VERBIVORE BY RICHARD LEDERER The first person to submit the correct answer will receive a $25 gift certificate from Borders Books & Music.

long ago, there lived in the backwoods of the Middle West a young man who had been born in a log cabin in 1809, had grown up without schooling and had never traveled except through a few rural counties. When his father, Thomas Lincoln, a lazy, thriftless carpenter, married Nancy Hanks, no one dreamed that their offspring would be remembered throughout history as the man who gave America a voice to sing of itself. Born into grinding poverty, the young Lincoln helped to break a pioneer farm but had little formal education. During his first seven years in the wilds of Kentucky, he learned how to spell his name and a little arithmetic. More important, he possessed an extraordinary sense of purpose. "I don't know who my grandfather was," he observed. "I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be." There was little in the society about him to lift his eyes and ideals above the level of those around him, but in books he found constant friends in whose companionship his aspirations took form before the world had yet heard of him. "I will study and get ready, and some day my chance will come," he answered the taunts of his friends who assured him that he was wasting his time "readin' and learnin'." Young Abraham told those who doubted him, "The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll git me a book I ain't read." Sometimes his friends would reply, "Well, books ain't as plenty as wildcats in these parts." But Abe went right ahead widening his circle of book friends. Through books he held conversations with the greatest minds of all the ages. With their inspiration, he continued to educate himself all the years of his life. Cousin Dennis Hanks thought there was something "peculiarsome in Abe." One time, Dennis caught Lincoln reading Aesop's Fables and told him that all those stories were lies. "Perhaps they are lies," Lincoln allowed, "but they are mighty good lies." The big boy of the backwoods knew that in literature repose lies that tell the truth. Too poor to buy books, he borrowed them, once walking 40 miles to get one. Cousin John Hanks, who shucked corn and split rails with him in the fields and the woods from sunset to sundown, said, "When Abe and I came back to the house from work, he used to go to the cupboard, snatch a piece of corn bread, sit down, take a book, stick his legs up as high as his head — and read in front of a fireplace till midnight. Whenever Abe had a chance in the field while at work, or at the house, he would stop and read." One time, Lincoln found a complete edition of Blackstone's Commentaries. From that day on, he studied law and eventually became a lawyer. Good books gave Lincoln the power to magnify his mind. In them he found faithful counselors who lifted his eyes beyond the horizon of his pinched backwoods community and helped him climb, step by step, to eminence. After he had become our 16th president, he was asked to tell the story of his life. He answered with a literary allusion: "It is contained in one line of Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard': 'The short and simple annals of the poor.'" Most of us know the story of how Abraham Lincoln, on Nov. 19, 1863, came to dedicate the opening of a new Civil War Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa. We know that in a time before presidential speeches were stitched by teams of professional writers, Lincoln crafted the most famous political statement in American history. We know that in an age when orators often went on for more than two hours, Lincoln, within the brief compass of three minutes and 272 fateful words, delivered a masterpiece that changed a young nation forever. Fewer of us know that he also changed the world. Traveling in a wild region of the Caucasus, the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy was befriended by a devout Circassian chief who wanted to hear about the world outside his mountains. After Tolstoy went on at length about the powerful leaders of Europe, the chief insisted: "But you have not told us about the greatest general and ruler of the world. We want to know something about him. He was a hero. He spoke with a voice of thunder, he laughed like the sunrise, his deeds were strong as the rock and sweet as the fragrance of roses. "He was so great that he even forgave the crimes of his greatest enemies and shook brotherly hands with those who had plotted against his life. His name was Lincoln and the country in which he lived is called America. Tell us of that man." Word of Abraham Lincoln, whose seed was planted on such dry, unpromising ground, had reached even this remote area. Here's the Verbivore's Challenge. The first reader to submit the correct answer will receive a $25 gift certificate from Borders Books and Music. The name William Jefferson Clinton contains the consecutive alphabetical letters i through o, except that the letter k is missing. Name the only two American presidents whose first, middle and last names include seven or more consecutive letters in the alphabet. In each case, indicate the first and last letter in the alphabetical sequence. Please enter your full name Please enter your email address Are your answers filled in? If yes, press the SUBMIT button below. This quickly sends your answers back to SALON. There is no need to press this button twice. Answers to the last Verbivore. The following nouns were part of collegiate slang at the turn of the century. What did each of the following denote in student slang of that period?: 1. fertilizer Answer: nonsense 2. hell-sticks Answer: matches 3. horse Answer: corned beef 4. stove Answer: smoking pipe 5. yap Answer: mouth Feb. 10, 1997 Language expert Richard Lederer's latest book is "Fractured English" (Pocket Books). He comments on language for National Public Radio and other radio stations and is the Grammar Grappler for Writer's Digest. He can be reached at richard.lederer@pobox.com. Visit the Verbivore Web site at http://www.pobox.com/~verbivore