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But men lacking in discretion give too much importance to mere words. They seem to believe that the chariot of life is moved unceasingly by the force of words. They never seem to realise what a series of misunderstanding is created by foolish, indiscreet chatter.
Since we have taken up this subject of indiscreet speech, I might tell you of an incident that comes to my mind.
It was about nine in the evening. Ramanlal had closed his shop and was on his way home. His servant Harilal was carrying the heavy ledgers for him. His house was round the corner of the lane. Turning the corner he came upon his rival Rasiklal who had been nursing a grievance against him for quite some time and biding his time to pay him back. He thought this was a favourable chance that Fortune had given him to get his own back, so taking advantage of the darkness of the hour and the deserted lane, he dealt Ramanlal a hard blow on his head, knocking down his turban to the ground. The next moment he had disappeared.
Ramanlal was a shrewd and sensible man. When he saw that there was no chance of catching his assailant, he quietly picked up his turban, brushed it, put it on his head, and continued homeward without much ado.
But Harilal, his faithful, though somewhat foolish servant, could not let this pass so placidly. He gave
