lesson one

a dog said that he was going to learn to read. the other dogs said he could learn to bark but he could not learn to read. they did not know that dog, if he said he was going to learn to read, he would learn to read. he might be drowned dead in water but if he said that he was going to learn to read he was going to learn to read.

he never was drowned in water not dead drowned and he never did learn to read. are there any children like that. one two three. are there any children like that. four five six. are there any children like that. seven eight nine are there any children like that.

ten. yes there are ten children like that and each one of the ten had a dog like that. ten dogs like that and ten children like that, and the dogs and the children played tit for tat but there was no learning to read in that, not even if they each one of them was fat, fat just like that.

next to this was a hare and next to the hare was a bird a daily bird. a daily bird is just a third of an ordinary bird, a daily bird being just a third was likely heard and when he was heard well was it reading he heard, yes he heard them trying to learn to read the ten dogs and the ten children and as he the bird was a daily bird, and a daily bird is a third of a bird, i will get together ten daily birds and see who learns to read first ten children ten dogs or ten daily birds.

the first dog who tried to learn to read not the one who said he was going to learn to read that one did not need to have ten dogs to learn to read, he was the one dog who had it as a great need to learn to read. but would he learn to read. who can tell, a bell learns to read, why not a dog, why not, the dog had tears in his eyes why not. a dog. but the first dog who really tried to learn to read he was a saint bernard a big dog so big that if he opened his mouth it was a big word. saying a word even a big word is not the same as reading that word. oh no said the daily bird no indeed it is not, not knot.

just notice if you say not know, how do you know if you do not know how to read, which knot has a knot, and which has not a knot. so you see you have to learn to read. the daily bird knew what was what.

courtesy of 'the gertrude stein first reader'