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

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