A mother once lay very sick, and suffered great and constant pain. Her
children were all very sad and melancholy, and the large ones often
kneeled down together, and prayed that God would restore their mother to
health once more.
The youngest child would stand all day by the bed of her mother, and
with tearful eyes, anxiously inquire when she would be well and get up
again. One day this little child observed a glass filled with some dark
fluid standing by the sick bed, and asked, "Mother, what is this?" The
mother answered, "My dear child, it is something very bitter; but I must
drink it, that I may get well again." "Mother," said the good child, "if
it is so bitter, I will drink it for you; then you will be well again."
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And the sick mother, in all her pains, had the comfort and consolation
of seeing how dearly all her children loved her.
Parents, joy and comfort find
In a child that is good and kind;
But their hearts are very sad,
When the child they love is bad.