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WEATHER BOARDS AND ROOFING
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WEATHER-BOARDS AND ROOFING
OTHER: After your father had filled the framework of his house with bricks, can you tell me, Elmer, how the outside was covered?
Elmer: The walls were covered on the outside with boards, and the roof with shingles.
Mother: That would do very well for a wooden house, but for one that can walk, run, jump, and skip about, such a stiff covering would be sadly out of place. We sometimes smile because the snail carries his house around on his back; but the house we live in must move itself and carry the one who lives in it. How are boards and shingles fastened onto common houses so they will stay?
Percy: With nails.
Mother: Just think of driving nails into muscles! Yet you see our body-houses must have some kind of a covering. It must be thin and strong and one that will stretch. Look at your hands and see if they do not have the very best covering that could be made. Pinch up the skin, and see how thin it is, and yet how well it fits every part of the body.