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Little George
knew nothing of the echo. Once upon a time he was playing in the
forest, when he called out, "Ho! Ho!" and immediately it was
repeated. He was much surprised, and shouted, "Who are you?" The
voice also said: "Who are you?" George shouted, "You are a silly
boy!"—"Silly boy!" resounded from the forest. He became very much
excited, and continued to use angry words, which were all repeated.
Upon this, he determined to search for the naughty boy who he
supposed was hiding in the forest and mocking him; but of course he
failed to find any one. George ran home and told his mother a bad
boy in the forest had called him names. His mother said: "You,
yourself, were the bad boy; you only heard your own words. Your
voice rebounded from the hills, just as you have often seen your
face reflected in the water. If you had spoken pleasant words, you
would have heard pleasant words. The echo always repeats the words
you speak."
The Echo
A Fictional Short Story by
Agnes Taylor Ketchum & Ida M. Jorgensen
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