ABRAHAM LINCOLN
亚伯拉罕o林肯
1.Abraham Lincoln，when a boy，did not live in a nice brown-stone house in the city；nor did he live in a neat white cottage in the country，surrounded by fruit-trees and flowers and beautiful lawns，as many of my readers do.
2.T h e r e w a s n o l a rg e b r i c k s c h o o l -b u i l d i n g ，w i t h blackboards and charts and globes and plenty of nice books and good teachers，where he could go with hundreds of other boys，to acquire knowledge；nor were there，near his home，any pretty little school-houses，such as now dot the country as stars dot the sky.
3.Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin.His youth was spent in a home of poverty.He earned his daily bread by the sweat of his face；the consciousness of honest industry sweetened his life of toil.
4.Though he was not taught to be indifferent to worldly prosperity and the advantages it gives，he early learned the simplicity of greatness，and that“The rank is but the guinea‘s stamp-.
The man’s the gold for a‘that！”
5.His early education was very limited.His whole school-life did not exceed the short space of one year.His education，therefore，is mainly due to his own exertions.There are very few boys in all the country who have not better opportunities for acquiring knowledge than he had.His home contained no “gas-light”nor “midnight oil”to stimulate or aid him in his efforts.
6.The bright blaze of the hickory and the crackling of the elm furnished his eyes with light and his heart with music，as he pored over his books，and transferred the latent knowledge of their lifeless pages to the living page of his own mind，and there gave it form，and place，and power.
7.He was never satisfied with half-knowing what he undertook to learn.He says，“When an idea was presented to my mind，I would chase it up till I could bound it north，and bound it south，and bound it east，and bound it west；and I was not satisfied till I could put it in language plain enough for any boy I knew to comprehend.”
8.Abraham Lincoln was the very soul of honor from his youth.He would never do a mean thing.His parents were too poor to furnish him many books；but the neighbors，seeing his desire to read，were willing to lend him from their scanty collections.
9.One of these borrowed books，through the carelessness of others，became injured by getting wet.Abraham did not take it home without pointing out the injury；nor did he try to excuse himself from responsibility by throwing the blame on others.
10.He told the man how sorry he was that the book wasinjured，and offered to pay for it and keep it.The man was very much pleased with Abraham’s frankness；and very soon a bargain was made by which Abraham was to become the owner of the book as soon as it was paid for.
11.Now，how do you suppose he paid for that book？He had no money，as many little boys have.Did he ask his father for some？This is what most boys would do.Did he do it？Not he.He said that money given to him would not cost him anything.He wanted to pay for the book himself.
12.And he did pay for it；but not in money.He paid for it in hard work，in work done during extra hours；and when the man was fully satisfied，Abraham owned the book.It was the first book he ever owned.This was a proud day for him：for he not only owned a book，but he had paid for it himself out of “his own wealth.”
13.When he became a man he had the same desire to do right and to be just to all men，and he would never let any advantage to himself prevent his doing unto others as he would that others should do unto him.People learned to trust him；and long before he was made President，he was known，far and near，as “Honest Abe，”
14.One day a lady called at his office and desired him to prosecute a claim for her；for Mr.Lincoln was a lawyer.She handed him a bundle of papers to examine，which she thought would establish her claim to a large property，and paid him a retainer of two hundred and fifty dollars.
15.This was a large sum of money，but Mr.Lincoln was agood lawyer，and people were glad to get his services at anyprice.A few days after，the lady called again.Mr.Lincoln told her that he had read her papers very carefully；that there was not a “peg”on which to hang her claim，and that he could not advise her to bring an action.
16.This was bad news，indeed，for the lady；but she did not blame Mr.Lincoln.She thanked him for his candor，and rose to leave.“Stop a moment，”said Mr.Lincoln；and he got the two hundred and fifty dollars and handed it to her，saying，“Here is the money you left with me.”
17.“Mr.Lincoln，”said the lady，“you have earned that money；keep it.I am satisfied.”“No，madam，I can‘t do that，”said Mr.Lincoln，“it would not be right.I have done only my duty in examining your papers and advising you not to bring suit.I can’t take money for doing only my duty.”
