This story stresses the relationship of use in response to what seems to be a five-year-old method of thinking.
The school has found it best to let the younger children take the parts individually but to omit the parts in unison. The joy of the mere noise makes it difficult to bring them back for the close of the story. All the children have repeated the refrains after a few readings with evident enjoyment.
HOW THE ENGINE LEARNED THE KNOWING SONG
Once there was a new engine. He had a great big boiler; he had a smoke stack; he had a bell; he had a whistle; he had a sand-dome; he had a headlight; he had four big driving wheels; he had a cab. But he was very sad, was this engine, for he didn’t know how to use any of his parts. All around him on the tracks were other engines, puffing or whistling or ringing their bells and squirting steam. One big engine moved his wheels slowly, softly muttering to himself, “I’m going, I’m going, I’m going.” Now the new engine knew this was the end of the Knowing Song of Engines. He wanted desperately to sing it. So he called out:
“I want to go
But I don’t know how;
I want to know,
Please teach me now.
Please somebody teach me how.”
Now there were two men who had come just on purpose to teach him how. And who do you suppose they were? The engineer and the fireman! When the engineer heard the new engine call out, he asked, “What do you want, new engine?”
And the engine answered:
“I want the sound
Of my wheels going round.
I want to stream
A jet of steam.
I want to puff
Smoke and stuff.
I want to ring
Ding, ding-a-ding.
I want to blow
My whistle so.
I want my light
To shine out bright.
I want to go ringing and singing the song,
The humming song of the engine coming,
The clear, near song of the engine here,
The knowing song of the engine going.”