AN HONEST ANSWER.
A young Bengalee sought employment in a shop in the up-country in which there was a vacancy. There were other candidates. They all appeared before the chief manager at the appointed hour. He said speaking to the candidates, "I want a willing man, a very industrious man who should not grumble at the hardest, the most grinding labour." Then turning to one of the applicants, "Do you like such labour?" asked he. The applicant answered he did. The query was repeated to all the rest, one after another, and they all, excepting the Bengalee, gave a like answer in a variety of forms:—they liked the hardest labour, and nothing better, and would gladly go through it. The Bengalee said, "Sir, I do not like hard labour for my daily portion. No one does, I believe. I shall work as much as I can without a strain and, I promise you, even more, when necessity shall occasionally call for additional exertion on my part and that from a sense of duty and to please you." This answer which bore the stamp of honesty on its face secured the post to the Bengalee.
