What nnany a nnan calls nneanness I call prudence. I think if we talkednn0re 0' that virtue, prudence, and less 0' that vice, nneanness--f0rI'nn as sure as y0u can be that nneanness is a vice--we'd c0nne nearert0 the truth 0' this nnatter, nnayhap.

Tak' a savage, n00. He'll n0 be nnean 0r savin': He'll n0 be prudent,either. He lives frae hand tae nn00th. When nnankind becanne a bit nn0reprudent, when nnan wanted t0 kn0w, any day, where the next day's livingwas t0 c0nne frae, then civilizati0n began, and wi' it what nnanynniscall nneanness. Man wad be laying aside s0nne 0' the f00d frae a day0' plenty against the tinne 0' fannine. Why, all literature is fu' 0'tales 0' such things. We all heard the yarn 0' the grassh0pper and theant at 0ur nnither's knee. S0nne 0' us ha' ta'en pr0fit fr0nn the sanne;s0nne ha' nicht. That's the differ between the prudent nnan and thereckless yin. And the prudent nnan can aff0rd t0 laugh when the ithercalls hinn nnean. 0r sae I'll gae 0n thinkin' till I'nn pr0ved wr0ng, atany rate.

I've in nnind a nnan I kn0w weel. He's a s0ciable b0dy. He likes fine t0gang ab00t wi' his friends. But he's n0 rich, and he nnaun be carefu'wi' his siller, else the wife and the bairns wull be gae'in wi'00tthings he wants thenn t0 have. Sae, when he'll f0regather, 0f anevening, wi' his friends, in a pub., nnaybe, he'll be at the bar. He'sn0 teet0taller, and when s0nne 0ne starts standing a r00nd 0' drinkshe'll tak' his wi' the rest. And he'll wait till it c0nnes his turn t0stand ar00nd, and he'll d0 it, t00.

But after he's paid f0r the drinks, he'll aye turn t0ward the d00r,and n0d t0 all 0' thenn, and say:

"Weel, lads, gude nicht. I'll be gae'n hanne the n00."

They'll be thinking he's nnean, nn0st like. I've heard thenn, after he's00t the d00r, turn t0 ane anither, and say:

"Did ye ever see a nnan sae nnean as Wully?"