Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 49

8. "What new calamity is this?" he cried; "My honest dog--a friend who stood the test When others failed--lies murdered at my side!

Well,--G.o.d is good, and means it for the best."

9. Scarce had the Rabbi spoken, when, alas!-- As if, at once, to crown his wretched lot, A hungry lion pounced upon the a.s.s, And killed the faithful donkey on the spot.

10. "Alas!--alas!" the weeping Rabbi said, "Misfortune haunts me like a hateful guest; My dog is gone, and now my a.s.s is dead,-- Well, G.o.d is good, and all is for the best!"

11. At dawn of day, imploring heavenly grace, Once more he sought the town, but all in vain; A band of robbers had despoiled the place, And all the churlish citizens were slain.

12. "Now G.o.d be praised!" the grateful Rabbi cried, "If I had tarried in the town to rest, I too, with these poor villagers had died,-- Sure, G.o.d is good, and all is for the best!"

13. "Had not the saucy wind put out my lamp, By which the sacred law I would have read, The light had shown the robbers to my camp, And here the villains would have left me dead.

14. "Had not my faithful animals been slain, Their noise, no doubt, had drawn the robbers near, And so their master, it is very plain, Instead of them, had fallen murdered here.

15. "Full well I see that this hath happened so To put my faith and patience to the test; Thanks to His name! for now I surely know That G.o.d is good, and all is for the best!"

LESSON LXVI.

FU TU' RI TY, events to come.

CON SULT', counsel with.

PRE TEN' SIONS, claims; a.s.sumptions.

FOR' TI TUDE, patience; endurance.

MOD' EL, pattern; example.

RES IG NA' TION, submissiveness.

O VER WHELMS', overcomes.

IN GRAT' I TUDE, unthankfulness.

VAG' A BOND, vagrant; worthless.

IM' PU DENCE, sauciness.

DES' TI NY, fate; final lot.

DE CEAS' ED, dead.

DE PRIV' ED, robbed.

IN CUR' RED, brought on; caused.

CON SUL TA' TIONS, couselings.

CAL CU LA' TIONS, reckonings.

PRE TER NAT' U RAL, (PRETER, _beyond_;) beyond what is natural; miraculous.

IN VOLV' ED, (IN, _in_; VOLVED, _rolled_;) rolled in; enveloped.

IN TER RUPT', (INTER, _in, between_; RUPT, _to break_;) break in between; stop; hinder.

[Headnote 1: JOB, a patriarch, celebrated for his patience, constancy, and piety. For note on DAVID, see page 138.]

NOTE.--The dash at the end of a remark denotes that the speaker is interrupted by the one with whom he is conversing.

MRS. CREDULOUS AND THE FORTUNE-TELLER.

_Mrs. Credulous._ Are you the fortune-teller, sir, that knows every thing?

_Fortune-Teller._ I sometimes consult futurity, madam; but I make no pretensions to any supernatural knowledge.

_Mrs. C._ Ay, so _you_ say; but every body else says you know _every thing_; and I have come all the way from Boston to consult you; for you must know I have met with a dreadful loss.

_F. T._ We are liable to losses in this world, madam.

_Mrs. C._ Yes; and I have had my share of them, though I shall be only fifty, come Thanksgiving.

_F. T._ You must have learned to bear misfortunes with fort.i.tude, by this time.

_Mrs. C._ I don't know how that is, though my dear husband, rest his soul, used to say, "Molly, you are as patient as Job,[Headnote 1] though you never had any children to lose, as he had."

_F. T._ Job was a model of patience, madam, and few could lose their all with so much resignation.

_Mrs. C._ Ah, sir', that is too true'; for even the small loss _I_ have suffered, overwhelms me!

_F. T._ The loss of property, madam, comes home to the bosom of the best of us.

_Mrs. C._ Yes, sir; and when the thing lost can not be replaced, it is doubly distressing. When my poor, good man, on our wedding day, gave me the ring, "Keep it, Molly," said he, "till you die, for my sake." And now, that I should have lost it, after keeping it thirty years, and locking it up so carefully all the time, as I did--

_F. T._ We can not be too careful in this world, madam; our best friends often deceive us.

_Mrs. C._ True, sir, true,--but who would have thought that the child I took, as it were, out of the street, and brought up as my own, could have been guilty of such ingrat.i.tude? She never would have touched what was not her own, if her vagabond lover had not put her up to it.

_F. T._ Ah, madam, ingrat.i.tude is the basest of all crimes!

_Mrs. C._ Yes; but to think that the impudent creature should deny she took it, when I saw it in the possession of that wretch myself.

_F. T._ Impudence, madam, usually accompanies crime. But my time is precious, and the star that rules your destiny will set, and your fate be involved in darkness, unless I proceed to business immediately. The star informs me, madam, that you are a widow.

_Mrs. C._ La! sir, were you acquainted with my deceased husband?

_F. T._ No, madam; we do not receive our knowledge by such means. Thy name is Mary, and thy dwelling-place is Boston.

_Mrs. C._ Some spirit must have told you this, for certain.

_F. T._ This is not all, madam. You were married at the age of twenty years, and were the sole heir of your deceased husband.

_Mrs. C._ I perceive, sir, you know _every_ thing.

_F. T._ Madam, I can not help knowing what I _do_ know; I must therefore inform you that your adopted daughter, in the dead of night--

_Mrs. C._ No, sir; it was in the day-time.

_F. T._ Do not interrupt me, madam. In the dead of night, your adopted daughter planned the robbery which deprived you of your wedding-ring.

_Mrs. C._ No earthly being could have told you this, for I never let my right hand know that I possessed it, lest some evil should happen to it.

_F. T._ Hear me, madam; you have come all this distance to consult the fates, and find your ring.