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The least unfaithfulness may bring a curse upon us, as the foot of the chamois on the snowy mountains, or the breath of a traveller who sings or shouts on his snowy road, may cause an avalanche which shall entomb the village now full of life and gaiety at the mountain's base.

"It is the little rift within the lute,

That by-and-by will make the music mute,

And, ever widening, slowly silence all:

The little rift within the lover's lute,

Or little pitted speck in garnered fruit,

That rotting inwards slowly moulders all."

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KJV: A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

WEB: A little yeast grows through the whole lump.