232 Language Through Nature 



Lesson 153 



JEAN BAPTISTE CAMILLE COROT 



MORE than a hundred years ago there lived a 

 French boy whose name was Jean Baptiste 

 Camille Corot. This boy had wonderfully observ- 

 ing eyes. He saw the most beautiful pictures in the 

 soft, gray mists which rose from lake and river, in 

 the gently swaying branches of the trees, and in the 

 morning and evening skies. He longed to put these 

 pictures upon canvas, and begged his father to allow 

 him to become an artist. 



But his father said, "Nonsense, I will have no 

 painter in my family. You must go. to work." 

 And accordingly Camille was sent to a woolen mer- 

 chant to learn to sell cloth. Poor Camille ! how 

 qould he sell cloth while he longed with all his heart 

 to be an artist ? He was unhappy and very unsuc- 

 cessful. At last he was allowed to give up the work 

 he did so badly, and to learn to paint pictures. How 

 delighted Camille was, and how industrious ! but it 

 was long, long years before he became a great artist. 

 But all this time he was not discouraged ; he plodded 

 on, singing as he worked. 



