Father Abraham’s Speech

Querido lector: I have heard that nothing gives a writer greater pleasure than seeing sus propias palabras quoted with respect by other people. Judge for yourself, then, how pleased I must have been by what I am about to tell you.

Hace poco paré mi caballo where mucha gente had gathered for una subasta of merchants’ goods. La venta todavía no había empezado, and la gente were all talking about the same thing: los malos tiempos. Un hombre del grupo llamó a un hombre viejo, plain and clean, con el pelo blanco.

“Please, Father Abraham, ¿qué piensa usted de los tiempos? These taxes are so heavy. Won’t los impuestos ruin el país? ¿Cómo vamos a pagarlos? ¿Qué nos aconseja usted?”

Father Abraham se puso de pie y respondió. “If you want mi consejo, te lo daré en pocas palabras. ‘Al buen entendedor, pocas palabras,’ como dice Poor Richard.”

Todos le pidieron que hablara, and they gathered round him, and he went on like this.

“Amigos,” he said, “los impuestos are indeed muy pesados. Si los del gobierno fueran los únicos que tenemos que pagar, we could manage them more easily. But we have muchos más, and much worse ones for some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our laziness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly. Those three — la pereza, el orgullo y la tontería — cost us the most. Y de esos impuestos nadie nos puede librar; no hay descuento posible. Still, let us listen to un buen consejo, and something may be done for us. ‘Dios ayuda a quien se ayuda,’ como dice Poor Richard.

“We would call it un gobierno duro that took una décima parte de nuestro tiempo for its own service. But la pereza takes far more than that from many of us. Trae enfermedades, and illness cuts la vida short.

“‘Rust eats away more than work wears out. La llave que se usa siempre está brillante,’ como dice Poor Richard. ‘¿Amas la vida? Entonces no pierdas el tiempo, because time is the stuff la vida is made of.’ How much more of it than we need do we spend asleep! We forget that ‘el zorro que duerme no caza gallinas, y en la tumba habrá tiempo de sobra para dormir,’ como dice Poor Richard.

“‘If el tiempo is the most precious thing of all, then wasting el tiempo must be the greatest waste,’ como dice Poor Richard. And somewhere else he tells us, ‘el tiempo perdido nunca se encuentra, y lo que llamamos tiempo de sobra siempre resulta ser poco.’

“So let us get up and do something, and do it with a purpose. Work steadily and we will do more, and with less trouble. ‘La pereza lo hace todo difícil; el trabajo lo hace todo fácil.’ ‘El que se levanta tarde corre todo el día, and will hardly catch up with his business by night.’ ‘La pereza va tan despacio que la pobreza pronto la alcanza.’ ‘Lleva tu negocio; no dejes que tu negocio te lleve a ti.’ ‘Early to bed and early to rise makes un hombre healthy, wealthy and wise,’ como dice Poor Richard.

“So what good is wishing and hoping for better times? Nosotros podemos mejorar estos tiempos, if we get moving. ‘El trabajo no necesita desear, and el hombre who lives on hope will die hungry.’ ‘No hay ganancia sin dolor.’ ‘Ayudadme, manos, que no tengo tierras’ — and if I had lands, they would be heavily taxed. ‘El que tiene un oficio tiene una propiedad, y el que tiene una profesión tiene un cargo de provecho y honra,’ como dice Poor Richard. But the trade must be worked at, and the calling well followed, or neither the estate nor the office will pay nuestros impuestos. If we work hard we shall never starve, for ‘el hambre mira dentro de la casa del trabajador, pero no se atreve a entrar.’ Nor will the bailiff or the constable enter, for ‘el trabajo paga las deudas, mientras que rendirse solo las hace mayores.’ ¿Y qué? You have found no treasure, and no rich relative has left you anything.

“‘El trabajo es la madre de la buena suerte, y Dios se lo da todo al hombre que trabaja. Ara hondo mientras los perezosos duermen, y tendrás grano para vender y para guardar.’ Work today, while it is still today, for you do not know what may hold you back tomorrow. ‘Un hoy vale por dos mañanas,’ como dice Poor Richard, and further, ‘no dejes para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy.’

“If you were un criado, would you not be ashamed for a good master to catch you doing nothing? Well then, you are tu propio amo. Be ashamed to catch yourself idle, when there is so much to be done for yourself, tu familia, tu país and tu rey. Handle your tools without mittens, and remember that ‘el gato con guantes no caza ratones,’ como dice Poor Richard. It is true that there is much to do, and perhaps you have few hands to do it. But stick to it steadily and you will see great results. ‘La gota constante desgasta la piedra.’ ‘Con trabajo y paciencia el ratón se comió el cable.’ ‘Golpes pequeños derriban robles grandes.’

“I think I hear some of you say, ‘¿No puede un hombre descansar nunca?’ I will tell you, mi amigo, what Poor Richard says: ‘Usa bien tu tiempo si quieres ganar descanso, and since you are not sure of un minuto, do not throw away una hora.’ Rest is time for doing something useful. El hombre who works will get that rest; the lazy man never will. ‘El descanso y la pereza no son lo mismo.’ Many people would rather live by their wits than by el trabajo, but they fail because they have nothing to start with. El trabajo, on the other hand, gives comfort, plenty and respect. ‘Huye de los placeres y te seguirán.’ ‘La hilandera que trabaja tiene ropa de sobra.’ ‘Now that I have a sheep and a cow, todos me dan los buenos días.’

“Pero junto con nuestro trabajo we must also be steady, settled and careful. Tenemos que cuidar nuestros propios asuntos con nuestros propios ojos. No confíes demasiado en los demás. For, como dice Poor Richard,

‘I never saw a tree moved round and round, / nor yet a family moved from ground to ground, / thrive like the ones that settled down.’

“And again, ‘tres mudanzas son tan malas como un fuego.’ And again, this one for anyone who keeps a shop: ‘Cuida tu tienda y tu tienda te cuidará.’ And again, ‘si quieres que se haga tu negocio, ve tú; si no, manda a alguien.’ And again,

‘The man who wants his plough to thrive / must either hold it himself or drive.’

“And again, ‘el ojo del amo hace más que las dos manos.’ And again, ‘want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge.’ And again, ‘no vigilar a tus trabajadores es dejarles la bolsa abierta.’

“Trusting too much to other people’s care has ruined many a man. ‘En las cosas de este mundo, los hombres se salvan no por la fe, sino por la falta de fe.’ A man’s own care, though, pays him back. ‘Si quieres un buen criado, y uno que te guste, sírvete tú mismo.’

“‘A little neglect may breed great trouble. Por un clavo se perdió el zapato. Por un zapato se perdió el caballo. Por un caballo se perdió el jinete’ — caught and killed by the enemy, all for want of a little care about un clavo for a horseshoe.

“So much for el trabajo, mis amigos, and for minding your own business. But to these we must add el ahorro, if we want nuestro trabajo to pay off more surely. Un hombre que no sabe ahorrar mientras gana may ‘trabajar sin parar toda su vida y morir sin un céntimo. Una cocina gorda hace un testamento flaco.’ And,

‘Many a fortune is lost in the getting, / since women for tea gave up spinning and knitting, / and men for punch gave up chopping and splitting.’

“‘Si quieres dinero, piensa en ahorrar y no solo en ganar. The Indies have not made España rich, because el dinero that goes out is greater than what comes in.’

“Fuera, pues, con vuestras locuras caras, y os quejaréis mucho menos about los malos tiempos, about los impuestos, and about the cost of las familias caras. For, como dice Poor Richard in verse,

‘Women and wine, gambling and cheating / make the money small and the need great.’

“And further, ‘lo que mantiene un vicio criaría a dos niños.’ You may think, perhaps, that un poco de té now and then, or a little punch, food a little richer, la ropa a little finer, a little entertainment now and then, can be no great matter. But remember, ‘muchos pocos hacen un mucho.’ Cuidado con los gastos pequeños. ‘Un agujero pequeño hunde un barco grande,’ como dice Poor Richard. And again, ‘el que ama la buena comida acabará pobre.’ And moreover, ‘los tontos hacen las fiestas y los sabios se las comen.’

“Here you all are, gathered together at esta venta of fine things and knick-knacks. You call them goods. But if you do not take care, they will turn out to be evils for some of you.

“You expect them to sell cheap, and perhaps they will go for less than they cost. But if you have no use for them, they are dear, whatever el precio. Remember what Poor Richard says: ‘Compra lo que no necesitas y pronto venderás lo que necesitas.’ And again, ‘ante una gran ganga, espera un momento.’ Quiere decir que lo barato puede ser solo aparente, or that the bargain may squeeze tu negocio and do you more harm than good. Somewhere else he says, ‘muchos hombres se han arruinado comprando gangas.’ And again, ‘es una tontería gastar dinero en algo que vas a lamentar.’ Y esta tontería se practica todos los días en las subastas, because nobody minds the Almanack.

“Many a man, for the sake of fine clothes on his back, has gone about hungry and half starved su familia. La ropa was fine; la cocina estaba vacía. ‘Las sedas y los terciopelos, la seda escarlata, apagan el fuego de la cocina,’ como dice Poor Richard. Estas cosas no son necesarias para vivir. They can hardly even be called comforts. And yet, only because they look pretty, how many people want to have them!

“By these and other extravagances, well-born people are brought down to la pobreza and forced to borrow from those they used to look down on — la gente who kept their standing through el trabajo and el ahorro. In that case it is plain enough that ‘un labrador de pie es más alto que un señor de rodillas,’ como dice Poor Richard.

“Perhaps they were left a small estate and never had to earn it. They think ‘es de día, y nunca será de noche.’ They think that spending a little out of so much is not worth minding. But ‘sacar siempre del arcón y no meter nunca nada pronto llega al fondo,’ como dice Poor Richard. And then, ‘cuando el pozo está seco, saben lo que vale el agua.’ They could have known it before, if they had taken su consejo. ‘Si quieres saber lo que vale el dinero, ve y trata de pedir prestado, for he that goes borrowing goes sorrowing,’ como dice Poor Richard — and so does el hombre who lends to such people, when he goes to get su dinero back. Poor Dick advises us further, and says,

‘A proud love of dress is surely a curse. / Before you ask fancy, go ask your purse.’

“And again, ‘el orgullo pide tan alto como la Necesidad, y con mucha menos vergüenza.’ When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy diez cosas más, so that the whole of your appearance matches. But Poor Dick says, ‘es más fácil vencer el primer deseo que satisfacer todos los que vienen después.’ And it is just as foolish for los pobres to copy los ricos as for la rana to puff itself up to match the ox.

‘Large ships may venture far from shore, / but little boats should keep near land.’

“It is a folly soon punished, though. Como dice Poor Richard, ‘el orgullo que come vanidad, cena desprecio. El orgullo desayunó con la Abundancia, comió con la Pobreza y cenó con la Vergüenza.’

“And after all, what use is este orgullo of appearance, for which so much is risked and so much suffered? It cannot make you healthy or take away pain. It adds nothing to a person’s worth. Crea envidia, y hace que la desgracia llegue antes.

“¡Qué locura es endeudarse por estos lujos! By the terms of this sale we are offered seis meses of credit, and perhaps that is what has brought some of us here, because we cannot spare el dinero and hope to be finely dressed without it.

“But think what you are doing when you run into deudas. Le das a otro hombre poder sobre tu libertad. If you cannot pay on el día, you will be ashamed to see el hombre you owe. Tendrás miedo cuando le hables. Pondrás excusas pobres y mezquinas, y poco a poco perderás tu honradez y caerás en la mentira. ‘El segundo vicio es la mentira; el primero es la deuda,’ como dice Poor Richard. And again, to the same purpose, ‘la mentira va montada en la espalda de la deuda.’ A free-born Englishman ought not to be ashamed or afraid to look at any man alive and speak to him. Pero la pobreza a menudo le quita al hombre todo su ánimo y su bondad. ‘Es difícil que una bolsa vacía se mantenga de pie.’

“What would you think of un príncipe, or of un gobierno, that issued an order forbidding you to dress like a gentleman or a lady, on pain of la prisión or slavery?

“Would you not say that you were free, that you had a right to choose tu propia ropa, that such an order broke your rights and that ese gobierno was a tyranny? And yet you are about to put yourself under that very tyranny when you run into deudas for la ropa. El hombre you owe has the power, whenever he likes, to take away tu libertad — to shut you in la prisión for life, or to sell you as un criado, if you cannot pay him.

“Once you have got your bargain, quizá pienses poco en el pago. But como dice Poor Richard, ‘creditors have better memories than debtors. Los acreedores miran el calendario y no olvidan las fechas.’ El día comes round before you notice, y la cuenta llega antes de que estés listo. Or, if you do keep la deuda in mind, el plazo que al principio parecía tan largo se hará muy corto as it runs down. ‘El tiempo parece tener alas en los pies además de en los hombros.’ ‘Tienen una Cuaresma corta los que deben dinero para Pascua.’ Quizá ahora pienses que te va bien and can bear a little extravagance without harm. But

‘For age and want, save while you may. / No morning sun lasts a whole day.’

“El dinero that comes in may be short-lived and uncertain, but el dinero that goes out is steady and certain as long as you live. ‘Es más fácil construir dos chimeneas que mantener una con leña,’ como dice Poor Richard. So, ‘mejor acostarse sin cena que levantarse con deudas.’

Consigue lo que puedas, y guarda lo que consigas. / Esa es la piedra que convierte todo tu plomo en oro.

“And when you have got the philosopher’s stone, surely you will complain no longer about los malos tiempos, or about the difficulty of paying los impuestos.

“Esta doctrina, mis amigos, es razón y sabiduría. But after all, do not depend too much on tu propio trabajo, on tu propio ahorro and on your own good sense, excellent things though they are. Todo eso puede quedar en nada without the blessing of Heaven. Pide esa bendición con humildad, and do not be unkind to la gente who seem to be without it now, but consuélalos y ayúdalos. Recuerda que Job sufrió, y luego prosperó.

“And now to finish. ‘La experiencia tiene una escuela cara, pero los tontos no aprenden en otra,’ como dice Poor Richard — and hardly even there, for it is true that ‘podemos dar consejos, pero no podemos dar conducta.’ Remember this, though: ‘they that will not be counselled cannot be helped.’ And further, ‘si no escuchas a la Razón, te dará un golpe en los nudillos,’ como dice Poor Richard.”