Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-08-07
Why not her fair proportions miner"

Two Arabs traversing the desert one day,
Their camels, tired out, scarce moving at all,
Espied in the sand, but a few feet away,
Hall hidden, two bundles, one great and one
small,
Securely and neatly developed in hide,
With many a lashing most curiously tied.
Said Abdul to Hamid, 'the larger is mine,
As | am the first one a claim to prefer;
The law universal l need not define
Nc Arab denies it or presumes to demur
To aught its enforcement enjoins or requires;
So must the small package requite your de-
sires."
Slow Hamid agreed, with sorrowful mien,
To stand by the law his companion set
forth,
For we'll did he know it so always had been
Since Adam and Eve had first peopled the
earth.
Then down from their camels they them
selves threw
And straightway their packages set to undo.
Rash Abdul, impatient his treasures to view
His fingers, all trembling, their cunning
had lost 81
In uncontrolled haste his s~cinhetar drew
And severed the lashings whose tyings had
cost,
No doubt, quite a lot of tried patience and
skill,
But ruined the cord in asserting his will!
The cover thrown off, was disclosed to his
view
A lot of coarse wool, worth a penny the
pound!
For costlier treasure he rummaged it through,
But wool, and wool only, was there to be
found!
His pitiful face was a sight to be seen,
Cast DER with disgust, dismay and chagrin!
Poor Hamid, with patience, in leisure began
To undo the hard knots securing his bale;
Where Titles expected, the nerves of a man
Remain at their normal, but frequently fail
Him just when most needed, as fair-weather
friends
Abandon the victim when misfortune attends.
AT length, all the lashings undone, he then
pulled aside
The hide that concealed and protected the
ware
Within, when his dull, languid eyes opened
wide,
And joy filled his heart at the things he saw
there!
The finest of silks from China's famed looms
In all the rich colors the prism assumes;
And ~velvets and satins that shone in the light
Like flash from the mirror or lake bosom
bright!
And jewels were there, and purses of gold,
And other rare treasures of value untold!
O Hamid, most lucky! Dame Fortune her
way
For once did amend, and the wooer became;
No knock at your door did she give, or cen
say
CAS- is the right thing for master or dame),
"My friend, by your leave I'll come in and
abide"
But sweetly, unasked, placed herself by your
side!
The moral of tale or of song is the thing
That gives to it zest and excuses its faults;
No matter how common a lesson it bring
1t cures all defects and limbers all halts.
That my little moral is b"ristling with wit
AS well as with wisdom, you all must admit.
Now this is especially plain when you read
The story I write of Abdul's mistake.
The taking great size for great worth is, in
deed,
An error" in judgment that men often make
Despite the hard lessons, Pm sorry to say,
That point out the facts in a contrary way!
The diamond that sparkles, the ruby that
shines,
The coveted gold that commands all the
earth,
Lie hidden in darkness way down in the
mines; D.
Right small is their bulk, but SO priceless
their worth
That mountains and rivers and races of mer
They've bought and destroyed, o again and
again!
The tear of repentance, with goodness so fillec
That angels record it in letters of light,
Is but a wee drop of salt water distilled
From anguishing soul reaching out from the
night,
While oceans of brine surge unnoted ane
vain, .N.i'
The slaves of the winds, and the sun anc
the rain!
Who judges the book by its siz%e-appraise:
its worth
From number of pages, or greatness OF typel
Such volumes too oft are distinguished to-
dearth
Of that the mind seeks, of scholarship ripe
The bible, l know, an exception stands out
But, standing, approves the old rule beyond
doubt!
Who prizes the statue alone from the weigh
Of bronze that is used its proportions t'
round!
No connoisseur buys, with mind undistrait
Artistic productions at so much per pound
The thought that inspires and the hand tina
creates
Reach higher, far higher, than pounds ant
pound rates.
The mind that could picture an angel o
sprite
In size e~lephan,tine, were surely a freak;
o no! The pr oportions are graceful anc
light,
When of Nymph,s, or of Maids, or Grace
we speak!
For, somehow or other, in the well balances
The smaller is s'weeter, is the rule you vii
find!
And SO, lady fair of diminutive form,
Sigh not for the stature your fortune denies
Were l of the genii, I'd change not charm
That graces your size approved to my eyes
Believe a true friend who doth see and adj
mire,
An inch to your height were beyond hi
desire!
E. D. A.
Arcadia Items.