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from one town to another, are often frozen over for1 three months together, and form a solid floor of ice. The country-people skate to market with milk and vegetables. Sometimes a party of twenty or thirty may be seen, going together, young women as well as men, holding each other by the hand and gliding away' with surprising swiftness. Booths are built upon the ice, with large fires in them; and every kind of sport is to be seen on the frozen canals. Sledges drawn by 10 the hand, others by 10 horses, and all gaily decorated and filled with ladies and children covered with warm furs, fly from one end of the streets to another.

These sledges have no wheels, but move11 on an iron rounded at the ends 12. The ladies of all the northern countries are extremely fond 13 of riding in 'traîneaux' in the winter evenings. These carriages, prettily carved, painted and gilt, are made in the shape of lions, swans, dolphins, peacocks or any other device, and are fixed on the sledge. The lady on these occasions is gaily dressed in velvet, sables, lace and jewels, and her head is defended from 14 the cold by a velvet cap turned up15 with fur; the horse, too, is decorated with feathers and bells, and the horns of a stag are fixed on his head. Several pages on horseback with flambeaux, attend the carriage to 16 display the equipage and prevent mischief17 as they often drive 18 at full speed 18 through the streets in the darkest nights; but it is by moonlight 19 that all this finery, contrasted with the snow, makes 20 the most beautiful appearance. 20

4) pendant 3 m. de suite. 5) se rendent au marché en patinant, 6) se tenant par. 7) et glissant au loin. 8) à l'intérieur. 9) is to be seen se voit. 10) à la m., d'autres par. 11) se meuvent, glissent. 12) aux deux bouts. 13) aiment beaucoup aller en traîneaux. 14) protégée contre le froid. 15) garni de. 16) pour faire parade de or étaler. 17) des accidents. 18) vont au galop. 19) au clair de la lune. 20) produit le ... effet.

77.

A West Indian Slave.

A slave in one of the islands of the West Indies1, native of Africa, having been brought under the influence of religious instruction, became singularly va

1) des Indes occidentales. 2) après avoir été instruit dans la rel. chrétienne.

luable to his owner on account of his integrity and general good conduct, so thats his master raised him to a situation of some importance in the management of his estate. This owner, wishing to purchase twenty additional slaves, employed him to make the selection, and gave him instructions to choose those who were strong and likely to make good workmen.

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The man went to the slave-market and commenced his search. He had not long surveyed the wretched creatures offered for sale 10, before 11 he fixed his 11 eyes intently upon an old and decrepit slave, and told his master that he must 12 be one. The master seemed greatly surprised and remonstrated 13 against it13. The poor fellow begged 14 that he might be indulged 14, when the dealer remarked that, if they bought twenty, he would give them the old man into the bargain 15.

The purchase was accordingly made, and the slaves were conducted to the plantation of their new master; but upon none 16 did the selector bestow 16 the same attention 16 as upon the poor, old, decrepit African. He took him to his own habitation and laid him upon his own bed; he fed him at his own table and gave him drink17 out of his own cup; when he felt cold, he carried him into the 18 sunshine, and when he felt hot, he took 19 him into 19 the shade of the cocoa-nut trees.

brother?"

Astonished at the attention which this confidential slave bestowed upon a fellow slave, his master interrogated him on the subject. He said: "You could not take 20 so intense an interest in 20 the old man, but for 21 some special reason; is he a relation of yours 22, perhaps your father?" - "No, massa' "23, answered the poor fellow, "he is not my father". "He is then an elder "No, massa, he is not my brother". 3) de sorte que. 4) l'administration de sa plantation. 5) le chargea. 6) d'en choisir. 7) fussent (Subj. see Gramm. p. 326, § 1). 8) et qui promissent d'être. 9) il ne tarda pas en examinant. 10) exposées en vente. 11) à fixer les y. 12) que celui-là devait être du nombre. 13) s'y opposa. 14) le supplia de lui accorder sa demande. 15) il leur donnerait le vieillard par-dessus le marché. 16) celui qui avait fait le choix ne voua à aucun autant de sollicitude. 17) le faisait boire dans. 18) au soleil. 19) le conduisait à. 20) vous intéresser si vivement à. 21) si ce n'est par une raison spéciale. 22) un de vos parents. 23) Massa = master,

maître.

OTTO, Materials for translat. into French. 4. Ed.

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"Then he is an uncle, or some other relation." "No, massa, he is not of my kindred 24 at all 24, nor even my friend". "Then", asked the master, "on what account 25 does he excite your interest?" "He is my enemy, massa,' replied the slave; "he sold me to the slavedealer; and my Bible says to me: If your enemy hungers, feed him, and if he thirsts, give him drink, for in 26 so doing you shall heap coals of fire27 upon his head."

24) pas du tout de ma parenté. 25) pour quelle raison. 26) car en agissant ainsi. 27) des charbons ardents.

78.

The Bishop and his Birds.

A worthy bishop, who died lately in a town on the continent, had for his arms1 two fieldfares with the motto: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?" This strange coat of arms had often excited attention, and many persons had wished to know its origin, as it was generally reported that the bishop had chosen it for himself, and that it bore reference to some event in his early life. One day an intimate friend asked him its meaning", and the bishop related the following story: "Fifty or sixty years ago, a little boy resided at a small village on the bank of the Danube. His parents were very poor, and, almost as soon as the boy could walk, he was sent into the woods to pick up sticks6 for fuel. When he grew older', his father taught him to pick the juniper berries and carry them to a neighbouring distiller, who wanted them for making hollands. Day by day the poor boy went to his task, and on his way he passed by the open windows of the village school, where he saw the schoolmaster teaching 10 a number of boys of about the same age as himself. He looked at these boys almost with feelings of envy, so earnestly did he long11 to be among them. He was quite aware 12 it was in vain 12 to ask 12 his father to send him to school, for he knew that his parents had no money to pay the schoolmaster; and he often i passed the whole day thinking, while he was gathering his

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1) pour armoiries. 2) ne se vendent-ils pas. 3) parce que tout le monde disait. 4) se rapportait à. 5) ce que cela signifiait. 6) du ramage, des fagots pour le chauffage. 7) grandit. 8) qui les employait à faire. 9) devant. 10) qui enseignait. 11) tant il désirait. 12) il savait bien qu'il était inutile de demander à.

juniper berries, what he could possibly do to please the 13 schoolmaster in hopes of getting 14 some lessons.

One day, when 15 he was walking sadly along 15, he saw two of the boys belonging to the school, trying to set a bird-trap, and he asked one of them what sit was 1 for. The boy told him that the schoolmaster was very fond 16 of fieldfares, and that they were setting the trap to catch 17 some. This delighted 18 the poor boy, for he recollected that he had often seen a great number of these birds in the juniper wood, where they came [to] eat the berries, and he had no doubt but 19 he could catch some.

13) Dative. 14) d'obtenir. 15) qu'il cheminait tristement. 16) aimait beaucoup les. 17) pour en attraper quelques-unes. 18) le p. g. s'en réjouit beaucoup or en fut enchanté. 19) et il ne doutait pas qu'il n'en attrapât.

79.

The same Subject continued.

The next day the little boy borrowed an old basket of his mother, went to the wood and had the great delight to catch two fieldfares. He put them in the basket, and tying an old handkerchief over it, he took1 them to the schoolmaster's house. Just as he arrived at the door, he saw the two little boys who had been setting2 the trap, and with some alarm he asked them if they had caught [any] birds. They answered in the negative3, and the boy, his heart beating with joy, was admitted into the schoolmaster's presence. In a few words he told how he had seen the boys setting the trap, and how he (et qu'il) had caught the birds to bring them as a present to the master.

"A present, my good boy!" cried the schoolmaster, "you do not look as if you could [afford to] make presents. Tell me your price, and I will pay it to you and thank you besides.'

"I would rather give them to you, Sir, if you please," said the boy.

The schoolmaster looked at the boy, as he stood before him, with bare head and feet, and with ragged trowsers

1) porta. 2) qui avaient tendu la trappe. 3) que non. 4) Use the Infinitive: qu'il avait vu... tendre un piège. 5) vous n'avez pas l'air de pouvoir. 6) j'aimerais mieux vous en faire présent. 7) la tête nue et nu-pieds; see French Grammar, p. 238, 2.

that reached only half-way down his naked legs. "You are a very singular boy!" said he; "but if you will take no money, you must tell me what I can do for you, as I cannot accept your present without doing something [for it] in return. Can I do anything for you?"

"O! yes," said the boy, trembling with 10 delight, "you can do for me what I should like better 11 than anything else."

"What is that?" asked the schoolmaster smiling.

"Teach me to 12 read," cried the boy, falling on his knees; "oh! dear, kind Sir, teach me to read."

The schoolmaster complied 13. The boy came to him at all his leisure hours 14, and learnt so rapidly, that the schoolmaster recommended him to a nobleman who resided in the neighbourhood. This gentleman, who was as noble in mind 15 as in his birth, patronised 16 the poor boy and sent him to school. The boy profited 17 by these opportunities, and when he rose, as 18 he soon did, to wealth and honours, he adopted two fieldfares as his arms."

"What do you mean 19?" cried the bishop's friend. "I mean 20," returned the bishop, with a smile, “that the poor boy21 was myself."

8) qui couvraient à peine à moitié. 9) sans faire. 10) de joie. 11) ce que j'aimerais mieux que toute autre chose. 12) à lire. 13) lui accorda sa prière. 14) heures de loisir. 15) de coeur que de naissance. 16) s'intéresser pour. 17) mit à profit cette occasion. 18) ce qui arriva bientôt. 19) Que voulez-vous dire par là? 20) je veux dire. 21) que j'étais moi-même ce p. g.

80.

A Mystery cleared up.

A few years ago some persons were travelling in a stage-coach towards London, and at the approach1 of night they began to express their fears of being2 attacked by highway-robbers. One gentleman said he had ten guineas about him3 and did not know where to hide them for safety. A lady who sat next to him in the coach, advised him to conceal them in his boots, which he immediately did. Soon after a highway-robber came up and demanded their purses: the lady told him that she had no money, but that, if he would search that gentleman's boots, he would find ten guineas.

1) à l'approche de la n. 2) d'être attaquées. 3) sur lui. 4) et qu'il ne savait où. 5) arriva or survint. 6) fouiller.