Adapted from The Rabbi Who Found the Diadem translated from the Talmud by Dr. A. S. Isaacs, as collected in The Junior Classics: Stories of Courage and Heroism (P. F. Collier & Son, 1912)

Great was the alarm in the palace of Rome, which soon spread throughout the entire city. The empress had lost her costly diadem, and it could not be found. They searched in every direction, but all in vain. Half distracted, for the mishap boded no good to her or her house, the empress redoubled her efforts to regain her precious possession, but without result. As a last resource it was proclaimed in the public streets: "The empress has lost a precious diadem. Whoever restores it within thirty days shall receive a princely reward. But he who delays, and brings it after thirty days, shall lose his head."

In those times all nationalities flocked toward Rome; all classes and creeds could be met in its stately halls and crowded thoroughfares. Among the rest was a rabbi, a learned sage from the East, who loved goodness, and lived a righteous life in the stir and turmoil of the Western world. It chanced one night as he was strolling up and down, in busy meditation, beneath the clear, moonlit sky, he saw the diadem sparkling at his feet. He seized it quickly, brought it to his dwelling, where he guarded it carefully until the thirty days had expired, when he resolved to return it to the owner.

He proceeded to the palace, and, undismayed at sight of long lines of soldiery and officials, asked for an audience with the empress.

"What do you mean by this?" she inquired, when he told her his story and gave her the diadem. "Why did you delay until this hour? Did you not know the penalty? Your head must be forfeited."

"I delayed until now," the rabbi answered calmly, "so that you might know that I return your diadem, not for the sake of the reward, still less out of fear of punishment; but solely to comply with the divine command not to withhold from another the property which belongs to him."

"Blessed be thy God!" the empress answered, and dismissed the rabbi without further punishment; for had he not done right for right's sake?

Why does the Rabbi wait thirty days before returning the diadem?

Adapted from an article in Chatterbox Periodical edited by J. Erskine Clark (1906)

Steven Daniels, a magistrate from London, once showed great wisdom and ingenuity in detecting a thief. A man was brought before him charged with stealing a small, but very valuable, jeweled table. The prisoner denied the charge. He said that he was weak and feeble with long illness. For that reason it was impossible for him to have carried off a piece of furniture.

The judge listened very gravely to his story. After hearing of the poor man's misfortunes, he professed great sorrow and sympathy for the sufferer.

“Go home and get cured,” said he kindly; “and as you are poor, take with you that bag of cash”—heavy British Pounds—“as a gift from this court.”

The prisoner bowed, quickly threw the heavy bag over his shoulder, and departed, while everyone wondered. But he had hardly got outside the door of the court, when he was arrested. The judge remarked that if he could easily carry off a heavy sack of money, he would have no difficulty in stealing a light table.

What reasons does the thief give to prove his innocence?

Adapted from an article in Chatterbox Periodical edited by J. Erskine Clark (1906)

Steven Daniels, a magistrate from London, once showed great wisdom and ingenuity in detecting a thief. A man was brought before him charged with stealing a small, but very valuable, jeweled table. The prisoner denied the charge. He said that he was weak and feeble with long illness. For that reason it was impossible for him to have carried off a piece of furniture.

The judge listened very gravely to his story. After hearing of the poor man's misfortunes, he professed great sorrow and sympathy for the sufferer.

“Go home and get cured,” said he kindly; “and as you are poor, take with you that bag of cash”—heavy British Pounds—“as a gift from this court.”

The prisoner bowed, quickly threw the heavy bag over his shoulder, and departed, while everyone wondered. But he had hardly got outside the door of the court, when he was arrested. The judge remarked that if he could easily carry off a heavy sack of money, he would have no difficulty in stealing a light table.

How does the judge discover that the thief has been lying?

Adapted from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (1871)

One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it—it was the black kitten's fault entirely. For the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bearing it pretty well, considering); so you see that it COULDN'T have had any hand in the mischief.

The way Dinah washed her children's faces was this: first she held the poor thing down by its ear with one paw, and then with the other paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way, beginning at the nose: and just now, as I said, she was hard at work on the white kitten, which was lying quite still and trying to purr—no doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good.

But the black kitten had been finished with earlier in the afternoon, and so, while Alice was sitting curled up in a corner of the great arm-chair, half talking to herself and half asleep, the kitten had been having a grand game of romps with the ball of worsted Alice had been trying to wind up, and had been rolling it up and down till it had all come undone again; and there it was, spread over the hearth-rug, all knots and tangles, with the kitten running after its own tail in the middle.

'Oh, you wicked little thing!' cried Alice, catching up the kitten, and giving it a little kiss to make it understand that it was in disgrace. 'Really, Dinah ought to have taught you better manners! You OUGHT, Dinah, you know you ought!' she added, looking reproachfully at the old cat, and speaking in as cross a voice as she could manage—and then she scrambled back into the arm-chair, taking the kitten and the worsted with her, and began winding up the ball again. But she didn't get on very fast, as she was talking all the time, sometimes to the kitten, and sometimes to herself. Kitty sat very demurely on her knee, pretending to watch the progress of the winding, and now and then putting out one paw and gently touching the ball, as if it would be glad to help, if it might.

Alice didn’t stop the black kitten from unwinding the ball because __________.

Penguins - The flightless wonders

Molly Kubik, 2016

The penguin is very special bird.  Everyone knows that most birds love to fly, but not the penguin!  Penguins are unique.  They are very different from other birds.  Penguins have feathers, but even their feathers are different from other birds.  The penguin's feathers grow all over their body like hair grows on a mammal's body.  Other birds have rows of feathers, which helps them fly, but you won't see an penguin in a tree like an eagle or a hawk.  Penguins have heavy, solid bones, so they are too heavy to fly, but they are great swimmers.  They can swim faster than most birds and many sea creatures.  The penguin lives by the ocean, and you are most likely to see them swimming quickly through the ocean waters as they hunt for fish.  Penguins eat a lot of fish.  It is one of their main sources of food.  Their thick, strong, muscular wings, and flippers make the penguin a great swimmer.  Penguins are not good at walking on land, which is one reason that they spend so much of their time in the water.  A penguin can spend months in the ocean without taking a break!

What makes the penguin so good at swimming?