Oh, may no evil e'er befall
The lion-man who loves his kind,
Who practices a silent vow
When others' faults are in his mind.
"Ah, one must use great circumspection in making acquaintances. As the proverb says:
With the shrewd and upright man
Seek a friendship rare;
Exercise with shrewd and false
Superheedful care;
Pity for the upright fool
Find within your heart;
If a man be fool and false,
Shun him from the start.
"Yes, your efforts have tended to the destruction not only of your own family, but, toward the last, of the master too. Since you reduce your own master to this state, other persons mean no more to you than withered grass. As the saying goes:
Where mice eat balance-beams of iron
A thousand pals in weight
A hawk might steal an elephant;
A boy is trifling freight."
"How was that?" asked Victor. And Cheek told the story of
THE MICE THAT ATE IRON
In a certain town lived a merchant named Naduk, who lost his money and determined to travel abroad. For
The meanest of mankind is he
Who, having lost his money, can
