LESSON 16
THE HEN AND ITS CHICKS

This is a hen:

these are her chicks.

I see one, two, three.

Hen! call them back.

Look how they run

when she calls them!

The hen gives us eggs:

let us look for one.

Here is one in the straw:

how fresh and new it is!

The white hen laid it:

she has no chicks.

We shall not take it,

till she lays some more.

· 1 ·

Tom has to go for eggs. Let us go and see the sheep and its young lamb. They are out on the grass. Tom will come when he has the eggs. He will bring the dog with him, and we shall see it when it swims in the pond.

· 2 ·

Here we are on the soft, green grass. Tom has come back. Did you bring the eggs, Tom? Here they are; one, two, three; —one for you, one for Tom, one for me. We shall take them with us. Tom eats two eggs a day. You see how fat he is.

· 3 ·

Look, Tom! Did you see the cat run to catch the chicks? Do run back; if the cat catch them, it will eat them. Run, Tom; and we shall play with the dog till you come back.

· 4 ·

Tom is off to catch the cat. This is his new coat. How warm it is! It is of soft wool, cut from the back of a sheep.

· 5 ·

See! Tom has come back! He has cut a new stick for me. He has it in his hand. How kind he is! Thank you, Tom. Come, now, let us go. We shall go to the pond and see the dog swim.