61. The Boy and the Nettles
A BOY was stung by a Nettle.
He ran home and told his Mother, saying, "Although it hurts me very much, I only touched it gently."
"That was just why it stung you," said his Mother.
"The next time you touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will be soft as silk to your hand, and not in the least hurt you."
Whatever you do, do with all your might.
62. The Man and His Two Sweethearts
A MIDDLE-AGED MAN, whose hair had begun to turn gray, courted two women at the same time. One of them was young, and the other well advanced in years.
The elder woman, ashamed to be courted by a man younger than herself, made a point, whenever her admirer visited her, to pull out some portion of his black hairs.
The younger, on the contrary, not wishing to become the wife of an old man, was equally zealous in removing every gray hair she could find.
Thus it came to pass that between them both he very soon found that he had not a hair left on his head.
Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.
63. The Astronomer
AN ASTRONOMER used to go out at night to observe the stars.
One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well.
While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: "Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?' |
