180 Language Through Nature 



I saw the different things you did, 

 But always you yourself you hid. 

 I felt you push, I heard you call, 

 I could not see yourself at all - 



O wind, a-blowing all day long, 

 O wind, that sings so loud a song ! 



From " The Wind" by Robert Louis Stevenson. 



Lesson 1 1 7 



THE FOOLISH WEATHER-VANE 



IN a little town by the sea, a shining weather- 

 vane was once put on the top of a high steeple 

 to tell the direction of the wind. If it pointed west, 

 the fishermen went fearlessly to sea, for they were 

 quite sure the weather would be fine and their work 

 safe. But if it pointed east, the men kept near the 

 shore or staid at home and mended their nets, for 

 when the east wind blew it was sure to bring a 

 storm and it was not safe upon the sea. 



For a long time all went well and the weather- 

 vane turned just as the wind told it to. But at last 

 he noticed that the people looked up at him every 

 morning before going to their work and, though he 

 had done nothing but give them the wind's message, 

 he began to feel very important. Soon the wind 



