Rollo at Play; Or, Safe Amusements

by Jacob Abbott

  REPENTANCE.

  Now there was in Rollo's house a small back garret, over a part of thekitchen chamber, which had one small window in it, looking out into thegarden. This garret was not used, and Rollo's father had put a littlerocking-chair there, and a small table with a Bible on it, and hung someold maps about it, so as to make it as pleasant a little place as hecould; and there he used to send Rollo when he had done any thing verywrong, or when he was sullen and ill natured, that he might reflect insolitude, and either return a good boy, or else stay where his badfeelings would not trouble or injure others. His father had put inmarks, too, at several places in the Bible, where he thought it would bewell for him to read at such times; as he said that reading suitablepassages in the Bible would be more likely to bring him to repentance,than any other book.

  Rollo knew that when his father told him to go away by himself, he meantfor him to go into this back garret. So he turned round and walked outof the room. As he passed up the back stairs, the kitten came friskingaround him, but he had no heart to play with her, and walked on. He thenturned and went up the narrow, steep stairs that led to the garret; theywere rather more like a ladder than like stairs. Rollo ascended them,and then sat down in the little rocking-chair. The rain was beatingagainst the windows, and pattering on the roof which was just over hishead.

  It is sometimes but a little thing which turns the whole current of thethoughts and feelings. In Rollo's case, at this time, it was but a dropof water. For after having sat some time in his chair, his heartremaining pretty nearly the same, a drop of water, which, somehow orother, contrived to get through some crevice in the boards and shinglesover his head, fell exactly into the back of his neck. The first feelingit occasioned was an additional emotion of impatience and fretfulness.But he next began to think how unreasonable and wicked it was to makeall that difficulty, just because his father was preventing his goingout to stay all day in the rain, when a single drop falling upon himvexed and irritated him.

  He also looked out of the window towards the garden, and the dry ground,and all the trees and garden vegetables seemed to be drinking in therain with delight. That made him think of the vast amount of good therain was doing, and he saw his own selfishness in a striking point ofview. In a word Rollo was now beginning to be really penitent. The tearscame into his eyes; but they were tears of real sorrow for sin, not ofvexation and anger.

  He took up his little Bible, to read one of the passages, as his fatherhad advised him. He happened to open at a mark which his father had putin at the parable of the prodigal son. The first verse which his eyefell upon, was the verse, "I will arise and go to my father." Rollothought that that was exactly the thing for him to do--to go and confesshis fault to his father.

  So he laid down his little Bible, wiped the tears from his eyes, andwent down stairs. He met his father in the entry. He went up to him, andtook his hand, and said,

  "Father, I am really very sorry I have been so naughty; I _will try_ tobe a good boy now."

  His father stooped down and kissed him. "I am very glad to hear it,Rollo," said he. "Now you may go and find Lucy. I believe she is up inyour mother's chamber."

  Rollo went off quite happy in pursuit of Lucy. He found her sitting on acricket in his mother's room, looking over a little picture-book. Rolloran laughing up to her, and said,

  "What have you got, Lucy?"

  "One of your little picture-books. Will you lend it to me to carryhome?"

  Rollo said he would, and then they began to talk about what they shoulddo. It rained very fast, and they could not go out of doors; and, afterproposing several things, which, however, neither of them seemed tolike, they turned to Rollo's mother, and asked her what they had betterdo.

  "I always find," said his mother, "that when I am disappointed of anypleasure, it is best not to try to find any other pleasure in its place,but to turn to _duty_."

  The children did not understand this very well, and they were silent.

  "What I mean," she continued, "is this: When we have just beendisappointed of any pleasure which we had set our hearts upon, it isvery difficult to find any thing else that we can have in its place,that will look as pleasant as the one we had lost. You see that you arenot satisfied with any thing you propose to one another. Now, I findthat the best way, in such cases, is to give up pleasure altogether, andturn to some duty; and after performing the duty a short time, peace andsatisfaction return to the mind again, and we get over the effects ofthe disappointment in the quickest and pleasantest way."

  Rollo and Lucy looked at one another rather soberly. They did not seemto know what to say.

  "I presume, however, you will not do this," continued his mother.

  "Why?" said Rollo.

  "Because," said his mother, "it requires a good deal of resolution, atfirst, to turn to _duty_ when you have just been setting your heart on_pleasure_."

  "O, we have got resolution enough," said Rollo.

  "What duty do you think we had better do?" asked Lucy.

  "If I were you," replied Rollo's mother, "I should first of all sit downand have a good reading lesson."

  Rollo and Lucy hesitated a little, but they concluded to take theirmother's advice at last, and went to Rollo's little library, and chose abook, and then went down to the back entry, and sat down there, on along cricket, and began to read.

  At first, it was rather hard to do it, for it did not look very pleasantto either of them to sit down and read, just at the time when theyexpected to be gathering blueberries on the mountain. Rollo said, whenthey were opening the hook and finding the place, that, if they hadgone, they should, by that time, have just about arrived at the foot ofthe mountain.

  "Yes," said Lucy, "but we must not think of that now. Besides, just seehow it rains. It would be a fine time now to go up a mountain, wouldn'tit?"

  Rollo looked out of the open door, and saw the rain pouring down intothe yard, and felt again ashamed to recollect how he had insisted thatit was not going to rain.

  Lucy said it was beautiful to see it pouring down so fast. "Look," saidshe; "how it streams down from the spout at the corner of the barn!"

  "Yes," said Rollo, "and see that little pond out by the garden gate. Howit is all full of little bubbles! It will be a beautiful pond for me tosail boats in, when the rain is over. I can make paper-boats and peaboats!"

  "Pea boats?" said Lucy; "what are pea-boats?"

  "O! they are beautiful little boats," said he. "Jonas showed me how tomake them. We take a pea-pod, a good large full pea-pod, and shave offthe top from one end to the other, and then take out the peas, and itmakes a beautiful little boat. I wish we had some; I could show you."

  "Let us make some when we have done reading, and sail them. Only thatpond will all go away when the rain is over."

  "O no," said Rollo, "I will put some ground all around it, and then thewater cannot run away."

  "Yes, but it will soak down into the ground."

  "Will it?" said Rollo. "Well, we can sail our boats on it a little whilebefore it is gone."

  "But it is so wet," said Lucy, "we cannot go out to get any pea-pods."

  "I did not think of that," said Rollo. "Perhaps Jonas could get some forus, with an umbrella."

  "_I_ could go with an umbrella," said Lucy, "just as well as not."

  The children saw an umbrella behind the door, and they thought theywould go both together, and they actually laid down their book, spreadthe umbrella, and went to the door. It then occurred to them that itwould not be quite right to go out, without leave; so Rollo went to askhis mother.

  His mother said it was not suitable for young ladies to go out in therain, as their shoes, and their dress generally, were thin, and couldnot bear to be exposed to wet; but she said that Rollo himself mighttake off his shoes and stockings, and go out alone, when the rain heldup.

  "But, mother," said he, "why cannot I go out now, with the umbrella?"

  "Because," she replied, "when it rains fast, some of the water s
pattersthrough the umbrella, and some will be driven against you by the wind."

  "Well, I will wait, and as soon as it rains but little, I will go out.But must I take off my shoes and stockings?"

  "Yes," said his mother, "or else you will get them wet and muddy. Andbefore you go you must get a dipper of water ready in the shed, to pouron your feet, and wash them, when you get back; and then wait till theyare entirely dry, before you put on your shoes and stockings again. Ifyou want the pea-pods enough to take all that trouble, you may go forthem."

  Rollo said he did want them enough for that, and he then went back andtold Lucy what his mother had said, and they concluded to read until therain should cease, and that then Rollo should go out into the garden.

  They began to read; but their minds were so much upon the pea-pod boats,that the story did not interest them very much. Besides, children cannotread very well aloud, to one another; for if they succeed in calling allthe words right, they do not generally give the stops and the emphasis,and the proper tones of voice, so as to make the story interesting tothose that hear. Some boys and girls are vain enough to think that theycan read very well, just because they can call all the words withoutstopping to spell them; but this is very far from being enough to make agood reader.

  Rollo read a little way, and then Lucy read a little way; but they werenot much interested, and thinking that the difficulty might be in thebook, they got another, but with no better success. At last Rollo saidthey would go and get their mother to read to them. So they wenttogether to her room, and Rollo said that they could not get along verywell in rending themselves, and asked her if she would not be goodenough to read to them.

  "Why, what is the difficulty?" said she.

  "O, I do not know, exactly: the story is not very interesting, and thenwe cannot read very well."

  "In what respect will it be better for me to read to you?" she asked.

  "Why, mother, you can choose us a prettier story; and then we shouldunderstand it better if you read it."

  "I suppose you would; but I see you have made a great mistake."

  "What mistake?" said both the children at once.

  "Why is it that you are going to read at all?"

  "Why, you advised us to, mother."

  "Did I advise you to do it as a _duty_, or as a _pleasure_?"

  "As a _duty_, mother; I recollect now." said Rollo.

  "Yes: well, now the mistake you have made is, that you are looking uponit only as a pleasure, and instead of doing it faithfully, in such a wayas will make it most useful to you, you are forgetting that altogether,and only intent upon having it interesting and pleasant. Is it not so?"

  "Why--yes," said Rollo, hesitating, and looking down; and then turninground to Lucy, he said, "I suppose we had better go and read the storyourselves."

  "Do just as you please," said his mother. "I have not commanded you toread, but only recommended it; and that not as a way of _interesting_you, but as a way of spending an hour _usefully_, as a preparation foran hour of enjoyment afterwards. You can do as you please, however; butif you attempt to read at all, I advise you to do it not as _play_, butas a _lesson_."

  "Well, come, Rollo," said Lucy, "let us go."

  So the children ran back to the entry, and sat down to their story,taking pains to read carefully, as if their object was to learn to read;and though they did not expect it, they did, in fact, have a verypleasant time.

  The rest of the adventures of Rollo and Lucy, during this day must bereserved for another story.

  THE FRESHET.

  "Going to see the freshet."]

  THE FRESHET

  * * * * *

  The story that Rollo and his cousin Lucy began to read together, in theback entry, looking out towards the garden, that rainy day when theywere disappointed of the excursion up the mountain, commenced asfollows:--