And I almost worship'd her when she smiled Say it is folly, and deem me weak, While the scalding drops start down my cheek; ELIZA COOK. 39. LOKMAN. LOKMAN, surnamed the Wise, lived in very early times probably in the days of King David and King Solomonand his name is still famous in the East as the inventor of many fables and parables,2 and vārious stories are told of his wisdom. It was said that he was a native of Ethiopia,3 and either a tailor, a carpenter, or a shepherd; and that afterward he was a slave in various countries, and was at last sold among the Israelites. 2. One day, as he was seated in the midst of a company who were all listening to him with great respect and attention, a Jew of high rank, looking earnestly at him, asked him whether he was not the same man whom he had seen keeping the sheep of one of his neighbors. Lokman said he was. "And how," said the other, "did you, a poor slave, come to be so famous as a wise man ?" 3. "By exactly observing these rules," replied Lokman: 1 Lå' va, melted matter which flows from a volcano, or burning mountain. Pår'a ble, a fable, or supposed history, representing something in real life or nature, from which a moral is drawn for instruction.1 Ethiopia (e the d′ pe a), the name given by the ancient geographers to the countries in Africa, south of Egypt. 66 Always speak the truth without disguise; strictly keep your promises; and do not meddle with what does not concern you.* Another time, he said that he had learned his wisdom from the blind, who will believe nothing but what they hold in their hands: meaning that he always examined things, and took great pains to find out the truth. 4. Being once sent, with some other slaves, to fetch fruit, his companions ate a great deal of it, and then said it was he who had eaten it; on which he drank warm water to make himself sick, and thus proved that he had no fruit in his stomach; and the other slaves, being obliged to do the same, were found out. 5. Another story of him is, that, his master having given him a kind of melon, called the coloquin'tida, which is one of the bitterest things in the world, Lokman immediately ate it all up, without making faces, or showing the least dislike. His master, quite surprised, said, "How was it possible for you to swallow so nauseous' a fruit ?" Lokman replied, "I have received so many sweets from you, that it is not wonderful that I should have swallowed the only bitter fruit you ever gave me." His master was so much struck by this generous and grateful answer, that he immediately rewarded him by giving him his liberty. 6. At this day, " to teach Lokman" is a common saying in the East, to express a thing impossible. It is said, too, that he was as good as he was wise; and, indeed, it is the chief part of wisdom to be good. He was particularly remarkable for his love to God, and his reverence of His holy name. He is reported to have lived to a good old age; and, many centuries after, a tomb in the little town of Ramlah, not far from Jerusalem, was pointed out as Lokman's. ΑΙΚΙΝ 40. LAZY PEOPLE. YOU 2 OU may see him, if you are an early riser, setting off, at peep of dawn, on a fishing expedition. He winds through the dreary woods, yawning portentously, and stretching as in 'Nauseous (na' shus), disgusting; causing sickness of the stomach.-Expedition (eks pe dish' un), a march or voyage; an enterprise.-3 Por tent' ously, showing that something is about to happen. 7 he were emulous' of the height of the hickory-trees. Dexterously swaying his long rod, he follows the little stream till it is lost in the bosom of the woodland lake; if unsuccessful from the bank, he seeks the frail skiff, which is the common property of laborious idlers like himself, and, pushing off shore, sits dreaming under the sun's wilting beams, until he has secured a supply for the day. Home again—an irregular meal at any time of dayand he goes to bed with the ague; but he murmurs not, for fishing is not work. 2. Then come the whortleberries; not the little, stunted, seedy things that grow on dry uplands and sandy commons but the produce of towering bushes in the plashy2 meadow; generous, pulpy berries, covered with a fine bloom; the "blaeberry" of Scotland; a delicious fruit, though of humble reputation, and, it must be confessed, somewhat enhanced3 in value by the scarcity of the more refined productions of the garden. We scorn thee not, O bloom-covered neighbor! but gladly buy whole bushels of thy prolific1 family from the lounging Indian, or the still lazier white man. We must not condemn the gatherers of whortleberries, but it is a melancholy truth that they do not get rich. 3. Baiting for wild bees beguiles the busy shunner of work into many a wearisome tramp, many a night-watch, and many a lõst day. This is a most fascinating chase, and sometimes excites the věry spirit of gambling. The stake seems so small in comparison with the possible prize—and gamblers and honeyseekers think all possible things probable—that some, who are scarcely ever tempted from regular business by any other disguise of idleness, can not withstand a bee-hunt. 4. A man whose arms and ax are all-sufficient to insure a comfortable livelihood for himself and his family, is chopping, perhaps, in a thick wood, where the voices of the locust, the cricket, the grasshopper, and the wild bee, with their kindred, are the only sounds that reach his ear from sunrise till sunset. He feels lonely and listless; and, as noon draws on, he ceases from his hot toil, and, seating himself on the tree which has just 'Em'u lous, rivaling; desirous to excel.-2 Plåsh' y, watery.— Enhånced', increased. Pro lif' ic, fruitful; bringing forth in abundance. fallen beneath his ax, he takes out his lunch of bread and butter, and, musing as he eats, thinks how hard his life is, and how much better it must be to have bread and butter without working for it. 5. His eye wanders through the thick forest, and follows, with a feeling of envy, the wingèd inhabitants of the trees and flowers, till at length he notes among the singing throng some halfdozen of bees. The lunch is soon dispatched; a honey-tree must be near; and the chopper spends the remainder of the daylight in endeavoring to discover it. But the cunning insects. scent the human robber, and will not approach their home until nightfall. So our weary wight plöds homeward, laying plans for their destruction. 6. The next morning's sun, as he peeps above the horizon,' finds the bee-hunter burning honey-comb and old honey near the scene of yesterday's inkling. Stealthily does he watch his line of bait, and cautiously does he wait until the first glutton that finds himself sated with the luscious feast sets off in a "beeline"-"like ǎrrow darting from the bow"-blind betrayer of his home, like the human inebriate. This is enough. The spoiler asks no more; and the first moonlight night sees the rich hoard transferred to his cottage, where it sometimes serves, almost unaided, as food for the whole family, until the last drop is consumed. 7. One hundred and fifty pounds of honey are sometimes. found in a single tree, and it must be owned the temptation is great; but the luxury is generally dearly purchased, if the whole cost and consequences be counted. To be content with what supplies the wants of the body for the present moment, is, after all, the characteristic1 rather of the brute than of the man; and a family accustomed to this view of life, will grow more and more idle and thriftless, until poverty and filth, and even beggary, lose all their terrors. It is almost proverbial among farmers, that bee-hunters are always behindhand. CAROLINE M. KIRKLAND. 'Ho ri' zon, a line that bounds the sight where the earth and sky ap Ink' ling, hint; desire. In è' bri ate, one intoxicated Char ac ter is' tic, mark of character. pear to meet. a drunkard. Can ever in just measure try eye The worth of Hours as they go by; 2. For every man's weak self, alas! 4. Those surely are not fairly spent, 5. And more, though free from seeming harn, Or slow retire from pleasure's charm,— 6. If then a painful sense comes on 7. Of something from your being's chain 8. Upon your heart this truth may rise,— Suffices' man's just destinies !3 9. So should we live, that every Hour 10. That every thought and every deed Of future good and future meed;" 'Nothing (nůth' ing). Suffices (suf fiz' ez), satisfies; to be enough.— Des' ti nies, necessities; final end.-Mèed, a reward; that which is given on account of merit. |