Rare Earth
that one meets a person who so truly understands the soil. A farmer's life is not merely an endless round of work. Always I have been a farmer. There is nothing I would rather be. I have experienced drought, cyclones, blizzards, though always they have passed leaving scarcely any change. Today I am possessed of some measure of wealth although I am no happier than in the years of my youth when I lived with my father in the rudest kind of a house without any convenience or comfort The soil is a good friend because it treats all men alike."
"Yes," said the stranger, "it has many rare gifts to offer. Wise men know their worth. Men gained nothing when they went in droves to live in cities. Universities today teach every conceivable subject, history, economics, psychology, the classics. Yet I do not know of one college that gives a course in the fine art of living. The best of all schools is the soil. Men who study the earth get closer to God. Why do the Mohammedans kneel in prayer, bow
their heads in supplication to the very ground
[253]
