Excerpt

From The Crock of Gold, by James Stephens:

To the lonely house in the pine wood people sometimes came for advice on subjects too recondite for even those extremes of elucidation, the parish priest and the tavern. These people were always well received, and their perplexities were attended to instantly, for the Philosophers liked being wise and they were not ashamed to put their learning to the proof, nor were they, as so many wise people are, fearful lest they should become poor or less respected by giving away their knowledge. These were favourite maxims with them:

• You must be fit to give before you can be fit to receive.

• Knowledge becomes lumber in a week, thereofre, get rid of it.

• The box must be emptied before it can be refilled.

• Refilling is progress.

• A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.

The Grey Woman and the Thin Woman, however, held opinions quite contrary to these, and their maxims also were different:

• A secret is a weapon and a friend.

• Man is God’s secret, Power is man’s secret, Sex is woman’s secret.

• By having much you are fitted to have more.

• There is always room in the box.

• The art of packing is the last lecture of wisdom.

• The scalp of your enemy is progress.

Holding these opposed views it seemed likely that visitors seeking for advice from the Philosophers might be astonished and captured by their wives; but the women were true to their own doctrines and refused to part with information to any persons saving only those of high rank, such as policemen, gombeen men, and district and county councillors; but even to these they charged high prices for their information, and a bonus on any gains which accrued through the following of their advices. It is unnecessary to state that their following was small when compared with those who sought the assistance of their husbands, for scarcely a week passed but some person came through the pine wood with his brows in a tangle of perplexity.

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