Daily Signet

There is an old fable about a traveler on the Mongolian steppes who was surprised by a rampaging tiger. This traveler ran for his life, but the beast kept gaining on him. Finally, in desperation, the traveler leapt into a dried up well, but this alas, roused a dragon sleeping at the bottom of it. As the traveler fell, he was alert enough to grab onto a single, slim branch growing from a crack in the bricks. There he clung for his life—tiger above him roaring, dragon below snapping its jaws. His arms grew tired and he knew it was only a matter of time before the tiger swiped at him from above or he fell to his death below. Yet, he held on. And he was even beginning to hope for a way out when he noticed two mice—one black and one white gnawing away at either side of the tender branch he clung to. Surely, he would die soon. Then a glint of sunlight fell on the wall of the well. The traveler’s eyes widened. There on a leaf of the branch were drops of honey. He felt a rush of joy and with the few moments he had left, he calmly stretched out his tongue and tasted the precious sweetness.                                                               

Teri Martin

On This Day…

Countee Cullen born 1903 in New York City, died 1946: Harlem Renaissance poet
Works: The Harlem Renaissance, Caroling Dusk, My Soul’s High Song
Quotes: “So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds, and wait and tend our agonizing seeds.” “I have a rendezvous with life.” “Your love to me was like an unread book.”