152 THE ANT AND THE GRAIN OF CORN. times did the little spider try to climb up the beam, and twelve times did it fail to achieve the feat. But the thirteenth time it succeeded. The king rose up from his resting-place, and said, 'This little spider has taught me perseverance. I will follow its example. Twelve times have I been beaten by the enemy; I will try once more.' He did so, and won the next battle. "There is another warrior of whom I have read, who, like King Robert, was obliged to hide himself in a ruined building from his enemies. And, wishing to divert his mind from his hopeless condition, fixed his eyes upon an ant which was carrying a grain of corn, larger than itself, up a high wall. He numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the seventieth time it reached the top. This sight for the moment gave the warrior courage, and he never forgot the lesson: 'Little things teach great lessons.' "Never despise trifles, I again repeat; they make the sum of life, and the sum of all our happiness. Happiness consists in little things—a kind look, a cheerful word, a warm pressure of the hand, a simple act of courtesy. It is because we do not yield to each other in little things life is made miserable, character is misunderstood, minds are disturbed, and hearts made sorrowful; it is just because they are little things, and we think they are of no moment, that we 'Another warrior of whom I have read fixed his eyes upon an ant which was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall.'-LAME FELIX, Page 152. WASTED TIME. 153 do not yield; not because we are worse than other people, but we do not consider that pleasure or pain depends upon a trifle. It is the same with little faults, of which the proverb says, 'Small faults indulged in, are little thieves that let in greater. "It is little sorrows, little cares, and little disappointments that wear and fret the heart away, and plough the face with wrinkles. Great sorrows come but seldom in a lifetime; occasionally they do unhinge a character fcr life; but usually great sorrows have a softening and mellowing influence upon it, but little petty cares and griefs seldom, if ever. To be anxious about many things is bad. "I should like you boys here to be able to weigh and value little things, not despise them; it is little moments and minutes which are carrying you on to eternity; you think, because you have all life lying before you, you have time for everything, and therefore take no heed of the moments as they fly. Men who are well up in years estimate their value aright, and know and feel how precious they are. Waste not your time; by rightly economising it, you may live seven years in six-or, on the contrary, by wasting it you may live five instead. gained,' says the proverb; time,' says another; and a 'Time wasted is never re The young are prodigal of third, He who sows the golden sands of time broadcast, will reap a plentiful crop of regret! "A great Frenchman wrote a book during the time 154 THE DAISY AND THE DEWDROP. he was compelled to wait each day for his wife to make her appearance at the dinner-table. Sir John Herschel, while playing in the band at Bath, and fulfilling his various other engagements, found time to pursue his astronomical studies. While his companions spent their spare moments in the public-house, he hurried to his laboratory or study, and made golden use of the minutes. Be careful of your minutes, boys; in the end you will find of how much value they have been. "Value little things! Beware of little sins, they are the ruination of character, life, and soul. A little sin seems of no moment, no more does a single link of a chain, but a number of links welded together makes the chain; and a number of little sins makes a chain strong enough to hold the soul in bondage. To a really wise mind nothing is a trifle. Take heed, boys, and always bear in mind the caution of our great chart and guide-book-' Despise not the day of small things.' "A great poet was once asked to write a few lines in a little girl's album, or manuscript book, and he wrote the following: "Small service is true service while it lasts; Of friends, however humble, scorn not one; Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.' Pretty, simple lines, but how much they express. A daisy can protect a dewdrop; and what may not a boy do!" |