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                        THE STORY OF NOAH’S ARK

                  TOLD AND PICTURED BY E. BOYD SMITH

                       HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

                          BOSTON AND NEW YORK

                            [Illustration]


                   COPYRIGHT, 1905, by E. BOYD SMITH

                          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

                        PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 1905

                            [Illustration]




                        LIST OF COLORED PLATES


PLATE

    1. THE WARNING

    2. BUILDING THE ARK

    3. LABOR TROUBLES

    4. PAINTING THE ARK

  5-6. ASSEMBLING THE ANIMALS

    7. GOING ON BOARD

    8. CONFUSION

 9-10. THE PROCESSION

   11. THE DINOSAURS’ DILEMMA

   12. THOSE WHO WOULD NOT
        GO IN

   13. TAKING IN SUPPLIES

   14. WAITING FOR THE RAIN

   15. THE RAIN

   16. THE DELUGE

   17. INSIDE THE ARK

   18. LIFE AT SEA

   19. HOMESICKNESS

   20. STRAINED RELATIONS

   21. THE RAVEN IS SENT OUT

   22. RETURN OF THE DOVE

   23. FIRST SIGHT OF LAND

   24. LEAVING THE ARK

25-26. THE RAINBOW

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                        THE STORY OF NOAH’S ARK




1. THE WARNING


In the early days of the world lived the patriarch Noah, a good and
venerable man whose years already numbered six hundred.

Now Noah was warned that a great flood was to come, which would pour
down from the clouds and drown the whole earth. He straightway told his
neighbors what was to happen, but they refused to believe, and scoffed
at him, and said: “Let it rain.”




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2. BUILDING THE ARK


Then Noah went his way, and set to work to build him a great ship, to be
ready for the day of deluge.

And he laid the keel in the pasture fields, among the daisies; while the
idlers came to look on and laugh at such folly--a ship for a rainy day!




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3. LABOR TROUBLES


But Noah knew that he was right, and kept on.

And the ship rose, but troubles arose too: for frequent and grievous
strikes delayed him, and his workmen clamored for more pay and stoned
those who would work.

And Noah bargained with them, and started afresh; for he feared that the
rain might come before he was ready.




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4. PAINTING THE ARK


At last, after many days, the ship was finished.

Then Noah tarred the inside and the outside, to keep it tight. And he
named it the Ark, and painted it with colors; for Noah was proud of his
work.




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5-6. ASSEMBLING THE ANIMALS


Then Noah went abroad and called together all the animals, by twos, and
told them that they must come into the Ark to be saved from the deluge.

But they too doubted, and were slow to decide; for they feared to enter
the dark ship.

And they grumbled, and said, “It may be but a shower.”




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5-6. ASSEMBLING THE ANIMALS (_continued_)


And though Noah argued with them, and explained all the terrible
possibilities of the case, still they hesitated, and in their different
tongues and ways talked it over, and would not be hurried.

Then Noah called them Stumbling Blocks. But even this did not move
them.




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7. GOING ON BOARD


And Noah was vexed, and left them, and began to drive his domestic
animals on board, hoping to set the others an example.

And his sons--Shem, Ham, and Japheth--helped him, while he kept count.




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8. CONFUSION


Then new troubles began. For now the other beasts and birds, fearing to
be left behind, all tried to get in at once, and could not be
controlled.

But they did not leave behind their dislikes and ancient feuds. For how
could the cats and the mice live together in peace, or how could the fox
and the geese agree? And the hounds and the hares?

And quarrels and dissensions came into the Ark. And confusion reigned.

And Noah lost count, and lost patience as well.




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9-10. THE PROCESSION


But after much trouble order was established; and the mighty procession,
once started, filed steadily in.

And they came from far and near: a great host of beasts and birds and
creeping things:




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9-10. THE PROCESSION (_continued_)


The big elephant and the polar bear, the giraffe and the striped tiger,
and the woolly bison of the west.

And from the mountain and the jungle, the hill and the plain, came great
and small.

And the earth trembled with their tread, while the sky was dark with
flapping wings.




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11. THE DINOSAURS’ DILEMMA


And then came even the huge dinosaurs, for in those days were mighty
beasts. But they were too big for the door, and could not squeeze in.

Now Noah sorely regretted this miscalculation, but could find no way to
help it.

And the dinosaurs, alas! had to be left behind.




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12. THOSE WHO WOULD NOT GO IN


But the mammoth and the mastodon, and the dinotherium, the palæotherium,
and the anoptherium, and the pterodactyl, and the archæopteryx,--and a
host of other strange beasts and birds with long Latin names,--refused
to go in at all, in spite of Noah’s warnings.

All these of course were doomed to be lost, and become fossils, to be
put in museums with stones and labels.




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13. TAKING IN SUPPLIES


Then Noah took on board in plenty foods of every kind for men and
beasts. While the hungry animals inside complained that he should have
done this first instead of last.

And then he took his wife and his sons’ wives into the Ark, though Mrs.
Noah was loath and rebelled: “For the domestic arrangements,” she said,
“are impossible.”




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14. WAITING FOR THE RAIN


And now, all being at last ready, the sun still shone, and the rain did
not come. And they waited and waited.

And the scoffers laughed and jeered, and called to Noah that it was
going to be a dry season.

And Noah was sore perplexed, and marveled, though never doubting.




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15. THE RAIN


But at last the rain did come, and beat down upon the scoffers, and they
were wet.

And Noah’s sons and their wives triumphed. And even the animals were
pleased.

But Noah felt only sorrow for his stubborn neighbors, for he knew that
much more rain would fall.




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16. THE DELUGE


And then for forty days and forty nights it rained hard. And the clouds
were rent asunder. And a mighty deluge flooded the whole earth. And the
waters rose and covered the trees, and then the hills and mountains,
till no dry land might anywhere be seen.

But the Ark was lifted up and floated safely away on a stormy sea.




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17. INSIDE THE ARK


Now inside the storm-tossed ship was much discomfort and grievous
trouble. And many even regretted that they had been saved. “For lo!”
they said, “nothing could be worse than this.”

And Noah’s heart was heavy.




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18. LIFE AT SEA


But when the storm was passed and the good ship floated on an even keel,
they felt better and settled down to their new life.

And the animals took a keen interest in the passenger list, to find
their own names, as passengers always do.

And lazy days slipped quietly by; and the stout Ark drifted slowly on
her way.




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19. HOMESICKNESS


But alas, this could not last. For as the days dragged on and they found
themselves still shut up and afloat, they brooded and grew low in their
minds.

And a great homesickness, and longing for a change of any kind, came
over them. And a wail of despair went up from the Ark. And the roof
leaked. And all was gloom.

And life became a burden to the Noah family.




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20. STRAINED RELATIONS


And then patience and good temper deserted the Ark.

And the animals fretted and quarreled, and there was riot and disorder,
and furious battle.

And Noah’s task grew ever harder, and his load heavier to bear.




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21. THE RAVEN IS SENT OUT


Now Noah became desperate, and something had to be done; so he sent off
a raven to bring tidings from the outer world.

But the raven, once free, had no thought of returning, and flew far
away, saying to himself: “Never again will I be caught in that trap.”

And Noah waited for news, but none came.




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22. RETURN OF THE DOVE


Then, as matters grew worse. Noah sent forth a dove. “She is a gentle
bird and will surely come again to her home,” he thought. And the dove
did return, for she found only water, and no rest for her foot.

Then Noah waited seven days and again sent her out. And she came back,
bringing in her beak a twig from the olive tree.

And all welcomed her with joy, for now they knew that the waters were
falling.




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23. FIRST SIGHT OF LAND


Then Noah waited still another seven days, and again sent out the dove.
But this time she did not come back.

And Noah climbed to his skylight, and lifted it up, and looked out.

And behold the earth had risen from the waters, still damp, but yet
solid earth.

And Noah passed along the good word. And in the Ark was great
excitement, and hope revived.




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24. LEAVING THE ARK


And soon the good ship thumped and bumped, and struck bottom. And though
she landed at an uncomfortable angle, on a mountain top, they knew that
at last the great cruise was ended.

And Noah opened the door, and let down the gang-plank.

And beasts and birds surged out on the desolate rock; and though the mud
was thick and heavy, some found it to their liking, and all preferred it
to the ship.




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25-26. THE RAINBOW


Now the sun again arose, and sucked up the dampness from the earth.

And a bright rainbow was set in the sky, as a sign that nevermore would
a flood cover the whole earth.

Then Spring burst forth, with all its glory and promise. And a new world
began. And all was life and joy.




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25-26. THE RAINBOW (_continued_)


And Noah bade the beasts and birds go forth and seek new homes. And they
scattered in every direction to begin life afresh; while Noah’s wife
murmured “good riddance,” and vowed that she would never go to sea
again.

Then Noah gladly rested from his labors.

And this is the end of the story of Noah’s Ark.





End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Noah's Ark, by E. Boyd Smith

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