THE TEARS OF A MOTHER

The Tears of a Mother

A young girl received one day a letter written in the most flattering and seductive terms. Full of self-confidence at this, of that confidence that constitutes also a duty of children to their parents, she ran to show the letter to her mother. This lady, who passionately loved her daughter, was stricken with vivid alarm as she read that writing, which changed colour as her teardrops fell upon the dangerous paper. It was then that her lovely daughter addressed her:
"Oh, please, dear Mum, do not worry! Your tears have blotted out, down to the last syllable, all the flatteries that this page contains..."
Upon hearing these words, the mother embraced her tightly, and gave her a ring inlaid with several diamonds, which shone far brighter than drops of dew in the light of the sun.
"Always," she told her daughter, "whenever you are addressed in flatteries that resemble the ones on that letter, direct your gaze towards these gems and imagine that they are your mother's tears."

Christoph von Schmid.