J2 Language Through Nature 



nature. While the father and mother were busy 

 with farm work, the children were cared for by 

 their grandmother. She was a good, wise, and 

 energetic woman. Early in the morning she 

 would come to the bedside of her little grandson 

 to waken him. She would say gently, ''Wake up, 

 m}P little Frangois. You don't know how long the 

 birds have been singing the glory of God." 



Jean Fra^ois liked to draw pictures. One day 

 he saw an old man walking along the road. The 

 boy made a picture of him and drew the bent fig- 

 ure so well that his father was delighted. His eyes 

 sparkled with pride and joy, and he exclaimed, 

 "Our boy must be an artist!" So Jean Francois 

 was sent away to the city of Cherbourg to learn to 

 paint pictures. The boy worked hard, and, as his 

 father had hoped, became a great artist. 



Millet painted many pictures. They are nearly 

 all of men and women working at just such tasks 

 as he had often seen his own father and mother 

 doing in his village home. He liked to wander 

 in the green fields and silent woods. He watched 

 the men and women as they toiled. He noticed 

 every change in the sky and the lights and shad- 

 ows among the trees. 



