The boy in this anecdote had apparently not been taught that it is
better to give than to receive:
“Well, Bobby, how do you like church?” asked his father, as they
walked homeward from the sanctuary, to which Bobby had just paid
his first visit.
“It’s fine!” ejaculated the young man. “How much did you get,
father?”
“How much did I get? Why, what do you mean? How much what?”
asked the astonished parent at this evident irreverence.
“Why, don’t you remember when the funny old man passed the
money around? I only got ten cents.” (Text.)--_Lippincott’s
Magazine._
(2894)
Said Romola to Tito’s child, after calamity had overtaken him:
There was a man to whom I was very near, so that I could see a
great deal of his life, who made almost every one fond of him,
for he was young and clever and beautiful and his manners to all
were gentle and kind. I believe, when I first met him, he never
thought of anything cruel or base. But because he tried to slip
away from everything that was unpleasant, and cared for nothing
else so much as his own safety, he came at last to commit some
of the basest deeds--such as make men infamous. He denied his
father and left him to misery; he betrayed every trust that was
reposed in him, that he might keep himself safe and get rich and
prosperous.
That is the history of a man given over to his own selfishness.
(2895)
* * * * *
The Moslem mollah is notoriously reluctant to give anything
away. A mollah had fallen into a large pool of water and was
struggling for his life to reach the bank. “Give me your hand,
oh my lord, and I will pull you out,” said a passer-by who had
responded to the lusty cries for help. “No, indeed,” replied
the mollah; “I have never yet given anything to any one, and I
certainly will not begin now.” Not liking to leave the drowning
man, his would-be rescuer, responding to a bright idea that
occurred to him, said, “Will you take my hand, then, oh my
lord?” “Gladly,” answered the mollah, and allowed himself to be
drawn out of the pool, saving his life without losing his innate
selfishness.
(2896)