Fourth Grade Read Aloud Banquet




The Snake

A narrow fellow in the grass

Occasionally rides;

You may have met him,—did you not,

His notice sudden is.


The grass divides as with a comb,

A spotted shaft is seen;

And then it closes at your feet

And opens further on.


He likes a boggy acre

A floor too cool for corn

Yet when a child, and barefoot,

I more than once, at morn,


Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash

Unbraiding in the sun,—

When, stooping to secure it,

It wrinkled, and was gone.


Several of nature's people

I know, and they know me;

I feel for them a transport

Of cordiality;


But never met this fellow,

Attended or alone,

Without a tighter breathing,

And zero at the bone.


  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 52 Seasonal Story Victoria—War from Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow from The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge The Little Match-Girl from Fairy Tales Too Good To Miss—Across the Lake by Lisa M. Ripperton Seasonal Story
Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story Seasonal Story And Now We Come to the Last Scene in the Pantomime from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
Summary from The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray
  Seasonal Poem The Death of the Old Year by Alfred Lord Tennyson Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem Seasonal Poem An Old Christmas Carol, Anonymous
Week 53              
             
             
Week 54              
             
             
Week 55              
             
             
Week 56              
             
             
Week 57              
             
             
Week 58              
             
             
Week 59              
             
             
Week 60              
             
             
Week 61              
             
             
Week 62              
             
             
Week 63              
             
             
Week 64              
             
             
Week 65              
             
             
Week 66              
             
             
Week 67              
             
             
Week 68              
             
             
Week 69              
             
             
Week 70              
             
             
Week 71              
             
             
Week 72              
             
             
Week 73              
             
             
Week 74              
             
             
Week 75              
             
             
Week 76              
             
             
Week 77              
             
             
Week 78              
             
             
Week 79              
             
             
Week 80              
             
             
Week 81              
             
             
Week 82              
             
             
Week 83              
             
             
Week 84              
             
             
Week 85              
             
             
Week 86              
             
             
Week 87              
             
             
Week 88              
             
             
Week 89              
             
             
Week 90              
             
             
Week 91              
             
             
Week 92              
             
             
Week 93              
             
             
Week 94              
             
             
Week 95              
             
             
Week 96              
             
             
Week 97              
             
             
Week 98              
             
             
Week 99              
             
             
Week 100              
             
             
Week 101              
             
             
Week 102              
             
             
Week 103              
             
             
First row Previous row          Next row
The Aesop for Children  by Milo Winter

The Fox and the Monkey

At a great meeting of the Animals, who had gathered to elect a new ruler, the Monkey was asked to dance. This he did so well, with a thousand funny capers and grimaces, that the Animals were carried entirely off their feet with enthusiasm, and then and there, elected him their king.

The Fox did not vote for the Monkey and was much disgusted with the Animals for electing so unworthy a ruler.

One day he found a trap with a bit of meat in it. Hurrying to King Monkey, he told him he had found a rich treasure, which he had not touched because it belonged by right to his majesty the Monkey.

The greedy Monkey followed the Fox to the trap. As soon as he saw the meat he grasped eagerly for it, only to find himself held fast in the trap. The Fox stood off and laughed.


[Illustration]

"You pretend to be our king," he said, "and cannot even take care of yourself!"

Shortly after that, another election among the Animals was held.

The true leader proves himself by his qualities.