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2
THE MASONIC JOURNAL
[From the N, Y. Corner Stone.
The Brooklet, Then The River.
A little brooklet in n mountain
J;Ost its way:
Onward, onward still it rippled
All the day*
TJhtle wandring- drops of crater,
Here and there,
Joined tlie lirooklet-as it murmured
Free from care.
And the little brook grew wider,
Deeper too:
But it made the same s-weet music
As it grew.
IMany little birds sang sweetly
All day long;
And the brooklet joined the chorus
Of their song.
Oh, the traveler on the desert,
In a dream,
Ideyer saw a clearer, purer
Little stream.
Oinvard. onward s'illit glided,
Down the hill;
Other brooklets, joining, kept it
Growing still.
And the stream became a river,
Broad and frw:
And it poIIkI unheeding danger
To the sea.
St'iamers glided o,er its bosom:
Neath it.s vaves
Many noble-hearted seamen
Found their graves.
• Thus b}" little grew the streamlet,
As it passed;
But it was mighty river
At the last.
■' 'When we start on life? long j-mriicy
Small indeed,
Start to gather in ou^caskets
Precious seed -
•“Many call us very little,
But we grow;
Filling up on golden ca.skets,
Tlieii we sow;
Sow good S ‘ed bccide all waters,
And no one
E’er can tell the many wonders
We have done.
d'ill our last sad song is ended,
And we i-est
In tlie many-mansioned dwellings
Of the blest.
But we know the .seed we scatter
On this sliore,
WaII ke^'p gTowing,growing, growing
Evermore.
We will reach the blessed haven—
Never tear;
e have Christ tlic Lord to guide us
Safely there.
The Good Wife.
A NORWEGIAN LEGEND.
There was once a man named Gud-
Traml; he lived at a solitary farm on the
slope ot a hill, therefore he was called
“Gudbrand of the hili." Kow this man
had a'very excellent wife, a thing which
often happens, but is not so common;
Gudbrand knew,also the worth of such a
treasure, so the couple lived in great
peace and happiness without thinking
about the progress of years and changes
of fortune. -Whatever Gudbrand did his
wife had wished for beforehand, so
that the good man could not touch any
tiling or change anything in his house
without his wife thanKing him for his
forethought and kindness. Their life
was insured against anxiety; the farm
was their own property, they had a hun
dred solid dollars in the table drawer.
' and two stately cows in the meadow.
They wanted nothing ; they could grow
old ill peace without fearing helplessness
and misery, without needing the pity or
friendship of others.
One evening, as they were sitting chat
ting together about their work and
their plans. Gudbrands wife said to him ;
“My dear I have a 'thought; you shall
I lead one of our cows to town and sell it.
; The one which we keep will be quite
j enough to provide us with butter and
milk, why should we trouble ourselves for
-others? We have money in the chest,
I we have no children, would it not be W’ell
j if we spared our arms, now growing old?
j you will always find something to do in
j the house; there is first this then that
j piec'e of furniture to be mended and im
! proved, and I, with my spinning wheel,
j shall be able to stay a great deal more
with you.”
Gudbrand found that ids wife -ivas
Gudbrand, angrily, “it ks more whining
than my neighbor’s wife ; how glad I
should be if any one would release me
from this burden.”
“The bargain is made if you like, old
fellow,” said a farmer who was passing
by. “Take this fat goose, it is worth at
least as much as that obstinate sheep.”
“So be it,” said Gudbrand; “better to
have a living goose than a dead sheep.”
and he took the goose with him. It was
no light burden. The bird was a bad
traveling companion; with beak and
wings it made stout resistance, Gud-
branJ was soon tired of the conflict.
“The goose,” said he, “is a bar! bird; mv
wife would never like to have such an
one in her house.” And at the first
your place; a thousand thanks
Now when my neighbor,
me I can place a good piece of ham
fore them. What do we want
for it.
come to vis t
right, as she always was, The very next | farmyard he passed on his way be ex
day he leu the cow which was to be sold'! changed the goo.se for a splendid cock,
with magnificent feathers and comb.
This time he was contented, but day was
to the town. But it was not market day,
so he found no purchaser. “Very well,
very w'eli,’' said Gudbrand, “I sliall lead
my cow back home again, I have hav and
straw for the beast, and -the way is not
longer to return than it was to come.”
Then he quietly took the road home.
After a few hours, just as he begun to
feel a little tired, he met a man who was
leading a horse to the town, a very
strong animal saddled and bridled.
“The way is long and the night is com
ing on,” thought Gudbrand ; “I shall not
get home with my cow before midnight,
and then very early to-morrow I -will
have to begin the march anew. This is
just the sort of beast I might want, I
should ride home proudl_v, like a magis
trate ; and how old Gudbrand's wife
would rejoice to see her husband coming
home in triumph like a general.”
Therewith he stopped the horseman,
and bargained -w.’ith him to exchange the
cow for his horse. But when he sat in
the saddle he felt something like regret.
Gudbrand was old and feeble, the horse
was young and lively ; after half an
hour the cavalier had to go on foot and
wearily led his horse by the. bridle, for
it shied and plunged at every bush by
the roadside. “A had bargain,” he
thought.
Then he met a man driving a pig be
fore him. '“A nail which one really
wants is more valuable than a diamond
which sparkles and is good for nothing," i
thought Gudbrand, “so my wife often'
says,” and he exchanged the horse for a -
pig. That was a fine idea; b'ut tlie '
good man had reckoned without his host
fast declining, and Gudbrand who had
started before sunri.se. felt his knees
ter and his stomach call for food. He
entered the first public house he cam’e to,
and sold the cock for a dollar, and as he
had a good appetite he gave away the
last farthing to satisfy his hunger,
“What use would the cook have been to
me,” he thought, “if I had died of hun
ger?”
When he came near l.is own farm
“Gudbrand of the hill” begun to reflect
over the strange journey that he had
made. Befoiehe went home he talk
ed about it in neighbor Peter's house, who
was called the Greybeard.
“Friend,'’ said the Greybeard, “how
did you get on wdth your business in the
town to-day?” '
“So, so,” answered Gudbrand, I can
not say that I liad much good fortune,
but I have not much to complain of;”
and lie related everything that had hap
pened to him.
“Neighbor,” said Peter, “you have
done a strange day’s work, you will be
badly received by your wife; I would
not stand in your shoes foi- ten dollars.”
“I may have been right or ■ wrong,”
said Gudbrand of the hill, “but mv wife
is so good she wont say a word to me
about what I have done.”
“I have listened to you, neighbor, and
am surprised at you ; but -ft’ith all the
re.spoct which I have for you I do not
believe a word of what you have told
me.”
“Will you bet that I am right!” said
—the pig was tired and would not move ^ Gudbrand of the hill; “I have a hundred
dollars in my chest, of which I will bet
you twenty. Will you do the same?'’
“Yes,’’ said Peter, and that on the
spot.”
When llie wager was concluded, the
two friend.s went into Gudbrand's house;
an inch. Gudbrand dragged the beast,
he pushed it, he beat it with all hi.s
might, but all in vain ! The pig remain
ed lying in the dust like a ship stranded
on a sandbank. Gudbrand was in des
pair.
jNow a man passed by le’ading a goat - Peter remained standing at the room,
by a string; the goat sprung merrily be- ' .joor in order to her what passed between
fore him. “That might be useful to me,” Gudbrand and his wife,
said Gudbrand ; “I would rather have . “Good evening,’’ said Gudbrand.
that frolicksome goat than thi.s stupid la- “Good evening,” said his wife; “is it
zy beast. Thereupon he exchanged the you my dear ? how has to-day prospered
pig for the goat. All went on well with
enough for half an hour. Then the',
long, horned goat pulled Gudbiand on,
who laughed heartily at its jumps; but
you '
“Not very well, not very well,” said
Gudbrand. “When I reached the town,
I founrl nobody who would buy our cow,
with a
horse'’ People would have said : ‘Pgo].
at that proud couple ; they are too grana
to go to church on foot.’ .Bring up the
pig quickly under shelter.”
“I have not brought the pig with me,”
said Gudbrand ; “on the way I gave it
up for a goat.”
, “Bravo !’’ exclaimed the good woman-
“you are a wise and clever man. The
more I think about it the more I perceive
that the pig would not have been useful
to us. People would have pointed to ns
with their finger.s, and said : ‘Look at
those people; they eat up everythin^
that they earn ’ But a goat gives milk
gives cheese, to say nothing of the kids.
Take the goat into the stable.
“Neither have I brought the goat with
me,” said Gudbrand of the hill. “I have
exchanged it for a sheep.”
“This I at once perceive,” replied the
mistress, “you did so for my sake; am I
still so young that I can ran over stones
and rocks after a gout ? But a sheep will
give me its wool; take it into the sta
ble,”
“I have not brought the sheep,” said
Gudbrand, “I changed it for a goose.”
“Thanks, raa-ny thanks !’’ said the good
woman. “What would be the good of a
sheep ? I ha ve no loom—weaving is hard
work; and when woven one must cut
and sew ; it is better to buy readv-made
clothes, as we have always done; hut a
goose, a fat goose es[ ecially, I have al
ways wished for. I already feel an ap
petite for roast goose ; let me see the
creature at once,”
“But I have not brought the goose,”
said Gudbrand ; “I exchanged it for a
cock.”
Bear friend,” said the good wife, "you
are wiser than I; a cock i,s better than a
clock, which one has to wind up every
week. A cock crows every morning at
four o'clock ; he tells us when it is time
to praise God and work.”
“Alas! I have not brought the cock
with me; for as evening came on, I was
as hungry as a hunter, and I wa.o obliged
to sell the cock for a dollar, or I should
have died of hunger.’
“God be praised for giving you suoli a
good thought!” ' said the mi.stress.
“Whatever you do, Gudbiand, always
seems right to me. Bo we want a cock ?
we are our ow-i masters. I think; nobody
bas anything to command us to do; we
can get up when we like. As you are back
here again, dear friend, I am quite happy
and have no wish but that you should
always stay with me,”
Then Gudbrand opened the door, and
cried out : “Eh, what do you say now,
neighbor Peter ? Go and bring your
twenty dollars.”
And be ki.ssed his old wife with as
much tenderness as if she were his bride.
Perhaps Not.
when one i.s no longer young, one soon
becomes tired of climbing over the rocks ;
so our farmer, when he met a shepherd
with hi.s Hock, did not hesitate to give
his goat for a sheep. ‘ I have got quite
enough-milk,” he thought, “and this ani-
mal is at least quiet, and will neither
weary me nor my wife.”
Gudbrand was not wrong, there was
nothing quieter than that sheep. It
showed no ill temper, it did not butt,
but it did not go forward. It wanted to
go back to the flock, and the more Gud
brand dragged it, the more pitiously it |
bleated. “This stupid sheep.” cried just what I shouldTaJ’ don
so I exchanged it .for a horse
“For a horse !’’ said- his wife; ''that
was a good plan. I thank you with all
my heart; we can now drive to church
like so manv people who look down upon
us, and are no better Jthan we are. If it
pleases us to keep a horse we have a right
to do so, I think. Where is the horse?
it must be taken to the stable.”
“I have not brought it with me,"
said G'jclbrand ; “on the way I altered
my mind and exchanged the horse for a
pig”
“Bo you see?” .said hi.s wife; “that is
e, too, in
The other evening a carriage had to
come to a dead halt to pievent rnmiiiig
over a child three or four years old, who
was seated in the centre of the street.
“Is that your child P" asked the driver
of a man who lounged forwai'J and beck
oned to the dust covered otlspring.
“Guess he is,’’ wa.s the slow spoken an
swer.
“Aren’t you afraid he’ll be run over
some day
“He may be. Ills brother was run
over last year about this time, and the
folks made up a purse of a hundred dol
lars for me 1 '
Perhaps the memory of that purse had
nothing to do with the other child being
jn the road.
-:L