Frank and his mother were walking one day when they came across a pretty garden. Frank saw that it had nice, clean gravel walks and beds of blooming flowers. He called to his mother and expressed his wish to walk in it.
The gardener, who was nearby, heard what Frank said and kindly invited Frank and his mother to walk in the garden. Frank’s mother thanked the man and reminded Frank to take care not to meddle with anything in it.
Frank walked along the gravel paths, admiring everything but touching nothing. He did not tread on any of the borders and took care that his clothes should not brush the tops of the flowers, lest he might break them.
The gardener was much pleased with Frank because he was so careful not to do mischief. He showed him the seeds and told him the names of many of the flowers.
While Frank was admiring the beauty of a flower, a boy came to the gate and shook it. But it would not open. Then he said, “Let me in; let me in; will you not let me in?”
“No, indeed,” said the gardener, “I will not let you in, I assure you; for when I let you in yesterday, you meddled with my flowers and pulled some of my rare fruit. I do not choose to let a boy into my garden who meddles with what does not belong to him.”
The boy looked ashamed and slowly went away.
Frank saw and felt how much happier a boy may be by not meddling with what does not belong to him.
Credits
William Holmes McGuffey was a 19th-century American educator best known for his wildly influential McGuffey Readers, a series of school textbooks that shaped the moral and literary education of millions of American children. "A Walk In The Garden" is characteristic of his reader stories — short, vivid, and built around a quietly observed lesson in character.
