2. A cricket, who had chanced to outlive the summer, and was now, wet, and shivering with cold, ready to starve with hunger, approached the ants with great humility, and begged that they would relieve her wants with one mouthful of food, and give her shelter from the storm.

3. "But how is it," said one of the ants', "that you have not taken pains to provide yourself a house', and to lay in a supply of food for the winter, as we have done?"

4. "Alas, friends'," said she, "I needed no house to live in in the summer; and I passed away the time merrily and pleasantly, in drinking, singing, and dancing, and never once thought of winter."

5. "If that be the case," replied the ant, laughing, "all I have to say, is, that they who drink, sing, and dance all summer, must starve in winter. We ants never borrow, and we never lend.”

6. MORAL.-Do not, like the silly cricket, waste all your time in play and idle amusement, but store your mind with knowledge, which, like the hoard of the industrious ants, will be of use to you in the winter of adversity.

7.

"Go to the ant,* thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise; which, having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the

* Many suppose that the word "ant" is here a mistranslation, and that Solomon spoke of some other animal, because, they say, the ants do not lay up a store of grain for winter use, as they are torpid during winter. This is, indeed, true of the ants in cold climates. But it is asserted, on good authority, that a species of ants in India stores up the seeds of a kind of grass against the wet or cold season of the year. Even in cold climates the ants carry worms, living insects, etc., into their nests, for food.

summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."

Proverbs.

a EM-PLOY'ED, engaged; occupied.

COL-LECT-ING, gathering.

CHU-MIL-I-TY, meekness of manner.
d HOARD, store; supply.

LESSON XXVI.

THE ANT AND THE CRICKET.-A Fable, in Verse.

1. A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing

Through the warm sunny months of gay summer and spring,

Began to complain, when he found that, at home,
His cupboard was empty, and winter was come:
Not a crumb to be found

On the snow-covered ground;

Not a flower could he see,

Not a leaf on a tree:

"Oh! what will become," says the cricket, "of me'?"

2. At last, by starvation and famine made bold,

All dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold,

Away he set off to a miserly ant,

To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant
Him shelter from rain,
And a mouthful of grain.
He wished only to borrow;
He'd repay it to-morrow;

If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow'.

3. Says the ant to the cricket', "I'm your servant' and friend`, But we ants never borrow'; we ants never lend'.

But tell' me, dear cricket', did you lay nothing by When the weather was warm' ?" Quoth the cricket, "Not I'!

My heart was so light

That I sang day and night',
For all nature looked gay'.'
"You sang, sir, you say'?

Go, then," says the ant, "and dance winter away."

4. Thus ending, he hastily lifted the wicket,d

And out of the door turned the poor little cricket.
Folks call this a fable: I'll warrant it true :

Some crickets have four legs', and some have but two'.

a CUP-BOARD, pronounced kub'-burd. b RE-PAY', return; pay back.

c QUOTH, said; replied.
d WICKET, a small gate.

[LESSONS XXV, and XXVI. The cricket shown in the picture is the Field-Cricket. The moral of the story is told in LESSON XXV. Although the conduct of the miserly ant is not to be commended, yet the treatment which the improvident cricket received was very natural. Those who will not labor for themselves, should not expect others to labor for them.]

A GRAIN OF CORN.

1. A grain of corn an infant's hand
May plant upon an inch of land,

Whence twenty stalks may spring, and yield
Enough to stock a little field.

2. The harvest of that field might then

Be multiplied to ten times ten,

Which, sown thrice more, would furnish bread
Wherewith an army might be fed.

LESSON XXVII.

JACK FROST AND THE SOUTH WIND.

1. Jack Frost was a famous king, who had come a great way from the North. A long time he had ruled over the earth and over the streams; and every thing on which he laid his cold hands, he bound in icy chains.

2. Jack Frost was a stern old tyrant. His locks were whitened with snow, so that he seemed to be very aged; and his beard was hung with icicles. His voice was as harsh as the December blast that came howling over the mountains: he never smiled; and it was said of him that he never had any mercy on the poor. They might starve, or freeze, but little did Jack Frost care for their sufferings.

3. At length there arose up against him a great but very mild and gentle king from the South, called the South Wind. Unlike Jack Frost, this king had a smiling face, a laughing eye, and a voice soft and gentle. He had flowing auburn locks, and his smooth beardless face was like that of a boy in the very spring-time of life.

4. When these two kings met, "It is my time now to rule," gently whispered' the South Wind. "Pity you are not more of a man," blustered" Jack Frost, as he looked at the beardless face of his rival.

5. "Ah, well, to do as much good as I can, is to do something," answered the South Wind. And in spite of a chilling look of scorn from Jack Frost, he went about his work.

6. First he unchained the streams, and they ran off in a bound, rejoicing in their freedom. The miller hastened to his mill, and the fisher went for his rod.

7. Next he breathed upon the snow-banks, and they melted away: he loosened the earth, and said to the grasses "Take courage."

He swept through the forests, and he brushed over the orchards, starting the sap in the trees, and calling to leaf, bud, and blossom, "Make ready." 8. Wherever he went, the birds followed him with their songs, and he både them have a thought

for their nests.

Then what a waking up was there in the farmyard! The cows were heard to low, the lambs to bleat, and the hens to cluck: the farmer began to bustle about, and the housewife was all astir.

9. How kind, how cheerful is the South Wind! Though he has a large realm to rule over, and so much to do that he sometimes can not help puffing and blowing, he does not think it beneath him to step aside from his great out-door work, and do little things to comfort and to bless.

10. So he breathes gently into the chamber of sickness, and whispers to the poor sufferer, "Be of good cheer; I bring you the promise of better things." Busy, busy, busy is the South Wind. Every thing in its season," he says.

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11. Already Jack Frost seemed to melt a little, especially when he looked around and saw what new life every thing had. "Talents differ," wheezed he: "but it is hard to give up the rule."