The colt of the wild ass is really the most untamable and intractable of
animals. Even when captured very young it can scarcely ever be brought
to bear a burden or draw a vehicle. Its wild nature is constantly
breaking out, and like the asses which Saul the son of Kish went to
seek, it is always in danger of going astray.
Love of freedom and hatred of restraint are its main characteristics,
and Zophar the Naamathite reminded Job that something very similar is
true of man. "Vain man is void of understanding, yea, man is born _as a
wild ass's colt_" (Job xi. 12).
Of course, there is wildness _and_ wildness. If boys are merely running
over with fresh animal spirits, like the young lambs trying to jump over
their mother's head, we cannot think there is any great harm in their
mirth. It is thus that lungs are exercised and limbs made strong, and
the whole body and mind kept healthy and happy. Black care, alas! will
leap into the saddle behind them soon enough. And therefore, while the
days of youth last, let all the young people run and jump like the wild
ass's colt. Buoyancy of fresh young life is not to be regarded as
exuberance in sin.
If the wildness, however, is inclined to pass over into what is called
"a sowing of wild oats," the circumstances are altered. Innocent
pleasures are good, but pleasures which are forbidden are quite another
thing. And if the young life is in danger of drifting into the latter,
the sooner the curb or drag is applied, the better for all concerned.
If one could sow his wild oats and then run away and leave them, it
wouldn't so much matter; but alas! a reaping-time is sure to be treading
on the heels of the sowing. And as no one ever yet gathered grapes of
thorns or figs of thistles, it will not do for any of you young people
to expect to gather fruit where you have only sown weeds. No, no, this
is a kind of wildness which ought not to be tolerated. This is a piece
of folly which must either be tamed or punished. And if we would only
introduce the custom they have in Palestine of clipping a bit out of the
ear of those asses that go astray, a fresh clip for every new offence,
it might then be seen that the wildness which means mischief is not so
pleasant an experience after all, and perhaps not a few sowers of wild
oats would be found who had scarcely an ear on their head. Some
punishment like this is sorely needed, for while mere exuberance of
spirits is not sinful, the exuberance that leads to forbidden pleasures
ought firmly to be condemned.