THE GOOSE AND HORSE.

A Fable.

A goose who was plucking grass upon a common, thought the conduct of a horse that grazed by her was not civil, and in hissing accents thus spake to him: "I am surely a more noble and perfect animal than you are, for whereas you can only move on the land, I can both walk on the land, swim in the water, and fly through the air." The horse, snorting in disdain at the boast of the thus replied: goose, It is true you dwell in three elements, the earth, the air, and the water; but you make but a sorry figure in any of them. You fly indeed, but your flight is so heavy and clumsy that you have no right to put yourself on a level with the lark and the swallow. You can swim on the surface of the water, but you cannot live in it as the fishes do; you cannot find your food in the pond, nor glide smoothly along the bottom of the waves. And when you walk, or rather waddle, upon the ground, with your broad feet, and your long neck stretched out, hissing at every one that passes by, you bring upon yourself the contempt of all that see you. I confess that I am only formed to move upon the ground, but how graceful is my make! how great my strength! how swift my speed! I would rather be only in one element, and able to excel in that, than be a goose in all

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING.

(This poem is inserted by the kind permission of the noble author.)

A fair little girl sat under a tree,

Sewing as long as her eyes could see;

Then smoothed her work, and folded it right,
And said, "Dear work! Good night! Good night!"

Such a number of rooks came over her head,
Crying, "Caw! caw!" on their way to bed;
She said, as she watched their curious flight,
"Little black things! Good night! Good night!"

The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed;
The sheep's "Bleat! bleat!" came over the road;
All seeming to say, with a quiet delight,
"Good little girl! Good night! Good night!"

She did not say to the sun, "Good night!"
Though she saw him there like a ball of light;
For she knew he had God's time to keep
All over the world, and never could sleep.
The tall pink fox-glove bowed his head-
The violets curtsied and went to bed;
And good little Lucy tied up her hair,
And said, on her knees, her favourite prayer.

And while on her pillow she softly lay,
She knew nothing more till again it was day;
And all things said to the beautiful sun,

"Good morning! Good morning! our work is begun!"

Lord Houghton.

THE GIANT AND THE TAILOR.

PART I.

On a fine summer morning, a bold little tailor bound his girdle round his body, and looked about his house to see if there was anything good to take with him on his journey into the wide world. He could only find an old cheese; but that was better than nothing; so he took it up, and as he was going out, the old hen met him at the door, and he packed her too into his wallet with the cheese.

Then off he set, and when he had climbed a high hill, he found a giant sitting on the top. "Good day, comrade," said he. "There you sit at your ease, and look the wide world over. I have a mind to go and try my luck in the world; what do you say to going with me?" Then the giant looked at him, and said, "You are a poor little trumpery knave." "That may be," said the tailor; “but we shall see which is the best man of the two."

The giant finding the little man so bold, began to show him more respect, and said "they would soon see who was master.' So he took a large stone in his hand, and squeezed it till water dropped from it. "Do that," said he, "if you have a mind to be thought a strong man.' ." Is that all," said the tailor: "I will soon do as much." So he put his hand in his wallet, pulled out the cheese (which was quite new), and squeezed it till the whey ran out. "What do you say now, Mr.

Giant? My squeeze was a better one than yours."

Then the giant, not seeing that it was only a cheese, did not know what to say for himself, though he could hardly believe his eyes; at last he took up a stone, and threw it up so high that it went almost out of sight. "Now then, little pigmy, do that if you can," said he. "Very good," said the tailor; "your throw was not a bad one, but after all your stone fell to the ground; I will throw something that shall not fall at all." "That you can't do," said the giant. But the tailor took his old hen out of the wallet, and threw her up in the air, and she, glad enough to be set free, flew away out of sight. "Now, comrade," said he, "what do you say to that?" "I say you are a clever hand," said the giant; "but we will now try how you can work."

Then he led him into the wood, where a fine oak tree lay felled. "Now let us drag it out of the wood together." "Very well; do you take the thick end, and I will carry all the top and branches, which are much the largest and heaviest." So the giant took the trunk and laid it on his shoulder; but the cunning little rogue, instead of carrying anything, sat himself at ease among the branches, and let the giant carry stem, branches, and tailor into the bargain. All the way they went, he made merry, and whistled, and sang his song as if carrying the tree were mere sport; while the giant after he had borne it a good way could carry it no longer, and said, "I must let it fall." Then the tailor sprang down, and held the

tree as if he were carrying it, saying, "What a shame it is that such a big lout as you cannot carry a tree like this!"

Then on they went together, till they came to a tall cherry tree. The giant took hold of the top stem, and bent it down to pluck the ripest fruit; and when he had done gave it over to his friend, that he too might eat; but the little man was so weak that he could not hold the tree down, and up he went with it, swinging in the air. ."Halloo!" said the giant, "what now; can't you hold that twig?" "To be sure I could," said the tailor, "but don't you see there's a huntsman who is going to shoot into the bush where we stood; so I took a jump over the tree to be out of his way. You had better do the same; he may, perhaps, hit you." The giant tried to follow, but the tree was far too high to jump over, and he only stuck fast in the branches, for the tailor to laugh at him. "Well, you are a fine fellow, after all," said the giant; so come home and sleep with me and a friend of mine in the mountains to-night."

The tailor had no business upon his hands, so he did as he was bid, and the giant gave him a good supper and a bed to sleep upon. But the tailor was too cunning to lie down upon it, and crept slily into a corner, and slept there soundly. When midnight came, the giant came softly in with his iron walking-stick, and gave such a stroke upon the bed, where he thought his guest was lying, that he said to himself, "Its all up now with that grasshopper; I shall have no more of