In his house he had a stove and he had electric lights. He had beds and chairs and bureaus and bookcases. He had everything except a table to eat off of. He still had to stand up when he ate his meals!
So the carpenter thought he would make him a table. But he had no lumber left. So off he went to the lumber mill. At the lumber mill he saw lots and lots of lumber piled in the yard. The carpenter told the man at the lumber mill just how much lumber he wanted and just how long he wanted it and how broad he wanted it and how thick he wanted it.
So the man at the lumber mill put all this lumber,—just what the carpenter had ordered,—on a wagon and sent it out to the carpenter’s house.
And then the carpenter began. He said to himself, “First I must make my boards just the right length.” So he measured a board just as long as he wanted the top to be; then he put the board on a sawhorse and he took his saw and began to saw:
“Zzzu,” went the saw,
“Zzzu, zzzu, zzzu.”
The sawdust flew
The saw ripped through
Down dropped the board sawed right in two.
And then the carpenter took another board and he measured this just the same length. Then he put this board on the sawhorse and he took the saw and began to saw:
“Zzzu,” went the saw,
“Zzzu, zzzu, zzzu.”
The sawdust flew
The saw ripped through
Down dropped the board sawed right in two.
And then the carpenter took still another board and “Zzzu,” went the saw until this board too was sawed right in two. Then he had enough for the top of the table. Then he took the pieces that were going to make the legs and he sawed four of them just the right length. Then he sawed the boards that were going to be the braces until they too were just the right length. And underneath his sawhorse there was a little pile of sawdust.
Then after this the carpenter says to himself, “I must make my boards smooth.” So he puts a board in the vise and he begins to plane the board.