4-1 Names of Plants II
There was one plant in particular that Carolyn liked most of all. P
The name of her favorite plant was "Tail of the Puppy". P
It is called that because the ear of its grain looks like a tail of a puppy. P
It's also known as "Puppy Tail Grass". P
During September, it blooms with green or violet flowers. P
And cows love eating "Puppy Tail Grass". P
Its grain is also used for bird food. P
4-2 Names of Plants III
Another type of plant is the SumBwaGui. This plant is known for its bitter taste. P
It blooms with a white or yellow flower between May and July. P
Koreans use SumBwaGui leaves and roots to make a popular side dish. P
All of these plants have funny names. P
Plants have their own names in the same way that we have our own names. P
Some types of grass can be educational toys for children. P
Grasses can grow well without specialized care. P
After these lessons, Carolyn decided to call each plant by its proper name whenever she saw one. P
4-3 A Planting Old Man I
Once upon a time, a young man was appointed as the magistrate of his town. P
So he went to pay a visit to the prime minister, who had been his mentor all his life. P
"Sir, thanks to your support and care, I have been appointed to this important post, P
and I will not fail to meet your expectations." P
The prime minister said, "Be a magistrate who loves the people and gives them hope. P
I am myself too old to help them now." P
"Sir, what do you do with your time now?" P
"I am planting a fruit tree." P
"You are so old. Will you live long enough to eat any of the fruit?" P
"It is not for me, but for the future." P
Since that day, ten years have passed. P
And during those ten years, the young magistrate was promoted to governor. P
4-4 A Planting Old Man II
As the new governor, he went to the prime minister to pay a visit. P
The prime minister welcomed him heartily, and then brought out a basket full of pears. P
Eating the pears, the governor asked, P
"These pears are very delicious. Where did you get such excellent pears?" P
"I would think you might remember. P
These pears are from the tree I was planting the last time you paid me a visit." P
"Are these really from the same small tree that you planted ten years ago?" P
"Haven't you heard the saying, P
"Cultivate a field with a year's perspective; Plant a tree with a decade's perspective; P
Educate a man of understanding with a century's perspective"? P
The new governor was happy to have listened again to the prime minister's wisdom. P
4-5 A Wise Son I
Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived an ill-tempered officer. P
The officer did whatever he wanted to do. P
And he punished innocent people whenever he wished. P
So the people in the village called him "Officer Meany". P
It was Peter who had the worst time with the ill-tempered officer. P
Since Peter managed the village with the officer, P
he was always worried about what outrageous things "Officer Meany" would do next. P
4-6 A Wise Son II
One winter day, when it was very cold and the wind was blowing very hard, P
the officer suddenly wanted to eat strawberries. P
So he called for Peter. P
"Peter. Get me strawberries." P
Hearing this, Peter was stunned. P
But sir, strawberries don't grow during the winter." P
So Peter promised he would be happy to pick him lots of strawberries during the coming summer. P
4-7 A Wise Son III
"What? I will punish you if you don't get me strawberries right now." P
Peter didn't know what to do. P
"What can I do?" P
And Peter became sick with worry. P
And then Peter's son began to worry about his father. P
His son asked his father what was the matter. P
So Peter told his son what "Officer Meany" had asked for. P
4-8 A Wise Son IV
"How are you going to find strawberries in the winter?" asked his son. P
"I can't! But if I don't get him strawberries, he will punish me. What should I do?" P
Peter's son thought for a long time. Suddenly, he clapped his hands and said, P
"Don't worry. I must leave you now, but I'll come right back." P
But Peter was still worried. P
Peter's son went to visit "Officer Meany". P
He knelt down in front of the officer. P
4-9 A Wise Son V
"My father is sick in bed, so I have come here in his place." P
"Peter is sick? Hmm. He must be pretending to be sick. I'll have to punish your father." P
But Peter's son was not scared, and said calmly. P
"My father went to the mountains to get you strawberries, P
but was bitten by a venomous snake." P
"So he didn't get my strawberries? P
But wait! There are no venomous snakes out in winter! That's absurd!" P
So Peter's son answered respectfully, P
"Sir, you are right. In the winter, there are no venomous snakes. P
Just as there are no strawberries." P
"Officer Meany" blushed, and had nothing to say to this. P
Hearing the son's humble and wise words, he regretted his mistakes. P
4-10 Homework Robot's Diary I
Since you don't like doing your homework, just ask the robot to do it for you. P
If you lightly touch its left cheek, it will do your homework for you. It can even draw." P
Isabelle was thrilled that the robot could do her homework for her. P
That night she had a lot of homework, but she was not worried about it at all. P
Isabelle played until 9 o' clock at night before she finally sat in front of the robot. P
Then she touched the robot's cheek lightly and told him, P
"This is my writing homework. Can you do it for me?" P
The robot took the writing homework and began to work. P
Today is Isabelle's birthday. P
Isabelle's father came home with a huge bag of gifts for her. P
Out of all the wonderful gifts, one of them was a very special robot. P
"Here, Isabelle," said her father. "This robot will do everything for you. P
4-11 Homework Robot's Diary II
Within minutes, the robot was done with Isabelle's writing homework. P
Isabelle was so surprised and bewildered that she clapped her hands with excitement. P
"Robot, this time you have to do some art homework. P
Imagine a beautiful ocean and draw it for me." P
Isabelle then took out a set of crayons and a sheet of paper and laid it in front of the robot. P
The robot then took out various colors of crayons and began to draw an ocean. P
Again within minutes the robot was done with the drawing. P
The drawing of the ocean was as beautiful as the ocean itself. P
After the robot drew the picture, Isabelle was only one diary away from finishing all of her homework. P
"Robot, please write my diary." P
The robot then quickly finished the diary and gave it back to Isabelle. P
Pleased, Isabelle took the diary and began reading it. P
4-12 Homework Robot's Diary III
March 2nd. Weather condition: Sunny. P
Today's weather was really hot. P
I completed Isabelle's writing and art homework, and now I'm writing her diary for her. P
How lazy she must be since she orders a machine to do her homework? P
After reading the diary Isabelle was shocked. P
"This isn't my diary. This is yours. P
I want you to write my diary, robot, do you understand?" P
The robot began to write the diary again. P
4-13 Homework Robot's Diary IV
March 2nd. Weather condition: Sunny. P
I wrote Isabelle's diary because she asked me to do so. P
However, when I wrote her diary, she became upset and told me to rewrite her diary. P
How can I write her diary when I don't even know what she has done throughout the day? P
Isabelle read the diary and spoke in an upset tone. P
"Write it all over again! Write it again. Write MY diary. Not yours" P
The robot began to write the diary again. P
4-14 Homework Robot's Diary V
March 2nd. Weather condition: Sunny. P
Isabelle has asked me to write her diary again. But I'm worried about Isabelle. P
Isabelle's teacher will believe that she is good at writing. P
The teacher might even select her to compete in a writing contest as the class representative. P
I will not be able to help her then. Isabelle will place last and she will be mocked. P
However, the teacher will think differently. P
'Isabelle somehow made a mistake on writing but she'll be good at drawing.' P
Isabelle will receive the lowest score in the drawing contest as well. P
At this rate, what will Isabelle become when she gets older? P
4-15 Homework Robot's Diary VI
Isabelle read the diary, but this time, she didn't get angry. P
"You're right. I should do my own homework." P
Isabelle then went to her father with the robot. P
"Dad, I'd like to give the homework robot back to you. P
I don't need it anymore." P
Father smiled. P
"Now you understand what the robot was supposed to do. P
It wasn't supposed to do your homework in the first place, but tell you to do your own homework. P
I'm glad you understand now." P
Then Isabelle went back to her room to do her own homework. P
4-16 Magpie's Ruling I
There once was a sparrow flying over the woods, and it caught a fly. P
The fly tried its best to fly away, but it wasn't fast enough. P
The angry fly said to the sparrow, P
"Hey, Sparrow! Why are you bullying me, when I haven't done anything to hurt you?" P
The sparrow replied angrily, "What? P
Are you actually saying that you haven't done anything wrong? P
You fly here and there, spreading all kinds of dirt and disease every time you sit on people's food, don't you? P
And that's not all that you do. P
You wake people up by crawling on their faces and buzzing around their ears. P
Do you still claim that you haven't done anything wrong?" P
4-17 Magpie's Ruling II
The fly did not want to take the sparrow's accusations lying down, and replied, P
"Hmph! And do you think you're perfect? P
You steal the rice kernels before the harvest and ruin everything the people have worked so hard for! P
You catch and eat innocent insects all day long. P
I don't think that you have the right to accuse me of anything!" P
Both of them quarreled on and on, and finally decided to ask the magpie to decide who was right. P
After hearing both sides of the story, the magpie made his decision. P
The magpie decided that the sparrow should have his legs beaten for stealing. P
And the fly was ordered to wash his hands thoroughly as often as possible. P
This is why the sparrow is always running away from everyone, P
and the fly is always washing his hands. P
4-18 Two Clocks I
"Ding-dong, Ding-dong." P
"Cuckoo, Cuckoo." P
Every time it turned twelve o'clock, both the wall clock and the cuckoo clock sounded their chimes. P
Each clock tried to be louder than the other, and each would chime as loud as it could. P
One day, the wall clock was much louder than the cuckoo clock, and the cuckoo clock could hardly be heard. P
The cuckoo clock felt disappointed and asked, P
"Wall Clock, why must you make such a loud noise?" P
The wall clock responded, "Why do you pretend to be a cuckoo bird by making its sound?" P
This retort just made the cuckoo clock angry. P
4-19 Two Clocks II
"Ding-dong, Ding-dong." P
"Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" P
It was four o'clock. P
Vanessa walked into the living room. P
"I need to hurry if I want to meet Robert." P
Then Vanessa said to both the cuckoo clock and the wall clock, P
"Thanks for letting me know what time it is." P
The cuckoo clock was confused and asked, P
"You're thankful because we let you know what time it is?" The wall clock was amused and replied, P
"That's right, Vanessa likes it when we let her know exactly what time it is!" P
The cuckoo clock and the wall clock realized that it was more important to let people know exactly what time it was than to boast about their sounds. P
And they regretted having argued with each other. P
4-20 Two Clocks III
"Wall Clock, I'm sorry for having said that your sound was too loud." P
And the wall clock said, P
"No, no! I'm sorry that I was angry with you. P
I never realized that it was more important to let people know exactly what time it is, P
than to be heard above the rest." P
And as it turned 5 o'clock, "Ding-dong, Ding-dong," "Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" P
The wall clock and the cuckoo clock chimed the time happily together. P