The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-10-28

- '''l''IIN i'i' -l'-'E
e9 which one noticcs and
quietly studies, although their record
may not get into the newspaper, or be
generally understood in society.
The story of the boy and the fox is
very tritc. but like most tritc things it
has been SO often repeated because it is
50 very true. and nobody has discovered
u better way Of clothing a truth which
everybody sooner or later feels the need
Of expressing. Bat | think "~yrrvboIy
viii con"cde that hiding the fox rather
increases than lessons the sharpness Of
mis- @lawing. and that tn" smiles Wit,
which the sufferer folds the rich role
above til" hidden enemy are more the
-limace Of anguish than the expression
e mirth and ease.
-And | suppose there is no gnawing
sorrow and modification which women
are NOR" prom" TO try to keep concealed
and ~ cover with lying smiles and pre-
lenses than an unhappy marriage. There
Is something - lUmiliating to IA wulnan
III the confession that she has given I'LL
and received nothing; that She has COM
placently delivered herself over. bound
Hand and foot. to Il master incapable of
approaching the value Of his slave: that
she has barterel her w~omanhood for "A
handful OF fairy gold. changing with the
first calm ray Of daylight 10 dried leaves
and crumbling twigs. There are various
.;inds Of these unfortunate and hu.nili-
atlng marriages., but none perhaps
harder to endure for highly organized
md self respecting women than the
Marriage of the china vase and the
brazen pot, which. as You viii rrn"m-
her. .Esop tells is undertook TO float
down the stream in company.
Again | must confess the fable is SO
well known that You may call ii tritn.
ana yet 80 very, Very true to life that we
cannot afford 10 forget il. Do we not
constantly see it illustrated all about lis:
Have we ~perchaMcc had some experience
that indOrccs il: For this c~ompaliol-
ship i'll II limited degree is possible in
other relations of life than marriage. but
with this difference-that in almost anr
other relation escape is possible: friend
shlps II lntilmacies may he quietly
dropped: tho daughter or sister who
cannot live with her father or brother
inay find another home and no one ask
why, but the wife or the husband is
bCund by self chosen ties not to be rent
without public scandal and severe humil-
ldtlOn.
You may say, if the companionship is
self chosen, only self is to blame for its
!ncompatibility. Why did the china
vase consent TO the proposed voyage:
N'iN- ,1il - ,,,t F.,o-,, a..
termination Of such an undertaking:
Any fool might know that at the first
cOlnlnOtiOu the brass vessel must slattcr
the china me-, and fools must suffer for
their folly without expecting sympathy"
SO says the world and shrugs its shoul-
uers. we'll satisfied with its own shrewd
common sense, as il calls it. But then
i.e world i, itself the hrazcn vase. and
rs dictim Is exactly what might J.. ex-
l"ctcd.
OF course there is some truth IN what
il says. / notice that disagrtcable things
generally do have some truth about
them. The china vase ought cCrtainly
10 have been wiser. but there are Ok
Cuses to be made for her. In The first
place, everybody is prone 10 estimate
the world from the point Of their
identity. 1t is not possible for Il china
vase to evolve the idea Of IA bronze pot
from its inner consciousness: it
must learn it from eyperience--a bitter
experience.
And another very valid excuse for the
poor bit OF china is that brass does not
always show its hard and cruel nature.
1t may be as the brass Of Benares, Gu
riously wrought and ornamented; it may
be in!aid with all sorts Of precious metals
and stones; it may be hammered and
ila9reed and nodded into most attract
i've shapes and decorations; it may be
polished so completely that one in look
ing upon it only sees the reflection Of
ones own face and form and exclaims:
.'Oh, here | have found my very counter
part! Now | am sure Of sympathy and
comprehension" Yes. brass is "a very
deceptive metal, not being indeed a true
metal at all. but only IA Fictitious com
pound Of copper and zinc, and no won
der poor, simple china vases are de-
ceived-self deceived. if you will, but
nevertheless innocently misled into Il
great mistake.
suppose there is something to be said
on the side Of the brazen pot also. 1t
also judges from its W standpoint,
and cannot perhaps really know or ever
learn the genuine fragility and liability
10 destruction of its china companion.
1t is acknowledged that a man, to be
a worthy specimen of his sex, must have
Il good deal Of the feminine nature la
tent beneath his stronger attributes, and
some men fail il this requisite alto
yether, while some others have the
wrong kind os feminine qualities, which
are worse thaa none and only make the