The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-26
A PORTO RICAN PROVERB.
"stubborn as the Man who Would
Climb the Tree"
From The Youths Companion.

From the Youths Companion.
Our new fellow citizens to be, the ma
tives of Porto Rico. are a polite people.
They have many courteous proverbs de-
rived from the sententious Spanish, and
many circumlocutions and phrases of COM
Observation-Disclosures to local events or TO
personages of more or less remote epochs.
Some OF these phrases are equivalent, for
instance, to our "Hobson's choice"
You will. perhaps hear one Porto Rican
reprove another for persistence in en-
deavoring TO perform impossibilities. You
are as stubborn as the man who would
climb the tree" he will say; for the Por-
to Rican Is too polite 10 compare hu-
man being to a mule. Many natives could
not explain what this meant is many or
us could not tell much about the origin
OF "Hobson's choice" But an old woman
was found in one of the interior villages
who could tell the story of the stubborn
tree climber. This is it:
Once upon a time a planter was telling
a thrilling story 10 his friends of how he
had been chased mile or two by an angry
bull He told them that he barely es-
capped with his life thanks to his ieetness
of foot.
II don't think so much OF that feat"
said one OF the listeners.
Nor said the planter.
Mo- said the man.
What would you have done?' asked
the planter.
a." said the man. would have climbed
tree"
but, my dear sir, how could l climb
tree when there was none with
branches strong enough to support my
weght?"
Il don't care" answered the man. Il
know that l would have climbed tree"
But ! have just told you there were
only saplngs about me You certainly
weigh even more than / do"
II don't know whether 1 weigh more
or less than you, but l am sure said the
man, doggedly, that would have climb
ed a tree"
The planter was losing his patience He
mastered his feelings by a strong effort
and asked:
Surprising you found yourself In a
| prairie, miles and miles in extent, with
| nothing in sight save the blue sky above
| YOU and the green sod all about you-no
| shelter of any kind whatsoever, no houses
no powders, no rocks, no trees. no FENCES
| no fallen trunks, no brush, no bushes,
nothing at all except the boundless. level
prairie-and of a sudden you saw rushing
! toward YOU an Infatuated bull. believing
| terrincaly, with horns lowered TO gore
you, what would you dot"
This was a serious problem the man
thought and thought, with his forehead All
wrinkled up because he wanted to be sure
he had grasped the question entirely AZ
length his brow cleared and his eyes
! frightened.
II think" he said, that would climb
tree"
But" said the planter, II have told
Won that there was no tree In sight, the
nearest one was hundreds-thousands-
millions-of miles away. There was not
even a small bush, no growing thing save
the little blades of grass. repeat tnere
was no tree-nothing but the grass-cover-
ed prairie and the blue sky. and the
charging, believing bull and you-nothing
else. absolutely nothing else What would
you DOR
Again the man plunged into a profound
| meditation He seemed to be going over
the question once more. The planter and
his friends began 10 think that he had nit
upon some ingenious plan for escaping
terrible death, when he lifted his head ana
looking straight into the planters eyes,
said determinedly:
.I would climb tree, anyhow