XXIV. THE CITY MOUSE AND THE GARDEN MOUSE. The city mouse lives in a house; The garden mouse lives in a bower; He's friendly with the frogs and toads, And sees the pretty plants in flower. The city mouse eats bread and cheese; The garden mouse eats what he can; We will not grudge him seeds and stocks, Poor, little, timid furry man. He Isaac Newton was a Christmas present. was born on Christmas day, 1642, in a small village in England. Isaac was not a very diligent scholar; but he had good eyes. They saw more than the eyes of most boys see. When but a small boy he often went to mill. He looked at the great wheels turning When little Isaac ran with the wind it seemed to push him along. When he ran against it, the wind seemed to hold him back. He thought about this a long time, and then decided to measure the speed of the wind. How do you think he did this? He jumped against the wind, and by the length of his jump he could calculate the speed of a gentle breeze, a brisk gale, or a tempest. When Isaac Newton became a man he often spent entire days alone. He would find a quiet place, sit down, and think over the great mysteries of nature. One day he sat under an apple tree in deep thought. An apple fell from the tree and struck him on the head. He did not become angry as some boys I know would have done. He began to think about the falling of the apple. Why did it fall? Why do all things fall to the earth and not up into the sky? At last he discovered the reason. The earth draws all things to itself. Why does it do so? He decided that the earth must have a great force. He measured this force, and called it gravity. Gravity holds all things to the earth. It holds the mountains and the The clouds cannot float far above the earth because gravity holds them down. This force is stronger than any giant. seas. Newton set to work to discover the laws of the sun and the stars and of light. For twenty years he worked at this great task. At last, when fifty years of age, he had almost finished his great work. His papers were lying on his desk. On the desk stood a lighted candle. On the floor his little dog, Diamond, was asleep before the fire. Newton arose and left the room. Little Diamond wakened up, jumped upon the desk, and upset the candle. The papers took fire, and, just as the last of them was burning, Newton walked into the room. His years of study were for nothing. There stood little Diamond, the cause of the loss. Some men would have killed the dog. But Newton patted the dog on the head, and said in a kind but sad voice, "Oh, Diamond, you little know the mischief you have done!" He He Newton lived to be a very old man. was loved and honored by all persons. was never proud nor boastful. He said in his old days, "I seem to myself like a child playing on the seashore and picking up here and there a curious shell or a pretty pebble, while the great ocean of truth lies all undiscovered before me." XXVI. SUPPOSE. Suppose, my little lady, head, Could you make it whole by crying Till your nose and eyes were red? And wouldn't it be pleasanter To treat it as a joke, And say you're glad 'twas dolly's And not your head that broke? |