subject. When life is all sport,
toil is the real play. There was absolutely nothing to do. A little sweeping and dusting about the
cottage, I suppose, and the gathering of fresh flowers (which were only too abundant
everywhere), and arranging them in vases, and poor little =Pandora's day's work was over. And
then, for the rest of the day, there was the box!
After all, I am not quite sure that the box was not a blessing to her in its way. It supplied her with
such a variety of ideas to think of, and to talk about, whenever she had anybody to listen. For it
was really an endless employment to guess what was inside. What could it be, indeed? Just
imagine, my little hearers, how busy. your wits would be, if there were a great box in the house,
which, as you might have reason to suppose, contained something new and pretty for your
=Christmas or New Year's gifts. Do you think that you would be less curious than =Pandora? If
you were left alone with the box, might you not feel a little tempted to lift the lid? But you would
not do it. Oh, fie ! No, no!
On this particular day, however, which we have so long been talking about, her curiosity grew so
much greater than it usually was, that, at last, she approached the box. 


 At a distance of six or eight feet he stopped, studying the thin, upcurling tongues of brightness.
Their heat, at this distance, was uncomfortable to his naked flesh, but as he stood there
wondering and took no further hurt, his confidence grew. At length he dared to stretch out his
spear-tip and touch the flames, very respectfully. The green-hide thongs which bound the flint to
the wood smoked, shrivelled and hissed. He withdrew the weapon in alarm, and examined the
tip. It was blackened, and hot to the touch. But seeing that the bright dancers had taken no notice,
he repeated the experiment. Several times he repeated it, deeply pondering, while the girl, from
her place at the edge of the grass stared with the wide eyes of a child.
At last, though the green thongs still held, the dry wood burst into flame. Startled to find that
when he drew the point back he brought a portion of the shining creature with it, =Grom dashed
the weapon down upon the ground. The flame, insufficiently started, flickered and died. But it
left a spark, winking redly on the blackened wood. Audacious in his consuming curiosity, =Grom
touched it with his finger. It stung smartly, and =Grom snatched back his finger with an
exclamation of alarm. But by that touch the spark itself was extinguished. That was an amazing
thing. Sucking his finger, =Grom stood gazing down at the spear-tip, which had.


 "Henceforth shalt thou be known throughout the ages as the slayer of
=Fafnir."
"Small aid were you," laughed =Siegfried, "hiding while I fought."
Then up sprang =Siegfried, saying, "=Regin shall not plot my death. He shall follow his brother."
And he smote =Regin with =Gram, so that his head rolled away. Then he leapt on =Grane and
rode by the dragon's slimy trail until he came to the great cavern; and, although it was now night,
the cavern shone with a light as of day, by reason of the golden shine of the =Hoard.
So he set =Andvari's ring on his finger, and put on the golden mail and the helmet of darkness,
and, putting the =Hoard into two chests, he fastened them upon the back of =Grane, being
minded to walk himself because of their weight. But =Grane stirred not, and =Siegfried was
troubled what he should do, for even he dared not smite the horse. Then he looked into the eyes
of =Grane and knew what was in his mind, so he gathered up the reins and leaped upon his back,
and the grey horse tossed his mane for joy and galloped over the =Waste, turning southward,
steady and untiring.
By stony ways rode =Siegfried southward toward the =Frankish land, and he saw before him a
mountain whereon a great fire burned, and in the midst of the fire a castle with a floating banner,
and shields around it.



unbind his hands, saying, "Forget your own people; from today you are one of us. But tell us why
the =Greeks made this great Horse of Wood."
=Sinon lifted his hands and said, "Know, then, 0h King =Priam, the Horse of Wood is a peace
offering to =Minerva. The =Greeks have made it so large in order that the =Trojans may not
receive it into their gates. For once within the walls of =Troy, the image will bring safety to the
city and woe to the =Greeks."
This was the tale that =Sinon told, and the =Trojans believed it. Nor is this to be wondered at,
because the gods themselves took part in deceiving them. For while =Laocoon, the priest of
=Neptune, the same that had thrown his spear at the =Horse, was sacrificing a bull on the altar of
his god, two great serpents came across the sea from a certain island that was near. And when
they reached the land they came on straight to the city. Their eyes blazed like fire, and they made
a dreadful hissing with their tongues. The =Trojans grew pale with fear, and fled. But the
serpents did not turn this way or that, but came straight to the altar at which =Laocoon stood,
with his two sons by him. And one serpent laid hold on one of the boys, and the other on the
other, and they began to devour the children. Then the father picked up a sword,, and tried to help
his sons, but the serpents caught hold of him, and wound their coils round him. Twice did they
wind themselves round his body and his neck, and their heads stood high

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