Three Minute Stories - Richards Laura Elizabeth Howe

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Year!” said the boy. “This is my day, and I have brought you your leaves.”

      “What leaves?” asked Tommy.

      “The new ones, to be sure!” said the New Year. “I hear bad accounts of you from my Daddy – ”

      “Who is your Daddy?” asked Tommy.

      “The Old Year, of course!” said the boy. “He said you asked too many questions and I see he was right. He says you are greedy, too, and that you sometimes pinch your little sister, and that one day you threw your reader into the fire. Now, all this must stop.”

      “Oh, must it?” said Tommy. He felt frightened, and did not know just what to say.

      The boy nodded. “If it does not stop,” he said, “you will grow worse and worse every year, till you grow up into a Horrid Man. Do you want to be a Horrid Man?”

      “N-no!” said Tommy.

      “Then you must stop being a horrid boy!” said the New Year. “Take your leaves!” and he held out a packet of what looked like copy-book leaves, all sparkling white, like his own clothes.

      “Turn over one of these every day,” he said, “and soon you will be a good boy instead of a horrid one.”

      Tommy took the leaves and looked at them. On each leaf a few words were written. On one it said, “Help your mother!” On another, “Don’t pull the cat’s tail!” On another, “Don’t eat so much!” And on still another, “Don’t fight Billy Jenkins!”

      “Oh!” cried Tommy. “I have to fight Billy Jenkins! He said – ”

      “Good-by!” said the New Year. “I shall come again when I am old to see whether you have been a good boy or a horrid one. Remember,

      “Horrid boy makes horrid man;

      You alone can change the plan.”

      He turned away and opened the window. A cold wind blew in and swept the leaves out of Tommy’s hand. “Stop! stop!” he cried. “Tell me – ” But the New Year was gone, and Tommy, staring after him, saw only his mother coming into the room. “Dear child!” she said. “Why, the wind is blowing everything about.”

      “My leaves! My leaves!” cried Tommy; and jumping out of bed he looked all over the room, but he could not find one.

      “Never mind,” said Tommy. “I can turn them just the same, and I mean to. I will not grow into a Horrid Man.” And he didn’t.

      GRANDMOTHER’S ALPHABET

      The Ant is so busy

      It makes her quite dizzy,

      She says that her head

      Goes whirl-around-whizzy.

      The Bunny is funny;

      He cannot make honey,

      Nor write with a pen,

      Nor shoot with a gunny.

      The Cow is not able

      To sit at the table,

      And so we must send her

      To eat in the stable.

      The Duck goes a-quacking

      And clicking and clacking,

      And eats all she finds

      From beeswax to blacking.

      The Elephant mighty

      Can not find his nighty!

      It makes him feel nervous,

      And fractious and flighty.

      The Fish has no wish

      To be put in a dish,

      So he’s off like a flash

      With a swishety-swish.

      The Goose has no use

      For an Indian pappoose,

      So she looks at it sadly,

      And says, “What’s the use?”

      The Hen lays an egg,

      And stands on one leg,

      And says, “Cut-ker-dah-cut!

      Observe me, I beg!”

      The Ibis is pretty,

      But not very witty;

      And when he is tired

      He plays with the kitty.

      The Jaguar so cruel

      Was killed in a duel,

      And left his poor wife

      To eat nothing but gruel.

      The kind Kangaroo

      Has so little to do,

      That he talks to the Moolly

      And tries to say “Moo!”

      The Lizard goes sighing,

      And sobbing and crying,

      Because his poor tail

      Got shrunk in the dyeing.

      The Moose is all humpy,

      And grumpy and lumpy,

      And if you say, “Boo!”

      He is off with a thumpy.

      The Newt has a neighbor

      Who fights with a sabre,

      And when he has conquered

      He beats on a tabor.

      The Owl and the Oyster

      Went off for a royster,

      And when they came back

      They were put in a cloister.

      The Pig bought a carrot

      To give to his parrot:

      But Poll was so frightened

      She hid in the garret.

      The Queen in her crown

      And velvety gown,

      She went to the circus,

      And laughed at the clown.

      The Ram and the Rattle-

      Snake had a great battle:

      For each called the other

      A tittlety-tattle.

      The Stork had a fancy

      To go to a dancy,

      But people said, “No!

      You are rather too prancy!”

      The timorous Tapir

      Was reading the paper,

      And found that his aunt

      Had married a draper.

      The Unicorn tried

      On a camel to ride,

      But there came a sad fall

      To himself and his pride.

      The Viper is vain,

      And cannot explain

      Why people persist so

      In calling him plain.

      The Woodchuck is wealthy,

      And hearty and healthy:

      But sometimes his movements

      Are snooping and stealthy.

      The Xiphias perks his

      Head up to see Xerxes:

      And thinks him much finer

      Than Tartars or Turkses.

      The

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