[Illustration: THE OAK AND THE REED.]
An oak, which hung over the bank of a river, was blown down by a violent
storm of wind; and as it was carried along by the stream, some of its
boughs brushed against a Reed which grew near the shore. This struck the
Oak with a thought of admiration; and he could not forbear asking the
Reed, how he came to stand so secure and unhurt, in a tempest which had
been furious enough to tear an Oak up by the roots? 'Why,' says the
Reed, 'I secure myself by putting on a behaviour quite contrary to what
you do; instead of being stubborn and stiff, and confiding in my
strength, I yield and bend to the blast, and let it go over me; knowing
how vain and fruitless it would be to resist.'