54 Pearls. 



overhanging the water, and may with its ** shells 

 gaping open to receive the dew" have been the 

 innocent cause of this fanciful idea. 



This dew-origin of Pearls affords such ample 

 opportunities for the play of fancy, that it is not 

 surprising that poets and moralists should have 

 considered Pearls fit subjects for imaginative writing, 

 using them not only as poetic metaphors, but to 

 teach many moral lessons. The virtue of humility, 

 as embodied in the Christian precept that "Who- 

 soever humbleth himself shall be exalted," is forcibly 

 inculcated in the following parable recorded in the 

 *• Bostan " by the Oriental poet, Sadi : — 



"A drop of water fell one day from a cloud 

 into the sea. Ashamed and confounded on finding 

 itself in such an immensity of water, it exclaimed, 

 *What am I in comparison with this vast ocean ? 

 my existence is less than nothing in this boundless 

 abyss.' Whilst it thus discoursed of itself, a Pearl- 

 shell received it into its bosom, and fortune so 

 favoured it, that it became a magnificent and 

 precious Pearl, worthy of adorning the diadem of 

 kings. Thus was its humility the cause of its 

 elevation, and by annihilating itself it merited 

 exaltation." 



The same sentiment, but in more modern 



