“Please tell me exactly what is meant by duty, mamma.”
“Duty is not only something which we may do, it is something which we ought to do, and which it would be wrong to neglect. It is not simply permission, but obligation. Is that plain?”
“Yes, mamma. I understand now. I was permitted to pick the berries, but I was not obliged to do it or else do wrong. But if you had sent me to pick them for you, it would have been duty.”
“And do you think that in that case it would be right to go through the thorns?”
“No, mamma; I see now. It is right to take the plainest, easiest way when we can.”
“Yes, my dear. We must not be afraid of thorns if our path leads over them. But if we leave the true path and foolishly try to push ourselves through unnecessary obstacles, it is not bravery or fortitude, but vanity and silly rashness.”
UNDER THE PEAR TREES.
UNDER the pear trees one August day,
In the long-ago and the far-away,
Four little children rested from play,