A friend once asked an aged man what caused him to complain so
often at eventide of pain and weariness. “Alas,” replied he, “I
have every day so much to do. I have two falcons to tame, two
hares to keep from running away, two hawks to manage, a serpent
to confine, a lion to chain and a sick man to tend and wait
upon.”
“Well, well,” commented his friend, “you are busy, indeed! But I
didn’t know that you had anything to do with a menagerie. How,
then, do you make that out?”
“Why,” continued the old man, “listen. Two falcons are my
eyes, which I must guard diligently; the two hares are my
feet, which I must keep from walking in the ways of sin; the
two hawks are my hands, which I must train to work, that I may
provide for myself and those dependent on me as well as for a
needy friend occasionally; the serpent is my tongue, which I
must keep ever bridled lest it speak unseemly; the lion is my
heart, with which I have a continual fight lest evil things come
out of it, and the sick man is my whole body, which is always
needing my watchfulness and care. All this daily wears out my
strength.”--Du Quoin _Tribune_.
(2862)
=Self-conquest=--See VICTORY IN DEFEAT.