Verbs 118. LANGUAGE LESSON VERBS 105 You have already learned something about verbs, about is and are in Lesson 42, about was and were and has and have in Lesson 54 and Lesson 60. Verbs are a very important and useful class of words; you have used them every day since you learned to talk. Verbs are used to assert or tell something. In the sentence, John plays. -John is a noun and names a boy; plays is a verb and tells what John does. Nouns are only names or signs. You can't tell anything about nouns withTry to tell something about the noun boy. out using verbs. At once you use a verb. The boy is The boy has The boy plays The boy will come The boy slept The boy thought The boy gave The boy has forgotten A verb may be a single word; as, is, think, jumped, drank. Or it may be composed of several words; as, will come, has been, would have jumped, is drinking, may have been thinking. When a verb consists of several words, it is called a VerbGroup (or Verb Phrase). Turn to Lesson 46. In the poem "The Land of Counterpane" are the following verbs: was, lay, had, keep, watched, go, sent, brought, planted, was, sits, sees. In the following sentences, determine (1) the subject, (2) the predicate. Select (3) the nouns, (4) the pronouns, (5) the verbs. Few boys have found my nest in the meadow. There I chatter all day. They call me Bobolink. Do you see the eggs? Little birds will come by and by. The good farmer spares our nest. 119. ORAL LESSON A PRETTY THIEF Mr. Lawrence had planted a few rows of early sweet corn in the garden, and had promised George and May that they should have corn for dinner a week before any one else in the neighborhood. It was a kind of corn that grew very quickly and ripened earlier than the usual kinds. Its stalks were not tall, and the ears grew low on the stalk, close to the ground. They began to fill out long before the other corn in the garden had tasseled. The children counted every ear and watched day by day, that they would be sure to know when the first ear was large enough to pick. There were two ears larger than the rest, and each day the children would call their father and ask him if they could not pick those ears. But each time he would say, "No, we must wait a little longer." Then George and May would go back under the old poplar tree and feed the squirrel that lived in its branches, or else sit quietly in the shade and try to imagine how good the sweet corn would taste. At last Mr. Lawrence said, "All right, children, we'll pick those two ears to-morrow morning. You shall each have one for dinner." "I choose the long ear," cried George; "it's the biggest." "I'd rather have the fat one," said May; "it has the nicest silk." The next morning they were out in the garden bright and early to pick the ears. But neither the long one nor the fat one was there! Each ear had been picked by some one. Under the poplar tree were the husks in two piles, and beside them the two cobs with every kernel neatly picked off. Neither Mr. Lawrence, nor Henry the gardener, nor Sarah the A Squirrel Story 107 cook, nor any one about the house knew anything about the corn. There had been a thief about. That was clear, but who was the thief? George and May could not believe that such a rascal had been about their poplar tree. "Never mind," said their father; "there are two more ears large enough to pick to-morrow." On the next day, however, those two ears had been picked, and their shucks and cobs were found in the same place as before under the poplar tree. The next day three more ripe ears had been taken, and it began to look as if George and May wouldn't get any of the early sweet corn. They were very cross at the thief, whoever he might be, and declared that they would teach him a lesson if they could only catch him. "Well, children," said Mr. Lawrence at supper that night, 'Henry and I have been talking about your thief, and we believe that we know who he is. If you will go to bed an hour earlier to-night so that you can get up with the sun to-morrow, we will try to catch him.” Although George and May went to bed an hour earlier, they lay awake a long time trying to guess who the rascal was that had stolen their corn. So they were fast asleep the next morning when their father called to them, "Get up quick, and look out of the south window!" In half a minute they were up and at the window. There on the lowest limb of the old poplar sat a great gray squirrel. He held a large ear of corn in his paws and was pulling off the husks and throwing them on the ground as fast as he could. "The old scamp!" said George; "we've fed him nuts many a time." "Isn't he cunning?" said May; "he's beginning to nibble the kernels." Mr. Squirrel had finished husking the corn, and was biting off the kernels, as neat as you please. The early ears grew so low on the stalk that, by stretching a little, he had been able to reach them and break them off. Then he had carried his stolen goods to the great limb, and now was having a fine breakfast. After every bite, with his sharp little teeth, he would throw his head back and look as proud and pleased with himself as could be. In fact, he made such a pretty picture there among the green leaves in the bright morning sun that George and May did not feel very angry at the thief, after all. Before the talk in the class about squirrels, see what you can learn by studying any squirrels near your home. Are there any gray squirrels in your part of the country? Can they run fast? What is the shape of their tails? What does the squirrel do with his tail when resting? when jumping? Has he large or small ears? Where are his eyes placed? What is peculiar about his upper lip? Upon what does he feed? What enemies has he? Have you seen a red squirrel? a chipmunk? What can you tell about them? In some parts of the country the gray squirrels make so much trouble by eating the young corn that boys are placed in the cornfields to frighten them away. In other parts of the country, in the cities especially, gray squirrels are kept in the parks, and everybody feeds and pets them. Have you any story to tell about squirrels? Verbs and Verb-Groups 109 There is a well-known poem, "The Mountain and the Squirrel," by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Do you know it? Perhaps some one in the class can recite it. Our picture of squirrels is from a painting by Sir Edwin Landseer, the famous painter of animals. Read the story" A Pretty Thief" aloud. Commit these lines to memory: He prayeth well who loveth well He prayeth best who loveth best For the dear God who loveth us, - COLERIDGE. 120. WRITTEN LESSON Write in your own words the story "A Pretty Thief," told in Lesson 119. Be careful in paragraphing, punctuation, and use of quotation marks. 121. LANGUAGE LESSON Every predicate contains a verb or a verb-group. Make sentences containing the following verbs and verb-groups: Verbs: ran, jumped, swam, dives, gives, gave, chased, skated, thought, saw, were, was, taught, learned. Verb-Groups: have seen, may go, has taught, will learn, should have been, cannot speak. Make five sentences, each containing the plural of one What is the subject and the predicate of each sen noun. tence? |