THE POND AND THE RIVER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 287, 3 December 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE POND AND THE RIVER.

(By Molly Curtin, 24, Church Street, Ponsonby ; age 11.) The pond lay very still and its surface was covered with a cloak of tiny green plants. Not far off a river was running—splash, gurgle, swish and ripple. Said the pond to the river: "You stupid creature, you arc always on the move. You will wear yourself out; you carry heavy ships, you push barges, you pull rafts of timber. 'Why don't you take things easy like me? If a leaf falls on me I never move it." Said the river to the pond: "I wish to keep fresh and wholesome, and only by movement and work can water preserve its freshness. I obey the law of work, and my waters remain pure. I shall flow and flow, while you will be forgotten." The words of the river came true. The pond grew smaller and smaller; it was choked up with weeds which flourished in its mud, and at last it dried up in the dry clay and was forgotten. The river flowed on, and still flows, and is honoured by all men for its usefulness.