Happy Mother's Day!

The Widow and Her Three Sons (Adapted)
(Advanced)

One day a poor woman approached Mr. Lincoln for an interview. She was somewhat advanced in years and plainly clad, wearing a faded shawl and worn hood.

"Well, my good woman," said Mr. Lincoln, "what can I do for you this morning?"

"Mr. President," answered she, "my husband and three sons all went into the army. My husband was killed in the battle of----. I get along very badly since then living all alone, and I thought that I would come and ask you to release to me my oldest son."

Mr. Lincoln looked in her face for a moment, and then replied kindly:-- "Certainly! Certainly! If you have given us ALL, and your property has been taken away, you are justly entitled to one of your boys."

He then made out an order discharging the young man, which the woman took away, thanking him gratefully. She went to the front herself with the President's order, and found that her son had been mortally wounded in a recent battle, and taken to the hospital. She hastened to the hospital. But she was too late, the boy died, and she saw him laid in a soldier's grave. She then returned to the President with his order, on the back of which the attendant surgeon had stated the sad facts concerning the young man it was intended to discharge. Mr. Lincoln was much moved by her story, and said: "I know what you wish me to do now, and I shall do it without your asking. I shall release to you your second son."

Taking up his pen he began to write the order, while the grief-stricken woman stood at his side and passed her hand softly over his head, and stroked his rough hair as she would have stroked her boy's. When he had finished he handed her the paper, saying tenderly, his eyes full of tears:-- "Now you have one of the two left, and I have one, that is no more than right."

She took the order and reverently placing her hand upon his head, said:-- "The Lord bless you, Mr. President. May you live a thousand years, and may you always be the head of this great nation."

Vocabulary


Do you know what these words mean? If not, look them up in an English dictionary, or click here to look them up online.

advanced
attendant
battle
clad
discharge
entitle
front
grief
hood
intend
mortal
prop
release
reverent
rough
shawl
tender
widow
wound



Sentence Completion I


Use the vocabulary words to complete the sentences below.
  1. A _________ went to see President Lincoln.
  2. Her husband had been killed in a _________.
  3. She asked for the _________ of her oldest son.
  4. When the President agreed, she went to the _________ to get her son.
  5. He had been _________ __________ before she arrived.
  6. Hearing this sad news, the President __________ her second son.



Sentence Completion II


Use the vocabulary words to complete the sentences below.
  1. The child _________ over the loss of his puppy.
  2. My sister was __________ when she fell down the steps, but not seriously.
  3. When the man __________ in years entered the bus, I stood to give him my seat.
  4. The battle __________ is a dangerous place to be.
  5. Human beings are __________; they will all die someday.
  6. Grandmother was recently __________ from the hospital.
  7. She __________ to go shopping this weekend.



Reading Comprehension


  1. Is the woman young or old? Rich or poor?
  2. Why is she a widow?
  3. What does she want?
  4. How does President Lincoln respond?
  5. What happened to her oldest son?
  6. After this sad event, what does she do?
  7. Why does the President discharge her second son?


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