Publisher's Synopsis
A certain Persian nobleman obtained from a cow gipsy a small oyster. Holding him up bythe beard, he addressed him thus: "You must try to forgive me for what I am about to do; and you might as well set about it atonce, for you haven't much time. I should never think of swallowing you if it were not soeasy; but opportunity is the strongest of all temptations. Besides, I am an orphan, and veryhungry.""Very well," replied the oyster; "it affords me genuine pleasure to comfort the parentlessand the starving. I have already done my best for our friend here, of whom you purchasedme; but although she has an amiable and accommodating stomach, we couldn't agree. Forthis trifling incompatibility-would you believe it?-she was about to stew me! Saviour, benefactor, proceed.""I think," said the nobleman, rising and laying down the oyster, "I ought to know somethingmore definite about your antecedents before succouring you. If you couldn't agree withyour mistress, you are probably no better than you should be."People who begin doing something from a selfish motive frequently drop it when theylearn that it is a real benevolence.
