But a war broke out. All the town, in which the two men lived, was broken down, and both men had to leave it to seek their fortune in another place. The rich man, who had lost his money, was now poor indeed, for he had nothing, and wandered through the world getting nothing but scorn for his ignorance. But the wise man was welcomed everywhere, and received with honor because of all the wisdom and the knowledge that he brought with him. _Knowledge is power._ THE TORRENT AND THE RIVER ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH OF LA FONTAINE With great noise and much tumult a torrent fell down the mountain side. All fled before it; horror followed it; it made the country round it tremble. Only one traveler, who was flying from robbers that were following after him, dared to cross the stream, and put it as a barrier between him and the men who were pursuing him. This gave him confidence although the robbers still followed. So when he reached the edge of a broad river, that seemed to him to be an image of sleep, it looked so soft and peaceable and quiet, he rode his horse into the water to cross it. It had no high banks, but a little beach sloped from the meadow down to meet the water, which looked so peaceful that it seemed as if a little child might cross it, to gather flowers on the other side, and so the traveler thought it held no danger for him. But the quiet river was very deep, and though it made no noise, its current ran so strongly that it lifted both the horse and rider on its waves and carried them away, and drowned them. _Quiet people are stronger than the noisy._ THE TOMTIT AND THE BEAR BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM One summer day, as a Wolf and a Bear were walking together in a wood, they heard a bird singing most sweetly. "Brother," said the Bear, "what can that bird be that is singing so sweetly?" "Oh!" said the Wolf, "that is the king of the birds, we must take care to show him all respect." (Now I should tell you that this bird was after all no other than the Tomtit.) "If that is the case," said the Bear, "I should like to see the royal palace; so pray come along and show me it." "Gently, my friend," said the Wolf, "we cannot see it just yet, we must wait till the queen comes home." Soon afterward the queen came with food in her beak, and she and the king began to feed their young ones. "Now for it!" said the Bear; and was about to follow them. "Stop a little, Master Bruin," said the Wolf, "we must wait now till the king and queen are gone again." So they marked the hole where they had seen the nest, and went away. But the Bear, being very eager to see the palace, soon came back again, and, peeping into the nest, saw five or six young birds lying at the bottom of it. "What nonsense!" said Bruin, "this is not a royal palace: I never saw such a filthy place in my life; and you are no royal children, you little base-born brats!"