ONCE upon a time there were two buckets which served a village well, the water of which all the villagers praised for its freshness and sweetness. One of these buckets was of a desponding turn of mind, the other was of a cheerful spirit; the former took the dark, the latter the bright side of things. “Alas! alas!” you would hear the desponding bucket sigh, as it went down empty to the cool waters below, “I am more than half my lifetime empty―just a vain thing, and here am I again going down as usual with nothing in me; how sad it is, how trying is my lot, how―” and here the poor bucket’s speech was cut short, for splash it went into the water again!
“Happy, oh! so happy!” sang the cheerful bucket, as it came slowly up, full to the brim of sparkling water. “Here am I, nothing but a bucket, and an old one, too, but right full of water.” And when it reached the top, and was set down upon the stone, it seemed to smile at everybody who came to get some of its bounty. Then having no more water left in it, the bucket cried out, “I shall be back again soon, full to the brim. Oh! how I enjoy going down into the well for the water!”
Christian reader, which of the two buckets are you?