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The_Savior_from_Spiritual_Error_and_50_Principles, page : 73
reading these books; just as the boy must be kept from touching the snake,
so must the ears be kept from receiving such utterances. Indeed, the snake-
charmer must refrain from touching the snake in front of his small boy,
because he knows that the boy imagines he is like his father and will imitate
him, he must even caution the boy by himself showing caution in front of him,
so the scholar must act in similar fashion. And just as the good snake-
charmer on receiving a snake distinguishes between the antidote and the
poison, extracts the antidote while destroying the poison, and would not
withhold the antidote from any in need; and just as the acute and
experienced banker, after putting his hand into the bag of the counterfeiter
and extracting from it the pure gold and throwing away the counterfeit coins
would not withhold the good and acceptable money from one in need; even
so does the scholar act.
Again, when a man is bitten by a snake and needs the antidote, he turns
from it because he learns that it is extracted from the snake, the source of the
poison, and he requires to be shown the value of the antidote despite its
source. Likewise, a poor man in need of money, who shrinks from receiving
the gold taken out of the bag of the counterfeiter, ought to have it brought to
so must the ears be kept from receiving such utterances. Indeed, the snake-
charmer must refrain from touching the snake in front of his small boy,
because he knows that the boy imagines he is like his father and will imitate
him, he must even caution the boy by himself showing caution in front of him,
so the scholar must act in similar fashion. And just as the good snake-
charmer on receiving a snake distinguishes between the antidote and the
poison, extracts the antidote while destroying the poison, and would not
withhold the antidote from any in need; and just as the acute and
experienced banker, after putting his hand into the bag of the counterfeiter
and extracting from it the pure gold and throwing away the counterfeit coins
would not withhold the good and acceptable money from one in need; even
so does the scholar act.
Again, when a man is bitten by a snake and needs the antidote, he turns
from it because he learns that it is extracted from the snake, the source of the
poison, and he requires to be shown the value of the antidote despite its
source. Likewise, a poor man in need of money, who shrinks from receiving
the gold taken out of the bag of the counterfeiter, ought to have it brought to