(1723)
KINDNESS, THE POWER OF
“Provo Canyon” is one of those grandly picturesque mountain ravines which abound in Utah. In the solitude and sublimity of this cañon a mountaineer named W. W. Ferguson lived a hermit’s life. In the winter months his log-cabin was, in consequence of the deep snow, shut entirely out from intercourse with human beings. But he was not companionless, this mountain man—for he made friends with the wild animals and birds. He was their friend and they grew fond of him. They learned to recognize his voice, and not to be afraid at his approach. They would eat food from his hands, the pigeons and magpies flying from afar when he called them—the little squirrels playing about him like tame kittens.
A year ago a New York gentleman, on a pleasure trip, called at Mr. Ferguson’s cabin, and seeing the mountaineer with his bird and animal friends on such good terms, said:
“My friend, you have some power—some charm which these creatures obey. If you will tell me the secret I will give you a hundred dollars.”
The hermit, smiling, assured the traveler that the only secret was the kindness with which he always treated them. “They have learned,” he said, “that I am their friend, and I have never betrayed their friendship.”
(1724)
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS
In the woods near Walden Pond, Henry D. Thoreau built a house. It was a surprize to the raccoons and squirrels in the woods, But after a while the news went round that there was among them a man who would not do them any harm, and gradually they came closer and closer, and there grew to be a beautiful sympathy between him and the birds and animals. They would come at his call. On taking a squirrel from the tree, the little creature would refuse to leave him, and would hide in his pocket. A woodmouse, whose hole was under his house, would first run over his shoes, and at last became so tame that it would run up his sleeve, and round the table when he was at dinner. Such communion between man and beast has hardly been equaled.—James T. White, “Character Lessons.”
(1725)