6 | Eclectic Series,
Short Sounds.
Diphthongs.
Table of Subvocals.
Table of Aspirates.
Third Reader. 7
NOTE.-The above forty-five sounds are those most employed in the English language. Some of these sounds are represented by other letters, as shown in the following table.
Table of Substitutes.
Exercises in Articulation.
The following exercises may be used for drill after the tables are fully understood. Pronounce the word first; then, the sound indicated.
8 Eclectic Series.
Exercise I.
Third Reader. 9
10 Eclectic Series.
Emphasis.
NOTE.—If the pupil has received proper oral instruction, he has been taught to understand what he has read, and has already acquired the habit of emphasizing words. He is now prepared for a more formal introduction to the SUBJECT of emphasis, and for more particular attention to its first PRINCIPLES. This lesson, and the examples given, should be repeatedly practiced. In reading and in talking, we always speak some words with more force than others. We do this, because the meaning of what we say depends most upon these words. If I wish to know whether it is George or his brother who is sick, I speak the words George and brother with more force than the other words. I say, Is it George or his brother who is sick? This greater force with which we speak the words is called EMPHASIS. The words upon which emphasis is put, are sometimes printed in slanting letters, called Italics,* and sometimes in CAPITALS. The words printed in Italics in the following questions and answers, should be read with more force than the other words, that is, with emphasis. Did you ride to town yesterday? No, my brother, did. Did yon ride to town yesterday? No, I walked.
* Italics are also used for other purposes, though most frequently for emphasis.
Third Reader. 11
Did you ride to town yesterday? No, I went into the
country.
Did you ride to town yesterday? No, I went the day before.
Have you seen James or John lately? I have seen James,
but not John.
Did you say there were four eggs in the nest, or three?
There were only three eggs, not four.
Were the eggs white or blue? The eggs were white, not
blue.
Had the boy a hat on his head, or a cap? He had a cap on,
not a hat.
Punctuation.
Punctuation should be thoroughly studied by the pupil, in order that he may become perfectly familiar with the marks and pauses found in the reading lessons of this volume.
Marks and Pauses.
These marks are used to point off written or printed matter into sentences and parts of sentences, and thus to assist the reader in obtaining the meaning of the writer. They seldom indicate the length of the pause to be made; this must be determined by the sense. A Hyphen (-) is used between syllables in a word divided at the end of a line; as, "be-cause," "ques-tion," and between the parts of a compound word; as, Rocking-chair, good-by.
12 Eclectic Series.
The Comma (,), Semicolon (;), and Colon (:) mark
grammatical divisions in a sentence; as,
God is good; for he gives us all things.
Be wise to-day, my child: 't is madness to defer.
A Period (.) is placed at the end of a sentence; as,
God is love. Life is short.
Or is used after an abbreviation; as,
Dr. Murphy. Jan. 10, 1879.
An Interrogation Point (?) denotes a question; as,
Has he come? Who are you?
An Exclamation Point (!) denotes strong feeling; as,
O Absalom! my son! my son!
The Dash (—) is used where there is a sudden break or pause in a sentence; as, The truth has power—such is God's will—to make us better.
Quotation Marks (" ") denote the words of another; as,
God said, "Let there be light."
An Apostrophe (') denotes that a letter or letters are left
out; as,
O'er, for over; 't is, for it is.
And is also used to show ownership; as,
The man's hat. Helen's book.
Mcguffey's
Third Reader.
Lesson I.
The Shepherd Boy.
1. Little Roy led his sheep down to pasture, And his cows, by the side of the brook;
(13)
14 Eclectic Series.
But his cows never drank any water,
And his sheep never needed a crook.
2. For the pasture was gay as a garden,
And it glowed with a flowery red;
But the meadows had never a grass blade,
And the brooklet—it slept in its bed:
3. And it lay without sparkle or murmur,
Nor reflected the blue of the skies;
But the music was made by the shepherd,
And the sparkle was all in his eyes.
4. Oh, he sang like a bird in the summer!
And, if sometimes you fancied a bleat,
That, too, was the voice of the shepherd,
And not of the lambs at his feet.
5. And the glossy brown cows were so gentle
That they moved at the touch of his hand
O'er the wonderful, rosy-red meadow,
And they stood at the word of command.
6. So he led all his sheep to the pasture,
And his cows, by the side of the brook;
Though it rained, yet the rain never pattered
O'er the beautiful way that they took.
7. And it was n't in Fairyland either,
But a house in the midst of the town,
Where Roy, as he looked from the window,
Saw the silvery drops trickle down.
Third Reader. 15
8. For his pasture was only a table,
With its cover so flowery fair,
And his brooklet was just a green ribbon,
That his sister had lost from her hair.
9. And his cows were but glossy horse-chestnuts,
That had grown on his grandfather's tree;
And his sheep only snowy-white pebbles,
He had brought from the shore of the sea.
10. And at length when the shepherd was weary,
And had taken his milk and his bread,
And his mother had kissed him and tucked him,
And had bid him "good night" in his bed;
11. Then there entered his big brother Walter,
While the shepherd was soundly asleep,
And he cut up the cows into baskets,
And to jackstones turned all of the sheep.
Emily S. Oakey.
Lesson II.
Johnny's First Snowstorm.
1. Johnny Reed was a little boy who never had seen a snowstorm till he was six years old. Before this, he had lived in a warm country, where the sun shines down on beautiful
16 ECLECTIC SERIES. orange groves, and fields always sweet with flowers. 2. But now he had come to visit his grandmother, who lived where the snow falls in winter. Johnny was standing at the window when the snow came down.
3. "O mamma!" he cried, joyfully, "do come quick, and see these little white birds flying down from heaven." 4. "They are not birds, Johnny," said mamma, smiling. 5. "Then maybe the little angels are losing their feathers! Oh! do tell me what it is; is it sugar? Let me taste it," said
THIRD READER. 17 Johnny. But when he tasted it, he gave a little jump—it was so cold. 6. "That is only snow, Johnny," said his mother. 7. "What is snow, mother?" 8. "The snowflakes, Johnny, are little drops of water that fall from the clouds. But the air through which they pass is so cold it freezes them, and they come down turned into snow." 9. As she said this, she brought out an old black hat from the closet. "See, Johnny! I have caught a snowflake on this hat. Look quick through this glass, and you will see how beautiful it is." 10. Johnny looked through the glass. There lay the pure, feathery snowflake like a lovely little star. 11. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" he cried in delight. "Oh! please show me more snow-flakes, mother." 12. So his mother caught several more, and they were all beautiful. 13. The next day Johnny had a fine play in the snow, and when he carne in, he said, "I love snow; and I think snowballs are a great deal prettier than oranges."
3,
18 Eclectic Series.
Lesson III.
Let It Rain.
Rose. See how it rains! Oh dear, dear, dear! how dull it is! Must I stay in doors all day? Father. Why, Rose, are you sorry that you had any bread and butter for breakfast, this morning? Rose. Why, father, what a question! I should be sorry, indeed, if I could not get any. Father. Are you sorry, my daughter, when you see the flowers and the trees growing in the garden? Rose. Sorry? No, indeed. Just now, I wished very much to go out and see them,—they look so pretty. Father. Well, are you sorry when you see the horses, cows, or sheep drinking at the brook to quench their thirst? Rose. Why, father, you must think I am a cruel girl, to wish that the poor horses that work so hard, the beautiful cows that
THIRD READER. 19 give so much nice milk, and the pretty lambs should always be thirsty. Father. Do you not think they would die, if they had no water to drink? Rose. Yes, sir, I am sure they would. How shocking to think of such a thing! Father. I thought little Rose was sorry it rained. Do you think the trees and flowers would grow, if they never had any water on them? Rose. No, indeed, father, they would be dried up by the sun. Then we should not have any pretty flowers to look at, and to make wreaths of for mother. Father. I thought you were sorry it rained. Rose, what is our bread made of? Rose. It is made of flour, and the flour is made from wheat, which is ground in the mill. Father. Yes, Rose, and it was rain that helped to make the wheat grow, and it was water that turned the mill to grind the wheat. I thought little Rose was sorry it rained. Rose. I did not think of all these things, father. I am truly very glad to see the rain falling.
20 Eclectic Series.
Lesson IV.
Castle-Building.
1. "O pussy!" cried Herbert, in a voice of anger and dismay, as the blockhouse he was building fell in sudden ruin. The playful cat had rubbed against his mimic castle,
THIRD READER. 21 and tower and wall went rattling down upon the floor. 2. Herbert took up one of the blocks and threw it fiercely at pussy. Happily, it passed over her and did no harm. His hand was reaching for another block, when his little sister Hetty sprang toward the cat, and caught her up. 3. "No, no, no!" said she, "you sha'n't hurt pussy! She did n't mean to do it!" 4. Herbert's passion was over quickly, and, sitting down upon the floor, he covered his face with his hands, and began to cry. 5. "What a baby!" said Joe, his elder brother, who was reading on the sofa. "Crying over spilled milk does no good. Build it up again." 6. "No, I won't," said Herbert, and he went on crying. 7. "What's all the trouble here?" exclaimed papa, as he opened the door and came in. 8. "Pussy just rubbed against Herbert's castle, and it fell down," answered Hetty. "But she did n't mean to do it; she did n't know it would fall, did she, papa?" 9. "Why, no! And is that all the trouble?"
22 ECLECTIC SERIES. 10. "Herbert!" his papa called, and held out his hands. "Come." The little boy got up from the floor, and came slowly, his eyes full of tears, and stood by his father. 11. "There is a better way than this, my boy," said papa. "If you had taken that way, your heart would have been light already. I should have heard you singing over your blocks instead of crying. Shall I show you that way?" 12. Herbert nodded his head, and papa sat down on the floor by the pile of blocks, with his little son by his side, and began to lay the foundation for a new castle.
Lesson V.
Castle-Building. (Concluded)
1. Soon, Herbert was as much interested in castle-building as he had been a little while before. He began to sing over his work. All his trouble was gone.
THIRD READER. 23 2. "This is a great deal better than crying, is n't it?" said papa. 3. "Crying for what?" asked Herbert, forgetting his grief of a few minutes before. 4. "Because pussy knocked your castle over." 5. "Oh!" A shadow flitted across his face, but was gone in a moment, and he went on building as eagerly as ever. 6. "I told him not to cry over spilled milk," said Joe, looking down from his place on the sofa. 7. "I wonder if you did n't cry when your kite string broke," retorted Herbert. 8. "Losing a kite is quite another thing," answered Joe, a little dashed. "The kite was gone forever; but your blocks were as good as before, and you had only to build again." 9. "I do n't see," said papa, "that crying was of any more use in your case then in Herbert's. Sticks and paper are easily found, and you had only to go to work and make another kite." Joe looked down at his book, and went on reading. By this time the castle was finished. 10. "It is ever so much nicer than the one
24 ECLECTIC SERIES. pussy knocked down," said Hetty. And so thought Herbert, as he looked at it proudly from all sides. 11. "If pussy knocks that down, I'll-" 12. "Build it up again," said papa, finishing the sentence for his little boy.
13. "But, papa, pussy must not knock my castles down. I can't have it," spoke out Herbert, knitting his forehead. 14. "You must watch her, then. Little boys, as well as grown up people, have to be often on their guard. If you go into the street, you have to look out for the carriages, so as not to be run over, and you have to keep out of people's way. 15. "In the house, if you go about heedlessly, you will be very apt to run against some one. I have seen a careless child dash suddenly into a room just as a servant was leaving it with a tray of dishes in her hands. A crash followed."
THIRD READER. 25 16. "It was I, was n't it?" said Hetty. 17. "Yes, I believe it was, and I hope it will never happen again." 18. Papa now left the room, saying, "I do n't want any more of this crying over spilled milk, as Joe says. If your castles get knocked down, build them up again."