Show r LINCOLN 1 r IAN A I 2 T 4 oJ t t 1 1 t 4 44 4 j i L r s 's 5 w 3 I H H 3 I M I I I I I I I I I 1 I I I I 1 I H 1 I I M-I-H- M I I j- j Tho The things I want to know E Earo T are arc In books my best friend Is the I the tho man who'll git me a book I t aint rea read read-A read d-A d A Lincoln I I M I I 1 I I 1 I I 1 Ml I H-H-H-I I Ii i i H S-H S I n i H I I 1 I I I I I By DeWITT J MASON lIE story of Abraham LIn- LIn LIncoln's Lin coins coin's thirst for knowl- knowl knowledge knowledge knowl-fi knowl edge when he lie was a boy growing up In his Indiana home Is one that Is In- In Interesting In Interesting to tills this day The farm boys In theIr evenIngs at Jones store tal t talked a l ked k e d about how Abe LIncoln was always reading digging Into books stretched out flat on hIs stomach in front fOnt of the fireplace stud studying till midnight and past mid mid- midnight midnight midnight night picking a piece of charcoal to wrIte on the fire shovel sho shaving oft off what lie wrote Tote and then writing more till till midnight and past midnight The next thIng tiling Abe would be readIng books between the plow handles it seemed to them And once trying to speak a last word Dennis Hanks said Theres about Abe lIe He wanted to learn to know to live to reach out he wanted to satis satis- satisfy satisfy fy hungers and thIrsts he lie couldn't tell about this tills lIl big boy lIoy of the back back- backwoods backwoods backwoods woods And some of what he lie wanted so much so deep down seemed to lie be bein beIn In the books Maybe In books he lie would find the answers to dark questions pushIng Ground around In the pools of hIs the thoughts and the drifts of his mInd lIe He told Dennis and other people The things I want to know arc are In books my best lIet friend Is the man who'll git me a n book hook I aint read And some some- sometimes sometimes sometimes times friends answered Well books aInt as plenty as wildcats In these parts o 0 This was one thing tiling meant by DennIs when he lie said there was pe- pe pe about Abe Abc It seemed that lint Abe made the books tell him more than the they told other people All the theother theother theother other farm Jo boys s 's had gone to school and read The Kentucky Preceptor but flUt Abe picked out out questions from It such as Who has lias the most right to complain the Indian or tile the negro and Abe would talk about It up one way and down the other oilier while the they were In the cornfield pulling fodder for the winter When Abe Abc got ot hold of a n story book and read about a boat that came near a 11 magnetic rock and how IlOw the In the rock pulled all the nails out ut of the boat so It went to pIeces and antI the people In the boat found themselves floundering In water Abe thought It was funny and told It to other people After Abe Abc read rend poetry especially BlIb Hobby Bobby Burns Hums poems Abe bea began writing rimes himself When Abe sat with a n girl with their bare feet teet In the creek water and she spoke of the mo moon moon n rising he lie explained to her Iler herit It was the earth not the the moon moon the moon only seemed to rise What he lie got ot In the schools didn't satisfy him lie Ile went vent to three differ differ- different ent eat schools In Indiana besides two In in Kentucky altogether about four foul months of school Ho lIe learned his cs c's cs c's b a-b cs c's how low to spell read write And he had been with the other barefoot boys s in la butternut jeans learning man ne ners a under the teacher school An- An Andrew An Andrew drew Crawford who had them open n l door walk in and sa say Howdy do doYet Yet what he lie tasted of books In school was only a beginning only made mado hIm hungry and thirsty shook him with u a K t W a 1 r wanting of more and more of what was hidden between the covers of books bools lIe He kept on saying The things I want vant to know are arc In books my best friend Is the man who'll git gat me roe a book I aint read Besides reading the family Bible and figuring his Va way all nil through the old arithmetic they had at home he lie got gothold gothold gothold hold of Fables Pilgrims Progress Robinson Crusoe and Weems The TIle Life LUe of ot Washington The book of fables written or col- col collected col coll collected thousands of years ears ago by the Greek slave known as Aesop sank deep In his mind As he lie read through the book a second and third time he had a feeling there fables all allaround allaround allaround around him that everything he touched and handled everything he be saw and learned had a fable wrapped In It somewhere One fable was about a bundle of sticks and a farmer whose sons were quarreling and fighting Instead of stickIng together and the farmer took tooka a bundle of sticks gave ga them each a astick astick astick stick asking them If It they were strong enough to break It It which they dId dIdea ea easily lly then he handed them a bundle of sticks and asked them then If It they were strong enough to break It and they trIed their strength to the limit hut but could not break the bundle of sticks whereupon the farmer told them In unIon there Is strength The style of the Bible of Fables Fable the hearts and minds back backof backof backof of those books were much In hIs thoughts Ills favorite fa pages paes In them he read over and over Behind such such- proverbs as ns Muzzle not the ox that out the corn and lIe He that ruleth his own spirit Is greater renter than he that a n city there was n a music of simple wisdom and a mystery of common every day life that touched deep spots In him while out of the th fables of the ancient Greek Greel slave lie he carne came to see that cats rats dogs horses plows hammers hammels fingers finers toe toes people all nil had fables connected with their lives I characters places There was perhaps an outside for each t thing ns as it stood alone while Inside of It was Its fable One book hook came titled The Tue Life Ufe or of Gor George Washington e with Curious An- An Anecdotes Anecdotes An Anecdotes Equally Honorable to Him Him- Himself gelf self and Exemplary exemplar to His Ills Youn Young Countrymen Embellished with Six Steel Engravings h by M 1 L Weems fory for formerly merly Hector of Mt Vernon It pictured men of or passion and proud I ignorance In the government o of En Eng Eng- England Eng England land ln driving their countr country into war wal on the American colonies It quoted the far fur far warning of Chatham to to the British parliament For Gods God's sake then my m lords let the way be Instantly opened for tor reconciliation I say Instantly or It will be too late lata forever The Weems book reached some deep spots in the boy lie Ue asked what It meant that men should march fight bleed go cold and hun hungry y for the sake of what they called freedom Few great reat men are arc great In every everything Wing thing said this book And there was wasa wasa a cool sap In the pas passage ao Washing tons ton's delight was In that of the man hest sort whIch by stringing the limbs and swelling the muscles pro pro- promotes promotes motes the kindliest flow of blood nn spIrits At jumping with a long pole or heaving heavy weights for his years he hardly had an equal Such book talk was a comfort agaInst the same thing over oyer again day after day so many mornings the same kInd of water from the same spring the same fried pork and corn meal to eat the same drizzle of rain spring plowing summer weeds fall full fodder pulling each comIng coining every year Lincoln was thankful to the writer of Fables because that writer stood by him and walked with hIm an nn Invisible companion when he pulled fodder or chopped wood Books lighted lamps In the dark rooms of his hours Well Well-he Well he would lIve on maybe mabe the time would come when he would be freo free from work worle for a few weeks or a n few v months with books and then theu he would read God then he would read Then he would go and get at the proud secrets of his books Ills His would father father would he be like hIs father when he lie grew up He lIe hoped not Why should hIs Ills father knock him off of on a fence rail when he lie was ask ask- askIng asking asking ing a neighbor passing passIn b by a n question ques ques- question tion Even If It was a smart question loo pert and too quick It was no way to handle a n boy lIoy In front of ot a neigh neigh- neighbor neighbor bor No he lie was going to be a n man different from hIs Ills father The books hits his Ills father hated the books Already Abe knew Ime more than Ills hits father ho was writing letters for the neighbors the they hunted out the Lincoln farm to get young oung Abe to find his bottle of Ink with brier blackberry root and cop cop- copperas copperas copperas peras In It It and his pen made from a turkey buzzards blizzards feather and write letters Abe had hind a n suspIcIon suspicion some sometimes times Mmes hIs Ills father was a n little proud to have a n boy that could write letters and tell about things s In books and out out- outrun outrun run and outwrestle tle and and rough tumble rough tumble any boy lwy or man In Spencer count county Yes he would be lie different from flom his Ills father he was already so It couldn't be helped |