One day, says a Persian poet, I saw a bunch of roses, and in the midst
of them grew a tuft of grass.
"How," I cried to the grass, "does a poor plant like you dare to be
found in the company of roses?"
And I ran to tear away the tuft, when the grass replied:
"Spare me! It is true, I am not a rose; but you will perceive from my
perfume that I have been among the roses."
This is a very pretty fable for young people. It makes us recollect
one of the proverbs of Solomon: "He that walketh with wise men shall
be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed," Young people
like to have companions, and it is proper that they should have them.
If we had no one to associate with, we should be unhappy. We need
friends that we may confide in, and that we may tell them what we
feel and what we think. But we must take care as to the choice of
friends; for just as the grass in the fable imbibed the scent of the
roses, so we become like those with whom we associate.
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