“I know you did not, my dear brother,” said Cherry; “and what I am now saying is not designed to rebuke you, but to make you take a right view of this matter; for if you will do this, you will be able, even when your favorite plans are thwarted by the dispensations of Providence, to turn the sources of disappointment into sources of peace and content. When we find our schemes marred, our wishes defeated by the weather, or some other event of Providence, we can reflect that it is best that it should be so; it is best, as well for others as ourselves; and this conviction, if it is sincere, will reconcile us to every disappointment.”
By such talk as this, Cherry soon put her little brothers in good humor; partly by making them forget the cause of their vexation, and partly by making them feel and see that it is right that God should rule the weather, and that his creatures should cheerfully submit to his doings. Beside all this, they had now acquired some new ideas, and these were a source of diversion. Frederic himself went to the window, and looking across the street, saw there a climbing rose, against the side of the house, just putting forth its rosy buds; and, for the first time in his life, it seemed to him one of the children of God, looking to its heavenly Father for water: and thus it was that the rose acquired a new interest in his eyes; he now saw that it was an object for which even God had cared.
He also reflected upon the vastness of God’s works, as compared with those of man; for while God was sending his clouds to quench the thirst of myriads of plants, and provide for millions of animated beings, he was only thinking of himself and his ride to Chelsea Beach.
After Frederic had been standing at the window for some time, Cherry, who had been out of the room, returned, and sitting down, called Frederic to her side, and said that she would tell him a story. He therefore seated himself, and she proceeded as follows:—
“In Europe there is a country called Greece, the people of which, two or three thousand years ago, believed in a deity whom they called Jove. The people fancied that he lived up in a tall mountain, called Olympus, and from this place issued forth his decrees. They believed that he ruled over the earth; that he made the clouds; and bade them go forth to water the earth; that he made the thunder and the lightning, and commanded them to display his power; that he made the sun, and required it to rise upon the world, giving light and heat to its inhabitants. Now I will tell you a sort of fancy story, founded upon these notions of the ancient Greeks. At the foot of mount Olympus, there was a little village, the people of which were always grumbling at the weather. It was always too wet or too dry, too hot or too cold. Even when the weather was appropriate to the season of the year, there were some persons in the village always finding fault with it. If Jove sent a shower of rain, it always produced dissatisfaction and disappointment to some of the people. Some wished to go a fishing, and the rain interfered. Some wished to proceed on a journey, and they were disappointed. Some wished to work in their fields—some to go on excursions of pleasure, and the rain prevented the execution of their several plans.
“Now the murmurs of this people came to the ears of Jove, and he determined to show them their folly. Accordingly he sent them a messenger, called Mercury,—a lively little fellow, with wings at his shoulders and his heels, which enabled him to fly very swiftly, and execute his master’s commands with despatch.
“Mercury flew to the village, and told the people that Jove, having heard their complaints, had concluded to resign his government over the weather, and give it up to them; that, accordingly, he had commanded the clouds and the rain, the thunder and the lightning, the sun and the wind, the heat and the cold to obey the inhabitants of the village.
“This annunciation was received by the people of the village with the greatest demonstrations of joy. They assembled in the street of the place, and bade Mercury take back their thanks to Jove, their benignant master. Mercury promised to do this; ‘but,’ said he, ‘I have one thing more to communicate: that all may be satisfied, it is Jove’s decree that you must be unanimous in your proceedings. The sun will not rise while one individual opposes it: nor will it rain till every one is ready; and in fact, all the business of making the weather must stop, until all are prepared.’ The people, considering this as a new evidence of Jove’s justice and mercy, shouted aloud in their exultation, and Mercury departed to report the reception of his message to his master.
“It was evening when Mercury went away. The next morning, at the usual hour, the greater part of the people arose, but the sun did not appear as before. It was the time of summer, and the hour of sunrise was four o’clock. But now it was nine, and the sun had not risen. This caused a good deal of confusion in the village; the farmers wished to be at work in their fields; the dairy women wished to milk their cows; the traveller to set out on his journey; the fisherman to go to his nets; but all were prevented by the total darkness. The fact was that there were some lazy people in the village, and the sun had always risen too early for them; so now they determined to snooze it out; and consequently it was not till twelve o’clock that all could agree to have the sun rise; so that about half the day was lost.
“This was only the beginning of trouble; for when the sun was up, it was difficult to get all to agree when it should set; and thus everything was thrown into confusion. Similar difficulties occurred in regard to everything else. The people could not all agree to have a brisk wind for several months; in consequence of which fevers began to visit the place, and pestilence swept off numbers of the inhabitants. Nor could they agree upon any particular day when all were ready to have it rain; so that at last, when they did agree, the rain was too late, and everything was parched up; and the crops were cut off, and the cattle died, and the people came near starving to death. Nor could they agree upon the degree of heat that was required for vegetation; for many people did not like hot weather, and so it was kept very cold; and this was another reason why famine came upon the land.