It had been a wonderful day, the most wonderful day in Laura's whole life. She thought about the beautiful lake, the town she had seen and the big store full of so many things. She held the pretty round pebbles carefully in her lap. Her candy heart was wrapped carefully in her handkerchief (cloth tissue) until she got home and could put it away to keep always. It was too pretty to eat.
The wagon bounced along on the homeward road through the big forest. The sun set and the forest grew darker, but before the last of the twilight (time between day and night) was gone the moon rose. And they were safe, because her father had his gun.
The soft moonlight came down through the treetops and made patches of light and shade on the road ahead. The horses' hoofs (horse feet) made a cheerful clippety-clop sound.
Laura and Mary did not say anything because they were very tired. Her mother sat silently holding Baby Carrie, sleeping in her arms. But her father sang softly:
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there
Which seek thro' the world, is ne'er met elsewhere
Home! Home!
Sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home
There's no place like home!
An exile from home splendour dazzles in vain
Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again
The birds singing gaily that came at my call
And gave me the peace of mind dearer than all
Home! Home!
Sweet, sweet home!
There's no place like home
There's no place like home!
[audio 3 - YouTube: Richard Conrad singing "Home, Sweet Home"]
cottage - small house
thatched - roofed with dry plants.
dazzle - very bright and shiny
exile - have to stay away from one’s home
gaily - happily and lively (older word)
hallow - to make holy or religiously important (older word)
humble - ordinary and not fancy
mid - in the middle of
ne'er - never (old contraction)
palace - big fancy house appropriate for a king
thro' - through (old contraction)
vain - uselessly
Laura Ingalls was born in America in 1864, in Wisconsin. As a young girl, Laura lived in a little log house in the forest. Later she moved with her family to the wild Dakota Territory to build a farm. They mistakenly settled in the wrong place and had to leave. In the mid-1870s they managed a hotel in Iowa, but later in the decade travelled back to the wilderness to build another farm. Near the town of De Smet, Laura Ingalls taught school and in 1885 married a farmer named Almanzo Wilder.
Her first published writing appeared in a magazine called the Missouri Ruralist in 1911. She started a bank for farmers and continued to write. She wrote several stories partially based on her childhood. They became very popular. She realized that she had lived history, and she wanted children to learn about America's past as she had experienced it as a child. The country had changed a lot since she was a child. Laura Ingalls Wilder died in 1957.
Little House in the Big Woods
Chapter 1 - Part 1: Introduction
Chapter 1 - Part 2: Wolves in the Night
Chapter 1 - Part 4: Smoked Meat
Chapter 1 - Part 5: Food for Winter
Chapter 1 - Part 6: Butchering Time
Chapter 1 - Part 7: After Butchering Time
Chapter 1 - Part 9: Winter Night
Chapter 1 - Part 10: About the Author & Where to Find the Book
Chapter 2 - Part 1: Winter Days and Winter Nights
Chapter 2 - Part 2: Jack Frost
Chapter 2 - Part 3: Laura and Mary Helped Mother with the Housework
Chapter 2 - Part 4: Churn on Thursday
Chapter 2 - Part 5: The Best Time of All
Chapter 2 - Part 6: Her Father Began to Play his Fiddle and Sing
Chapter 2 - Part 7: Father Told Stories
Chapter 2 - Part 8 - The Story of Grandfather and the Panther
Chapter 3 - Part 1: Introduction (The Long Rifle)
Chapter 3 - Part 2: Making Bullets
Chapter 3 - Part 3: Cleaning the Gun
Chapter 3 - Part 4: Loading the Gun
Chapter 3 - Part 5: Where and Why to Keep a Gun
Chapter 3 - Part 6: The Story of her Father and the Voice in the Forest Part 1
Chapter 3 - Part 7: The Story of her Father and the Voice in the Forest Part 2
Chapter 4 - Part 1: Christmas in the Forest
Chapter 4 - Part 2: Making a Gift for his Wife
Chapter 4 - Part 3: Christmas is Coming
Chapter 4 - Part 4: Children Make Pictures in the Snow
Chapter 4 - Part 5: Prince & the Blue Dress (part 1 of 3)
Chapter 4 - Part 6: Prince & the Blue Dress (part 2 of 3)
Chapter 4 - Part 7: Prince & the Blue Dress (part 3 of 3)
Chapter 4 - Part 8: Christmas Morning
Chapter 4 - Part 9: Santa Claus Only Gives Presents to Children
Chapter 5 - Part 2: The Weekly Bath
Chapter 5 - Part 3: Being Quiet
Chapter 5 - Part 4: The Story of Grandfather's Sledge and the Pig (part 1 of 4)
Chapter 5 - Part 5: The Story of Grandfather's Sledge and the Pig (part 2 of 4)
Chapter 5 - Part 6: The Story of Grandfather's Sledge and the Pig (part 3 of 4)
Chapter 5 - Part 7: The Story of Grandfather's Sledge and the Pig (part 4 of 4)
Chapter 5 - Part 8: Sunday Music
Chapter 5 - Part 9: Birthday Spanking
Chapter 6 - Part 1 - Introduction (Two Big Bears)
Chapter 6 - Part 2 - Getting Ready to Go
Chapter 6 - Part 3 - Milking Sukey the Cow (1 of 2)
Chapter 6 - Part 4a - Milking Sukey the Cow (2 of 2)
Chapter 6 - Part 4b - Review Questions: Milking Sukey
Chapter 6 - Part 4c - Answers for Review Questions
Chapter 6 - Part 5 - Her Father Has Not Come Home
Chapter 6 - Part 6 - The Story Of Her Father And The Bear In The Way (1 of 2)
Chapter 6 Part 7a - The Story of Her Father and the Bear in the Way (2 of 2)
Chapter 6 Part 7b - Review Questions: The Bear in the Way
Chapter 6 Part 7c - Answers for Review Questions
Chapter 6 Part 8 - Evening with Father
Chapter 6 Part 9 - When idiots see a bear: Hey let's feed the real live teddy bear!
Chapter 7 Part 1 Introduction - Maple Syrup
Chapter 7 Part 2 - The snow is melting
Chapter 7 Part 4 - Grandfather prepares to make maple syrup
Chapter 7 Part 5 - Grandfather harvests maple syrup
Chapter 7 Part 6 - Why is it called a sugar snow?
Chapter 7 Part 7 - Delaine Dress
Chapter 8 Part 1 - Going to Grandmother and Grandfather's House
Chapter 8 Part 2 - Grandmother and Grandfather's House
Chapter 8 Part 3 - The Wildman
Chapter 8 Part 4a: Made themselves pretty – Hair
Chapter 8 Part 4b: Made themselves pretty - Corsets
Chapter 8 Part 5: Made themselves pretty – Dresses
Chapter 8 Part 6: Competition - The Babies on the Bed
Chapter 8 Part 8: Grandmother is the Best Dancer
Chapter 8 Part 9: The Syrup is Ready
Chapter 8 Part 10: Maple Sugar
Chapter 9 Part 1: Spring Has Come
Chapter 9 Part 2: Baby Animals
Chapter 9 Part 3: How to Curl Your Hair and Get Ready to Go to Town
Chapter 9 Part 4: Riding to Town
Chapter 9 Part 5 - What a Town Looks Like
Chapter 9 Part 8 - Lunch Beside the Lake
by John Larrysson
A native English speaker who has been teaching practical English in Hong Kong for over two decades.
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