48 GOOD HEALTH 



Now the soldiers, the captain, and the children all 

 had the same trouble. They had worked too hard and 

 slept too little ; the brain was tired out, and under such 

 circumstances it sometimes goes to sleep even when we 

 tell it not to. Whenever we say we are sleepy we mean 

 that the brain needs to rest. 



Ask your father to open and shut his hand as fast as 

 he can, and beg him to keep on doing it as long as he 

 can. After a while he will tell you that his fingers are 

 stiff, and you will notice that they move more and more 

 slowly. Then he will say that he is getting very tired. 

 If he keeps on long enough, at last his hand will be so 

 tired that his fingers will not obey him. They will not 

 move even if he tries with all his might to make them. 

 The brain behaves in just this way when it is very tired ; 

 it cannot keep on working even if we want it to. 



We all know that thinking is the work that the brain 

 does. It begins when we first wake in the morning, and 

 it does not stop until we go to sleep at night. It does not 

 rest an instant all day unless we take a nap; for from 

 first to last it is thinking about toys and play, about 

 school and kites, dolls and balls, and all about our duties 

 and our fun. No wonder it gets tired. No wonder we 

 have to sleep a great deal to give it the rest it needs. 



The truth is that we spend more time in sleeping than 

 in eating or playing or studying ; and we are wise in this 

 because the work the brain does is more important than 



