SELECTION FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM.
Once upon a time there was a very old man, whose eyes were dim, whose ears were dull, and whose knees trembled. When he sat at table, he could scarcely hold his spoon; and often he spilled his food over the tablecloth and sometimes down his clothes.
His son and daughter-in-law were much vexed about this, and at last they made the old man sit behind the oven in a corner, and gave him his food in an earthen dish, and not enough of it either; so that the poor man grew sad, and his eyes were wet with tears. Once his hand trembled so much that he could not hold the dish, and it fell upon the ground and broke all in pieces, so that the young wife scolded him; but he made no reply and only sighed. Then they brought him a wooden dish, and out of that he had to feed.
One day, as he was sitting in his usual place, he saw his little grandson, four years old, fitting together some pieces of wood. "What are you making?" asked the old man.
"I am making a wooden trough," replied the child, "for father and mother to feed out of when I grow big."
At these words the father looked at his wife for a moment, and presently they began to cry. Henceforth they let the old grandfather sit at the table with them, and they did not even say anything if he spilled a little food upon the cloth.
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.—What is the order of subject and predicate in the first sentence of this selection? The word there does not tell where; it is put before was to let the subject follow. There is frequently so used and is then called an independent adverb. Find in the first sentence three adjective clauses. What connects each to man? What other office has this connective? How are these adjective clauses connected with one another? What is the office of the dependent clause in the next sentence? If this clause were placed after its principal clause, would the comma be needed? Are the clauses separated by the semicolon as closely connected as those divided by the comma?
After made and some other words the to before the infinitive is omitted. Find such an instance in the first sentence of the second paragraph. In this same sentence change gave him his food, making him come last. You have learned that a noun or a pronoun may be used without a preposition to do the work of an adverb phrase. What does one day do in the third paragraph? Is a preposition needed before day? In the same sentence years is used adverbially to modify the adjective old. It would be hard to find a preposition to put before years. We might say "old to the extent of four years," but four years answers for the whole phrase. In this same paragraph what words are quoted exactly as the old man uttered them? Describe the quotation marks. Notice that the next quotation is broken by the words replied the child, and so each part of the quotation is separately inclosed within quotation marks.
+To the Teacher+.—We have here touched a few features of the sentences above. The exercises given with the preceding selections will suggest a fuller examination of the phrases and clauses.
+Suggestions from this Narrative+.—We see that this beautiful story has a purpose. Its purpose is to teach us kindness to our parents. It is well planned. Every sentence and every paragraph is adapted to the end in view. No useless item or circumstance is admitted. The story stops when the end is reached. Anything added to the fifth paragraph would spoil the story. We certainly can learn much from such a model.