7. He was always fond of music. 8. He could translate Greek when he was only thirteen years old. 9. Even as a little boy he said: I intend to become a poet. 10. He wrote plays and he read the plays of Shakespeare in English. 11. As a boy he studied the piano and was fond of the music of Von Weber. 12. Among the books that Richard Wagner read as a boy were the story of _Die Meistersinger_ and the story of _Tannhaeuser_. 13. He always kept these stories in mind. 14. When he became a composer he wrote an opera upon each of these stories. 15. Tell something about Wagner and animals. 16. Richard Wagner died at Venice on Feb. 13, 1883. SOME QUESTIONS 1. What kind of music did Richard Wagner compose? 2. When was he born? 3. Can you name some of the musicians who lived when Richard Wagner was a boy? 4. How many characters from the Dickens' novel can you name from memory? 5. In what opera by Richard Wagner is _The Prize Song_? 6. Who sings it? 7. Tell what kind of a man Beckmesser is. 8. Who was the jolly cobbler singer? 9. What happened to Beckmesser in the contest with Walter? 10. What sort of characters occur in the operas? 11. See if you can describe each of these: Donner, Fafner, Mime, Freia, Wotan. 12. What is the name of the house in which Richard Wagner was born? 13. Tell some of the things he did when he was a boy. 14. Who composed _Oberon_? 15. What other opera did this composer write? 16. What should we remember about childhood thoughts? THE STORY OF WAGNER Written by .................................. On date .................................. Write a short story about Wagner and copy it on these pages. [Illustration: No. 18] Transcriber's Notes: On page 9, "Odessy" was replaced with "Odyssey". On page 11, "Die" and "Parsifal" were italicized. The music depicted in the illustration is not from Walter's Prize Song in Die Meistersinger, but is instead the opening of the overture to that opera.