English

WHY THE EVERGREEN TREES NEVER LOSE THEIR LEAVES Winter was coming, and the birds had flown far to the south, where the air was warm and they could find berries to eat. One little bird had broken its wing and could not fly with the others. It was alone in the cold world of frost and snow. The forest looked warm, and it made its way to the trees as well as it could, to ask for help. First it came to a birch-tree. "Beautiful birch-tree," it said, "my wing is broken, and my friends have flown away.

HOW A PRINCE LEARNED TO READ A thousand years ago boys and girls did not learn to read. Books were very scarce and very precious, and only a few men could read them. Each book was written with a pen or a brush. The pictures were painted by hand, and some of them were very beautiful. A good book would sometimes cost as much as a good house. In those times there were even some kings who could not read. They thought more of hunting and fighting than of learning. There was one such king who had four sons, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, Ethelred, and Alfred.