Читать книгу Story Lessons on Character-Building (Morals) and Manners - Loïs Bates - Страница 7
II. OBEDIENCE.
Оглавление2. The Two Voices.
There was once a little boy who said that whenever he was going to do anything wrong he heard two voices speaking to him. Do you know what he meant? Perhaps this story will help you.
The boy's name was Cecil. Cecil's father had a very beautiful and rare canary, which had been brought far over the sea as a present to him.
Cecil often helped to feed the canary and give it fresh water, and sometimes his father would allow him to open the door of the cage, and the bird would come out and perch on his hand, which delighted Cecil very much, but he was not allowed to open the door of the cage unless his father was with him.
One day, however, Cecil came to the cage alone, and while he watched the canary, a little voice said, "Open the door and take him out; father will never know". That was a wrong voice, and Cecil tried not to listen. It would have been better if he had gone away from the cage, but he did not; and the voice came again, "Open the door and let him out". And another little voice said, "No, don't; your father said you must not". But Cecil listened to the wrong voice; he opened the door gently, and out flew the pretty bird. First it perched on his finger, then it flew about the room, and then—Cecil had not noticed that the window was open—then, before he knew, out of the window flew the canary, and poor Cecil burst into tears. "Oh! if I had listened to the good voice, the right voice, and not opened the door! Father will be so angry." Then the bad voice came again and said, "Don't tell your father; say you know nothing about it ". But Cecil did not listen this time; he was too brave a boy to tell his father a lie, and he determined to tell the truth and be punished, if necessary.
Of course his father was very sorry to lose his beautiful canary, and more sorry still that his little son had been disobedient, but he was glad that Cecil told him the truth.
Now do you know the two things that the wrong voice told Cecil to do? It told him (1) Not to obey; (2) Not to tell the truth. I think we have all heard those two voices, not with our ears, but within us. Let us always listen to the good voice—the right voice.
(Blackboard Sketch.)
Two voices:—
1st. Good, says, "Obey," "Speak the truth".
2nd. Bad, says, "Disobey," "Tell untruth".
(Why we Should Obey.)
3. The Pilot.
You know that the country in which you live is an island? That means there is water all round it, and that water is the sea.
England and Scotland are joined together in one large island; and if you want to go to any other country, you must sail in a ship. A great many ships come to England, bringing us tea, coffee, sugar, oranges and many other things, and the towns they come to are called ports. London is a port, so is Liverpool; and in the North of England is another port called Hull. To get to Hull from the sea we have to sail up a wide river called the Humber for more than twenty miles. This river has a great many sandbanks in it, and there are men called pilots who know just where these sandbanks lie, and they are the ones who can guide the ships safely into port.
One day there was a captain who brought his ship into the river, and said to himself, "I do not want the pilot on board, I can guide the ship myself". So he did not hoist the "union jack" on the foremast head, which means "Pilot come on board"; and the pilot did not come.
For a little time the good ship sailed along all right, but presently they found that she was not moving at all. What had happened? The ship was stuck fast on a sandbank, and the foolish captain wished now that he had taken the pilot on board. First he had to go out in the little boat and fetch a "tug-boat" to pull the ship off the sandbank, and then he was glad enough to have the pilot on board, and to let him guide the ship just as he liked. Why could not the captain guide the ship? Because he did not know the way.
Have you ever known children who did not like to do as they were told? who thought that they knew best—better than father or mother? They are like the foolish captain, who tried to guide his ship when he did not know the way. Fathers and mothers are like the pilot, who knew which was the best way to take; and wise children are willing to be guided, for they do not know the way any more than the captain did.
(Blackboard.)
Why do we obey? Because we do not Know the Way.
The story and its teaching may be further impressed on the minds of the children by a sand lesson:—
Place a blackboard or large piece of oil-cloth on the floor, and make an "island" in sand, and in the "island" form a large "estuary," with little heaps of sand dotted about in it, to represent sandbanks. The sailors cannot see the sandbanks, for they are all covered with water in the real river, so we will take a duster and spread it over these sandbanks. Now, take a tiny boat and ask one of the children to sail it up the river, keeping clear of the sandbanks. The children will soon see that it cannot be done, and the "blackboard" lesson may be again enforced.
(Why we Should Obey.)
4. The Dog that did not like to be Washed.[1]
A lady once had a dog of which she was very fond. The dog was fond of his mistress also, and loved to romp by her side when she was out walking, or to lie at her feet as she sat at work. But the dog had one serious fault—he did not like to be washed, and he was so savage when he was put into the bath, that at last none of the servants dare do it.
The lady decided that she would not take any more notice of the dog until he was willing to have his bath quietly, so she did not take him out with her for walks, nor allow him to come near her in the house. There were no pattings, no caresses, no romps, and he began to look quite wretched and miserable. You see the dog did not like his mistress to be vexed with him, and he felt very unhappy—so unhappy that at last he could bear it no longer.
Then one morning he crept quietly up to the lady and gave her a look which she knew quite well meant, "I cannot bear this any longer; I will be good".
So he was put in the bath, and though he had to be scrubbed very hard—for by this time he was unusually dirty—he stood still quite patiently, and when it was all over, he bounded to his mistress with a joyous bark and a wag of the tail, as much as to say, "It is all right now".
After this he was allowed to go for walks as usual, and was once more a happy dog, and he never objected to his bath afterwards.
The dog could not bear to grieve his mistress; and how much more should children be sorry to grieve kind father and mother, who do so much for them.
(Blackboard.)
Why we obey:— 1. Because the "Good Voice" tells us. 2. Because we do not Know the Way. 3. Because it gives Pleasure to Father and Mother.
(Ready Obedience.[2]) 5. Robert and the Marbles.
A little boy named Robert was having a game at marbles with a number of other boys, and it had just come his turn to play. He meant to win, and was carefully aiming the marble, when he heard his mother's voice calling, "Robert, I want you". Quick as thought the marbles were dropped into his pocket, and off he ran to see what mother wanted.
(Blackboard.) Robert Obeyed Readily, Cheerfully, Quickly.
(Unready, Sulky Obedience.)
6. Jimmy and the Overcoat.
I was in a house one day where a boy was getting ready to go to school. His bag was slung over his shoulder, and he was just reaching his cap from the peg, when his mother said, "Put on your overcoat, Jimmy; it is rather cold this morning". Oh, what a fuss there was! How he argued with his mother, "It was not cold; he hated overcoats. Could he not take it over his arm, or put it on in the afternoon?" Many more objections he made, and when at last he had put it on, he went out grumbling, and slammed the door after him.
Can you guess how his mother felt? "Unhappy," you will say. And do you think it is right, dear children, to make mother unhappy? I am sure you do not.
Little child with eyes so blue,
What has mother done for you?
Taught your little feet to stand,
Led you gently by the hand,
And in thousand untold ways
Guarded you through infant days:
Do not think that you know best, Just obey, and leave the rest.
You see Jimmy thought that he knew better than his mother, but he did not. Children need to be guided like the boat in the Humber (Story Lesson 3), for they are not very wise; and when we obey, we are building up our Temple with beautiful stones.
(Blackboard.)
Two kinds of Obedience:— 1. Ready, Cheerful-Robert. 2. Unready, Sulky-Jimmy. Which do you like best?
