A Laconic Answer

by James Baldwin

　　

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Many miles beyond Rome there was a famous country which we callGreece. The people of Greece were not u-nit-ed like the Romans; butinstead there were sev-er-al states, each of which had its own rulers.Some of the people in the southern part of the country were calledSpar-tans, and they were noted for their simple habits and theirbrav-er-y. The name of their land was La-co´ni-a, and so they weresometimes called La-cons.One of the strange rules which the Spartans had, was that they shouldspeak briefly, and never use more words than were needed. And so ashort answer is often spoken of as being _la-con-ic_; that is, asbeing such an answer as a Lacon would be likely to give.There was in the northern part of Greece a land called Mac´e-don; andthis land was at one time ruled over by a war-like king named Philip.Philip of Mac-e-don wanted to become the master of all Greece. So heraised a great army, and made war upon the other states, until nearlyall of them were forced to call him their king. Then he sent a letterto the Spartans in La-co-ni-a, and said, "If I go down into yourcountry, I will level your great city to the ground."In a few days, an answer was brought back to him. When he opened theletter, he found only one word written there.That word was "IF."It was as much as to say, "We are not afraid of you so long as thelittle word 'if' stands in your way."

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