Scientific Illustrations Proverbs 26:28 A lying tongue hates those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth works ruin. Parasitic plants send their roots into the substance of another plant, and derive their food from its juices; but though, like some of the human kind, they live upon their neighbour's bounty, it must be admitted that they sometimes reward their benefactor by adorning it with their beautiful flowers. The Rafflesia Arnoldi, for example, whose flower is three feet across, and whose cup will contain several pints of fluid, grows attached to the stem of a climbing cistus in Sumatra. The mistletoe also, whose silvery berries adorn the oak. Whether these offerings of the parasite bear any reasonable proportion to the amount of damage done by it must be a question open to doubt. Certain it is that the offerings of the social parasite to his benefactor, consisting as they do of subservience, flattery, and petty traits, are no real benefit to anybody; whilst, on the other hand, the injury which the parasite does to honesty and manliness is most unmistakable. On the whole, we are inclined to think that all the productions of parasites, whether vegetable or human, are not sufficient to make us value the producers very highly. (Scientific Illustrations.). Parallel Verses KJV: A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.WEB: A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin. |
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