They admired the book very much, for they had never seen anything like
it. "But the best part of it is the story which it tells," said their
mother. "If you could only read, you might learn that story and enjoy
it. Now I have a mind to give this book to one of you"

"Will you give it to me, mother?" asked little Alfred.

"I will give it to the one who first learns to read in it" she
answered.

"I am sure I would rather have a good bow with arrows" said Ethelred.

"And I would rather have a young hawk that has been trained to hunt"
said Ethelbert.

"If I were a priest or a monk" said Ethelbald, "I would learn to read.
But I am a prince, and it is foolish for princes to waste their time
with such things."

"But I should like to know the story which this book tells," said
Alfred.



II


A few weeks passed by. Then, one morning, Alfred went into his mother's
room with a smiling, joyous face.