In the book of Proverbs is this verse: “The sluggard saith,
‘There is a lion without; I shall be slain in the street.’”
This means that a lazy man did not wish to go to work, and so
pretended that there was a lion in the street, and offered as an
excuse for not going to work that the lion in the street would
kill him if he went out.
It is a fact that every lazy boy and every indolent girl has
a lion; that is, some excuse for not doing what is asked. A
daughter is told to do her piano practising and exclaims: “Oh,
I can’t! It is so cold in the parlor” (lazy man’s lion). A son
is asked to run to the store on an errand and answers that his
shoe hurts his foot when he walks (lazy man’s lion). On Sunday
morning he can not go to church because it is rainy (lazy man’s
lion). He can not study his lessons because his eyes hurt him
(lazy man’s lion). She can not eat the crusts of her bread
because her gums are sore (lazy man’s lion). She can not get up
in time for breakfast because her throat pains her (lazy man’s
lion).
Look out for the lazy man’s lion, that foolish excuse for
not doing what we should do!--E. H. BYINGTON,
_Congregationalist_.
(1773)