Once a chief told one of his servants to bring him the best meat from the market. The servant brought him a tongue.

The next day the chief told the servant to bring him the worst piece of meat from the market. The servant brought a tongue again.

"What?" the chief said. "When I ask for the best piece of meat, you bring a tongue and then you bring the same thing for the worst piece of meat."

The servant said, "Sometimes a man is very unhappy because of his tongue; and sometimes his tongue makes him very happy."

"You are right," the chief said. "Let us be masters of our tongue!"