I should like to rise and go
Where the golden apples grow;—
Where below another sky
Parrot islands anchored lie,
And, watched by cockatoos and goats,
Lonely Crusoes building boats;—
Where in sunshine reaching out
Eastern cities, miles about,
Are with mosque and minaret
Among sandy gardens set,
And the rich goods from near and far
Hang for sale in the bazaar;—
Where the Great Wall round China goes,
And on one side the desert blows,
And with bell and voice and drum,
Cities on the other hum;—
Where are forests, hot as fire,
Wide as England, tall as a spire,
Full of apes and cocoanuts
And the negro hunters' huts;—
Where the knotty crocodile
Lies and blinks in the Nile,
And the red flamingo flies
Hunting fish before his eyes;—
Where in jungles, near and far,
Man-devouring tigers are,
Lying close and giving ear
Lest the hunt be drawing near,
Or a comer-by be seen
Swinging in a palanquin;—
Where among the desert sands
Some deserted city stands,
All its children, sweep and prince,
Grown to manhood ages since,
Not a foot in street or house,
Not a stir of child or mouse,
And when kindly falls the night,
In all the town no spark of light.
There I'll come when I'm a man
With a camel caravan;
Light a fire in the gloom
Of some dusky dining room;
See the pictures on the walls,
Heroes, fights, and festivals;
And in a corner find the toys
Of the old Egyptian boys.
—Robert Louis Stevenson.
[HOW THE WISH CAME TRUE]
Not every child who plans how some day he is going to travel has a chance to carry out his plans. But Robert Louis Stevenson travelled far enough to see nearly all the places he dreamed of. He did not travel just for pleasure, however; his health was so poor that he wandered all over the world to find a climate where he could live. The place he found was an island in the Southern Pacific, one of a group called Samoa, where he spent all the last years of his life. Stevenson was a man who made friends wherever he went. In Samoa the natives loved him dearly. Their name for him was Tusitala, "the Teller of Tales," because he wrote such wonderful stories.
[RULES FOR USING THE EYES]
Read the following rules through once; then cover the page with a sheet of paper, and answer the questions.
1. When reading, writing, or doing other close work, be sure to have good, clear light, preferably over the left shoulder if writing, and not directly in the eyes nor reflected sharply from the paper.