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 " Whosoever
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 toy 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
