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LESSON 10
ALFRED saw a beautiful flower growing on the farther side of a deep ditch, and he ran forward to get it for his sister Mary. Mary begged him not to do so, lest he should tumble into the ditch. But Alfred would have his own way.
As he was going down the bank, his foot slipped; and he would have fallen into the ditch, had he not caught hold of some nettles that were growing near. He was not long in scrambling up the bank again, for the sharp sting of the nettles made him forget the beautiful flower.
“There now!” said he; “talk of everything being useful! I am quite sure a stinging nettle is of no use in the world. See how it has stung my flngers! They are covered with white blisters, and tingle
terribly. I am quite sure grandpapa was wrong when he said that everything was useful.”
“Perhaps not,” said the old gentleman, who at that moment peeped over the hedge. “But I shall go round by the gate, and come to you.”
THE NETTLE
In a few minutes the old gentleman was with them, examining
the smarting flngers of his grandson.
“Well now, grandpapa, please to tell me of what use nettles are, for I cannot think that they are of the least use whatever.”
“The nettle,” replied the old gentleman, “has no doubt many uses of which I am ignorant; but I shall point out a few, which may show you that God has not formed it in vain. And I shall begin with the use of which the nettle has been to you, Alfred.”
“To me, grandpapa! I am quite sure that it has been of no use to me.”
“No use!” said the old gentleman, smiling. “Why, did it not save you from tumbling into the ditch?” Here Alfred looked rather foolish, while his grandfather went on: “It is not a very long time, Alfred, since you were praising your nettle-soup. The soup was made of the tender tops of young nettles, and I daresay you remember it very well.”
“Oh, yes!” said Mary. “It was old Martha Smith who told my mother to give it to us; she said it would do us ‘a power of good.’ ”
“I am glad you remember it. But let us look at the nettle a little nearer.” Just then a bee alighted on one of the nettle flowers. “Do you think that bee, if he could speak, would say that the nettle was of no use? See! he is gathering honey from it, and perhaps flnds it as useful as the blooming rose.”
THE LADYBIRD
The old gentleman then sat down on the bank; and having his gloves on, he turned over some of the nettle leaves.
“Look here!” said he. “Here is the insect called the ladybird, with its red back spotted with black. I daresay this ladybird flnds the nettle of some use, or it would not take shelter under its leaves.
“Then, again, here is a spider that has woven his web from one leaf to another: no doubt the spider finds the nettle of some use too. So that the bee, the ladybird, and the spider are all against you.”
Here Alfred and Mary looked at each other, as if now quite satisfied
that the nettle had not been made in vain. But their grandfather still went on:
“Nettles are often useful in keeping young people in the right path. When your sister begged you, Alfred, not to go near the ditch, you heeded her not; but when the nettle pointed out your error, you were convinced
of it in a moment.”
“The nettle, moreover, teaches a useful lesson. Look at Alfred’s flngers: they are not stung where he grasped the nettle flrmly, but only in the parts that touched it lightly. Many little trials of the world are of the same character: give way to them, they annoy you; meet, them bravely, they injure you not, for you overcome them.
“Another excellent lesson to be got from the nettle is, to mind your own business, and not to meddle with that of other people. Let the nettle alone—it never stings you; trespass
upon it—you must take the consequences.
“I might say a good deal more; but if the nettle assists in forming a wholesome
food—if it affords honey to the bee, shade and shelter to the ladybird and the spider— if it keeps young people in the proper path, and supplies us with useful lessons—you must allow that the stinging nettle has not been made in vain.”
— OLD HUMPHREY
Why did Alfred go down the bank of the ditch? What saved him from falling? What made him forget the flower? In what did he say his grandpapa was wrong? Who answered him? Of what use did he say the nettle had been to Alfred? What had Alfred been praising some time before? What insects seemed to find the nettle of some use? How are nettles often useful to young people? What parts of Alfred’s fingers were not stung? What does this teach about the trials of life? How does the nettle tell you that you should mind your own business?
beau´-ti-ful smart´-ing re-mains´ les´-son
net´-tles ig´-no-rant re-mem´-ber firm´-ly
use´-ful be-gin´ a-light´-ed char´-ac-ter
blis´-ters tum´-bling gath´-er-ing ex´-cel-lent
ter´-ri-bly fool´-ish la´-dy-bird bus´-iness
gen´-tle-man prais´-ing point´-ed sup-plies´
Tender-handed stroke a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains;
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains.