M. E. Hume-Griffith, in her “Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish
Arabia,” tells of a little Persian boy badly disfigured from a
“hare-lip,” who was brought by his father to the medical mission at
Julfa to be operated upon for the trouble.
The Persians believe that this congenital malformation is the
mark left by the Evil One, so this afflicted boy was known in
his village by the unenviable title “little devil,” and had been
a good deal tormented by his playfellows. The operation was a
complete success. After ten days’ careful treatment the dressing
was finally removed, and the boy was handed a mirror that he
might look for the first time upon his “new” face. Tears of joy
rolled down his face as he kissed the hand that had wrought
the change, and he murmured brokenly: “I am no longer a little
devil, I am no longer a little devil!” And he went back to his
comrades to be a hero and an idol.
(2682)
* * * * *
The difference between men who are taking in and giving out life and
knowledge and men who are living in their own selfish circle is like
the difference in lakes stated below:
Fresh-water lakes are always only expansions of rivers, due to
the particular topographical configuration of a valley. They are
all characterized by the fact that the water that they receive
runs out, either continuously or intermittently, and that the
chemical constitution of their water remains constantly the same
as that of the streams and rivers of the same region.
Salt lakes, on the other hand, are always closed basins,
without outlet, and their water is removed only by surface
evaporation. These facts being well understood, we see at once
why the former lakes contain fresh water and the others salt
water.(Text.)--PAUL COMBES, _Cosmos_.
(2683)
See INNER LIFE.