However, in spite of all the damage that Vesuvius has done, it also has done some good. Many of the things Pepino likes to eat grow on the slopes of the mountain, for the decayed lava makes a very rich soil. So, in spite of the danger now and then, thousands of people live either on the mountain side or near its foot, and make their livings from their vineyards, olive orchards, orange orchards, and wheat fields, or from the flocks of sheep or goats that they pasture in the less fertile places.

Pepino’s home is in a tall apartment house, but he spends much of his time out of doors. In the winter it is often uncomfortably cool inside the houses, so that he likes to play in the sunshine. Not far from his home there is a street where he likes very much to play during the dry, hot summer days. It is a narrow street and on each side of it are tall buildings that shut chit much of the hot sunshine. Bright awnings and balconies that jut out over the street also help to shade it, and it is lined with little shops. Much of the wheat that grows near Pepino’s home is used to make macaroni. You might visit with him a courtyard, much like the one in Figure 107, to see macaroni hanging on long poles to dry. In some of the brightly painted shops or stalls along this street Pepino can buy good things to eat. He can always get macaroni. It may be cooked with cheese, or stewed with mutton broth. Sometimes it is served with tomato or egg sauce instead. Day after day he eats it, and does not seem to get tired of it. At the corner nearest his home a lemonade seller has a little shop. On the counter of this shop are big, brown water jars, and around them are piles of oranges and lemons with their glossy, dark-green leaves. Sometimes he also has for sale figs, melons, grapes, pears, and other fruits from the orchards and fields near Naples. The gay vegetable and flower booths are pretty, too, but Pepino likes much better the booths where he can buy roasted chestnuts and those where sausages fried in olive oil are sold. He can get fresh milk, too, if he likes, for the milkman drives his goats from door to door and milks them before the homes of his customers. Many other people in Naples besides Pepino like to be outdoors, and so they often eat and work and play in the streets.

Places in Italy that you have not visited. — The pictures in Figures 108, 109, 110, 111, and 112 were taken in other parts of Italy. Using the List of Illustrations to help you, study these pictures to find at least four kinds of work that you might see people in these places doing.

There are many cities in Italy besides Naples that people like to visit. From the story of Pompeii, you found that people lived in this land hundreds and hundreds of years ago. When you read in your history the stories of the ancient Romans, you will learn that some of the buildings and other things they made can still be seen in these cities. In later days, also, there have been many famous Italian builders, painters, and sculptors, and it is worth going a long distance to see some of their beautiful buildings, pictures, and statues.

Many people who visit Italy to see these treasures come in the winter time because they like the mild, bright, winter days. There are some rainy winter days, too, but these rains help to make the winters pleasant In many of these cities, the summers are uncomfortably hot and dry, as they are in Naples, and without the winter rains there would not be the orange orchards, olive orchards, and farms near-by

Although the other cities are not close to active volcanoes, most of them are near mountains, for Italy is a land of many mountains. People who live in these mountains cannot make their livings in the same ways that the people about Naples do. You must remember, then, that although many places in Italy are much like Pepino’s home, there are ever and ever so many things about the Italians and their country that you do not learn from the story of Pepino.

From Naples to Demetra’s home. — In Figure 97, find the southern part of the peninsula of Greece (p. 69). Demetra is a little Greek girl who lives here. By sea, you must make a journey of about five hundred miles from Pepino’s home to Demetra’s. In what direction would you start from Naples to go by boat from there to Demetra’s home (Fig. 97)? South of Naples, just before you turn east on this journey, you pass through a narrow strait between Italy and a large island. Find it in Figure 113.

Demetra’s home. — Demetra’s father owns a small vineyard and lives in a village near-by. You can tell from the picture in Figure 114 what lies back of the village. Sometimes Liemetra visits her cousin Markos, who lives on the mountain side. As she helps him tend his flock of goats she can see, far beneath her, many vineyards, and beyond them the blue waters of the gulf. There are olive trees scattered among the vineyards, too.

Demetra spends most of her time playing or helping her mother, but at harvest time both she and her mother work in the vineyard. Although her father’s vineyard is small, there is so much work to do in it that he is kept busy most of the time, and at harvest he needs extra help.

The grapes in these vineyards are small, seedless grapes that seem to grow better here than in any other place in the world. They are dried to make raisins. Because they grew near the Gulf of Corinth, these little raisins were first called "Corinth raisins." Then they were called" Corinths" for short, and finally they were called "currants," the name by which you know them. Almost all the dried currants in the world come from the land in which Demetra lives.

In January, February, and March, Demetra’s father spends much time working with the soil in his vineyard. He digs a little trench around the roots of each plant. When it rains, much of the water that falls in the vineyard runs into these trenches. In this land of little rainfall, the vines need all they can get of the rain that does fall. After the vines have budded and the young shoots are about a foot long, Demetra’s father fills in the trenches. The fine dirt scattered over the ground helps to keep some of the moisture that is in the ground from evaporating during the dry, hot summer days.

In June Demetra’s father cuts some of the leaves off the vines to make the grapes ripen faster, and by August the picking and drying begin. Markos leaves his goats with another shepherd and he and his mother and father come down to help, too. The pickers carry the ripe clusters in baskets to the drying ground and spread them out on the ground or in trays to dry in the sunshine.

It takes ten or twelve days for the grapes to dry, and in early September most of them are ready to sell. Demetra’s father usually has four or five thousand pounds of currants from his little vineyard. Demetra is glad when she sees the last pound loaded on the backs of the mules that carry the currants to the city to be packed and sent away, for she knows that the hard work is over for awhile.

Of course not all the farmers in Demetra’s land have vineyards. Some of them have olive, orange, or fig orchards. Others raise wheat or barley. Many places on the mountam side are so steep that they cannot be farmed at all. Figures 115 and 116 show you how some of the lands are used.

Markos and the sun. — Markos spends so much of his time outdoors with his goats that he has learned a great deal about outdoor things. He has learned to tell when it is lunch time by looking at the sun. He knows that when his shadow falls due north of him it is time to eat the bread, goat’s milk, cheese, and olives or other food that he brings with him every day. He knows that in summer the sun at noon is higher in the southern sky than it is in winter. The days are longer in summer than they are in winter. If he takes his flock out at sunrise when the days are longest, he must go about half past four o’clock, and the sun does not set till almost half past seven o’clock in the evening. When the days are shortest in winter, the sun rises about three hours later and sets about half past four o’clock.

If you follow the directions which Markos gives you in the next two paragraphs, you can get some idea of the paths he sees the sun follow across the sky in summer and in winter.

"Point due east to the horizon. Point due north to the horizon. Point to a place on the horizon about one-third of the way from east to north. That is the place where I see the sun nse on the longest clay in summer. Point to a place in the southern sky more than three-fourths of the way from the horizon to the zenith. This is the place where I see the sun at noon on this day. Point to a place on the horizon about onethird of the way from west to north. This is the place where I see the sun set. Can you point now to the path I see the sun follow across the sky on this day from the place where it rises to the place where it sets?

"Now point to a place on the horizon one-third of the way from east to south. This is the place where I see the sun rise on the shortest day in winter. Point to a place in the southern sky about one-third of the way up from the horizon to the zenith. This is the place in the sky where I see the sun at noon on this day. Point to a place on the horizon about one-third of the way from west to south. This is the place where the sun sets. Point now to the path I see the sun follow across the sky on this day."

Have you ever noticed that on most days it is warmer at noon, when the sun is high in the sky, than it is in the morning and evening, when the sun is low in the sky? Does this help you see why the winters are not so warm as the summers where Demetra and Markos live? If Pepino and Leandro watched the sun as Markos does, they would find that in their lands it follows about the same paths that Markos sees it follow.

A fable of a tree and a famous city. — This is a fable which was told by the ancient Greeks about a city not far from Demetra’s home.

"Once upon a time a stranger came to Greece and started to build a city near the sea, not far from the eastern coast. From the marble quarries of Greece were brought stones for the buildings. The city grew to be so beautiful that the gods and goddesses each wished to have the honor of naming it. After much talk it was decided that the honor should go to the god or goddess who could make the most useful thing for men. Only one god. and one goddess tried for the honor. The god struck the ground with his rod and a noble horse sprang forth. The goddess created an olive tree. The other gods saw that the fruit of the tree was good to eat, and that the oil from the fruit was useful in many ways. They saw that the wood could be used, too, and that the leaves of the tree furnished good shade. When they found that this tree would grow in warm lands which had little rain, they decided it was a much more useful gift to man than the horse. So the goddess Athene earned the right to give the city her own name."

Of course this is only a fable, but it shows that olive trees were prized by the Greeks of long ago, just as they are by the people of Greece to-day. This city now is called Athens. Even to-day, it is the most famous city of Greece. On your map in Figure 97, find the sign near the eastern coast of Greece which stands for the city of Athens.

Islands and voyages. - Many people in Greece live within sight of the sea, and there are many places along the coasts where it is easy for boats to come close to shore. In some such places busy seaports have grown, and in others only little fishing villages. From many of these places along the coasts, you can see the shores of islands not very far away, for there are hundreds of islands near Greece. The sight of these islands makes men want to visit them, and even in the days of ancient Greece, the Greeks made voyages to these near-by shores. From them they could see other shores, and so, little by little, they became great voyagers. They explored new lands along the Mediterranean and made new homes in some of them. Your boat will take you next to one of the coasts where some of the Greeks made new homes. It is due east of Athens. Find it in Figure 97. This land is called Asia Minor.

From the following paragraph, find two things that you might see growing in the land near this part of the Mediterranean coast.

Figs. — "At first from the windows of the train, we could see only bare mountains. Here and there among the rocks on the mountain side, shepherds in full, baggy trousers were tending flocks of sheep and goats. Before long, however, we came to a winding river, and near the banks were many fig orchards. It was in October, and the orchards were full of men, women, and children gathering the fruit. They were not picking it from the trees but from the ground. The figs are allowed to stay on the trees until they are so ripe that they drop off. Then they must be picked up very soon to keep them from spoiling. Men and women were carrying large baskets full of them to the drying grounds. There they were spreading them out to dry in the hot sunshine. Near the railroad station at the next little village there was a’ very large olive tree. Under its shade three men were unloading goat-skin bags from the backs of camels and donkeys. These bags were filled with dried figs, and were to be sent away on the train."

From Asia Minor to the Holy Land. — In Figure 97, find the easternmost end of the Mediterranean Sea. Do you see that if your boat brought you to the easternmost end of this sea, you again would be in the land shown in your first world map (Fig. 40)? However, you did not visit then the part of this land that touches the Mediterranean Sea. This part is called Palestine or the Holy Land. At the port at which you land, you might see men loading crates of oranges on the boat, as you saw men doing near the western end of the Mediterranean.

The Holy Land. — Many stories have been written about this land. Perhaps you know the story of David. You can see shepherd boys there to-day who have slingshots to help them guard their sheep and goats from the wolves just as David had, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. You can watch them lead their flocks from place to place in search of water and fresh grass. You can find many vineyards there, too, and, just as in the days of King Solomon, thirsty foxes want to suck juice from the grapes during the hot, dry, summer weather. You can see traders like those to whom little Joseph was sold by his brothers. They go with their caravans on long journeys. Some of those whom you saw near the Tigris (p. 11) had come from this part of the land. Many of them carry wheat from the land near the coast to drier lands where wheat does not grow. Have you not heard of Bethlehem and of Jerusalem? You can still visit these very towns. Hundreds of years ago the people of this land built a beautiful temple. Some of the doors of the temple were made of the wood of olive trees. The people who now live in this land also use the wood of this tree. You can see them pressing the oil from their olives, too, just as their forefathers did in the days of long ago. Palestine is now, as it was in these old, old stories, a land of "wheat, and barley, and vines, and olives, and fig trees."

A Mediterranean puzzle. —

1. Read again the paragraphs "Some things to find about the lands along the northern shore" (p. 70). What five plants did you choose to put in your list? Tell all the ways you found in which they are helpful to men.

2. Copy the following paragraph and fill in the blanks. The dots show you the number of letters in the right word for each blank, and the first letter of each word is given to you.

I...., S...., G....., Palestine, and the Barbary Coast lands all have in most places more rainfall in the winter time than Egypt has. In most of the land that touches the Mediterranean, the summers are h.. and d... Five plants that help the people of Mediterranean lands very much to make a living are g...., v...., o...., t...., o....., t...., f.., t...., and w..... Some people make their living by growing these plants. Others make their living by making things from the fruit or seed of these plants. From olives they press o.... o... From some of the olive oil they make s.... They dry some of the grapes, and from others they make w.... From some of the wheat they make m........ Other people make their living by buying the fruits of these plants or things made from them, and by selling them to people in lands where these plants do not grow. Others make their living by packing the products that come from these plants and by loading them on trains or ships to be carried away. Even the people who earn their livings in other ways use foods that these plants furnish.

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