e, what would you have done when
this misfortune came to her husband?

26. What would you have done if you had been the woodcutter?

CHAPTER XIV

This is the end of the story of the Magic Pitcher, but it was
the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of Subha Datta and
his family. They never forgot the wonder-working pitcher, and the
children were never tired of hearing the story of how their father
came to get it. They often wandered about in the forest, hoping that
they too would meet with some wonderful adventure, but they never saw
the fairies or found a magic pitcher. By slow degrees the woodcutter
returned to his old ways, but he had learnt one lesson. He never
again kept a secret from his wife; because he felt sure that, if he
had told her the truth about the pitcher when he first came home,
she would have helped him to save the precious treasure.

27. What lesson can be learnt from this story?

28. Do you think it is easier for a boy or a girl to keep a secret?

29. Why is it wrong to let out a secret you have been told?

30. What do you think was the chief fault in the character of Subha
Datta?

STORY II

The Story of a Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard and an Owl.

CHAPTER I

This is the story of four creatures, none of whom loved each other,
who lived in the same banyan tree in a forest in India. Banyan trees
are very beautiful and very useful, and get their name from the fact
that "banians," as merchants are called in India, often gather together
in their shade to sell their goods. Banyan trees grow to a very great
height, spreading their branches out so widely that many people can
stand beneath them. From those branches roots spring forth, which,
when they reach the ground, pierce it, and look like, columns holding
up a roof. If you have never seen a banyan tree, you can easily find
a picture of one in some dictionary; and when you have done so, you
will understand that a great many creatures can live in one without
seeing much of each other.

In an especially fine banyan tree, outside the walls of a town called
Vidisa, a cat, an owl, a lizard and a mouse, had all taken up their
abode. The cat lived in a big hole in the trunk some little distance
from the ground, where she could sleep very cosily, curled up out
of sight with her head resting on her forepaws, feeling perfectly
safe from harm; for no other creature, she thought, could possibly
discover her hiding-place. The owl roosted in a