Chapter Seven
Now, while The Old Fox waited, he had many thoughts, many questions. And as he slept, his brother came to him in his dreams and answered him. "My brother," asked The Old Fox, "you taught me that we must control our emotions, but what emotions are we to control, and how are we to control them?"
2 And his brother answered in this way. "We speak of all emotions. Any emotion carried to extreme is not beneficial to you. And, any emotion totally ignored can do you harm. Let us give you an example. We will tell you a story, and that story will teach you a lesson. You will find that this is a good way to teach our people, for they might not understand what you are saying, but they will see the example in the story.
3 Now, there are three rich men in the city, and each rich man has three wives. And one of their wives, their favorite, dies.
4 Now, the first man mourns bitterly day and night. He shows his grief at her funeral with much wailing and many tears. And even after her body is put to rest he continues to show his grief. He uses his wives bitterly, goes to the house of pleasure almost nightly, does not heed the good advice of his neighbors. His business becomes poor until finally he cannot pay his debts, and all he has is sold for restitution. He dies penniless.
5 Now, the second man shows calm at his wife's funeral, accepts the sympathies of his friends with kindness. Not until he returns home in the seclusion of his dead wife's room, does he weep. Now, even though he grieves, he sees to the needs of his other wives and maintains his business. And in time, there is a young widow whom he takes as mate. Though his house is never as happy as before, it is happy, and he cherishes the memory of his loved one.
6 Now, the third man shows no emotion at all. He grieves like a stone. His loss is so great to him, that he secludes himself, forsaking his wives, giving his business over to his relatives. He joins an order and forsakes the outside world, and dies in sad loneliness. Now, my brother, I ask you...which was the wisest man? Who dealt best with grief?"
7 "Now, I would say the middle man," The Old Fox told him, "he did not show too much emotion, nor did he show too little emotion. He chose the middle path."
8 "You are learning, my brother! Now, I will give you another example.
9 Now, there is a great kingdom, and the king of this kingdom is on the southern half of his land with a third of his army when an old enemy suddenly crosses his borders and attacks him, and cuts him off from the rest of his kingdom. Now, his first born is rushing to his aid, but the wise king knows that in the morning his enemy will overwhelm him, and he will be destroyed. 10 So he calls together his soldiers and speaks to them. "There is no hope," he said," If we surrender the enemy will kill us. If we fight, also, we will die. But I say it is better to die fighting than the enemey's captive. They are five times our number, but in the morning we can make a good account of ourselves, make them pay dearly for our blood. For each of us, let ten of them fall. Let their victory cost them so much, that when our brethren arrive from the north, the victory will be theirs. I expect each man to do their duty." 11 Now three of the king's soldiers heard his words, and were filled with fear. They were all afraid to die. They all desired again to see their loved ones, and to live out their lives. 12 Now the first soldier said 'I will be brave. In the morning I will throw myself upon the enemy and die well.' And that he did, and fell three of the enemy before he fell. 13 Now, the second soldier said, 'I will be brave, I will meet the enemy but as long as I can, I will give ground, make the enemy come to me and slay as many of them as I can before I fall." And this he did. And in the morning ten of the enemy fell with him, plus a score more were wounded.
14 Now the third man could not control his fear, and in the mid of the night tried to sneak through the enemy and was killed by a throwing spear, in the back. Now, my brother, I ask you, which man won his battle?"
15 The Old Fox thought a moment. "The first man," he said, "was brave but foolish. The second man was brave but wise. The third man was both a coward and a fool. Again it was the middle man that was the wisest."
16 "Correct, my brother," answered his teacher. "Do you begin to see?" 17 "Yes," The Old Fox replied, "the key word in what you teach is control. We cannot surrender to our emotions, nor can we cast them off. It is only by controlling them that we win." 18 "You learn well, indeed, my brother!" smiled his kinsman.
19 "My brother," asked The Old Fox, "you say we must put ourselves last, that Law and family must come first. Does that mean we are to give up everything to the will of others?"
20 No, my brother, such is not the case. We must first look to see if what we are doing is just or unjust, whether it is right in the eyes of The Law. Then, we must decide if it is good for our family. Even if it is lawful some act may cause such discourse with our brothers and sisters that it would be better that we not do it.
21 Thirdly, even though something may be lawful, it may well be harmful if we do it. This is the order in which we decide things. How they are decided is up to the individual. But we must remember that The Law comes before both ourselves and our families. We must sometimes suffer hurt and offend the ones we love to do what is right. It is not an easy thing, but it is so."
22 "My brother," asked The Old Fox, "you have said that we are responsible for our own acts. But what if someone else encourages us to do evil? Are they not responsible for the evil deeds?"
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