[Illustration]
"You will be a good monk when you grow up," said Ethelred, with a sneer.
But his mother kissed him and gave him the beautiful book. "The prize is yours, Alfred," she said. "I am sure that whether you grow up to be a monk or a king, you will be a wise and noble man."
And Alfred did grow up to become the wisest and noblest king that
England ever had. In history he is called Alfred the Great.
"READ, AND YOU WILL KNOW"
"Mother, what are the clouds made of? Why does the rain fall? Where does all the rain water go? What good does it do?"
Little William Jones was always asking questions.
"I want to know," he said; "I want to know everything."
At first his mother tried to answer all his questions. But after he had learned to read, she taught him to look in books for that which he wished to know.
"Mother, what makes the wind blow?"