VI.

Well, little (S. 10, N. 2) Channing knew[1] the birds did not gape because he preached a long sermon, but (S. 6, N. 10) because they were hungry. So[2] what did he do? He ran straight[3] home (S. 63, N. 8), got[4] some nice soft crumbs of bread, and fed the little birds with them (S. 4, N. 5, _B_); and[5] after that he fed them regularly every day after[6] having come home from school. But[7] one day (S. 19, N. 2), when he went to[8] the nest, there it lay on the ground, torn and bloody, and the little birds all dead; and the father-bird[9] was crying[10] on a wall, and the mother-bird[11] was crying on a tree. Then little Channing tried[12] to tell them that he did not kill[13] their poor young brood; that[14] he never could do such a mean, cruel thing as that, and that[15], on the contrary[16], he had tried to feed them. But it was no use; the little birds could not understand him, and[17] kept on crying; and at last he sat down, and wept bitterly.

[1] Supply here the conj. +daß+.

[2] Say ‘What did he therefore (+also+) _do_?’

[3] +stracks.+

[4] +holte sich.+

[5] and — that, +und von da an+.

[6] +so bald er von der Schule nach Hause gekommen war.+

[7] This passage will read more elegantly by beginning with the conj. ‘when’, which must be followed by the subject ‘he’. ‘But’ should then be rendered by +jedoch+, which takes the third place.

[8] +nach.+

[9] +das Männchen.+

[10] +jammern+; on = upon.

[11] +das Weibchen.+

[12] +sich bemühen.+

[13] Use the Perf. Subj. according to App. §§ 28 and 30.

[14] +daß er eine so gemeine Grausamkeit nie begehen könne.+

[15] =In subordinate clauses, the subject stands in most cases immediately after the conjunction or relative pronoun.=

[16] +im Gegenteil+. See S. 15, N. 3.

[17] +und jammerten weiter.+

_Section 67._

TENDER, TRUSTY, AND TRUE.