A Brave Pilot.

Narrative Essays.

Rosy Essays.

These are very short bits of writing, but they are beautiful, and when we have read them we think of them happily. This is something we must always remember when we are writing an essay, however short it may be. We must try to write something which will make those who read it think and feel.

Length of the Essay.

A very learned man may take months to write an essay on some great subject. But a schoolboy or schoolgirl writing in class will have very little time, perhaps between two other lessons. A little American girl, Hilda Conkling, used to write down her thoughts even when she was four years old. One day she wrote:

Rosy plum-tree, think of me; 

The Essay.

The Cat.

In the town of Siraf lived a poor old woman whose only possession was a cat. She gave it to a merchant to sell for her abroad. He came to the island of Qais where there was a plague of mice. There were so many that the kings and nobles had to keep their beards in golden tubes, and to have sticks at mealtimes. The merchant took the cat ashore, and in time it killed the mice. The kings bought the cat and gave in return for it a ship full of fine goods. This was given to the old woman, whose sons made such good use of it that their descendants became kings of Qais.

"Educating the Mind without Educating the Heart is no Education at all."

Think of all the schools all over the world—children of all races, speaking hundreds of languages, all going to school—what all schoolboys and schoolgirls learn—how they use their learning. What would happen if all schools were closed. How we ought to work and strive to help others to press forward.

An Accident.

A student cycling in a busy street—a car driving too quickly bumps into his bicycle—he is knocked off and falls —a gentleman passing rushes to him and pulls him out of the way of a lorry—the gentleman is knocked down by another car—his leg crushed—taken to hospital. The student he saved goes to see him and thank him—he becomes the gentleman’s secretary.

School-Springtime.

Going to school—eager boys and girls in the streets— in the playground—going into the classroom—what the teacher did and said—the new books—the boys/girls sitting near me—my ambition for the coming year.

The Light Extinguishes.

Near-Death Karma. 

A boy who drove a pony in a coal pit knocked down by a fall of rock. He lay there only half conscious till he died, all the time crying out as if he were trying to cheer his pony.

Ill will, Goodwill, and Sacrifice.

One Abdulla crossing flooded river in ferry boat. Great storm; passengers terrified. Angel appears with scroll bearing Abdulla’s name. Passengers declare Heaven is angry with him. Set him adrift in small boat. He reaches shore, but the ferryboat had disappeared.

Daydream or Nightmare.

Lady in England dreamed she was with her son in a veranda in Ceylon. He was asleep on a long chair, and she touched him. She woke and at once wrote to tell him. Soon after she receives letter from him about a vivid dream he had of her presence, at the very time she had had the dream.

Mother Wit and White Lie.

[Mother Wit = Common Sense; Good Sense; Horse Sense (Spoken); ...]

Excessive Greed.

A beggar grumbles about his poverty, wishes he had just a little money. Fortune hears him; she promises him money. ‘What falls into your bag shall be gold; what falls to the ground shall be dust’. The bag old and thin, She pours in gold. He begs for more. She warns him, but he insists. When she pours more gold in, the bag bursts, and all falls to the ground.

Foolish Counting.

Singing-Bird.

Man catches a bird whose song he admires. Bids it sing in the cage, or he will kill it. The bird says it will tell him three wise things if he will set it free. He does so, and the bird, from a high tree-top, tells him three things.

Praise.

A man goes out to plough; works so hard that people praise him. A monkey notes this and is jealous. Will also earn praise. Finds a heavy log; pushes and rolls it up and down and tries to bend it. No one praises him. Moral.

Outlines of Stories.

Write stories of fifteen to twenty lines from the following outlines. Give a suitable title to each. 

A Gentleman of France.

Here is another Outline.

A French General was flying over the Sahara with pilot and mechanic. Forced to land in the hot desert, far from help, with only a week's food and water. General refuses to eat or drink, so that his companions may live. He dies and they are rescued.


A Gentleman of France.

A General in the French Air Service was flying with a pilot and a mechanic across the vast desert of North Africa called the Sahara. They had the misfortune to have to land owing to the breaking- of some part. They were hundreds of miles from help or water.

The General said to his companions: ‘Now listen. I am your commander, and it is your duty to obey me. We may not be rescued for two or even three weeks, but our food and water will not last more than one week. Therefore I shall neither eat nor drink. You must keep up your strength and courage, boys.’

Day after day, In the pitiless heat of the African sun, they had to stay there, and the General kept his resolve. Neither hunger nor thirst could conquer his resolute heart, and at last he died.

Five days afterwards the two men were rescued, almost dead, for they had been lying- without food or water for fifty hours in the shade of a wing of the aeroplane.