The Wolf

The wolf is rather larger than our largest dogs, and looks somewhat like them; but he seemsmore wild, savage and cruel. The wolves go in large companies, making a terrible howlingnoise; and though they are in general cowardly, yet when they are very hungry they attack largeanimals, and even men. They almost always go out by night, and the Bible refers to this when itsays, "Their horses are more fierce than the evening wolves." Jacob, just before his death, saidof one of his sons, "Benjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, andat evening he shall divide the spoil."

There were once a great many wolves in New England and in other parts of the United States,and some are left yet, although many have been killed or driven away. There are still greatnumbers of them in some countries. In England the month of January used to be called Wolf-monat, or wolf-month; "because," as an old book says, "people are wont in that moneth to bemore in danger to be devoured of wolves than in any season els of the yeare, for that through theextremity of cold and snow those ravenous creatures could not find other beasts sufficient tofeed upon."

A sad story is told of something that happened in Russia a few years since. A woman was oneday riding on a sledge with her three children over a lonely road, when suddenly she heard thenoise of wolves behind her. She was not very far from home, and tried to urge her horse on, toget out of their reach; but they gained upon her every moment, and were just on the point ofrushing on the sledge, when the poor woman, to save the lives of the rest, caught up one of thechildren and threw it to the wolves. This stopped them but a short time; they devoured it at onceand again ran howling after the sledge. The mother threw out a second child, hoping to escapewith the other; but in vain. Again the cruel animals were close behind her, and to save her ownlife, hardly knowing what she did, she threw over her only remaining child. She succeeded inreaching home herself, in safety, but where were her children? She told the terrible story; butwhile she was endeavoring to excuse herself by telling of her exceeding fright and danger, a manwho stood by struck her on the head with an axe and killed her at one blow-saying that a womanwho would thus give up her children to save her life, was not fit to live.

The Bible tells us of a time yet to come, when "The wolf shall feed with the lamb." Perhaps thiswill be exactly true of the animals in those days, though it now seems so unlikely; but I supposeit means also that wicked and cruel men shall become holy and Christ-like. Then all will bepeace on earth, and "none shall hurt or destroy in all" God's "holy mountain."

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