Contents
Page
THE QUEER LITTLE OLD MAN 11
THE LITTLE OLD MAN DECIDES 17
HIS FIRST DAY IN THE FOREST 23
GREAT GRAY OWL 29
THE ANIMALS OF THE FOREST 35
WHAT MADE THE BEAR SICK 41
HOW THE WOODPECKERS HELPED 47
THE BUSY BEAVERS 53
THE GRAY FOXES AND THE RED FOXES 59
RED SQUIRREL AND BUNNY COTTONTAIL 65
SHAGGY BEAR’S MISTAKE 71
THE SWEETEST THING IN THE FOREST 77
ROBINS, CROWS, AND BLACKBIRDS 85
THE LITTLE RAINDROPS 91
TROUBLE IN THE FOREST 97
TWO BAD BOYS 103
THE BOYS AND THE BIRDS 109
INSECTS AND WORMS 115
AFTER MANY DAYS 123
Introduction
As from the days your father’s father knew,
This little story book now comes to you.
So when you turn its pages, heed them well:
Though strange the stories, many truths they tell.
They tell of animals and birds and trees,
Of children, flowers, and honeybees;
Of a queer old man, and a quaint old town
With crooked streets that ran up and down.
They tell of these and many, many more.
Still, this I’d add to what has gone before:
In the wood there grows a tree—the thrifty tree—
As wonderful as anything can be!
Its trunk is copper; silver are its leaves;
Its blossoms from bright golden threads it weaves;
Its fruit is health and wealth and honest joy—
So seek this goodly tree, wise girl and boy.
THE QUEER LITTLE OLD MAN
Once upon a time, in a quaint old town, there lived a queer little old man. His name was Thrift—Father Thrift people called him, although he really was no father at all.
As I said before, he was just a queer little old man. He had no wife, no children, no home of his own.
But he had a kind heart within his queer little body. Also, he had willing hands and feet, and these brought him many friends.
How old the queer little man was, or how long he had lived in the quaint old town, no one seemed to know.
The present grandfathers and grandmothers remembered how the queer little man used to take them, as children, on his lap and tell them stories.
He had told the same stories to their children and to their children’s children. Yet to none of them did he look any different to-day than he did when they first saw him.
You must not think that telling stories was all the queer little old man had to do. He was a sort of all-round village helper. He helped everybody who needed help.
But it was for his good advice that the queer little old man was most sought. He always thought well for everybody, and the people profited by following his teaching.
In fact, the whole town grew prosperous, extremely prosperous, by heeding Father Thrift’s advice.
You would suppose that the queer little old man would be well rewarded.
Not so! For when these people became very, very prosperous, they felt that the queer little old man was only in their way.
What further need had they of his advice?
He had taught them to live simply, to spend wisely, and to waste nothing. He had taught them to enjoy simple pleasures and to form simple habits.
“Of what good is time or money, body or brain, if we do not know how to use any of them?” he would say.
“What will become of good health if we do not take care of it?
“Of what good is study-time or play-time unless we get the most we can out of it?
