The Listening Grove · Fifty Famous Stories Retold
Chapter 39: Doctor Goldsmith
A Charlotte Mason read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 39, Doctor Goldsmith, about?Parent review
Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 39, Doctor Goldsmith, is a story about quiet generosity from a man who gave away nearly everything he had. Oliver Goldsmith was a kind writer who had once trained to be a physician, and he was so ready to help others that he stayed poor himself from giving so much away. When a poor woman asked him to see her sick husband, Goldsmith found the family simply had no food and no work, so he told her to come to his room that evening for medicine. He gave her a small, heavy paper box, telling her not to open it until she reached home and to use it faithfully. Inside, she and her husband found it filled with coins, with directions on top reading that it was to be taken as often as necessity required. Goldsmith had quietly given the family all the ready money he had.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 38, The King and His Hawk?Have a look
In the last chapter, The King and His Hawk, we learned that Genghis Khan grew furious when his pet hawk kept knocking a cup of water from his hands while he was hunting, and in his anger he struck and killed the bird. Only afterward did he discover that the water came from a spring poisoned by a dead snake, and that the hawk had been trying to save his life all along. Heartbroken, the king carried his hawk home and resolved never again to act in anger.
Read the previous lesson: The King and His Hawk →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 39, Doctor Goldsmith?physician, distress, faithfully, necessityHave a look
- physician: a person trained to heal the sick
- distress: a state of danger or great need
- faithfully: dutifully and loyally, just as told
- necessity: an urgent need for something
Locate it on the map!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Use an atlas and fill in the blank map if you can find the geographic location, then click to check your work.
What important geographic location connects with Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 39, Doctor Goldsmith?
- Find Dublin (Ireland): This pin marks the real Doctor Goldsmith rather than the story itself, since the chapter names no place and the anecdote about the poor woman and the paper box cannot be verified. What is documented is that Goldsmith earned his medical training and degree connected with Trinity College Dublin in 1750.
See it on the mapHave a look
This matches the map in your Lesson Guide.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 39 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold, the Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition, read by Laura Caldwell.
Read by Laura Caldwell for LibriVox (public domain), professionally adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
What do the Teacher’s Notes tell us about Chapter 39 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Parent review
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s 1896 words are read exactly as he wrote them, and we add Teacher’s Notes with historical and literary context.
- About the whole bookFifty Famous Stories Retold gathers real history together with well-loved legends and traditions. These notes tell you, story by story, which is which.
- "always poor himself"Kindness was not the only reason he was poor. His biographers record that he was careless with money and often in debt, owing about two thousand pounds when he died. The giving was real; it was not the whole story.
- "called Doctor Goldsmith"Doctor was a courtesy title. Goldsmith studied medicine at Edinburgh and Leiden and practiced for a time, but no one ever established where his degree came from, and in 1758 Surgeons' Hall found him not qualified.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 39 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Oliver Goldsmith, The poor woman and her husband, The paper boxHave a look
- Oliver Goldsmith: A writer, trained as a physician.
- The poor woman and her husband: The family Goldsmith is called to visit.
- The paper box: The box Goldsmith gives the woman.
Chapter 39 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s stories mingle real history with beloved legend, and here is what to know about this one.
Was Oliver Goldsmith a real person?
Yes, and his biography is well documented: he trained in medicine at Edinburgh and Leiden and earned a degree connected with Trinity College Dublin in 1750, which is why he was sometimes called "Doctor" Goldsmith, even though a medical board later found him not fully qualified to practice.
Did the story about the poor woman and the paper box of money really happen?
This particular anecdote could not be verified in any approved source, including Goldsmith's standard biographies. It is best enjoyed as a beloved story that captures his generous character rather than as a documented event.
Was Goldsmith really poor because he gave so much away?
Giving generously was real, but it was not the whole story. His biographers also record that he was careless with money and often in debt, owing roughly two thousand pounds when he died, so his poverty came from more than just kindness.