SOME years ago in Scotland, two boys, whose names were Henry Bright and
John Yorner, were left orphans by the death of parents. Mr. Donald, a
good man, who had nine or ten thousand sheep, and employed many
shepherds, took both these boys into his employ.
"Now, boys," said he, "a shepherd's life may be barren or fruitful, lazy
or active, just as you choose to make it. In pleasant weather, while you
are tending the sheep, if you have good dogs to help you, you can, if
you choose, find leisure for reading and for study, and at the same
time not neglect your proper duties.
"If you want books, come to my house, and I will lend them to you. You
have eight years to serve before you are twenty-one; and in that time
you can fit yourselves for employments that will yield you much more
than the work of a shepherd."
Henry Bright first suited himself to a good dog, and taught him so well,
that Plato--such was the dog's name--soon took almost the whole care of
a hundred sheep that Henry had to look after. The lad would take a seat
under the shelter of some rock, and read and study, while Plato would
lie at his feet, or run round to see that no sheep or lamb was straying
too far from the pasture-ground.
But John Yorner was lazy, and did not care for books. He would not take
the trouble even to teach a dog his duties. He would lie on a bank in
the sun, with his hands clasped above his head, and there sleep away the
long hours before dinner. Often his sheep would stray away and get lost;
so that Mr. Donald once said to him, "I fear you are not fit even for a
shepherd, John."
You may easily guess what the result was at the end of eight years. John
Yorner was a shepherd still: he had not been promoted to any better
employment. He loved idleness too well. One must be diligent if he would
be faithful and succeed.
As for Henry, he applied himself to the study of arithmetic, and became
so skilled in that branch of study, that, before he was nineteen, his
services were wanted by a large mercantile house in Glasgow. There he
made himself so useful, that his success became no longer a matter of
doubt.
Oh the days of youth, how precious they are! Do not be like the lazy
shepherd, my little friends!