W HAT’S a point of view, Mother?” Peter looked up from his homework, and chewed his pencil thoughtfully. “I know,” said Penny. “It’s a place way up on a mountain, where you lpok down and can see everything for miles around.” “Not that kind of
view, dear,” smiled Mother. "I think I know what Peter means, but, Son, explain a little.” “Well, our teach er showed us a pic ture at school to day and told us to write a story about it. It was a pic ture of a little girl sitting out on a bench listening to a bird singing in the tree above her. The teacher said that we could tell
Peter and Penny Hear the Old Story from a New Point of View.
Out in the cattle shed on a certain night, these three huddled together— the sad-faced cow, the homesick hay stack, and the donkey with the tired feet. They were all having a miser able time. The haystack was very far from its pleasant home on the sunny hillslope; the little donkey had come on a long, long journey and was very tired; and just that day, the cow had been separated from her adorable calf, and that is why her face looked so sad. She was a little cross, too. “I wish you’d quit kicking dust in my eyes,” she said to the little don key. “Me kicking dust?” He was indig nant. "If your feet were as tired as mine, you wouldn’t be able to lift them, let alone kick with them. I've traveled miles and miles today, while you, 1 suppose, were just standing around licking your calf.” “Yo u ’ r e v e r y
“Nobody could ever sleep in this stuffy old place.” The cow was too sorrowful to even chew her cud. “But there’s no use staying awake,” reasoned the donkey. “I don’t sup pose anything exciting has happened here for years.” “Nothing exciting ever happened here,” corrected the haystack. “But you might tell us something new. After all, you’re the one that’s been around. What brought you to Beth lehem, anyway?” ' “I came to bring a man and his wife up to pay their taxes. When they came to the inn to ask for a room, I heard the innkeeper tell them that there was no more room. Then he brought them in here. They are rest ing nearby.” “Well, they’re lucky to find any place. I hear the city is very crowd
a story about the picture from several points of view. What did she mean?” “Why, she meant you could tell the story as the little girl saw it, or as the tree saw it, or as the bird saw it. You might even tell it from the viewpoint of the bench, you know.” "How silly! How could a bench have a point of view? How could a bench tell a story anyhow?” Peter was puzzled. “A little imagination never hurt anybody,” said Penny. “That’s what you think! You don’t know how really hard it is to write this composition.” “Put your work away for a bit, Pe ter,” Mother suggested, “and let me tell you an old, old story from a new point of view. Then you will see how it’s done. This is the story of the Sad-Faced Cow, the Homesick Hay stack, and the Donkey With the Tired Feet.’ ” "I thought you said it was an old story, Mother. Why, I never heard that one in my life!” exclaimed Penny. “I’d rather have a Christmas story,” muttered Peter. “Christmas is coming so soon.” "Perhaps we can please you both,” smiled Mother, and she began: DECEMBER, 1946
ed,” said the hay- s t a c k . “I do n’t think there’s a sin gle empty place in all Bethlehem to night." “Well, I k n ow one empty place,” sighed t h e cow, with such a sad look in her eyes that the other two knew at once that
cruel,” interrupted the h a y s t a c k . "They t o o k her calf from her to day, a n d t h a t ’s why she looks so sad.” “Oh, I’m sorry,”
apologized the donkey. "But how was I to know?” “How indeed?” sneered the cow. “You have a repu tation for being stupid.” “Now who’s being cruel?” asked the haystack. “I wish you’d both lie down beside me and keep still. It’s time we all went to sleep.”
she was remembering her little .wob bly calf, and they changed the sub ject. For a few minutes they contin ued to talk, all the while growing more drowsy. 19
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