EXERCISE II

(Paroles d'un croyant, pp. 397-8. )

A. 1. If we should die or fall ill, what would become of you 1 2. If this thought never leaves you it will gnaw your heart like a worm. 3. Although the same thought comes to

me, I do nofc dwell on it. 4. Let us live without anxiety. 6. Those who do not live without anxiety, do not enjoy a moment of repose. 6. Soon the mother came back again to her nest. 7. The man was sad and downcast, on account of the orphans in their nest. 8. The poor bird struggled, but the vulture carried it off. 9. What will become of my children, if they lose me? 10. The little birds have only their mother. 11. My children, too, have only me. 12. When he returned to the fields, he wished to see the young ones again, 13. All the little birds were well. 14. If he hides himself, he will see what will happen. 15. He observed what had happened. 16. The food, which was brought back by the mother, was given to all without distinction. 17. If we do not distrust Providence, God will not abandon us. 18. Let us not be anxious. 19. Those who pursue their journey in peace will know the secrets of God's love. 20. If our children are not of an age to provide for their own needs, they will have the Father in Heaven.

B. Two men had only their labour to support their wives and their little children. And one of them was troubled, and asked himself (se demander) what would become of his wife and children if he should die. But the other man lived without anxiety, for he said that God knew His creatures, and that He would watch over him and his children. One day when the first man was working in the fields, he saw some birds which were going into and coming out of a clump of trees. He drew near, and saw two nests in which were several young birds without feathers. He returns to his work, but watches the birds as they come and go with food for their young. Now, as the man was working, one of the mother [birds] uttered a piercing cry, for a vulture had seized her as she was returning home with her mouthful of food. At the sight of this, the man felt his soul deeply {hien) disturbed, and said, ^' What will become now of the little birds'?" But the next day, directing his steps towards the clump of trees, he saw that none of the young had suffered. This astonished him. But he soon saw the second mother distributing to all the young ones the food which she had gathered. She had not abandoned the orphans in their distress. Let us not dis-

trust Providence. God will not forsake His own. We shall never know the secrets of His love. If one father dies before the other, the latter will be a father to all the children. H both die, the children will have their Father in Heaven, and He will provide for all their needs.