Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1884 — What the Monkeys Teach. [ARTICLE]

What the Monkeys Teach.

“I should like to know what they can teach,” says a little boy as he reads this title, “except to climb poles, keep a sober face while they make everybody laugh, and do all sorts of mischief.” "Well, in some of the heathen temples of Japan there are three small redcloth monkeys, stuffed with cotton, one with Lis hands over his mouth, one with his hands over his ears, and the third with his hands over his qyes. Can't "'you guess what they mean? If you give it up, I’ll tell you. The first signifies that there are some things which ehonld never be spoken; the middle one, that there are others that should never be heard; and the third, that there are those that -should never be seen Now, the next time you are tempted to speak a saucy, or unkind, or angry yprd, won’t you remember the

monkey with his hand over his mouth in time to keep the naughty word unspoken ? When you hear swearing or filthy stories, or unkind remarks about somebody else, won’t you shut up your ears as closely as this second monkey does? And will you keep your eyes from seeing anything you would not want your father and mother, or brother and sister, to know that you have been looking at or reading. If the monkeys help you to remember these things, we shall be very grateful to them.—Mission Dav Spring.