"That," continued his mother, "is owing to her eyes and her ears being a good deal worn out; and that is the case, I dare say, also, with her limbs; her legs begin to feel that her body is a great weight to carry about; and she cannot run, nor even walk so quickly as you can. Then often old people cannot sleep at night, which makes them tired in the day time; all these complaints, though not exactly illnesses, are called infirmities, and are very wearisome to bear; it is therefore the duty of the young to do all in their power to make the old as comfortable as they can, and to put up with a little fretfulness and ill temper on their part, without being angry." "Oh, poor lady!" exclaimed Willy; "well, when I meet with a cross old man or woman, I will think of those infirmities you have been telling me of. I am sure if I had known about them, I should never have laughed at the old lady when she looked so funny with the ball stuck in her bonnet." "That's right, my dear," said his mother; "and on the other hand, I think the old lady might have had a little more indulgence for the weakness of children--for children," continued she, "have their infirmities as well as old people." "Why what, Mamma?" cried Willy, with surprise; "I am sure I can run and walk, ay, and skip and jump as well as any body, and see and hear too." "The infirmities of childhood are not in general of the same nature as those of old age; and yet there is often a great resemblance between the two. A child is feeble, because it has not grown up to its strength; an old person is feeble, because she has lost strength. Little Sophy is often obliged to be carried in her nurse's arms, because she is tired of walking; Grandmamma can only walk a little way either, and wants a stick to support her. Sophy suffers from tooth-ache, because she is cutting her teeth, which means that her teeth are growing; Grandmamma has the tooth-ache, because her teeth are grown old and decayed. Sophy is fed with pap and soft food, because she has no teeth to chew with; and Grandmamma is obliged to mince her meat, because the few teeth she has are too much worn out to be able to chew meat." "Well," said Willy, "I never should have thought Sophy and Grandmamma had been so much alike! I am sure they do not look alike at all, Mamma." "No; in looks, youth has all the advantage." They now passed a luggage train which was stopping at one of the stations, and Willy was very much amused with seeing the number of cattle, and sheep, and pigs that were closely lodged in the waggons. "I think those poor creatures are too crowded to be comfortable," observed he; "I dare say they would like better travelling on foot, as the flocks of sheep often do." "I doubt it," said his Mother, "for all along the road the dogs and men are worrying them to keep them together, and then they are sadly tired before the day is over: don't you think you would be tired?"