McGuffey Readers is a series of graded primers, including grade
levels 1-6, widely used as textbooks in American schools from the mid-19th
century to the mid-20th century, and are still used today in some private
schools and in homeschooling. It is estimated that at least 125 million copies
of McGuffey Readers were sold till the year of 1960, placing its sales in a category
with the Bible and Webster''s Dictionary .
The fifth reader contained poetry and prose by Sigourney,
Montgomery, Addison, Irving, Young and Byron.
LESSON 1 THE GOOD READER
LESSON 2 THE BLUEBELL
LESSON 3 THE GENTLE HAND
LESSON 4 THE GRANDFATHER
LESSON 5 A BOY ON A FARM
LESSON 6 THE SINGING LESSON
LESSON 7 DO NOT MEDDLE
LESSON 8 WORK.
LESSON 9 THE MANIAC
LESSON 10 ROBIN REDBREAST
LESSON 11 THE FISH I DIDNT CATCH
LESSON 12 IT SNOWS
LESSON 13 RESPECT FOR THE SABBATH REWARDED
LESSON 14 THE SANDS O DEE
LESSON 15 SELECT PARAGRAPHS
LESSON 16 THE CORN SONG
LESSON 17 THE VENOMOUS WORM
LESSON 18 THE FESTAL BOARD
LESSON 19 HOW TO TELL BAD NEWS
LESSON 20 THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM
LESSON 21 I PITY THEM
LESSON 22 AN ELEGY ON MADAM BLAIZE
LESSON 23 KING CHARLES II AND WILLIAM PENN
LESSON 24 WHAT I LIVE FOR
LESSON 25 THE RIGHTEOUS NEVER FORSAKEN
LESSON 26 ABOU BEN ADHEM
LESSON 27 LUCY FORESTER
LESSON 28 THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS
LESSON 29 THE TOWN PUMP
LESSON 30 GOOD NIGHT
LESSON 31 AN OLD-FASHIONED GIRL
LESSON 32 MY MOTHERS HANDS
LESSON 33 THE DISCONTENTED PENDULUM
LESSON 34 THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS
LESSON 35 THE THUNDERSTORM
LESSON 36 APRIL DAY
LESSON 37 THE TEA ROSE
LESSON 38 THE CATARACT OF LODORE
LESSON 39 THE BOBOLINK.
LESSON 40 ROBERT OF LINCOLN
LESSON 41 REBELLION IN MASSACHUSETTS STATE PRISON
LESSON 42 FAITHLESS NELLY GRAY
LESSON 43 THE GENEROUS RUSSIAN PEASANT
LESSON 44 FORTY YEARS AGO
LESSON 45 MRS. CAUDLES LECTURE
LESSON 46 THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH
LESSON 47 THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW
LESSON 48 THE SNOWSTORM
LESSON 49 BEHIND TIME
LESSON 50 THE OLD SAMPLER
LESSON 51 THE GOODNESS OF GOD
LESSON 52 MY MOTHER
LESSON 53 THE HOUR OF PRAYER
LESSON 54 THE WILL
LESSON 55 THE NOSE AND THE EYES
LESSON 56 AN ICEBERG
LESSON 57 ABOUT QUAIL
LESSON 58 THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
LESSON 59 THE MACHINISTS RETURN
LESSON 60 MAKE WAY FOR LIBERTY
LESSON 61 THE ENGLISH SKYLARK.
LESSON 62 HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE
LESSON 63 THE RAINBOW
LESSON 64 SUPPOSED SPEECH OF JOHN ADAMS
LESSON 65 THE RISING
LESSON 66 CONTROLA YOUR TEMPER
LESSON 67 WILLIAM TELL I
LESSON 68 WILLIAM TELL II
LESSON 69 THE CRAZY ENGINEER
LESSON 70 THE HERITAGE
LESSON 71 NO EXCELLENCE WITHOUT LABOR
LESSON 72 THE OLD HOUSE CLOCK.
LESSON 73 THE EXAMINATION
LESSON 74 THE ISLE OF LONG AGO
LESSON 75 THE BOSTON MASSACRE
LESSON 76 DEATH OF THE BEAUTIFUL
LESSON 77 SNOW FALLING
LESSON 78 SQUEERSS METHOD
LESSON 79 THE GIFT OF EMPTY HANDS
LESSON 80 CAPTURING THE WILD HORSE
LESSON 81 SOWING AND REAPING
LESSON 82 TAKING COMFORT
LESSON 83 CALLING THE ROLL
LESSON 84 TURTLE SOUP
LESSON 85 THE BEST KIND OF REVENGE
LESSON 86 THE SOLDIER OF THE RHINE
LESSON 87 THE WINGED WORSHIPERS
LESSON 88 THE PEEVISH WIFE
LESSON 89 THE RAINY DAY
LESSON 90 BREAK, BREAK, BREAK.
LESSON 91 TRANSPORTATION AND PLANTING OF SEEDS
LESSON 92 SPRING AGAIN
LESSON 93 RELIGION THE ONLY BASIS OF SOCIETY
LESSON 94 ROCK ME TO SLEEP
LESSON 95 MAN AND THE INFERIOR ANIMALS
LESSON 96 THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT
LESSON 97 A HOME SCENE
LESSON 98 THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS
LESSON 99 A CHASE IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
LESSON 100 BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE
LESSON 101 LITTLE VICTORIES
LESSON 102 THE CHARACTER OF A HAPPY LIFE
LESSON 103 THE ART OF DISCOURAGEMENT
LESSON 104 THE MARINERS DREAM
LESSON 105 THE PASSENGER PIGEON
LESSON 106 THE COUNTRY LIFE
LESSON 107 THE VIRGINIANS
LESSON 108 MINOTS LEDGE
LESSON 109 HAMLET
LESSON 110 DISSERTATION ON ROAST PIG
LESSON 111 A PEN PICTURE
LESSON 112 THE GREAT VOICES
LESSON 113 A PICTURE OF HUMAN LIFE
LESSON 114 A SUMMER LONGING
LESSON 115 FATE
LESSON 116 THE BIBLE THE BEST OF CLASSICS
LESSON 117 MY MOTHERS BIBLE
內容試閱：
1. It is told of Frederick the Great, King
of Prussia, that, as he was seated one day in his private room, a written
petition was brought to him with the request that it should be immediately
read. The King had just returned from hunting, and the glare of the sun, or
some other cause, had so dazzled his eyes that he found it difficult to make
out a single word of the writing.
2. His private secretary happened to be
absent; and the soldier who brought the petition could not read. There was a
page, or favorite boy servant, waiting in the hall, and upon him the King
called. The page was a son of one of the noblemen of the court, but proved to
be a very poor reader.
3. In the first place, he did not
articulate distinctly. He huddled his words together in the utterance, as if
they were syllables of one long word, which he must get through with as
speedily as possible. His pronunciation was bad, and he did not modulate his
voice so as to bring out the meaning of what he read. Every sentence was
uttered with a dismal monotony of voice, as if it did not differ in any respect
from that which preceded it.
4. Stop! said the King, impatiently. Is
it an auctioneers list of goods to be sold that you are hurrying over? Send
your companion to me.Another page who stood at the door now entered, and to
him the King gave the petition. The second page began by hemming and clearing
his throat in such an affected manner that the King jokingly asked him whether
he had not slept in the public garden, with the gate open, the night before.
5. The second page had a good share of
self-conceit, however, and so was not greatly confused by the Kings jest. He
determined that he would avoid the mistake which his comrade had made. So he
commenced reading the petition slowly and with great formality, emphasizing
every word, and
prolonging the articulation of every
syllable. But his manner was so tedious that the King cried out, Stop! are you
reciting a lesson in the elementary sounds? Out of the room! But no: stay! Send
me that little girl who is sitting there by the fountain.
6. The girl thus pointed out by the King
was a daughter of one of the laborers employed by the royal gardener; and she
had come to help her father weed the flower beds. It chanced that, like many of
the poor people in Prussia, she had received a good education. She was somewhat
alarmed when she found herself in the Kings presence, but took courage when
the King told her that he only wanted her to read for him, as his eyes were
weak.
7. Now, Ernestine for this was the name of
the little girl was fond of reading aloud, and often many of the neighbors
would assemble at her fathers house to hear her; those who could not read
themselves would come to her, also, with their letters from distant friends or
children, and she thus formed the habit of reading various sorts of handwriting
promptly and well.
8. The King gave her the petition, and she
rapidly glanced through the opening lines to get some idea of what it was
about. As she read, her eye began to glisten, and her breast to heave. What is
the matter? asked the King; dont you know how to read? Oh, yes! sire, she
replied, addressing him with the title usually applied to him: I will now read
it, if you please.
9. The two pages wore about to leave the
room. Remain, said the King. The little girl began to read the petition. It
was from a poor widow, whose only son had been drafted to serve in the army,
although his health was delicate and his pursuits had been such as to unfit him
for military life. His father had been killed in battle, and the son had a
strong desire to become a portrait painter.
10. The writer told her story in a simple,
concise manner, that carried to the heart a belief of its truth; and Ernestine
read it with so much feeling, and with an articulation so just, in tones so
pure and distinct, that when she had finished, the King, into whose eyes the
tears had started, exclaimed, Oh! now I understand what it is all about; but I
might never have known, certainly I never should have felt, its meaning had I
trusted to these young gentlemen, whom I now dismiss from my service for one year,
advising them to occupy their time in learning to read.
11. As for you, my young lady, continued
the King, I know you will ask no better reward for your trouble than the
pleasure of carrying to this poor widow my order for her sons immediate discharge.
Let me see whether you can write as well as you can read. Take this pen, and
write as I dictate. He then dictated an order, which Ernestine wrote, and he
signed. Calling one of his guards, he bade him go with the girl and see that
the order was obeyed.
12. How much happiness was Ernestine the
means of bestowing through her good elocution, united to the happy circumstance
that brought it to the knowledge of the King! First, there were her poor
neighbors, to whom she could give instruction and entertainment. Then, there
was the poor widow who sent the petition, and who not only regained her son,
but received through Ernestine an order for him to paint the Kings likeness;
so that the poor boy soon rose to great distinction, and had more orders than
he could attend to. Words could not express his gratitude, and that of his
mother, to the little girl.
13. And Ernestine had, moreover, the
satisfaction of aiding her father to rise in the world, so that he became the
Kings chief gardener. The King did not forget her, but had her well educated
at his own expense. As for the two pages, she was indirectly the means of doing
them good, also; for, ashamed of their bad reading, they commenced studying in
earnest, till they overcame the faults that had offended the King. Both finally
rose to distinction, one as a lawyer, and the other as a statesman; and they
owed their advancement in life chiefly to their good elocution.
STUDY GUIDE
A. Word Definition
1. petition: formal request.
2. articulate: utter elementary sounds.
3. modulate: vary or inflect.
4. affected: unnatural and silly.
5. drafted: selected by lot.
6. concise: brief and full of meaning.
7. discharge: release.
8. dictate: speak so another may write
it down.
9. distinction: honorable and notable.
10. express: make known the feelings of.
B. Study Note
Frederick
II. of Prussia: b. 1712, d. 1788, or Frederick the
Great, as he was called, was one of the greatest of German rulers. He was
distinguished for his military exploits, for his wise and just government, and
for his literary attainments. He wrote many able works in the French language.
Many pleasant anecdotes are told of this king, of which the one given in the
lesson is a fair sample.
C. Comprehension Questions
1. Where was Prussia?
2. Why was the King was known as Frederick
the Great?
3. The moral of a story is the lesson about
goodness or badness about human behavior or character it teaches. What is the
moral of The Good Reader?
4. What is a page?
5. How did Ernestine form the habit of
reading aloud clearly and well?
6. How did Ernestine address the King?
7. What happened to Ernestine after she
took the Kings answer to the poor widow?
8. What happened to the pages after they
improved their reading skills?
D. Writing Work
Write 200 words about the importance of
writing well.
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