Had he done so, he would
never commit so ruthless an act. The worm would have won his respect by
its ability to do a thing at which he himself would certainly fail. He
sees the worm scaling the trunk of a tree with the greatest ease, but when
he essays the same task he finds it a very difficult matter. So he tips
his cap figuratively to the worm and, in boyish fashion, admits that it is
the better man of the two. And never again, unless inadvertently, will he
crush a worm. Even a snake he will kill only in what he conceives to be
self-defense.
An American was making his first trip to Europe. On the way between the
Azores and Gibraltar the ship encountered a storm of great violence. For
an hour or more the traveler stood on the forward deck, watching the
titanic struggle, feeling the ship tremble at each impact of the waves,
and hearing the roar that only a storm at sea can produce. Upon returning
to his friends he said, "Never again can I speak flippantly of the ocean;
never again can I use the expression, 'crossing the pond.' The sea is too
vast and too sublime for that." He had achieved reverence. Many a child in
school can spell the name of the ocean and give a book definition rather
glibly, who, nevertheless, has not the faintest conception of what an
ocean really is. The tragedy of the matter is that the teacher gives him a
perfect mark for his parrot-like definition and spelling and leaves him in
crass ignorance of the reality.
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