Part 196

Section 231.

AN ORATION ON THE POWER OF HABIT.

III.

If you say: “Should I find the practice by experience to be injurious, I will give it up,” surely that is not common sense. You might as well say: “I will put my hand into the nest of the rattlesnake, and when I find out that he has stuck his fangs into me, I will draw it out and get cured.”

I remember riding from Buffalo to the Niagara Falls, and said to a gentleman: “What river is that, Sir?” “That,” he said, “is Niagara River.” “Well, it is a beautiful stream,” said I, “bright, and fair, and glossy; how far off are the rapids?” “Only a mile or two,” was the reply. “Is it possible that (S. 66, N. 15) only a mile or two from us we shall find the water in the turbulence which it must show when near the falls?” “You will find it so, Sir.” And so I did find it; and that first sight of the Niagara I shall never forget. Now, launch your boat on that Niagara river; it is bright, smooth, beautiful, and glossy. There is a ripple at the bow, and the silvery wake you leave behind adds to your enjoyment. Down the stream you glide; oars, sails, and helm are in proper trim, and you set out on your pleasure excursion. Suddenly some one cries out from the bank: “Young men, ahoy!” “What is it!”—“The rapids are below you!”—“Ha, ha! we have heard of the rapids, but we are not so foolish as to get there. If we go [= If it goes] too fast, then up with the helm, then set the mast in the socket, hoist the sail, and speed to land. Then on, boys; don’t be alarmed—there’s no danger!”

= reasonable.

stuck — me = bitten me.

riding from = that I during a journey from; change ‘and said to’ into ‘asked’.

Use the def. art.

+die Stromschnellen.+

+Das Wasser kräuselt sich am Bug des Bootes.+

+Kielwasser+, n.

‘to set out on’, here +an´treten+, v. tr.

+Vergnügungstour.+

+Ohoi!+ of which pronounce every vowel separately and slowly in the German way.

+Was giebts.+

are below you, +sind dort unten nicht weit von euch!+

as — there, +so weit zu fahren+.

+dann schnell das Steuerruder hinein.+

+dann richten wir den Mast auf.+

+und eilen ans Land!+

+Daher nur immer vorwärts.+

Section 232.

AN ORATION ON THE POWER OF HABIT.

IV.

“Young men, ahoy, there!”—“What is it?”—“The rapids are below you!”—“Ha, ha! we will laugh and quaff; all things delight us. What care we for the future? No man ever saw it. ‘Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.’ We will enjoy life while we may; we will catch pleasure as it flies. This is enjoyment; time enough to steer out of danger when we are driving swiftly with the current.”—“Young men, ahoy!”—“What is it?”—“Beware! Beware! The rapids are below you!”—Now you see water foaming all around you.—See how fast you pass that point!—Up with the helm!—Now turn!—Pull hard—quick!—quick!—pull for your lives!—pull till the blood starts from the nostrils, and the veins stand like whipcord upon the brow! Set the mast in the socket! hoist the sail! Ah, ah!—it is too late! Shrieking, cursing, howling, blaspheming, over you go!—Thousands go over the rapids of Intemperance every year, through the power of evil habit, crying out all the while: “When I find out that it is injuring me, I will give it up!” The power of evil habit, I repeat, is fascinating, is deceptive; and man may go on arguing and coming to conclusions while on the way down to destruction.—J. B. GOUGH.

+Es ist genug, daß ein jeglicher Tag seine eigene Plage habe!+

+so lange wir es noch können.+