3897 He Knew He’d Come
The story is told about two young men, in the First World War, who had been friends for their entire lifetimes. Being neighbors, they had played together, gone to school together, engaged in the same athletic programs, and finally had enlisted in the army together. Fate determined they would eventually be in the same area of battle together.
After a particularly bitter battle one day, it was found that one of the boys was missing somewhere out in what is known as “No-Man’s Land.” The other boy, safe and unhurt, went to the commanding officer and requested permission to go out and look for his friend. He was told it was of no use for no one was alive out there after the withering fire of so many hours. After great insistence, he was finally given permission to go.
Some time later he came with the limp body of his friend over his shoulder. The commander said, “Didn’t I tell you it was no use to go?” to which the boy replied with radiance in his eyes, “But it was not; I got there in time to hear him whisper, “I knew you’d come.””
—Earl C. Willer
3898 No To Bad Neighbor
According to a Mexican legend, San Ysidro was plowing his garden when an angel appeared: “The Lord wants to see you, Ysidro. Come with me.” But Ysidro was busy. He refused the command.
Again the angel appeared: “Unless you come at once, the Lord will send winds and drought to wither your corn.” Ysidro was unperturbed. He had fought the wind before; drought could be relieved by river.
Twice more the angel appeared, but Ysidro would not leave his work. The fourth time, the angel said simply: “If you do not come with me, the Lord will send you a bad neighbor.”
Ysidro paused in the middle of the row and turned to the messenger. “I’ll go with you now,” he said quietly. “I can stand anything but that.”
—Maxwell Droke
3899 The Constant Security As Punishment
In Abyssinia, when a man is convicted of an offence for which he has to pay a fine, he must find a friend who will offer himself as a security that the culprit will not run away till the fine be paid. The prisoner and the man who has the misfortune to be his friend are then chained leg-to-leg and turned loose to roam about, sharing one another’s misfortunes, and begging together the money necessary to pay the fine, until either they are able to regain their liberty or the death of one puts an end to their existence.
—E. A. De Cosson
3900 A True Friend Of Napoleon
Napoleon had in his school at Brienne a young friend, Demasis, who greatly admired him. After Napoleon had quelled the mob in Paris and served at Toulon his authority was taken from him, and he was cast out penniless. He even meditated suicide, and was on his way toward the bridge from which he expected to throw himself, when his old friend, Demasis, met him and asked what was the matter.
Napoleon frankly told him he was without money, his mother was in want, and he had despaired. “Oh, if that is all,” said Demasis, “take this; it will supply your wants,” and he handed him $600 in gold.
Napoleon said afterward that he hardly knew why he took it, but he did, and rushed off to his cottage home. When Napoleon came to power he sought for Demasis far and wide. He wanted to promote him, he wished to enrich him, and it was said that Demasis lived and served in one of his armies, but would not make himself known.
—Current Anecdotes
3901 Man Only Wanted King’s Friendship
The story is told by the Persians of the great Shah Abbas, who reigned magnificently in Persia, but loved to mingle with the people in disguise. Once, dressed as a poor man, he descended the long flight of stairs, dark and damp, to the tiny cellar where the fireman, seated on ashes, was tending the furnace.
The king sat down beside him and began to talk. At mealtime the fireman produced some coarse, black bread and a jug of water and they ate and drank. The Shah went away, but returned again and again, for his heart was filled with sympathy for the lonely man. He gave his sweet counsel, and the poor man opened his whole heart and loved this friend, so kind, so wise, and yet poor like himself.
At last the emperor thought, “I will tell him who I am, and see what gift he will ask.” So he said, “You think me poor, but I am Shah Abbas your emperor.” He expected a petition for some great thing, but the man sat silent. Gazing, he said, “Haven’t you understood? I can make you rich and noble, can give you a city, can appoint you as a great ruler. Have you nothing to ask?”
The man replied gently, “Yes, my lord, I understood. But what is this you have done, to leave your palace and glory, to sit with me in this dark place, to partake of my coarse fare, to care whether my heart is glad or sorry? Even you can give nothing more precious. On others you may bestow rich presents but to me you have given yourself; it only remains to ask that you never withdraw this gift of your friendship.”
—A. Naismith
3902 No Man Is An Island
Nearly four hundred years ago the English poet-clergyman John Donne wrote: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
3903 Shortest Way To London
“Which is the shortest way to London?” was the question for the best answer to which a London newspaper offered a substantial cash prize. The answer which won the prize was, “The shortest way to London is good company.” All travelers know how true that answer is. Good company shortens any journey, however long. In such company time flies, miles slip rapidly past, and the end is reached almost before one is aware of it. The journey to heaven is very much shortened, the road made easier, when Jesus Christ is our traveling companion.
—Choice Gleanings
3904 The Sacred Battalion Of Thebes
There was a small band of three hundred cavalry in the Theban army, who proved a great terror to any enemy with whom they were called to fight. They were companions, who had bound themselves together by a vow of perpetual friendship, determined to stand together until the very last drop of their blood was spilled upon the ground. They were called “The Sacred Battalion,” and they were bound alike by affection for the State and fidelity for each other, and thus achieved marvels, some of which seem almost fabulous.
—Selected
3905 Good And Bad Companions
Voltaire’s agnosticism and skepticism are traced by some to the influence of the Abbe de Chateuneuf, who, although a priest of the Church of Christ, sowed the seeds of deism in his youthful charge and introduced him to dissolute companions. With a different environment in youth he might have been as mighty for faith as he was mighty for unbelief.
John Locke, the English philosopher, as a young man had for a friend and counselor Lord Somers, described by Horace Walpole as “one of those divine men who, like a chapel in a palace, remain unprofaned, while all the rest is tyranny, corruption, and folly.” Such a friendship left its mark on Locke’s character.
At Oxford, John Wesley determined to have no companions save those which would help him in the life of faith and righteousness that he was trying to lead.
—C. E. Macartney
3906 Walking With The Wise
What a prophecy of future character and destiny is to be found in our associations! Goethe said: “Tell me with whom thou art found, and I will tell thee who thou art; let me know thy chosen employment, and I will cast the horoscope of thy future.” But a wiser than Goethe wrote: “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Prov. 13:20).
—Selected
3907 Easier To Be Good Around Her
In a cemetery a little white stone marked the grave of a dear little girl, and on the stone were chiselled these words—”A child of who her playmates said, ““It was easier to be good when she was with us””—one of the most beautiful epitaphs ever heard of.
3908 Tibetan Greeting
In the high, mysterious mountain country of Tibet, the people have what to us appears to be a very strange custom for greeting one another. When two people greet one another they approach and bow low, extend their open hands toward the other—to show that they have no weapons and wish to be friendly—and stick out their tongues, which means that they hold no evil words for the other in their mouths.
—Evangelistic Illustration
3909 Cultivation Of Rose
Among the Dutch the rose was sometimes cultivated by planting an inferior rose close to a rose of superior quality. The rose of inferior quality was carefully watched and its anthers removed so as to avoid self-pollenization; the object being that it should be pollenized by the superior rose. Gradually the rose thus treated took upon itself the characteristics of the superior life of its companion.
3910 Changing Colors Of Birds
The Japanese have an ingenious way of changing the color and appearance of birds and animals. For example, white sparrows are produced by selecting a pair of grayish birds and keeping them in a white cage, in a white room, where they are attended by a person dressed in white. The mental effect on a series of generations of birds results in completely white birds.
3911 Training The Canaries
There are localities in Switzerland where the canary is caged with a nightingale so that it may catch the sweetness of the latter’s song and breathe into its notes that harmonious melody that delights all tourists in Europe. It is a demonstration of the power of association. The canary may be trained by a nightingale.
So men may make their lives strong, pure, and sweet in thought, word, and deed by unbroken association with those who live on a higher plane.
3912 The Freshman’s Handicap
One of the interesting activities shortly after the opening of each scholastic year at Yale University is the Freshman-Sophomore Rush. It is a rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred contest between the two lower classes for possession of The Fence, as it is called.
The Fence is a reproduction of an old fence, hallowed by tradition, that enclosed the college yard a century ago. The rival groups carry torches and execute snake dances through the streets to arouse their own spirit and the interest of onlookers. In the dim light they then go at each other in a free-for-all.
Some years ago it happened that two fellows were down on the ground punching each other. They became so exhausted that they had to stop, only to discover that the other was not a sophomore but a “brother” freshman. Such confusion is one of the main reasons for continuing the affair, in which the sophomores usually win. They know each other, while the freshmen may be meeting one another for the first time.
3913 “Strangers” Too Long
Privates Henry Pauch and Steve Obeda, inducted at Fort Sheridan, Ill., came to a camp in Texas, in the same troop movement. For two months they were in the same platoon and slept in bunks not far apart. Then they exchanged addresses. One lived at 2533 South Troy Street, Chicago, and the other at 2541, same street, same city. They were close neighbors, but strangers for thirteen years—then got acquainted so far from home.
—Mrs. A. E. Jansen
See also: Fellowship ; Friendship ; Love.