voyages brought him was the lesson which he learnt from savages, and
that was: "Stop in your own country and let Nature instruct you." Japan,
India, or anywhere else; no one place was better than another as a
hunting ground for Fortune; so the conclusion was forced upon him that
he had been wiser had he stayed in his own village. At last he renounced
all these ungrateful wanderings and returned to his own country; and as
he caught sight of his homestead from afar he wept for joy, and cried:
"Happy is the man who, staying in his home, finds constant occupation in
adjusting his desires to his surroundings. To him the court, the sea,
and the land of Fortune are but hearsay. Thou, fickle Dame, flaunting
before our eyes dignities and wealth, dost cause us to follow after
these allurements to the ends of the earth, only to find them empty
shams. Henceforth I wander no more, for here at home a hundred times
more success shall I find."

Having registered this vow against Fortune the wanderer came to the door
of his friend, and lo! there sat Fortune, waiting on the threshold,
whilst his friend slumbered within.




XIII

AN ANIMAL IN THE MOON

(BOOK VII.--No. 18)


Whilst one philosopher tells us that men are constantly the dupes of