Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1888-09-19
MISSIONARY LIFE.
Its Humorous Side illustrated by q Number
of Good Anecdotes.

Its Humorous Side illustrated by u Number
of Good Anecdotes.
A story is told of Syrian mission
airy who took for one of his earliest
texts this passage: ''Son, give me
thine heart" The Arabic word for
''heart'' is ''kalb," the having a very
deep and powerful cultural sound. 1t
happens that the word for ''dog' is
''kelb,' the k having the ordinary
sound. The preacher, with great
solemnity, rose and proclaimed this
text: ''Son, give me thine dog" The
audience stared, and then was con-
vulsed as the orator proceeded to
enforce the lesson. The dog is the
most wretched object in an Eastern
city, and only useful as scavenger.
On another occasion a young mission
airy, just in the initial agonies OF his
study of Arabic, was called upon to
visit family, a member of which had
recently died. He studied up the words
and expressions he would be likely
to use in his attempts to console the
household in its great affection All
went we'll until he came to the par
ticular work in hand. 1t happens that
the word for ''affliction'' and the word
for ''rooster" in Arabic are remarkably
alike to an undisciplined ear. So he
proceeded to tell the bereaved house.
hold that in this world no mortal could
altogether escape from the '*rooster;"
it came to rich and poor, high and low
alike. The rooster came to make
us better, however bitter it may be.
The ''rooster" was an angel in dis
guise. We should bow before the
''rooster'' in humility, and receive it
as a token of love. The bereaved
family soon began to smile through
their tears; and finally all broke out in
to a laugh, and informed their COM
forter that he had made little mis-
take. At the Syrian Protestant Col
lege, not many years ago, a young
American teacher, not yet familiar
with Arabic, gave out a very animated
wedding hymn from the Arabic hymn
book at devotional meeting; and one
hundred Syrian students vociferously
sang away until one of the older pro-
fessors could keep his equanimity no
longer, and arose and suggested an
other hymn. Wherever you go in
Syria, the Syrians will tell you how
Mr.. II. H. Jessup, in his early days in
the country, sat down to eat a Syrian
repast. He saw a large fiat thing be-
side his plate, which he took to be q
napkin of peculiar texture. So he
spread this out in his lap, and later
called for, some bread. 1t turned out
that he had the bread in his
lap. The late Mr.. Dale used to
tell Of a certain Mt Lebanon colpor.
tour, who came to a bigoted village
where the inhabitants refused to buy
single Bible. He then attempted to
give some away. This failed. Finally,
in half despair, with more shrewd-
ness than piety," he managed to put
the Bibles where they could be stolen,
and before the next morning every
book was gone. 70 close this rather
miscellaneous collection, let me men,
tion proverb that has become q
household saying, 'Mittle subbier
Thompson. Translated it is, ssLike
the cactus fruit of DR.. Thompson. -
The fruit of the prickly pear so abund-
ant in Syria is full Of seeds, which arc
generally eaten. DR.. Thompson, when
first trying to eat this fruit, objected to
the seeds, and went to work picking
them all out. The result was, that
after all the seeds were taken, nothing
was left Of the fruit. This is an in
teresting sample Of the origination Of
proverbs. -R. e. Beattie, ~ Christian
at Work.