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Spell and Define: (1) bounty, liberality (2) courteous, gracious and polite (3) glistened, shone, glittered (4) meditating, pondering
1.
A certain man had two sons. The elder passed for a clever youth:
the younger, called Dumling, though the favorite of his
mother, was thought to be half-witted. In fact, his father and
elder brother were in the habit of calling him "the fool
of the family."
2. When Dumling had grown to be
fifteen years old, his father became tired of supporting the "simpleton:" so
he gave the lad twenty German shillings, and sent him out into
the world to seek his fortune.
3. With a light heart young Dumling
trudged forth, jingling the coins in his pouch, and meditating
how he should spend so much money. Before long he met a fisherman
carrying a basket on his back. "Ho, master, and what have
we here?" said Dumling.
"Nothing that you can buy,"
said the fisherman gruffly. But when he heard the money clinking
he declared that in his basket he had the most wonderful turbot
in the world.
4. "Mr. Fisherman," said
Dumling, when he had peeped in at the beautiful fish, "will
you sell your fish for twenty shillings?"
"For want of a better price,
yes," replied the fisherman; and the lad eagerly counted
out his twenty shillings, and took the turbot.
5. Journeying on, Dumling caught
sight of a fine palace, and stopped a countryman to ask who lived
there.
"The king," answered the
man, "and a courteous and liberal king he is."
"Is he, indeed?" thought
Dumling: "I will take him my fish, and see what
he will give me for it."
6. Without delay he made his way
to the gate of the palace, and knocked. The gate was opened by
a fat porter, who asked him what his business was. "My business
is with your master," said Dumling, who knew little of the
ways of great men's houses. "I bring a present for the king."
7. "Ah, indeed!" answered
the porter, still delaying to open the door. "Don't you know
that it is the custom of this court that I should see a present
before it goes to my lord the king?"
8. So at last Dumling opened his
basket. Now, when the porter saw the beautiful fish, his eyes
glistened, and he declared that by the custom of the court half
must be his before the bearer could go farther.
"Pray let me pass," said
Dumling; "and whatever the bounty of the king bestows on
me, you shall have half."
9. On this promise the porter opened
the door, and permitted him to enter the hall. But here he was
stopped by the chamberlain, who, when he had looked into the basket,
said that half was due to him before the gift could be brought
before the king, for such was the custom of the court.
10. "Fair sir, I quarrel not
with your customs," said Dumling; "and, though I have
already promised half my reward to the porter, I will give you
the share which is left, if you will only bring me into the king's
presence."
11. Then the chamberlain led him
in, and the lad laid his present before the king. "By my
crown," said the king, "it is a fair gift. I accept
it gladly. And now what reward shall I give you for your trouble?
Ask boldly and wisely, and you shall not have to complain."
12. The porter and chamberlain now
went up to Dumling, and whispered to him to ask for a bag of gold,
or a rich office at court, for their lord would not say him nay.
"I will ask none of these things,"
said the youth aloud; and bending before the king he thus spoke
up: "Your majesty, I ask no reward but
a sound beating."
13. Every one was astonished at
hearing this strange request, and the king most of all. But when
he saw that Dumling would not change his mind, he ordered him
to be tied up, and an hundred lashes to be well laid on.
14. "But hold!" quoth
Dumling as the scourger was baring his brawny arm: "I
have partners in this business. I gave away one half of this reward
to the porter, and the other half I promised to the chamberlain,
before they would allow me to bring my gift to the king. It is
only right that they should receive what I have promised them."
"And thou shalt keep faith
with them as I with thee," vowed the king, when he learned
how his servants dealt with strangers.
15. So the porter and the
chamberlain were tied up in Dumling's place, and each received
his share of the recompense, fairly counted out; the spectators,
who well knew the greed and insolence of these officials, laughing
heartily at the justice of the reward.
16. As for Dumling, the king was
so much pleased with the lad's cleverness that he took him into
his own service. Thus "the fool of the family" made
his fortune: thenceforward no one thought of
calling him a simpleton, and all the world spoke nothing but good
of him.
Excercises:
1. What expression is equivalent to "passed for"? (1);
What word means "half-witted"? (1 & 2); What
word means considering with himself? (3); What word
means generous? (5); What word means generosity?
(8); What word means the same as "present"? (7
& 9)
2. Explain "gruffly" (3); "with a light
heart" (3); "fair" (11); "would
say him nay" (12); "brawny arm" (14);
"quoth" (14); "thou shall keep faith with
them as I with thee" (14)
3. Give synonyms of "clever" (1); "tired"
(2); "courteous" (5); "permitted"
(9); "ordered" (13)
4. Form nouns by adding suffixes to these verbs and adjectives:
clever; declare; rich; strange;
buy; scourge.
5. Copy, and supply the punctuation marks: —
Fair
sir I quarrel not with your customs said Dumling
6. Copy, and use synonyms for the italicised words: —
a) The
elder passed for a very clever youth.
b) When
the porter saw the beautiful fish, his eyes glistened,
and he declared that half the fish must be his.
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