LESSON 19
THE BIRDS SET FREE

WORD LIST

wires trade bargain sadness prisoners

war French apiece number resolved

1. A man was walking one day through a large city. On a street corner he saw a boy with a number of small birds for sale, in a cage.

2. He looked with sadness upon the little prisoners flying about the cage, peeping through the wires, beating them with their wings, and trying to get out.

3. He stood for some time looking at the birds. At last he said to the boy, “How much do you ask for your birds? ”

4. “Fifty cents apiece, sir, ” said the boy, “I do not mean how much apiece, ” said the man, “but how much for all of them? I want to buy them all.”

5. The boy began to count, and found they came to five dollars.“There is your money, ” said the man. The boy took it, well pleased with his morning's trade.

6. No sooner was the bargain settled than the man opened the cage door, and let all the birds fly away.

7. The boy, in great surprise, cried, “What did you do that for, sir? You have lost all your birds.”

8. “I will tell you why I did it, ” said the man, “I was shut up three years in a French prison, as a prisoner of war, and I am resolved never to see anything in prison which I can make free.”

STUDY GUIDE

A. Vocabulary Practice—Answer the questions that have vocabulary words from the story.

1. The man said the birds were prisoners. This means they were not free. Do you think it was right for the man to open the cage and let the birds go? Why or why not?

2. Why did the man look at the birds with sadness?

3. A bargain is a price that is paid for something. Do you think $5 was a good price for the man to buy the birds?

4. The man resolved that he would set free whatever he could. This means he promised himself. Have you resolved something important?

5. The boy said the birds were fifty cents apiece. This means each. Have you bought many of one thing? How much were they apiece?

B. True or False—Write T (true) or F (false) for each sentence. Explain your answer.

_____1. The man bought ten birds.

_____2. The man was sad to lose the birds.

_____3. The boy was happy with the money he got.

_____4. The boy was surprised when the man opened the cage.

_____5. The man was in a war.

C. Opposites—Find the opposite word in the story.

_______________: large

_______________: running

_______________: evening

_______________: imprisoned

_______________: closed

_______________: sat

_______________: unhappy

_______________: found