In a parlour of an old farmhouse there was an antique grandfather clock which for more than a hundred and fifty years had never ceased ticking faithfully. Every morning at daybreak when the farmer came down, the first thing he would do was to visit the clock to be sure that it was right. Now it happened one morning that as he went into the parlour as usual, the clock began to speak: ” For more than a century and a half, ” it said, ” I have been working without a stop and keeping perfect time. Now I am tired; dont I deserve to take a rest and stop ticking? ” ” Your complaint is unjustified my good clock,” the shrewd farmer replied, ” for you are forgetting that between each tick you have a second’s rest.” After a moment’s thought, the clock began to work again as usual.
What does this story show? That in orderly work fatigue and rest balance each other, and that regularity avoids much pain and effort.
