The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-01-22
Anasssaa gutelItgsuess.
BORROWED TROUBLES.
Murnursrs aud CompIalners.- is.

There are troubles which come to
US, and some which we must meet and
endure at the call Of duty; there are
others which we 90 out Of our way to
seek.
These are what I mean by borrowed
troubles. The mother of a certain
little boy gave him dime to spend.
On his way to the store, it somehow
slipped from his fingers and rolled
away out Of sight.
He searched and searched, but il
was Of no use, the coin was nowhere
to be found.
Here was a sad misfortune. He
wept with sorrow and vexation.
Presently a kind woman, touched
by these signs Of woe, stopped to in,
quire what the matter was, and, or
learning Of his loss, she opened hel
purse and gave him 10 cents.
Eagerly the boy grasped the kindly
1t, his eyes Frightened, a smile
,gan to creep into .the corners of his
mouth, and then, all at once, he broke
out into fresh lamentations.
''Why, what is the matter now z
exclaimed his astonished benefactor
Haven't you got your 10 cents p
eyes," sobbed the lad; "but oh.
if only I'd got the one I've lost, too
then should have 20 cents t.
He had suffered loss, and it hae
been fully made up to him: That
ought to have ended the difficulty
but no, he must needs 60 back to wha!
had been settled and atoned for and
borrow trouble out of the past--s
morbid, unreal, phantom trouble.
And such is the strange constitu
ton of the human mind that these
phamtoms are often capable of pro
ducing as much disturbance, miser!
aud unhappiness as real and genuine
calamity. We see this OCCASIONAL!
in sickness.
illness is always a hard thing tt
bear, a serious misfortune; but do W.
not sometimes see it made much more
serious and much more hard to bear
by vain imaginiDgs, by useless excur
sions into the experiences of othe
people, by minute and constan
dwelling on things that have happened
to someone else, by querulous nur
sing of fancies about what may occu
some time in the future, by borrowing
trouble, when we have quite as mucl
as is good for US Of our own
There is an old Persian fable which
illustrates this:
An inhabitant Of Teheran one even
ing met stranger at the gate, coming
into the city, and asked him his NAM
and business.
ssMy name is cholera and my bust
ness is to destroy the Inhabitants o
this town."
The Persian, who, for some reason
or other, had influence with th.
CHASTITY visitor, entreated him not t.
slay them all, and finally extorted
promise that the number to be taket
should only be 1000.
But $4,000 died, and the Persian
meeting the angel of death one nigh
in the street, upbraided him with hi
breach Of faith.
"Man," he replied. "know that
have kept my word I slew 1000 ant
no more the rest, $4,000 in all, die
of sheer terror.
Died, in fact, Of borrowed trouble
The calamity would have passed then
by harmlessly they made it fatal b!
adding what did not belong to it, or tt
them.
Half the ills that flesh is heir to
Wouldn't really be 30 bad,
1--we didn't always thereto
Add the ills it never bad.
Another evil which results from
this habit is that it gives us who'll,
wrong idea of the nature of life, AM
therefore Of the nature of Him who's
gift life is.
It makes us think existence is
poor kind Of thing. l have notice.
that those who hold the gloomies
views are not those who really hay
great burdens, but those who fanc
they have them.
There is little Russian story tha
bears upon this point. Human natur
appears to be very much the sam
there as here. !.
Once upon time there lived fal
mer who went about complaining Q
the burdens of misfortune be had t
carry. :.
One day he happened to stumbl
upon a cave in which lived a wise ol
man, who, when he heard the farne
grumbling about his fate, upbraide
Rim.
II should very much like to have
look at these troubles that we have
carry" said the farmer.
"Very well, answered the othel
"Come to my cave at midnight Q
the first day Of the month, and / Wi
show you allthe troubles and burden
Of the world. /"
SO away went the farmer, and b
thought the time went very slowl
until the first day of the month, an
then be was on hand at IL o'cloe
sharp.
Sure enough the wise old man wa
there, and he made the sign of th
cross upon him and blessed him, an
then took him into the cave.
There he saw a number of sacks
"What are they?" he asked.
"These are the troubles and bul
dens," was the answer.
So the farmer began to try ther
all. Some were little and some wer
large.
In many cases the smaller ones wer
heavier than the largest.
They were all heavy, however, an
uncomfortable. Finally he happene
to pick up one large bag, which wa
very soft, and when he flung it on hi
back he was delighted to feel ho'
nicely it adapted itself to his shape
and it seemed quite light in comparl
son with the others.
''Now," exclaimed he, "if [ coul
only have burden like this to carr
instead of the sort I have, life Nigh
be worth living"