A man once asked an Eastern king if he could tell him how to avoid temptation. The king told the man to take a vessel brimful of oil, and to carry it through the streets of the city without spilling one drop. “If one drop is spilt,” said the king, “your head shall be cut off.” He then ordered two executioners with drawn swords to walk behind the man and to carry out his orders. There happened to be a fair going on in the town, and the329streets were crowded with people. However, the man was very careful, and he returned to the king without having spilled one drop of the oil. Then the king asked: “Did you see any one while you were walking through the streets?” “No,” said the man; “I was thinking only of the oil; I noticed nothing else.” “Then,” said the king, “you have learned how to avoid temptation. Fix your mind as firmly on God as you fixed it on the vessel of oil. You will not then be tempted to sin.”