Let me think:--the man will be fine pickings for a month;
the deer with the boar will last two more; the snake will do for
to-morrow; and, as I am very particularly hungry, I will treat myself
now to this bit of meat on the bow-horn,' So saying, he began to gnaw it
asunder, and the bow-string slipping, the bow sprang back, and resolved
Howl o' Nights into the five elements by death. That is my story,"
continued Slow-toes, "and its application is for the wise:--
'Sentences of studied wisdom, nought avail they unapplied;
Though the blind man hold a lantern, yet his footsteps stray aside.'
The secret of success, indeed, is a free, contented, and yet
enterprising mind. How say the books thereon?--
'Wouldst thou know whose happy dwelling Fortune entereth unknown?
His, who careless of her favor, standeth fearless in his own;
His, who for the vague to-morrow barters not the sure to-day--
Master of himself, and sternly steadfast to the rightful way:
Very mindful of past service, valiant, faithful, true of heart--
Unto such comes Lakshmi[9] smiling--comes, and will not lightly part.
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