The Torrent And The River
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MODERN FABLES
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Boys And Girls Bookshelf
ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH OF LA FONTAINE
With great noise and much tumult a torrent fell down the mountain side.
All fled before it; horror followed it; it made the country round it
tremble.
Only one traveler, who was flying from robbers that were following
after him, dared to cross the stream, and put it as a barrier between
him and the men who were pursuing him. This gave him c
nfidence although
the robbers still followed. So when he reached the edge of a broad
river, that seemed to him to be an image of sleep, it looked so soft and
peaceable and quiet, he rode his horse into the water to cross it. It
had no high banks, but a little beach sloped from the meadow down to
meet the water, which looked so peaceful that it seemed as if a little
child might cross it, to gather flowers on the other side, and so the
traveler thought it held no danger for him.
But the quiet river was very deep, and though it made no noise, its
current ran so strongly that it lifted both the horse and rider on its
waves and carried them away, and drowned them.
Quiet people are stronger than the noisy.