Sad as has been my life in this wonderful prison,
I must admit that no one could live more
luxuriously in the best hotel in the world than I
have lived here; but I will be glad to get into
the open air again and see the good old sun and
the silvery moon and the soft green grass and the
flowers that are kissed by the morning dew. Ah,
how much more lovely are those blessed things than
the glitter of gems or the cold gleam of gold!"
"Of course," said Betsy. "I once knew a little
boy who wanted to catch the measles, because all
the little boys in his neighborhood but him had
'em, and he was really unhappy 'cause he couldn't
catch 'em, try as he would. So I'm pretty certain
that the things we want, and can't have, are not
good for us. Isn't that true, Shaggy?"
"Not always, my dear," he gravely replied. "If
we didn't want anything, we would never get
anything, good or bad. I think our longings are
natural, and if we act as nature prompts us we
can't go far wrong."
"For my part," said Queen Ann, "I think the
world would be a dreary place without the gold and
jewels."
"All things are good in their way," said Shaggy;
"but we may have too much of any good thing. And I
have noticed that the value of anything depends
upon how scarce it is, and how difficult it is to
obtain."
"Pardon me for interrupting you," said King
Kaliko, coming to their side, "but now that we
have rescued Shaggy's brother I would like to
return to my royal cavern. Being the King of the
Nomes, it is my duty to look after my restless
subjects and see that they behave themselves.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162