Stories Pictures Tell. Book One by Flora L. Carpenter

Author:Flora L. Carpenter [Carpenter, Flora L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Good Press
Published: 2022-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

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MADONNA OF THE CHAIR

Table of Contents

Original Picture: Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy.

Artist: Raphael Sanzio (rä´´f[+a] ĕl sän´´zyō).

Birthplace: Urbino, Italy.

Dates: Born, 1483; died, 1520.

Questions to arouse interest. Whom do you see in this picture? Who is sitting in the chair? Who leans against the mother's knee? What is he holding under his arm? At whom is he looking? Why do you think he loves the baby? How many have a baby brother at home? What has the mother on her head? Around her shoulders? What makes you think the baby is not sitting very still? Who painted this picture?

The story of the picture. A long time ago a good old man whose name was Bernardo lived all alone in a little house in the woods. If people were lost in the woods, or tired, or hungry, they always came to him and he would help them. It was his work to take care of the trees and see that only the oldest and largest were cut down. But there was one large oak near his house he never would let the men cut. Its branches kept his house cool in summer with their shade, and in the winter they sheltered it from the bitter cold winds. Bernardo, living all alone and with no one to talk to, used to talk to the tree. And the big oak would nod its branches as if it understood every word.

All the trees belonged to a man who used the wood to make barrels. He made hundreds and hundreds of barrels, and though it took a great many trees to give him wood enough, he always spared the oak tree. Sometimes when this man came out to see about his trees his little daughter Mary came with him. And so Bernardo and little Mary became great friends. In fact, the old man said he had only two friends, the oak to whom he talked and little Mary who talked to him.

One day there was a dreadful storm and Bernardo's little house shook so in the wind that he was afraid to stay in it. He looked at the oak tree, and it seemed to motion to him and tell him to come into its branches, where he would be safe. So he put some bread in his pocket, for he knew the storm would last a long time, and climbed up into the tree. It was a good thing he did so, too, for very soon his house was blown down. Hundreds of birds also hid among the branches of the big tree during the storm, which lasted three days.

The old man wished he had brought more bread to eat, for the ground was covered with water so deep he did not dare leave the tree. Just as he began to think he would starve, Mary and her father came in search of him and took him to their home. Little Mary had been thinking of him all the time, and just as soon as they could they had come for him.

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