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A Boy was gathering berries from a hedge when his hand was stung

by a Nettle. Smarting with the pain, he ran to tell his mother,

and said to her between his sobs, "I only touched it ever so

lightly, mother." "That's just why you got stung, my son," she

said; "if you had grasped it firmly, it wouldn't have hurt you in

the least."

THE PEASANT AND THE APPLE-TREE

A Peasant had an Apple-tree growing in his garden, which bore no

fruit, but merely served to provide a shelter from the heat for

the sparrows and grasshoppers which sat and chirped in its

branches. Disappointed at its barrenness he determined to cut it

down, and went and fetched his axe for the purpose. But when the

sparrows and the grasshoppers saw what he was about to do, they

begged him to spare it, and said to him, "If you destroy the tree

we shall have to seek shelter elsewhere, and you will no longer

have our merry chirping to enliven your work in the garden." He,

however, refused to listen to them, and set to work with a will

to cut through the trunk. A few strokes showed that it was hollow

inside and contained a swarm of bees and a large store of honey.

Delighted with his find he threw down his axe, saying, "The old

tree is worth keeping after all."