QUESTIONS AND HELPS 1. Write or tell briefly the story of Hawthorne's life. What other noted American authors were nearly of Hawthorne's age and were associated with him at different times in his life? Tell something about Concord, Massachusetts. Point out on a map the different places in which you know Hawthorne lived. Name some of his best-known books. 2. Tell in your own words the story of Ben Franklin's Wharf. 3. How old was Franklin when he left school and why did he leave? 4. What is meant by "In his early days as well as in his manhood his labors contributed to throw light upon dark matters"? 5. Put into simpler words "They remembered how sagaciously he had conducted all their enterprises ever since he had been old enough to wear smallclothes." 6. Explain why Franklin thought his wharf would be a public benefit"? What is a "public benefit"? 7. What does the building of the wharf show of Franklin's character? ee ee 8. What is meant by the boys having to "go through another trial, and receive sentence, and suffer execution too, from their own fathers"? 9. Explain "clutches of the law"; no small perturbation of mind." 10. What do you think of Ben's argument that it was "right to aim at doing good to the greatest number"? 11. What did Ben's father say about it? 12. Which was right? 13. Tell what you know of Benjamin Franklin besides this story which Hawthorne tells of him (see any school history of the United States). Other stories of Hawthorne which you will enjoy are The Pine Tree Shillings," "The Sunken Treasure," and "The OldFashioned School," from "Grandfather's Chair"; Benjamin West, Sir Isaac Newton, and Samuel Johnson, from "Biographical Stories"; "Little Daffydowndilly," "The Snow Image," and "A Rill from the Town Pump" (Riverside Literature Series No. 29), also some of the Greek stories from "A Wonder-Book" and "Tanglewood Tales." A short story of Franklin's life will be found in Montgomery's "Beginner's American History" and in several other primary histories, but the best account is Franklin's "Autobiography," that is, his life written by himself. A good sketch of Hawthorne's life is in the Riverside Literature Series No. 10. uneventful (un è věnt'ful): without important events or happenings. Sebago (Se bagō): a lake in Maine. Bowdoin (Bow'doin): a college at Brunswick, Maine. custom-house: a house where duties and customs are paid. tallow-chandler: a maker or seller of tallow candles. contributed (con trib ́u těd): helped. tomcod: a fish somewhat like the cod but much smaller. sagaciously (så ga'shus ly): wisely. smallclothes: tight knee breeches. uproarious (up rõar'í oŭs): noisy. requisite (rek'wi șite): necessary. resolute (rès o lute): determined. flagged: drooped, lost strength. individual (în di vĭd'ů ăl): of a single person. ecstasy (ěc ́stȧ-çỹ): joy so great as culprits (culprits): those accused of execution: the carrying out or fulfilling the judgment of a court. disapprobation: disapproval. perturbation (per tur bā ́shon): dis turbance of the mind or feelings. involves (in võlves'): includes. THE OWL CRITIC JAMES T. FIELDS [There was probably no one in America half a century ago who had so many friends among the literary men and women of his time as James T. Fields. He was himself a writer and a poet; but he was also a publisher, 5 and, as a member of the firm of Ticknor and Fields, published the works of that famous group, Hawthorne, Emerson, Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell, and Holmes. Mr. Fields was born in 1817, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. At seventeen he went to Boston to seek 10 his fortune and there obtained a position in a bookstore. He loved books; and as the years rolled on, the "Old Corner Bookstore" at the corner of Washington and School streets became the meeting place of the literary men and women of New England. The Atlantic 15 Monthly had its office there, and Fields followed Lowell as its editor, from 1862 to 1870. Fields was a man of great kindness, generosity, and charm of manner, and he made friends with every one. He tramped the woods with Hawthorne; he camped 20 with Whittier; he was intimate with Lowell, Holmes, Dickens, Tennyson, and Browning. His wife, Annie Fields, was also a writer and a poet. His best-known book is "Yesterdays with Authors."] "Who stuffed that white owl?" No one spoke in the shop: The barber was busy, and he could n't stop; The customers, waiting their turns, were all reading The young man who blurted out such a blunt question; And the barber kept on shaving. "Don't you see, Mister Brown," Cried the youth, with a frown, How preposterous each wing is, How flattened the head is, how jammed down the neck is In short, the whole owl, what an ignorant wreck 't is! I make no apology; I've learned owl-eology. I've passed days and nights in a hundred collections, And cannot be blinded to any deflections Arising from unskillful fingers that fail To stuff a bird right, from his beak to his tail. Do take that bird down. Or you 'll soon be the laughing-stock all over town!" "I've studied owls And other night fowls, 10 15 20 25 And I tell you What I know to be true: With his limbs so unloosed; 5 No owl in this world Ever had his claws curled, Ever had his neck screwed 10 Into that attitude. He can't do it, because 15 An owl has a toe That can't turn out so! I've made the white owl my study for years, And to see such a job almost moves me to tears! 20 You should be so gone crazed 25 As to put up a bird In that posture absurd! To look at that owl really brings on a dizziness; The man who stuffed him does n't half know his business! And the barber kept on shaving. "Examine those eyes. I'm filled with surprise |