What is the way to righteousness in this world? Rabbi Eliezer said, "To be generous." Rabbi Yehoshua said, "Be a good friend." Rabbi Yosi said, "Neighborliness." Rabbi Elazar said, "Have a good heart." Indeed, all our good qualities depend on having a good heart. (Sayings of the Fathers 2:13)

The porcupine is a fearsome-looking creature. Hundreds of spear-like spines jut from his body, rippling and bristling as he ambles by. Any animal seeing a porcupine approach, runs for cover and doesn't look up till he's certain the threat is well past.

Once, a porcupine was walking through his apple orchard in the mists of morning when a most surprising thing happened. It began when he came across a small rodent digging a hole in the ground. Even though the porcupine had tried to make friends many times before, and for obvious reasons not succeeded, he decided to approach.

"Hello there," said the porcupine to the digger.

"Hello there," replied the mole.

"Say, what?" said the startled porcupine.

"Helo there! Wherever you are," clarified the mole.

"I'm right over here," said Porcupine, nodding as he headed towards Mole's digs.

"Oh, I know you're there, somewhere," said Mole. "I just mean I can't see you, so don't expect me to comment on how beautiful your coat is or something like that."

"Can't see me? But why not?" asked Porcupine, coming closer.

"We're blind," answered Mole. "All of us."

"All of us? I'm not blind!" said Porcupine, grinding to a perplexed halt.

"Well, all moles are blind."

"But how can that be?" pondered Porcupine out loud. "How can you get around if you're blind?"

"Not at all an easy task," said Mole. "I'm forever fretting that a fox will filch me from my hole or a hawk haul me to his hideout. One false step from this burrow and I'm somebody's lunch."

"That," said Porcupine, between short, nervous, gulps of air, "sounds very stuffy indeed. But don't you ever just want to get out and take a nice walk in the cool morning air?"

"Oh, I'd love to," said Mole.

"Well, wait just a minute," said Porcupine. "I wasn't..." Mid-sentence, Porcupine stopped, for he realized that walks are one of the things that friends do best, and if he wanted a friend, this certainly was a particularly nice morning to start. "Well," he said, clearing his throat and then changing the end of sentence to fit his new idea, "I wasn't...eh...hum, going for a long walk. But if you'd like to join me for a short tootle I'd be most happy."

"Are you sure you can protect me?" pressed Mole, his voice quavering.

Porcupine paused. "No one near me has ever gotten so much as a scratch," he said, averting his eyes.

Mole brushed off his paws, scraping the moist soil from his slender nails. He rubbed his face and asked Porcupine, "How do I look?"

"Just fine."

Mole approached Porcupine from his direction, coming closer and closer as they spoke. "I shall need to stay right next to you if I'm not to lose my way," said Mole. "Do you have a tail or something else I could hold onto?"

"No! No! No!" said Porcupine. "It's not at all a good idea to come so close. I...I...I've a bad case of mites today. Mole, you go out ahead of me and I'll follow behind. That way, if we meet anyone who's not a danger to you, you can keep them a safe distance from me. Don't worry, I'll direct you."

Mole started out painfully slow, each step taking him farther and farther from the safety of his home. He listened for the slightest sound of anything moving, anything, that is, besides the awful racket of Porcupine's coffee-bean shuffle. Mole's new friend, meanwhile, barked out directions: "Left. No, Right! Left. Straight!" The beginning was awkward, but they managed quite nicely around two or three trees before their excursion reached its destination back at Mole's home.

"I'm pooped," sighed Mole. "But I did enjoy this. Will you come back tomorrow and take me around again?"

"Tomorrow we can go further," offered Porcupine. "I know a place nearby where there's a rushing brook."

"What a great idea," said Mole. "I've heard stories about it, but I've never actually reached there through my tunnels."

The next morning when the sun came up and the dawn bird sang, two animals in the orchard were very excited. Porcupine scurried down from his tree and out through the tall grass. Mole cleared away the dirt from his burrow, cleaned off his whiskers and his paws, and waited. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of his friend approaching - the rush-rustle and clickety-clack of Porcupine's quills.

Mole called out, "Good morning!"

"Morning!" answered Porcupine.

"Why, you do have quite a coat, don't you?" offered Mole, pleased that he could surprise his friend with his observation. "I could hear you coming from ten trees away. But tell me, what is that tapping and clapping? It Sounds like you're carrying the farmer's broom closet on your back."

It was just at that moment that two of the farmer's ferocious dogs appeared out of nowhere. And before Porcupine had time to think, he was wielding his tail like a sword, protecting himself from snapping jaws and snarling mouths that breathed fiery hot air down his back.

He let loose a mass of spikes that hit one dog right in the snout. The other got it smack on the chin. The speared hounds commenced a fearsome howling and then like a couple of bearded billy goats they slunk back home.

Mole's body shook like a struck bell. "That sounded hah-hah-horrible," he said, trying to keep his teeth from chattering. "What heh-heh-happened?"

Porcupine had feared an incident like this, and he tried to relax his furrowed shoulders before opening his anxious mouth. "I've really been wanting to tell you about myself," he said calmly enough. But then his excitement got the better of him. "Fact of the matter is, I have enough spears in my coat to take care of twenty sets of snapping jaws. Those dogs will be a real sight till the farmer plucks them clean with a pair of pliers."

"You wouldn't have hurt them if they hadn't started up, would you?"

"No," said Porcupine, slightly offended, "I'm not like that."

"Good," said Mole, cleaning tiny beads of sweat from his face with his paws. "Shall we begin our walk then?"

Porcupine was dumbfounded. All he could do was mumble out loud to himself, "That's it? He's willing to go with me despite all these quills and the dog's snout looking like a goat's beard?" There was an awkward silence broken by the reassuring words of Mole.

"Look," he said, "I need protection like that. If you're up for a walk with a blind but willing rodent, then I'm ready and waiting."

So off they went. This time the two walked together briskly, and their running conversation about the advantages of sleeping high up in trees with all that fresh air versus the snugness and security of a long cozy tunnel, helped Mole keep the direction. Porcupine guided Mole all the way to the brook. As they neared the bank, Mole sniffed the air and shook his head, his tiny ears jutting forward like antennae.

"Is that the sound of the brook?" he asked.

"Yes, indeed," said Porcupine.

"Why, it's wonderful," exclaimed Mole. "But is it safe to go closer without fear of falling in? I do sense a drop-off coming."

"Don't worry," said Porcupine. "I'll take you a special way where the land goes right out into the water and you'll be perfectly safe."

By the time they were well out on the spit of land, Mole was as excited as a bee landing on its first spring bud. Silently, he savored a long, deep breath of moist air. Porcupine's quills shimmered in the sun.

And then, suddenly, Porcupine was famished.

"We have to go back now," he said. "I just realized how hungry I am."

Mole told his friend that he had specially prepared some tuber roots for him to taste and they could snack on them when they got back to his burrow. This gave Porcupine a lot to think about as they walked along, and he was very quiet, worried that he would not like the taste of this strange-sounding snack.