between two Roman generals: "If thou art a great general come down and fight me." "If thou art a great general make me come down and fight thee." And it will be observed that four times out of five—for the army had fought on five distinct lines—Grant, by a single march, had made Lee come down and fight him.—Nicholas Smith, "Grant, the Man of Mystery."
(3071)
This is the fable of a spider as quoted from Blackwood's Magazine:
A spider, it seems, had occasion to borrow
a sum of money. A journey round to the
generously disposed brought him two thousand
cowries each from the cat, the dog,
the hyena, the leopard, and the lion. When
pay-day came round, the spider remained at
home to receive the visits of the creditors
in a certain prearranged order. First came
the cat to claim repayment of his loan.
"Hush!" said the spider. "I hear a noise
outside—it is a dog come to see me; you
must hide under this calabash for safety."
The cat was scarcely hidden when the dog,
coming in, made a similar request for his
money. Says Master Spider, "There is a
cat under that calabash; take him, and consider
the debt paid." No sooner said than
done. Just then a snuffling and scraping
were heard at the door. The third creditor,
the hyena, had arrived. "Don't be alarmed,
my dear dog, but hide here till he has left,"
and the spider bustled him under the calabash.
"I smell a dog," said the hyena, routing
about. "Under that calabash," the spider
replied. "Eat him up, and your debt is paid."
The dog paid the penalty of his simplicity,
and all was quiet once more. The hyena
was preparing to leave, when he heard an
ominous sound that sent him crouching
against the wall. It was the pattering of
the leopard's feet at the door. "Quick!
Under this calabash," cried his host, and the
hyena curls up in the fatal cache, only to
meet a like fate from his more courageous
enemy. "My debt is repaid!" said the
leopard, and ran against the lion coming in.
A terrible fight ensued, for the leopard and
the lion are equal in strength, so the natives
say. While blood and dust make havoc in
the house, and both animals are exhausting
their strength, the spider is busy at the fire.
Seizing a pot of boiling grease, he pours it
over the clawing mass. Leopard and lion
roll apart in their death agony, and the spider
has only to straighten and clean up before
resuming once more the humdrum life of
fly-catching.
(3072)
Strategy of Enemies—See Subtlety Among Animals.
STRATEGY, SOCIAL
Not all the strategy of life is on the fields of diplomacy or war.
An official tells a good story of the time
when Hamilton Fish was Secretary of
State. It had been said that Mrs. Fish sometimes
carried her high ideas of courtesy too
far—that it was Quixotic.
One of her rules, for instance, was to return every call she received. Her husband was continually holding public receptions, and to these, out of courtesy, many women would come who had no desire that Mrs. Fish should call upon them—who were in no position to receive her properly if she did call.
One such woman attended a Fish reception, left her card, and a little later was duly honored by a call from Mrs. Fish. The Fish equipage dashed down the narrow street and halted before the woman's shabby little house. The footman opened the carriage door and Mrs. Fish descended.
The poor woman of the house was in a dreadful predicament. She was, alas, kneeling on the sidewalk beside a bucket of hot water. Her sleeves were rolled back. She had a scrubbing-brush in one hand and a cake of soap in the other. She was scrubbing the front steps.
Bending graciously over her, Mrs. Fish asked politely:
"Is Mrs. Henry Robinson at home?"
And Mrs. Henry Robinson replied: "No, mum, she ain't," and went on scrubbing.
(3073)
Streams, Living and Dying—See Early Promise.
STRENGTH
William Herbert Hudnut writes this virile advice for New Year's time:
Quit you like men, be strong;
There's a burden to bear,
There's a grief to share,
There's a heart that breaks 'neath a load of care—
But fare ye forth with a song.
