'When the miser hides his treasure in the earth, he doeth well; For he opens up a passage that his soul may sink to hell,' And thus-- 'He whose coins are kept for counting, not to barter nor to give, Breathe he like a blacksmith's bellows, yet in truth he doth not live.' It hath been well written, indeed, 'Gifts, bestowed with words of kindness, making giving doubly dear:-- Wisdom, deep, complete, benignant, of all arrogancy clear; Valor, never yet forgetful of sweet Mercy's pleading prayer; Wealth, and scorn of wealth to spend it--oh! but these be virtues rare!' "Frugal one may be," continued Slow-toes; "but not a niggard like the Jackal-- 'The Jackal-knave, that starved his spirit so, And died of saving, by a broken bow.' "Did he, indeed," said Golden-skin; "and how was that?" "I will tell you," answered Slow-toes:-- THE STORY OF THE DEAD GAME AND THE JACKAL "In a town called 'Well-to-Dwell' there lived a mighty hunter, whose name was 'Grim-face,' Feeling a desire one day for a little venison, he took his bow, and went into the woods; where he soon killed a deer. As he was carrying the deer home, he came upon a wild boar of prodigious proportions. Laying the deer upon the earth, he fixed and discharged an arrow and struck the boar, which instantly rushed upon him with a roar louder than the last thunder, and ripped the hunter up. He fell like a tree cut by the axe, and lay dead along with the boar, and a snake also, which had been crushed by the feet of the combatants. Not long afterwards, there came that way, in his prowl for food, a Jackal, named 'Howl o' Nights,' and cast eyes on the hunter, the deer, the boar, and the snake lying dead together. 'Aha!' said he, 'what luck! Here's a grand dinner got ready for me! Good fortune can come, I see, as well as ill fortune. 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.'