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| Seen my lady home las' night, Jump back, honey, jump back. Hel' huh han' an' sque'z it tight, Jump back, honey, jump back. Hyeahd huh sigh a little sigh, Seen a light gleam f'om huh eye, An' a smile go flittin' by-- Jum... Read more of A Negro Love Song at Martin Luther King.ca | Informational Privacy |
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Famous StoriesA Story Of Robin HoodIn the rude days of King Rich-ard and King John there were ... The Barmecide Feast There was once a rich old man who was called the Bar-me-cid... King John And The Abbot The 3 Questions. There was once a king of England whose... Casabianca There was a great battle at sea. One could hear nothing but... Whittington And His Cat The City There was once a little boy whose name was Rich... Antonio Canova A good many years ago there lived in Italy a little boy who... The Miller Of The Dee Once upon a time there lived on the banks of the River Dee ... How Napoleon Crossed The Alps About a hundred years ago there lived a great gen-er-al who... Horatius At The Bridge Once there was a war between the Roman people and the E-tru... The Blind Men And The Elephant There were once six blind men who stood by the road-side ev... Arnold Winkelried A great army was marching into Swit-zer-land. If it should ... King Alfred And The Cakes Many years ago there lived in Eng-land a wise and good ... The White Ship King Henry, the Handsome Scholar, had one son, named Willia... Sir Walter Raleigh There once lived in England a brave and noble man whose nam... The King And His Hawk Gen'ghis Khan was a great king and war-rior. He led his ... Cornelia's Jewels It was a bright morning in the old city of Rome many hundre... Julius Caesar Nearly two thousand years ago there lived in Rome a man who... Diogenes The Wise Man At Cor-inth, in Greece, there lived a very wise man whose n... He Never Smiled Again The bark that held the prince went down, The sweep... The Brave Three Hundred All Greece was in danger. A mighty army, led by the great K... |
KING ALFRED AND THE CAKESMany years ago there lived in Eng-land a wise and good king whose name was Al-fred. No other man ever did so much for his country as he; and people now, all over the world, speak of him as Alfred the Great. In those days a king did not have a very easy life. There was war almost all the time, and no one else could lead his army into battle so well as he. And so, between ruling and fighting, he had a busy time of it indeed. A fierce, rude people, called the Danes, had come from over the sea, and were fighting the Eng-lish. There were so many of them, and they were so bold and strong, that for a long time they gained every battle. If they kept on, they would soon be the masters of the whole country. At last, after a great battle, the English army was broken up and scat-tered. Every man had to save himself in the best way he could. King Alfred fled alone, in great haste, through the woods and swamps. Late in the day the king came to the hut of a wood-cut-ter. He was very tired and hungry, and he begged the wood-cut-ter's wife to give him something to eat and a place to sleep in her hut. The wom-an was baking some cakes upon the hearth, and she looked with pity upon the poor, ragged fellow who seemed so hungry. She had no thought that he was the king. "Yes," she said, "I will give you some supper if you will watch these cakes. I want to go out and milk the cow; and you must see that they do not burn while I am gone." King Alfred was very willing to watch the cakes, but he had far greater things to think about. How was he going to get his army to-geth-er again? And how was he going to drive the fierce Danes out of the land? He forgot his hunger; he forgot the cakes; he forgot that he was in the woodcutter's hut. His mind was busy making plans for to-mor-row. In a little while the wom-an came back. The cakes were smoking on the hearth. They were burned to a crisp. Ah, how angry she was! "You lazy fellow!" she cried. "See what you have done! You want some-thing to eat, but you do not want to work!" I have been told that she even struck the king with a stick; but I can hardly be-lieve that she was so ill-na-tured. The king must have laughed to himself at the thought of being scolded in this way; and he was so hungry that he did not mind the woman's angry words half so much as the loss of the cakes. I do not know whether he had any-thing to eat that night, or whether he had to go to bed without his supper. But it was not many days until he had gath-ered his men to-geth-er again, and had beaten the Danes in a great battle. Next: KING ALFRED AND THE BEGGAR
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