The Tartar Inside

You know the story of the man who caught a Tartar. A soldier was outside the town, and he cried out when he came near the barracks, `I have caught a Tartar.' A voice called out, `Bring him in.' `He won't come in, sir.' `Then you come in.' `He won't let me come in, sir.' So, in this mind of ours, we have `caught a Tartar': neither can we tone it down, nor will it let us be toned down. We have all `caught Tartars'. We all say, be quiet, and peaceful, and so forth. But every baby can say that and thinks he can do it. However, that is very difficult. I have tried. I threw overboard all my duties and fled to the tops of mountains; I lived in caves and deep forests — but all the same, I `caught a Tartar', because I had my world with me all the time. The `Tartar' is what I have in my own mind, so we must not blame poor people outside. `These circumstances are good, and these are bad,' so we say, while the `Tartar' is here, within; if we can quiet him down, we shall be all right.