It is a very bad habit, this stretching the truth, as one does a piece of
India rubber; and the worst of it is, that when any body forms the habit,
there is no telling how much it will grow upon him.
There is Jack Weaver, for instance. He is a sailor all over, to be sure--an
"old salt," as he would call himself. But that does not confer upon him any
license to spin such yarns as he does, to his young shipmates on the
forward deck. He has cruised half a dozen years after whales, in the
Pacific ocean, and, of course, has seen some sights that are worth speaking
of. But that is no reason why he should fill the head of that young fellow
sitting on a coil of rope with a hundred cock-and-bull stories, that have
scarcely a word of truth in them, from beginning to end. Why, he don't
pretend to tell stories without stretching the truth.
I know some boys, too, who seem to find it very difficult to relate any
incident as it took place. They are so much in the habit of stretching the
truth, in fact, that those who are acquainted with them seldom believe more
than half of one of their stories. These boys, however, have not the
slightest intention, when they are pulling out a foot into a yard, of doing
any thing wrong. Very possibly they think they are telling a pretty
straight story. Habits are strong, you know--especially bad habits. Just
look at Selden Mason, one of the best-natured boys I ever saw, and who has
not got an enemy among all his school-mates; it is wonderful what a
truth-stretcher he has got to be. Every boy shakes his head, when he hears
a great story, and says it sounds like one of Selden's yarns. And yet be is
so particular and minute in relating any thing, sometimes, that one who did
not know him would not suspect him of treating the truth so badly. His
apparent sincerity reminds me of an anecdote related of another boy, who
had this habit worse than Selden has, I should think. The boy remarked that
his father once killed ninety-nine crows at a single shot! He was asked why
he did not say a hundred, and have done with it. The fellow was indignant.
"Do you think I would tell a lie for one crow?" said he!
Selden Mason's habit of truth-stretching has got such a hold of him now,
that you can perceive the marks of it in almost every thing he says. I have
sometimes been half sorry he was so good a boy in other respects; for, as
his companions like him pretty well, there is the more danger that they
will catch the habit of him, before they are aware of it. His teacher was
once asked what he thought of Selden, on the whole. "I can't help being
pleased with the fellow," said he; "he is a good scholar, and very
obedient; but I should like him a great deal better if he didn't tell such
monstrous stories. He is like a book all printed in italic letters, with an
exclamation point at the end of every sentence." Selden has often gone by
the name of the "Exclamation Point," since that time.
Poor fellow! I wish he had tried to break himself of that habit, before it
became so deeply rooted. I am afraid it will stick to him as long as he
lives now; and if it does, he will get a very bad character as a man of
business. Scarcely any reliance can be placed upon his word. No matter how
careful he may be to state a thing exactly as it is, in his business
matters, if he keeps up this general habit, people will say, "Oh! that's
nothing but one of Mason's italic stories!"
Look out, my boy! It wouldn't be the strangest thing in the world, if you
had got into a habit something like this of Selden's, though it may not yet
be half so strong. But keep a sharp look-out, at any rate. Take care that
you never stretch the truth.