A False Alarm

The bell ringing baboon.

       Some years ago, a soldier doing duty at the castle of Cape Town, kept a tame baboon for his amusement. One evening it broke its chains unknown to him. In the night, climbing up into the belfry, it began to play with, and ring the bell. Immediately the whole place was in an uproar; some great danger was apprehended. Many thought that the castle was on fire; others, that an enemy had entered the bay, and the soldiers began actually to turn out, when it was discovered that the baboon had occasioned the disturbance. On the following morning a court-martial was held, when Cape justice dictated, that whereas the baboon had unnecessarily put the castle into alarm, the master should receive fifty lashes; the soldier, however, found means to evade the punishment.

Sagacious Bruin

The clever, hungry bear.

        The captain of a Greenland whaler being anxious to procure a bear, without wounding the skin, made trial of the stratagem of laying the noose of a rope in the snow, and placing a piece of meat within it. A bear ranging the neighboring ice was soon enticed to the spot by the smell of the dainty morsel. He perceived the bait, approached, and seized it in his mouth; but his foot at the same time, by a jerk of the rope, being entangled in the noose, he pushed it off with his paw, and deliberately retired. After having eaten the piece he had carried away with him, he returned. The noose, with another piece of meat, being replaced, he pushed the rope aside, and again walked triumphantly off with his capture. A third time the noose was laid; but excited to caution by the evident observations of the bear, the sailors buried the rope beneath the snow, and laid the bait in a deep hole dug in the center. The bear once more approached, and the sailors were assured of their success. But bruin, more sagacious than they expected, after snuffing about the place for a few moments, scraped the snow away with his paw, threw the rope aside, and again escaped unhurt with his prize.

A Strange Mouser

The chicken was a strange mouser.

        A gentleman once had in his possession a hen, which answered the purpose of a cat in destroying mice. She was constantly seen watching close to a corn rick, and the moment a mouse appeared, she seized it in her beak, and carried it to a meadow adjoining, where she would play with it like a young cat for some time, and then kill it. She has been known to catch four or five mice a day in this manner.

Making Sure

Teaching the crows to speak.

       During the war between Augustus Caesar and Marc Antony, when all the world stood wondering and uncertain which way Fortune would incline herself, a poor man at Rome, in order to be prepared for making, in either event, a bold hit for his own advancement, had recourse to the following ingenious expedient. He applied himself to the training of two crows with such diligence, that he brought them the length of pronouncing with great distinctness, the one a salutation to Caesar, and the other a salutation to Antony. When Augustus returned conqueror, the man went out to meet him with the crow suited to the occasion perched on his fist, and every now and then it kept exclaiming, "Salve, Caesar, Victor Imperator!' "Hail, Caesar, Conqueror and Emperor! Augustus, greatly struck and delighted with so novel a circumstance, purchased the bird of the man for a sum which immediately raised him into opulence.

The Power of Music

Music can be powerful magic.

        One Sunday evening, five choristers were walking on the banks of a river; after some time, being tired with walking, they sat down on the grass, and began to sing an anthem. The field on which they sat was terminated at one extremity by a wood, out of which, as they were singing, they observed a hare to pass with great swiftness towards the place where they were sitting, and to stop at about twenty yards' distance from them. She appeared highly delighted with the harmony of the music, often turning up the side of her head to listen with more facility. As soon as the harmonious sound was over, the hare returned slowly towards the wood; when she had nearly reached the end of the field, the choristers began the same piece again; at which the hare stopped, turned round, and came swiftly back to about the same distance as before, where she seemed to listen with rapture and delight, till they had finished the anthem, when she returned again by a slow pace up the field, and entered the wood.

A Conversing Parrot

The parrot who answered questions.

        During the government of Prince Maurice in Brazil, he had heard of an old parrot that was much celebrated for answering like a rational creature many of the common questions put to it. It was at a great distance; but so much had been said about it that the prince's curiosity was roused, and he directed it to be  sent for. When it was introduced into the room where the prince was sitting, in company with several Dutchmen, it immediately exclaimed in the Brazilian language, "What a company of white men are here!'' They asked it, ''Who is that man?" (pointing to the prince). The parrot answered, "Some general or other." When the attendants carried it up to him, he asked it, through the medium of an interpreter (for he was ignorant of its language), "Whence do you come?" The parrot answered, "From Marignan." The prince asked, "To whom do you belong?" It answered, "To a Portuguese." He asked again, "What do you there?'' It answered, "I look after chickens." The prince laughing, exclaimed, "You look after chickens!'' The parrot in answer said, "Yes, I; and I know well enough how to do it;" clucking at the same time in imitation of the noise made by the hen to call together her young. The prince afterwards observed that although the parrot spoke in a language he did not understand, yet he could not be deceived, for he had in the room both a Dutchman who spoke Brazilian, and a Brazilian who spoke Dutch; that he asked them separately and privately, and both agreed exactly in their account of the parrot's discourse.

Mimic

        A priest once brought up an orangutan, which became so fond of him that, wherever he went, it was always desirous of accompanying him. Whenever therefore he had to perform the service of his church, he was under the necessity of shutting it up in his room. Once, however, the animal escaped, and followed the father to the church; where silently mounting the sounding-board above the pulpit, he lay perfectly still till the sermon commenced. He then crept to the edge, and overlooking the preacher, imitated all his gestures in so grotesque a manner, that the whole congregation were unavoidably urged to laugh. The father, surprised and confounded at this ill-timed levity, severely rebuked his audience for their inattention. The reproof failed in its effect; the congregation still laughed, and the preacher in the warmth of his zeal redoubled his vociferation and his action; these the ape imitated so exactly that the congregation could no longer restrain themselves, but burst out into a loud and continued laughter. A friend of the preacher at length stepped up to him, and pointed out the cause of this improper conduct; and such was the arch demeanor of the animal that it was with the utmost difficulty he could himself command his gravity, while he ordered the servants of the church to take him away. 

The orangutan mimics the priest.

Template of Apples on A Branch

      Children will like to cut and color the kind of apple that they know. Then the teacher may choose the best apples of one variety for the class to arrange on a branch, which has been previously cut and taped on a window or stapled to a bulletin board. If desired the leaves may be cut separately from the large pattern below.

Large pattern of an apple branch with fruit and leaves.

Presidential Paper-Cuts for School

       Below are a selection of presidential paper-cuts to use in the classroom. These include symbols, profiles of presidents Washington and Lincoln, plus an outline of the Old Capitol Building.

Click on image to download the largest file.

Presidential Clip Art for Students & Educators

Description of Clip Art Pages: above is a selection of black and white clip art for former President Abraham Lincoln, below is a selection of black and white clip art for former President George Washington, both sheets include monuments, portraits and historical events

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

The Tale of the Jack-o'-Lantern

The Tale of the Jack-o'-Lantern

A Jack-o'-Lantern played some pranks
One moonlit Hallowe'en,
He started out all by himself
Determined to be mean.

He scared a tiny pussy cat,
A little puppy, too.
He made a cunning baby cry -
A dreadful thing to do !

He laughed and thought of other schemes.
Oh, he was bad that night.
His one idea was what to do
To bring somebody fright.

At last the joke was turned on him,
He chased a pussy cat.
It was a witch's pride and joy,
But how could he know that?

The big black pussy turned around.
It arched its back and tail,
It launched its long sharp claws at him
With snarls and long-drawn wail.

Its mistress witch then came to sight
And whacked him with her broom.
So that is how one pumpkin head
Was cracked unto his doom.

Pilgrims and Turkeys for Bulletin Boards

Simple large turkey pattern.

        These vintage outlines of a turkey and children dressed as Pilgrims may be used on your bulletin boards, walls or as window decorations. 

• Visit the Crayon Palace blog to find similar resources of Native Indigenous People and Pilgrims also here
  

Simple figures of pilgrim children.