Big Cabbage – C. Schmid

Indian ChildrenTwo shop boys, Joe and Henry, one day passed by one of the village gardens.

“Look at that,” said Joe, “what a beautiful big cabbage.”

“That’s nothing,” said Henry, who was something of a boaster. “In my travels in foreign lands I once saw a cabbage bigger than this garden.”

Joe, who was a coppersmith, commented: “It must have been some cabbage. But once upon a time I remember I had to help build a copper that was even bigger than the church.”

“My goodness,” said Henry, “what on earth was it to be used for?”

Joe replied: “To boil your cabbage.”

Henry became very mortified and said: “Now I understand what you mean. Usually you always tell the truth and if you have spoken to me in this manner I realize that it is for my good and that you want me to overcome the habit of exaggerating and of telling lies.”

An honest man’s the noblest work of God.

∼ C. Schmid

About C. Schmid

Christoph von Schmid (15 August 1768 Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria – 3 September 1854 Augsburg) was a writer of children’s stories and an educator. His stories were very popular and translated into many languages. His best known work in the English-speaking world is The Basket of Flowers (Das Blumenkörbchen). Christoph von Schmid studied theology and was ordained priest in 1791. He then served as assistant in several parishes until 1796, when he was placed at the head of a large school in Thannhausen, where he taught for many years. From 1816 to 1826, he was parish priest at Oberstadion in Württemberg. In 1826, Christoph von Schmid was appointed canon of the Augsburg Cathedral, where he died of cholera at the age of eighty-seven. Schmid began writing books for children, teaching Christian values, shortly after being placed at the school in Thannhausen. His first work was a Bible history for children (1801). Schmid’s original purpose for writing was to reward his students after school by reading his books to them. Schmid continued with his calling as a writer of children’s books throughout his long life. Schmid’s writings have been translated into 24 languages. His principal juvenile works are Biblische Geschichte für Kinder, Der Weihnachtsabend, Genovefa, Die Ostereier, Das Blumenkörbchen, and Erzählungen für Kinder und Kinderfreunde (1823–1829). Die Ostereier (Easter Eggs, 1816) became so popular that he started signing himself as “author of Easter Eggs.” Many say that he was the pioneer of books for youths.

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