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THEREwere once five peas in one pod. They were green, and the pod was green; so they thought the whole world was green.
The sun shone and warmed the pod. It was mild and pleasant in the daytime, and dark at night, of course.
The peas grew bigger and bigger. They thought a great deal, wondering what they should do by and by.
“Must we sit here forever?” asked one. “I think there must be something outside of our shell. I am sure of it.”
Weeks passed by. The peas became yellow, and the shell became yellow, too.
“All the world is turning yellow,” said they.
Perhaps they were right.
Suddenly something pulled the pod. It was torn off and held in human hands. Then it was dropped into a jacket pocket, with other pods.
“Now we shall soon be opened,” said one. “That is just what I want.”
“I should like to know which one of us will travel farthest,” said the smallest pea. “We shall soon see, now.”
“What is to happen will happen,” said the largest pea.
“Crack!” went the pod, as it burst. The five peas rolled out into the bright sunshine. There they lay in a child’s hand.
A little boy was holding them fast. He said they were fine peas for his pea shooter. So saying, he put one in, and shot it forth.
“Now I am flying out into the wide world,” said the pea. “Catch me if you can!” He was gone in a moment.
“I shall fly straight to the sun,” said the second pea. “That is a pod which will suit me exactly.” Away he went.
“We shall go farther than the others,” said the next two. And away they went.
“What is to happen will happen,” said the last of the five, as he was shot out of the pea shooter.
As he spoke, he flew up against an old board,under a garret window. He fell into a crack, which was almost filled with moss and soft earth. The moss closed over him. There he lay, a little captive. But God saw him.
“What is to happen will happen,” Said the pea to himself.
In the garret lived a poor woman. She went out every day to work for her living. She had one little daughter, who was very sick. All winter long the sick child lay in her bed, patient and quiet. She was alone all day, while her mother was away at work.
Spring came. One morning, early, the sun shone brightly through the little window. He threw his rays over the floor of the sick room. The mother was going to her work, when the child cried, —
“Oh, mother! look out of the window. What can that little green thing be? It is moving in the wind.”
The mother went to the window and opened it.
“Oh!” she said. “Here is a little pea growing up. It has really taken root, and is putting out its green leaves. How could it have found its way into this crack? Now you will have a little garden to amuse you.” So saying, the mother drew the bed nearer to the window, that the sick child might see the budding plant. Then she went to her work.
“Mother, I believe I shall get well,” said the child, when her mother came home in the evening. “The sun has been so bright and warm to-day, and the little pea is growing so well. I think I shall get better, too, and go out into the warm sunshine.”
“God grant it!” said the mother, as she kissed her child. Then she brought a little stick to prop the tiny plant which had given her daughter such hope.
She tied a piece of string to the window sill, so that the little pea tendrils might twine round it when they grew up. Indeed, they seemed to grow from day to day.
“Here is a flower coming!” said the mother, one morning. And now she began to hope that her little girl would get well. The little girl raised her head to look at her garden, with its one pea plant.
A week after, she sat up for the first time, for awhole hour. She was quite happy as she sat by her window in the warm sunshine, while the little pea plant on the roof bore one pink blossom.
The child kissed the tender leaves gently. This was her Thanksgiving Day.
“Our Heavenly Father himself has planted that pea, and made it grow and blossom to bring joy to you and hope to me, my blessed child,” said the happy mother. And she smiled at the flower as if it had been an angel.
But what became of the other peas? Why, the one who cried, “Catch me, if you can!” fell on the roof of a house, and ended his days in the crop of a pigeon. The next two were also eaten by pigeons, so they were of some use.
The fourth, who started to reach the sun, fell into the gutter.
The young girl stood at the garret window, with bright eyes and rosy cheeks. She folded her thin hands over the pea blossom, and thanked God for sending it to her lonely room.
— HNDERSEN
In the stories which you have read, you will find these words. Try to use them in sentences:
I. In “Diamonds and Toads”
fairy
pleaded
thoughtful
daughter
grumbling
treated
elder
fountain
jewels
younger
vipers
diamonds
trudged
creatures
coaxed
II. In “Red Riding Hood”
lawn
flitting
eclipse
floundered
boughs
drifted
gazing
timid
fleck
crested
poising
guest
III. In “The Pea Blossom”
green
perhaps
woman
yellow
suddenly
tendril
pleasant
dropped
window
bigger
holding
brightly
forever
straight
amuse
tender
gently
pigeons
lonely
garret
blessed
IV. See if you can make a picture of Red Riding Hood feeding the squirrel, the crow, and the blue jay.