{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_21446/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_21446","id":"gutenberg_21446","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21446","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's Anthologies","Fables"],"text":"Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Sankar Viswanathan,\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This file was made using scans of\npublic domain works in the International Children's Digital\nLibrary.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                 [Illustration: THE FROG AND THE OX.]\n\n\n                          FAVOURITE FABLES,\n\n                         In Prose and Verse.\n\n\n                    WITH TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n                            FROM DRAWINGS\n\n\n                          BY HARRISON WEIR.\n\n\n                       [Illustration: JUSTICE.]\n\n\n\n                               LONDON:\n\n                         GRIFFITH AND FARRAN,\n\n                 (SUCCESSORS TO NEWBERY AND HARRIS),\n\n                   CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD.\n\n                              MDCCCLXX.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nFABLE\n\nI.        THE FOX AND THE GOAT\n\nII.       THE FROG AND THE OX\n\nIII.      THE MAN AND HIS GOOSE\n\nIV.       THE LION AND OTHER BEASTS\n\nV.        THE DOVE AND THE ANT\n\nVI.       THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL\n\nVII.      THE BUTTERFLY AND THE SNAIL\n\nVIII.     THE WOLF AND THE CRANE\n\nIX.       THE FROG AND THE RAT\n\nX.        THE FIGHTING COCK AND EAGLE\n\nXI.       THE DIAMOND AND THE LOADSTONE\n\nXII.      THE BEAR AND THE BEES\n\nXIII.     THE FROGS DESIRING A KING\n\nXIV.      THE FOX AND THE BOAR\n\nXV.       THE VINE AND THE GOAT\n\nXVI.      THE DISCONTENTED HORSE\n\nXVII.     THE MOUNTAIN IN LABOUR\n\nXVIII.    THE FOX AND THE STORK\n\nXIX.      THE HORSE AND THE STAG\n\nXX.       THE LION WOUNDED\n\nXXI.      THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN\n\nXXII.     JUPITER AND THE FARMER\n\nXXIII.    THE VAIN JACKDAW\n\nXXIV.     THE VIPER AND THE FILE\n\nXXV.      THE WOLF AND THE LAMB\n\nXXVI.     THE OLD BULLFINCH AND YOUNG BIRDS\n\nXXVII.    THE MOUSE AND THE WEASEL\n\nXXVIII.   THE OLD HOUND\n\nXXIX.     THE CHARGER AND THE ASS\n\nXXX.      THE COLT AND THE FARMER\n\nXXXI.     THE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES\n\nXXXII.    THE FOX AND THE CROW\n\nXXXIII.   THE PEACOCK'S COMPLAINT\n\nXXXIV.    THE STAG IN THE OX-STALL\n\nXXXV.     THE WIND AND THE SUN\n\nXXXVI.    THE TRAVELLERS AND THE BEAR\n\nXXXVII.   THE DOG AND THE SHADOW\n\nXXXVIII.  THE HERMIT AND THE BEAR\n\nXXXIX.    THE SHEPHERD'S BOY AND THE WOLF\n\nXL.       THE FAWN AND HER MOTHER\n\nXLI.      THE TORTOISE AND THE EAGLE\n\nXLII.     THE BROTHER AND SISTER\n\nXLIII.    THE SHEPHERD'S DOG AND WOLF\n\nXLIV.     THE COVETOUS MAN\n\nXLV.      THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE\n\nXLVI.     THE HOG AND THE ACORNS\n\nXLVII.    THE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE CITY MOUSE\n\nXLVIII.   THE CAT AND THE MICE\n\nXLIX.     THE KID AND THE WOLF\n\nL.        THE COUNCIL OF HORSES\n\nLI.       THE ASS AND THE LITTLE DOG\n\nLII.      THE LION AND THE FOUR BULLS\n\nLIII.     THE LEOPARD AND THE FOX\n\nLIV.      THE WARRIOR WOLF\n\nLV.       THE BELLY AND THE MEMBERS\n\nLVI.      THE CUR, THE HORSE, AND THE SHEPHERD'S DOG\n\nLVII.     THE JACKDAW AND THE EAGLE\n\nLVIII.    THE ASS AND THE LION HUNTING\n\nLIX.      THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING\n\nLX.       THE TWO BEES\n\nLXI.      THE TURKEY AND THE ANT\n\nLXII.     THE DOG AND THE WOLF\n\nLXIII.    THE SATYR AND THE TRAVELLER\n\nLXIV.     THE BARLEY-MOW AND THE DUNGHILL\n\nLXV.      THE SHEEP-BITER AND SHEPHERD\n\nLXVI.     THE STAG AT THE POOL\n\nLXVII.    THE OLD SWALLOWS AND THE YOUNG BIRDS\n\nLXVIII.   THE WAGGONER AND THE BUTTERFLY\n\nLXIX.     THE LION, THE BEAR AND THE FOX\n\nLXX.      THE FOX AND THE GRAPES\n\nLXXI.     THE HARE AND MANY FRIENDS\n\nLXXII.    THE COCK AND THE FOX\n\nLXXIII.   THE LION AND THE MOUSE\n\nLXXIV.    THE TRUMPETER TAKEN PRISONER\n\nLXXV.     THE MOUSE AND THE ELEPHANT\n\nLXXVI.    THE HUSBANDMAN AND HIS SONS\n\nLXXVII.   THE BALD KNIGHT\n\nLXXVIII.  THE DOG IN THE MANGER\n\nLXXIX.    THE OLD MAN AND DEATH\n\nLXXX.     THE OLD HEN AND YOUNG COCK\n\nLXXXI.    MERCURY AND THE WOODMAN\n\nLXXXII.   THE WOLF AND THE KID\n\nLXXXIII.  THE OLD MAN AND HIS SONS\n\nLXXXIV.   THE BROOK AND THE FOUNTAIN\n\nLXXXV.    THE MICE IN COUNCIL\n\nLXXXVI.   THE FOX IN THE WELL\n\nLXXXVII.  THE HORSE AND THE WOLF\n\nLXXXVIII. THE TWO SPRINGS\n\nLXXXIX.   THE COUNTRYMAN AND THE RAVEN\n\nXC.       THE FOX AND THE BRAMBLE\n\nXCI.      HERCULES AND THE CARTER\n\nXCII.     THE BOYS AND THE FROGS\n\nXCIII.    THE COCK AND THE JEWEL\n\nXCIV.     THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE GLOW-WORM\n\nXCV.      THE FOX AND THE SICK LION\n\nXCVI.     THE LION, THE FOX, AND THE GEESE\n\nXCVII.    THE ONE-EYED DOE\n\nXCVIII.   THE FOX, THE RAVEN, AND THE DOVE\n\nXCIX.     THE TWO POTS\n\nC.        THE TWO FROGS\n\nCI.       THE FOX AND THE MASK\n\nCII.      THE CAT, THE COCK, AND THE YOUNG MOUSE\n\nCIII.     THE MICE AND THE TRAP\n\nCIV.      THE CHAMELEON\n\nCV.       THE WOLF, THE FOX, AND THE ASS\n\nCVI.      THE BOY AND THE BUTTERFLY\n\nCVII.     THE CROW AND THE PITCHER\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n1.   THE FROG AND THE OX (_Frontispiece_)\n\n2.   THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL\n\n3.   THE FIGHTING COCK AND EAGLE\n\n4.   THE VINE AND THE GOAT\n\n5.   THE LION WOUNDED\n\n6.   THE WOLF AND THE LAMB\n\n7.   THE CHARGER AND THE ASS\n\n8.   THE FOX AND THE CROW\n\n9.   THE DOG AND THE SHADOW\n\n10.  THE FAWN AND HER MOTHER\n\n11.  THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE\n\n12.  THE KID AND THE WOLF\n\n13.  THE LEOPARD AND THE FOX\n\n14.  THE JACKDAW AND THE EAGLE\n\n15.  THE DOG AND THE WOLF\n\n16.  THE STAG AT THE POOL\n\n17.  THE FOX AND THE GRAPES\n\n18.  THE LION AND THE MOUSE\n\n19.  THE DOG IN THE MANGER\n\n20.  THE WOLF AND THE GOAT\n\n21.  THE HORSE AND THE WOLF\n\n22.  THE COCK AND THE JEWEL\n\n23.  THE ONE-EYED DOE\n\n24.  THE FOX AND THE MASK\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nFAVOURITE FABLES.\n\nFABLE I.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE GOAT.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn the extreme end of a village a Fox one day went to have a peep\nat a hen-roost. He had the bad luck to fall into a well, where he\nswam first to this side, and then to that side, but could not get\nout with all his pains. At last, as chance would have it, a poor\nGoat came to the same place to seek for some drink. \"So ho!\nfriend Fox,\" said he, \"you quaff it off there at a great rate: I\nhope by this time you have quenched your thirst.\" \"Thirst!\" said\nthe sly rogue; \"what I have found here to drink is so clear, and\nso sweet, that I cannot take my fill of it; do, pray, come down,\nmy dear, and have a taste of it.\" With that, in plumped the Goat\nas he bade him; but as soon as he was down, the Fox jumped on his\nhorns, and leaped out of the well in a trice; and as he went off,\n\"Good bye, my wise friend,\" said he; \"if you had as much brains\nas you have beard, I should have been in the well still, and you\nmight have stood on the brink of it to laugh at me, as I now do\nat you.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nA rogue will give up the best friend he has to get out of a\nscrape; so that we ought to know what a man is, that we may judge\nhow far we may trust to what he says.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE II.\n\nTHE FROG AND THE OX.\n\n\nAn old Frog, being wonderfully struck with the size and majesty\nof an Ox that was grazing in the marshes, was seized with the\ndesire to expand herself to the same portly magnitude. After\npuffing and swelling for some time, \"What think you,\" said she,\nto her young ones, \"will this do?\" \"Far from it,\" said they.\n\"Will this?\" \"By no means.\" \"But this surely will?\" \"Nothing\nlike it,\" they replied. After many fruitless and ridiculous\nefforts to the same purpose, the foolish Frog burst her skin, and\nmiserably expired upon the spot.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nTo attempt what is out of our power, and to rival those greater\nthan ourselves, is sure to expose us to contempt and ruin.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE III.\n\nTHE MAN AND HIS GOOSE.\n\n\nA CERTAIN Man had a Goose, which laid him a golden egg every day.\nBut, not contented with this, which rather increased than abated\nhis avarice, he was resolved to kill the Goose, and cut up her\nbelly, so that he might come to the inexhaustible treasure which\nhe fancied she had within her, without being obliged to wait for\nthe slow production of a single egg daily. He did so, and, to his\ngreat sorrow and disappointment, found nothing within.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThe man that hastes to become rich often finds that he has only\nbrought on ruin.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE IV.\n\nTHE LION AND OTHER BEASTS.\n\n\nThe Bull, and several other beasts, were ambitious of the honour\nof hunting with the Lion. His savage Majesty graciously\ncondescended to their desire; and it was agreed that they should\nhave an equal share in whatever might be taken. They scour the\nforest, are unanimous in the pursuit, and, after a long chase,\npull down a noble stag. It was divided with great dexterity by\nthe Bull into four equal parts; but just as he was going to\nsecure his share--\"Hold!\" says the Lion, \"let no one presume to\nhelp himself till he hath heard our just and reasonable claims. I\nseize upon the first quarter by virtue of my prerogative; the\nsecond I claim as due to my superior conduct and courage; I\ncannot forego the third, on account of the necessities of my den;\nand if anyone is inclined to dispute my right to the fourth, let\nhim speak.\" Awed by the majesty of his frown, and the terror of\nhis paws, they silently withdrew, resolving never to hunt again\nbut with their equals.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nBe certain that those who have great power are honest before you\nplace yourselves in their hands, or you will be deprived of your\njust rights.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE V.\n\nTHE DOVE AND THE ANT.\n\n\nThe Ant, compelled by thirst, went to drink in a clear, purling\nrivulet; but the current, with its circling eddy, snatched her\naway, and carried her down the stream. A Dove, pitying her\ndistressed condition, cropped a branch from a neighbouring tree\nand let it fall into the water, by means of which the Ant saved\nherself and got ashore. Not long after, a Fowler, having a design\nagainst the Dove, planted his nets in due order, without the\nbird's observing what he was about; which the Ant perceiving,\njust as he was going to put his design into execution, she bit\nhis heel, and made him give so sudden a start, that the Dove took\nthe alarm, and flew away.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nKindness to others seldom fails of its reward; and none is so\nweak that he may not be able in some fashion to repay it. Let us\nshow kindness without looking for a return, but a blessing will\nsurely follow.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE VI.\n\nTHE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL.\n\n\nA FOX being caught in a steel trap by his tail, was glad to compound\nfor his escape with the loss of it; but on coming abroad into the\nworld, began to be so sensible of the disgrace such a defect would\nbring upon him, that he almost wished he had died rather than left\nit behind him. However, to make the best of a bad matter, he formed\na project in his head to call an assembly of the rest of the Foxes,\nand propose it for their imitation as a fashion which would be very\nagreeable and becoming. He did so, and made a long harangue upon the\nunprofitableness of tails in general, and endeavoured chiefly to\nshow the awkwardness and inconvenience of a Fox's tail in\nparticular; adding that it would be both more graceful and more\nexpeditious to be altogether without them, and that, for his part,\nwhat he had only imagined and conjectured before, he now found by\nexperience; for that he never enjoyed himself so well, nor found\nhimself so easy as he had done since he cut off his tail. He said no\nmore, but looked about with a brisk air to see what proselytes he\nhad gained; when a sly old Fox in the company, who understood trap,\nanswered him, with a leer, \"I believe you may have found a\nconveniency in parting with your tail; and when we are in the same\ncircumstances, perhaps we may do so too.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL.]\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIt is common for men to wish others reduced to their own level,\nand we ought to guard against such advice as may proceed from\nthis principle.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE VII.\n\nTHE BUTTERFLY AND THE SNAIL.\n\n\n    As in the sunshine of the morn,\n    A Butterfly, but newly born,\n    Sat proudly perking on a rose,\n    With pert conceit his bosom glows;\n    His wings, all glorious to behold,\n    Bedropt with azure, jet and gold,\n    Wide he displays; the spangled dew\n    Reflects his eyes, and various hue.\n\n      His now forgotten friend, a Snail,\n    Beneath his house, with slimy trail,\n    Crawls o'er the grass; whom, when he spies,\n    In wrath he to the gardener cries:\n\n      \"What means yon peasant's daily toil,\n    From choaking weeds to rid the soil?\n    Why wake you to the morning's care?\n    Why with new arts correct the year?\n    Why glows the peach with crimson hue?\n    And why the plum's inviting blue?\n    Were they to feast his taste designed,\n    That vermin, of voracious kind?\n    Crush, then, the slow, the pilf'ring race;\n    So purge thy garden from disgrace.\"\n\n      \"What arrogance!\" the Snail replied;\n    \"How insolent is upstart pride!\n    Hadst thou not thus, with insult vain,\n    Provoked my patience to complain,\n    I had concealed thy meaner birth,\n    Nor traced thee to the scum of earth:\n    For, scarce nine suns have wak'd the hours,\n    To swell the fruit, and paint the flowers,\n    Since I thy humbler life surveyed,\n    In base, in sordid guise arrayed;\n    A hideous insect, vile, unclean,\n    You dragg'd a slow and noisome train;\n    And from your spider-bowels drew\n    Foul film, and spun the dirty clue.\n    I own my humble life, good friend;\n    Snail was I born, and Snail shall end.\n    And what's a Butterfly? At best,\n    He's but a Caterpillar, dress'd;\n    And all thy race (a numerous seed)\n    Shall prove of Caterpillar breed.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    All upstarts, insolent in place,\n    Remind us of their vulgar race.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE VIII.\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE CRANE.\n\n\nA WOLF, after too greedily devouring his prey, happened to have a\nbone stick in his throat, which gave him so much pain that he\nwent howling up and down, and importuning every creature he met\nto lend him a kind hand in order to his relief; nay, he even\npromised a reward to anyone who should undertake the operation\nwith success. At last the Crane, tempted with the lucre of the\nreward, and having first made the Wolf confirm his promise with\nan oath, undertook the business, and ventured his long neck into\nthe rapacious felon's throat.\n\nIn short, he plucked out the bone, and expected the promised\ngratuity; when the Wolf, turning his eyes disdainfully towards\nhim, said, \"I did not think you had been so unreasonable! Have I\nnot suffered you safely to draw your neck out of my jaws? And\nhave you the conscience to demand a further reward?\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nWhen we do good to bad men, we must not expect good from them.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE IX.\n\nTHE FROG AND THE RAT.\n\n\n    Once on a time, a foolish Frog,\n    Vain, proud, and stupid as a log,\n    Tired with the marsh, her native home,\n    Imprudently abroad would roam,\n    And fix her habitation where\n    She'd breathe at least a purer air.\n    She was resolved to change, that's poz;\n    Could she be worse than where she was?\n\n      Away the silly creature leaps.\n    A Rat, who saw her lab'ring steps,\n    Cried out, \"Where in this hurry, pray?\n    You certainly will go astray!\"\n\n      \"Ne'er fear; I quit that filthy bog,\n    Where I so long have croaked incog:\n    People of talents, sure, should thrive,\n    And not be buried thus alive.\n    But, pray (for I'm extremely dry),\n    Know you of any water nigh?\"\n\n      \"None,\" said the Rat, \"you'll reach to-day,\n    As you so slowly make your way.\n    Believe a friend, and take my word,\n    This jaunt of yours is quite absurd.\n    Go to your froggery again;\n    In your own element remain.\"\n    No: on the journey she was bent,\n    Her thirst increasing as she went;\n    For want of drink she scarce can hop,\n    And yet despairing of a drop:\n    Too late she moans her folly past;\n    She faints, she sinks, she breathes her last.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Vulgar minds will pay full dear,\n    When once they move beyond their sphere.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE X.\n\nTHE FIGHTING COCK AND EAGLE.\n\n\nTwo Cocks were fighting for the sovereignty of the dunghill, and\none of them having got the better of the other, he that was\nvanquished crept into a hole, and hid himself for some time; but\nthe victor flew up to an eminent place, clapt his wings, and\ncrowed out victory. An Eagle, who was watching for his prey near\nthe place, saw him, and, making a swoop, trussed him up in his\ntalons, and carried him off. The Cock that had been beaten,\nperceiving this, soon quitted his hole, and, shaking off all\nremembrance of his late disgrace, gallanted the hens with all the\nintrepidity imaginable.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nBefore honour is humility. We must not be too much elevated by\nprosperity lest we meet a grievous fall.\n\n[Illustration: THE FIGHTING COCK AND EAGLE.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XI.\n\nTHE DIAMOND AND THE LOADSTONE.\n\n\nA DIAMOND, of great beauty and lustre, observing, not only many\nother gems of a lower class ranged together with himself in the\nsame cabinet, but a Loadstone likewise placed not far from him,\nbegan to question the latter how he came there, and what\npretensions he had to be ranked among the precious stones; he,\nwho appeared to be no better than a mere flint, a sorry, coarse,\nrusty-looking pebble, without any the least shining quality to\nadvance him to such an honour; and concluded with desiring him to\nkeep his distance, and pay a proper respect to his superiors.\n\n\"I find,\" said the Loadstone, \"you judge by external appearances,\nand condemn without due examination; but I will not act so\nungenerously by you. I am willing to allow you your due praise:\nyou are a pretty bauble; I am mightily delighted to see you\nglitter and sparkle; I look upon you with pleasure and surprise;\nbut I must be convinced you are of some sort of use before I\nacknowledge that you have any real merit, or treat you with that\nrespect which you seem to demand. With regard to myself, I\nconfess my deficiency in outward beauty; but I may venture to\nsay, that I make amends by my intrinsic qualities. The great\nimprovement of navigation is entirely owing to me. By me the\ndistant parts of the world have been made known and are\naccessible to each other; the remotest nations are connected\ntogether, and all, as it were, united into one common society; by\na mutual intercourse they relieve one another's wants, and all\nenjoy the several blessings peculiar to each. The world is\nindebted to me for its wealth, its splendour, and its power; and\nthe arts and sciences are, in a great measure, obliged to me for\ntheir improvements, and their continual increase. All these\nblessings I am the origin of; for by my aid it is that man is\nenable to construct that valuable instrument, the Mariner's\nCompass.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Let dazzling stones in splendour glare;\n    Utility's the gem for wear.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XII.\n\nTHE BEAR AND THE BEES.\n\n\nA BEAR happened to be stung by a Bee; and the pain was so acute,\nthat in the madness of revenge he ran into the garden, and\noverturned the hive. This outrage provoked their anger to such a\ndegree that it brought the fury of the whole swarm upon him. They\nattacked him with such violence that his life was in danger, and\nit was with the utmost difficulty that he made his escape,\nwounded from head to tail. In this desperate condition, lamenting\nhis misfortunes, and licking his sores, he could not forbear\nreflecting how much more advisable it had been to have patiently\nborne one injury, than by an unprofitable resentment to have\nprovoked a thousand.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIt is more prudent to acquiesce under an injury from a single\nperson, then by an act of vengeance to bring upon us the\nresentment of a whole community.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XIII.\n\nTHE FROGS DESIRING A KING.\n\n\nThe Frogs, living an easy, free life everywhere among the lakes\nand ponds, assembled together one day, in a very tumultuous\nmanner, and petitioned Jupiter to let them have a king, who might\ninspect their morals, and make them live a little honester.\nJupiter, being at that time in pretty good humour, was pleased to\nlaugh heartily at their ridiculous request, and, throwing a\nlittle log down into the pool, cried, \"There is a king for you!\"\nThe sudden splash which this made by its fall into the water, at\nfirst terrified them so exceedingly that they were afraid to come\nnear it. But, in a little time, seeing it lie still without\nmoving, they ventured, by degrees, to approach it; and at last,\nfinding there was no danger, they leaped upon it, and, in short,\ntreated it as familiarly as they pleased. But, not contented with\nso insipid a king as this was, they sent their deputies to\npetition again for another sort of one; for this they neither did\nnor could like. Upon that he sent them a Stork, who, without any\nceremony, fell devouring and eating them up, one after another,\nas fast as he could. Then they applied themselves privately to\nMercury, and got him to speak to Jupiter in their behalf, that he\nwould be so good as to bless them again with another king, or\nrestore them to their former state. \"No,\" says he; \"since it was\ntheir own choice, let the obstinate wretches suffer the\npunishment due to their folly.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThis fable teaches that it is better to be content with our\npresent condition, however bad we may think it, than, by\nambitious change, to risk making it worse.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XIV.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE BOAR.\n\n\nTHE BOAR stood whetting his tusks against an old tree. The Fox,\nwho happened to come by at the same time, asked him why he made\nthose martial preparations of whetting his teeth, since there was\nno enemy near, that he could perceive. \"That may be, Master\nReynard,\" says the Boar, \"but we should scour up our arms, while\nwe have leisure, you know; for, in time of danger, we shall have\nsomething else to do.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIt is well to have preparations made for all emergencies, that\nwhen we are placed in any difficult position we may be calm and\nself-possessed. These preparations are best made in times of\nleisure.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XV.\n\nTHE VINE AND THE GOAT.\n\n\nA GOAT having taken shelter from the heat of the sun under the\nbroad leaves of a shady-spreading vine, began to crop and eat\nthem; by this means, the branches being put into a rustling\nmotion, he drew the eyes of some hunters who were passing that\nway, and, seeing the vine stir, thought some wild beast had taken\ncovert there; they shot their arrows at a venture, and killed the\nGoat, who, before he expired, uttered his dying words to this\npurpose: \"Ah! I suffer justly for my ingratitude, who could not\nforbear doing an injury to the vine that had so kindly afforded\nme shelter.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIngratitude is a great crime, and from which we should seek\nearnestly to be preserved. He that is capable of injuring his\nbenefactor, what would he scruple to do towards another?\n\n[Illustration: THE VINE AND THE GOAT.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XVI.\n\nTHE DISCONTENTED HORSE.\n\n\n    As JUPITER once was receiving petitions\n    From birds and from beasts of all ranks and conditions;\n    With an eye full of fire, and mane quite erect,\n    Which, I'm sorry to say, shewed but little respect,\n    The Horse went as near as he dared to the throne,\n    And thus made his donkey-like sentiments known:\n\n      \"For beauty of symmetry, fleetness, and force,\n    It is said that all animals yield to the Horse;\n    While my spirit I feel, and my figure I view\n    In the brook, I'm inclined to believe it is true;\n    But still, mighty Jupiter, still, by your aid,\n    In my form might some further improvements be made.\n    To run is my duty, and swifter and stronger\n    I surely should go, were my legs to be longer:\n    And as man always places a seat on my back,\n    I should have been made with a saddle or sack;\n    It had saved _him_ much trouble, on journies departing,\n    And _I_ had been constantly ready for starting.\"\n\n      Great Jupiter smiled (for he laughed at the brute,\n    As he saw more of folly than vice in his suit),\n    And striking the earth with omnipotent force,\n    A Camel rose up near the terrified Horse:\n    He trembled--he started--his mane shook with fright,\n    And he staggered half round, as preparing for flight.\n\n      \"Behold!\" exclaimed Jove, \"there an animal stands\n    With both your improvements at once to your hands:\n    His legs are much longer; the hump on his back\n    Well answers the purpose of saddle or sack:\n    Of your shapes, tell me, which is more finished and trim?\n    Speak out, silly Horse, would you wish to be him?\"\n\n      The Horse looked abashed, and had nothing to say\n    And Jove, with reproaches, thus sent him away:\n    \"Begone, till you gratefully feel and express\n    Your thanks for the blessings and gifts you possess.\n    The Camel, though plain, is mild, useful, and good;\n    You are handsome, but proud, discontented and rude.\"\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XVII.\n\nTHE MOUNTAIN IN LABOUR.\n\n\nA RUMOUR once prevailed that a neighbouring mountain was in\nlabour; it was affirmed that she had been heard to utter\nprodigious groans; and a general expectation had been raised that\nsome extraordinary birth was at hand.\n\nMultitudes flocked in much eagerness to be witnesses of the\nwonderful event, one expecting her to be delivered of a giant,\nanother of some enormous monster, and all were in earnest\nexpectation of something grand and astonishing; when, after\nwaiting with great impatience a considerable time, behold, out\ncrept a Mouse.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nTo raise uncommon expectations renders an ordinary event\nridiculous.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XVIII.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE STORK.\n\n\nTHE FOX, though in general more inclined to roguery than wit, had\nonce a strong inclination to play the wag with his neighbour the\nStork. He accordingly invited her to dinner in due form. But when\nshe came to the table, the Stork found it consisted entirely of\ndifferent soups, served in broad, shallow dishes, so that she\ncould only dip the end of her bill in them, but could not\npossibly satisfy her hunger. The Fox lapped them up very readily,\nand every now and then addressing himself to his guest, desired\nto know how she liked her entertainment, hoped that everything\nwas to her liking, and protested he was very sorry to see her eat\nso sparingly.\n\nThe Stork, perceiving she was jested with, took no notice, but\npretended to like every dish extremely; and, at parting, pressed\nthe Fox so earnestly to return her visit that he could not, in\ncivility, refuse.\n\nThe day arrived, and he repaired to his appointment. But, to his\ngreat dismay, he found the dinner was composed of minced meat,\nserved up in long, narrow-necked bottles; so that he was only\ntantalized with the sight of what it was impossible for him to\ntaste. The Stork thrust in her long bill, and helped herself very\nplentifully; then, turning to Reynard, who was eagerly licking\nthe outside of a jar where some sauce had been spilled, \"I am\nvery glad,\" said she, smiling, \"that you appear to have so good\nan appetite. I hope you will make as hearty a dinner at my table\nas I did the other day at yours.\" The Fox hung down his head, and\nlooked very much displeased. \"Nay, nay!\" said the Stork; \"don't\npretend to be out of humour about the matter; they that cannot\ntake a jest should never make one.\"\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XIX.\n\nTHE HORSE AND THE STAG.\n\n\nThe Stag, with his sharp horns, got the better of the Horse, and\ndrove him clear out of the pasture where they used to feed\ntogether. So the latter craved the assistance of man, and, in\norder to receive the benefit of it, suffered him to put a bridle\ninto his mouth, and a saddle upon his back. By this means he\nentirely defeated his enemy, but was mightily disappointed when,\nupon returning thanks, and desiring to be dismissed, he received\nthis answer: \"No; I never knew before how useful a drudge you\nwere; now I have found out what you are good for, you may depend\nupon it, I will keep you to it.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nHelp yourself, if you can do so; but at any rate, before you seek\nthe assistance of a powerful man, be sure that the help he gives\nyou will be disinterested, or you may find that in helping you he\nmay put you under obligations fatal to liberty.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XX.\n\nTHE LION WOUNDED.\n\n\nA MAN, who was very skilful with his bow, went up into the forest to\nhunt. At his approach, there was a great consternation and rout\namong the wild beasts, the Lion alone showing any determination to\nfight. \"Stop,\" said the Archer to him, \"and await my messenger, who\nhas somewhat to say to you.\" With that, he sent an arrow after the\nLion, and wounded him in the side. The Lion, smarting with anguish,\nfled into the depths of the forest; but a Fox, seeing him run, bade\nhim take courage, and face his enemy. \"No,\" said the Lion, \"you will\nnot persuade me to that; for if the messenger he sends is so sharp,\nwhat must be the power of him who sends it?\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIt is better to yield to a superior force than foolishly brave\nits power.\n\n[Illustration: THE LION WOUNDED.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXI.\n\nTHE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN.\n\n\nAn Ass, finding a Lion's skin, disguised himself with it, and\nranged about the forest, putting all the beasts that saw him into\nbodily fear. After he had diverted himself thus for some time, he\nmet a Fox, and, being desirous to frighten him too, as well as\nthe rest, he leapt at him with some fierceness, and endeavoured\nto imitate the roaring of the Lion.\n\n\"Your humble servant,\" says the Fox, \"if you had held your\ntongue, I might have taken you for a Lion, as others did; but now\nyou bray I know who you are.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nA silent man may pass for a wise man, but when we hear him speak\nwe are able to form an estimate of his value.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXII.\n\nJUPITER AND THE FARMER.\n\n\n    'Tis said, that Jove had once a farm to let,\n        And sent down Mercury, his common crier,\n    To make the most that he could get;\n        Or sell it to the highest buyer.\n\n    To view the premises the people flocked:\n        And, as 'tis usual in such case,\n        Began to run them down apace;\n    The soil was poor, the farm ill stocked:\n        In short, a barren, miserable place,\n        Scarce worth th' expense to draw a lease.\n\n    One bolder, tho' not wiser than the rest,\n        Offered to pay in so much rent,\n        Provided he had Jove's consent\n    To guide the weather just as he thought best;\n        Or wet, or dry; or cold, or hot;\n        Whate'er he asked should be his lot;\n\n    To all which Jove gave a consenting nod.\n        The seasons now obsequious stand,\n        Quick to obey their lord's command,\n    And now the Farmer undertakes the god;\n        Now calls for sunshine, now for rains,\n        Dispels the clouds, the wind restrains;\n\n    But still confined within his farm alone,\n    He makes a climate all his own;\n        For when he sheds, or when he pours,\n        Refreshing dews, or soaking showers,\n\n        His neighbours never share a drop;\n        So much the better for their crop;\n        Each glebe a plenteous harvest yields;\n        Whilst our director spoils his fields.\n\n        Next year, he tries a different way;\n    New moulds the seasons, and directs again;\n                 But all in vain:\n    His neighbour's grounds still thrive while his decay.\n\n        What does he do in this sad plight?\n        For once he acted right:\n        He to the god his fate bemoaned,\n        Asked pardon, and his folly owned.\n        Jove, like a tender master, fond to save,\n        His weakness pityed, and his fault forgave.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    He, who presumes the ways of heaven to scan,\n    Is not a wise, nor yet a happy man:\n    In this firm truth securely we may rest,--\n    Whatever Providence ordains is best;\n    Had man the power, he'd work his own undoing;\n    To grant his will would be to cause his ruin.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXIII.\n\nTHE VAIN JACKDAW.\n\n\nA CERTAIN Jackdaw was so proud and ambitious that, not contented\nto live within his own sphere, he picked up the feathers which\nfell from the Peacocks, stuck them among his own, and very\nconfidently introduced himself into an assembly of those\nbeautiful birds. They soon found him out, stripped him of his\nborrowed plumes, and falling upon him with their sharp bills,\npunished him as his presumption deserved.\n\nUpon this, full of grief and affliction, he returned to his old\ncompanions, and would have flocked with them again; but they,\nknowing his late life and conversation, industriously avoided\nhim, and refused to admit him into their company; and one of\nthem, at the same time, gave him this serious reproof: \"If,\nfriend, you could have been contented with your station, and had\nnot disdained the rank in which nature had placed you, you had\nnot been used so scurvily by those amongst whom you introduced\nyourself, nor suffered the notorious slight which we now think\nourselves obliged to put upon you.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nGreat evils arise from vanity; for when we try to place ourselves\nin a position for which we are not fit, we are liable to be\nlaughed at, and, when we would return to our former state, we\nfind we have lost the esteem of our former friends.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXIV.\n\nTHE VIPER AND THE FILE.\n\n\nA VIPER, crawling into a smith's shop to seek for something to\neat, cast her eyes upon a File, and darting upon it in a moment,\n\"Now I have you,\" said she, \"and so you may help yourself how you\ncan; but you may take my word for it that I shall make a fine\nmeal of you before I think of parting with you.\" \"Silly wretch!\"\nsaid the File, as gruff as could be, \"you had much better be\nquiet, and let me alone; for, if you gnaw for ever, you will get\nnothing but your trouble for your pains. Make a meal of me,\nindeed! why, I myself can bite the hardest iron in the shop; and\nif you go on with your foolish nibbling I shall tear all the\nteeth out of your spiteful head before you know where you are.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nTake care that you never strive with those who are too strong for\nyou, nor do spiteful things, lest you suffer for it.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXV.\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE LAMB.\n\n\nOne hot, sultry day, a Wolf and a Lamb happened to come just at\nthe same time to quench their thirst in the stream of a clear,\nsilver brook, that ran tumbling down the side of a rocky\nmountain. The Wolf stood upon the higher ground, and the Lamb at\nsome distance from him down the current. However, the Wolf,\nhaving a mind to pick a quarrel with him, asked him what he meant\nby disturbing the water, and making it so muddy that he could not\ndrink, and at the same time demanded satisfaction. The Lamb,\nfrightened at this threatening charge, told him, in a tone as\nmild as possible, that, with humble submission, he could not\nconceive how that could be, since the water which he drank ran\ndown from the Wolf to him, and therefore it could not be\ndisturbed so far up the stream. \"Be that as it will,\" replies the\nWolf, \"you are a rascal; and I have been told that you treated me\nwith ill-language behind my back about half a year ago.\" \"Upon my\nword,\" says the Lamb, \"the time you mention was before I was\nborn.\" The Wolf finding it to no purpose to argue any longer\nagainst truth, fell into a great passion, snarling and foaming at\nthe mouth, as if he had been mad; and, drawing nearer to the\nLamb, \"Sirrah,\" said he, \"if it was not you, it was your father,\nand that's all one.\" So he seized the poor innocent, helpless\nthing, tore it to pieces, and made a meal of it.\n\n[Illustration: THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.]\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nBad men, who wish to quarrel, will always find a pretence; if\nthey can find no true grounds, they will resort to those which\nare false.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXVI.\n\nTHE OLD BULLFINCH AND YOUNG BIRDS.\n\n\n    It chanced, that, on a winter's day,\n    But warm and bright, and calm as May,\n    The birds, conceiving a design\n    To forestall sweet St. Valentine,\n    In many an orchard, copse, and grove,\n    Assembled on affairs of love;\n    And with much twitter and much chatter,\n    Began to agitate the matter.\n\n      At length, a Bullfinch, who could boast\n    More years and wisdom than the most,\n    Entreated, opening wide his beak,\n    A moment's liberty to speak;\n    And, silence publicly enjoined,\n    Delivered briefly thus his mind:\n\n      \"My friends, be cautious how ye treat\n    The subject upon which we meet;\n    I fear we shall have winter yet.\"\n\n      A Finch, whose tongue knew no control,\n    With golden wing, and satin poll,\n    A last year's bird, who ne'er had tried\n    What marriage means, thus pert replied:\n\n      \"Methinks, the gentleman,\" quoth she,\n    \"Opposite, in the apple-tree,\n    By his good will, would keep us single,\n    'Till yonder heaven and earth shall mingle;\n    Or (which is likelier to befall)\n    'Till death exterminate us all.\n    I marry without more ado;\n    My dear Dick Redcap, what say you?\"\n\n      Dick heard; and tweedling, ogling, bridling,\n    Turning short round, strutting, and sidling,\n    Attested glad his approbation\n    Of an immediate conjugation.\n    Their sentiments so well express'd,\n    Influenced mightily the rest;\n    All pair'd, and each pair built a nest.\n\n      But though the birds were thus in haste,\n    The leaves came on not quite so fast;\n    And destiny, that sometimes bears\n    An aspect stern on man's affairs,\n    Not altogether smil'd on theirs.\n\n      The wind, that late breath'd gently forth,\n    Now shifted east, and east by north;\n    Bare trees and shrubs but ill, you know,\n    Could shelter them from rain or snow;\n    Stepping into their nests, they paddled,\n    Themselves were chill'd, their eggs were addled;\n    Soon every father bird, and mother,\n    Grew quarrelsome, and peck'd each other;\n    Parted without the least regret,\n    Except that they had ever met;\n    And learn'd in future to be wiser\n    Than to neglect a good adviser.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Young folks, who think themselves so wise,\n    That old folks' counsel they despise,\n    Will find, when they too late repent,\n    Their folly prove their punishment.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXVII.\n\nTHE MOUSE AND THE WEASEL.\n\n\nA LITTLE starveling rogue of a Mouse had, with much pushing\napplication, made his way through a small hole in a corn-basket,\nwhere he stuffed and crammed so plentifully, that, when he would\nhave retired the way he came, he found himself too plump, with\nall his endeavours, to accomplish it. A Weasel, who stood at some\ndistance, and had been diverting himself with beholding the vain\nefforts of the little fat thing, called to him, and said,\n\"Harkee, honest friend; if you have a mind to make your escape,\nthere is but one way for it: contrive to grow as poor and lean as\nyou were when you entered, and then, perhaps, you may get off.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIf evil habits have got a man into difficulties, there is no\nsurer way to extricate himself than, by God's help, to cast those\nhabits off.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXVIII.\n\nTHE OLD HOUND.\n\n\nAn old Hound, who had been an excellent good one in his time, and\ngiven his master great sport and satisfaction in many a chase, at\nlast, by the effect of years, became feeble and unserviceable.\n\nHowever, being in the field one day when the Stag was almost run\ndown, he happened to be the first that came in with him, and\nseized him by one of his haunches; but his decayed and broken\nteeth not being able to keep their hold, the deer escaped and\nthrew him quite out. Upon which his master, being in a great\npassion, and going to strike him, the honest old creature is said\nto have barked out this apology. \"Ah! do not strike your poor old\nservant; it is not my heart and inclination, but my strength and\nspeed that fail me. If what I now am displeases you, pray don't\nforget what I have been.\"\n\nMORAL.\n\nPast services should never be forgotten.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXIX.\n\nTHE CHARGER AND THE ASS\n\n\nThe Horse, adorned with his great war-saddle, and champing his\nfoaming bridle, came thundering along the way, and made the\nmountains echo with his loud, shrill neighing. He had not gone\nfar before he overtook an Ass, who was labouring under a heavy\nburthen, and moving slowly on in the same track with himself.\nImmediately he called out to him, in a haughty, imperious tone,\nand threatened to trample him in the dirt, if he did not make way\nfor him. The poor, patient Ass, not daring to dispute the matter,\nquietly got out of his way as fast as he could, and let him go\nby. Not long after this, the same Horse, in an engagement with\nthe enemy, happened to be shot in the eye, which made him unfit\nfor show or any military business; so he was stript of his fine\nornaments, and sold to a carrier. The Ass, meeting him in this\nforlorn condition, thought that now it was his time to speak; and\nso, says he, \"Heyday, friend, is it you? Well, I always believed\nthat pride of yours would one day have a fall.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nPride and haughtiness are foreign to really great men. Those who\nshow it, when in their high estate, if the wheel of fortune\nshould change, instead of friendship or pity, will meet with\nnothing but contempt.\n\n[Illustration: THE CHARGER AND THE ASS.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXX.\n\nTHE COLT AND THE FARMER.\n\n\n    A COLT, for blood and mettled speed,\n    The choicest of the running breed,\n    Of youthful strength and beauty vain,\n    Refused subjection to the rein.\n\n      In vain the groom's officious skill\n    Opposed his pride, and checked his will;\n    In vain the master's forming care\n    Restrained with threats, or soothed with prayer:\n    Of freedom proud, and scorning man,\n    Wild o'er the spacious plain he ran.\n\n      Where'er luxuriant Nature spread\n    Her flowery carpet o'er the mead,\n    Or bubbling stream's soft gliding pass\n    To cool and freshen up the grass,\n    Disdaining bounds, he cropped the blade,\n    And wantoned in the spoil he made.\n\n      In plenty thus the summer passed;\n    Revolving winter came at last:\n    The trees no more a shelter yield;\n    The verdure withers from the field:\n    Perpetual snows invest the ground;\n    In icy chains the streams are bound:\n    Cold, nipping winds, and rattling hail,\n    His lank, unsheltered sides assail.\n\n      As round he cast his rueful eyes,\n    He saw the thatched-roof cottage rise:\n    The prospect touched his heart with cheer,\n    And promised kind deliverance near.\n    A stable, erst his scorn and hate,\n    Was now become his wished retreat;\n    His passion cool, his pride forgot,\n    A Farmer's welcome yard he sought.\n\n      The master saw his woful plight,\n    His limbs, that tottered with his weight,\n    And, friendly, to the stable led,\n    And saw him littered, dressed, and fed.\n    In slothful ease all night he lay;\n    The servants rose at break of day;\n    The market calls. Along the road\n    His back must bear the pond'rous load;\n\n      In vain he struggles or complains,\n    Incessant blows reward his pains.\n    To-morrow varies but his toil:\n    Chained to the plough, he breaks the soil;\n    While scanty meals at night repay\n    The painful labours of the day.\n\n      Subdued by toil, with anguish rent,\n    His self-upbraidings found a vent.\n    \"Wretch that I am!\" he sighing said,\n    \"By arrogance and folly led;\n    Had but my restive youth been brought\n    To learn the lesson nature taught,\n    Then had I, like my sires of yore,\n    The prize from every courser bore.\n    Now, lasting servitude's my lot,\n    My birth contemned, my speed forgot;\n    Doomed am I, for my pride, to bear\n    A living death from year to year.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    He who disdains control, will only gain\n    A youth of pleasure for an age of pain.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXI.\n\nTHE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES.\n\n\nA LARK, who had young ones in a field of corn almost ripe, was\nunder some fear lest the reapers should come to reap it before\nher young brood was fledged and able to remove from that place.\nShe, therefore, upon flying abroad to look for food, left this\ncharge with them--to take notice what they heard talked of in her\nabsence, and tell her of it when she came back again.\n\nWhen she was gone, they heard the owner of the corn call to his\nson: \"Well,\" says he, \"I think this corn is ripe enough. I would\nhave you go early to-morrow, and desire our friends and\nneighbours to come and help us to reap it.\" When the old Lark\ncame home, the young ones fell a quivering and chirping round\nher, and told her what had happened, begging her to remove them\nas fast as she could. The mother bid them be easy: \"For,\" said\nshe, \"if the owner depends on his friends and neighbours, I am\npretty sure the corn will not be reaped to-morrow.\"\n\nNext day, she went out again, leaving the same orders as before.\nThe owner came, and staid, expecting his friends; but the sun\ngrew hot, and nothing was done, for not a soul came to help them.\nThen says he to his son, \"I perceive these friends of ours are\nnot to be depended upon; so you must go to your uncles and\ncousins, and tell them I desire they would be here betimes\nto-morrow morning, to help us to reap.\" Well, this the young\nones, in a great fright, reported also to their mother. \"If that\nbe all,\" says she, \"do not be frightened, dear children; for\nkindred and relations are not so very forward to serve one\nanother; but take particular notice what you hear said next time,\nand be sure you let me know it.\"\n\nShe went abroad next day, as usual; and the owner, finding his\nrelations as slack as the rest of his neighbours, said to his\nson, \"Harkee, George; get a couple of good sickles ready against\nto-morrow morning, and we will even reap the corn ourselves.\"\nWhen the young ones told their mother this, \"Then,\" said she, \"we\nmust be gone indeed; for, when a man undertakes to do his\nbusiness himself, it is not so likely he will be disappointed.\"\nSo she removed her young ones at once, and the corn was reaped\nnext day by the good man and his son.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nNever depend on the assistance of others. No business is so sure\nto be done as that which a man sets about doing himself.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXII.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE CROW.\n\n\nA CROW, having taken a piece of cheese out of a cottage window,\nflew up with it into a high tree in order to eat it; which the\nFox observing, came and sat underneath, and began to compliment\nthe Crow upon the subject of her beauty. \"I protest,\" says he, \"I\nnever observed it before, but your feathers are of a more\ndelicate white than any that ever I saw in my life! Ah! what a\nfine shape and graceful turn of body is there! And I make no\nquestion but you have a tolerable voice. If it is but as fine as\nyour complexion, I do not know a bird that can pretend to stand\nin competition with you.\" The Crow foolishly believed all that\nthe Fox said was true; but, thinking the Fox a little dubious as\nto her vocal powers, and having a mind to set him right in that\nmatter, opened her mouth, and, in the same instant, let the\ncheese drop out of her mouth. This being what the Fox wanted, he\ncaught it up in a moment, and trotted away, laughing to himself\nat the easy credulity of the Crow.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nWhen anyone is flattered as possessing qualities he ought to feel\nconscious he does not possess, let him beware lest the flatterers\nwish either to deprive him of some solid good, or to make him\nappear ridiculous in the eyes of others.\n\n[Illustration: THE FOX AND THE CROW]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXIII.\n\nTHE PEACOCK'S COMPLAINT.\n\n\nThe Peacock presented a memorial to Juno, importing how hardly he\nthought he was used, in not having so good a voice as the\nNightingale; how that bird was agreeable to every ear that heard\nit, while he was laughed at for his ugly, screaming noise, if he\ndid but open his mouth.\n\nThe goddess, concerned at the uneasiness of her favourite bird,\nanswered him very kindly to this purpose:--\"If the Nightingale is\nblest with a fine voice, you have the advantage in point of\nbeauty and size.\" \"Ah!\" says he, \"but what avails my silent,\nunmeaning beauty, when I am so far excelled in voice?\"\n\nThe goddess dismissed him, bidding him consider that the\nproperties of every creature were appointed by the decree of\nFate; to him beauty, to the Eagle strength, to the Nightingale a\nvoice of melody, to the Parrot the faculty of speech, and to the\nDove innocence; that each of these was contented with his own\npeculiar quality; and, unless he wished to be miserable, he must\nalso learn to be equally satisfied.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    The man who to his lot's resigned\n    True happiness is sure to find;\n    While envy ne'er can mend the ill,\n    But makes us feel it keener still.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXIV.\n\nTHE STAG IN THE OX-STALL.\n\n\nA STAG, roused from his thick covert in the midst of the forest, and\ndriven hard by the hounds, made towards a farm-house, and, seeing\nthe door of an ox-stall open, entered therein, and hid himself under\na heap of straw. One of the oxen, turning his head about, asked him\nwhat he meant by venturing himself in such a place, where he was\nsure to meet his doom. \"Ah!\" said the Stag, \"if you will but be so\ngood as to favour me with your concealment, I hope I shall do well\nenough; I intend to make off again the first opportunity.\"\n\nWell, he stayed there till towards night; in came the ox-man with\na bundle of fodder, and never saw him. In short, all the servants\nof the farm came and went, and not one of them suspected anything\nof the matter. Nay, the bailiff himself came, according to form,\nand looked in, but walked away, no wiser than the rest. Upon this\nthe Stag, ready to jump out of his skin for joy, began to return\nthanks to the good-natured Oxen, protesting that they were the\nmost obliging people he had ever met with in his life.\n\nAfter he had done his compliments, one of them answered him,\ngravely, \"Indeed, we desire nothing more than to have it in our\npower to contribute to your escape, but there is a certain person\nyou little think of who has a hundred eyes; if he should happen\nto come, I would not give this straw for your life.\"\n\nIn the meanwhile, home comes the master himself from a\nneighbour's, where he had been invited to dinner; and, because he\nhad observed the cattle not look well of late, he went up to the\nrack, and asked why they did not give them more fodder; then,\ncasting his eyes downward, \"Heydey!\" says he, \"why so sparing of\nyour litter? pray scatter a little more here. And these\ncobwebs--But I have spoken so often that, unless I do it\nmyself--\" Thus, as he went on, prying into everything, he chanced\nto look where the Stag's horns lay sticking out of the straw;\nupon which he raised a hue and cry, called his people about him,\nkilled the Stag, and made a prize of him.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nFor a work to be done thoroughly, it ought to be done by oneself;\nthe eye of a master is keener than that of a servant.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXV.\n\nTHE WIND AND THE SUN.\n\n\nA DISPUTE once arose betwixt the North Wind and the Sun about the\nsuperiority of their power; and they agreed to try their strength\nupon a traveller, which should be able to get off his cloak\nfirst.\n\nThe North Wind began, and blew a very cold blast, accompanied\nwith a sharp, driving shower. But this, and whatever else he\ncould do, instead of making the man quit his cloak, obliged him\nto gird it about his body as close as possible.\n\nNext came the Sun, who, breaking out from the thick, watery\ncloud, drove away the cold vapours from the sky, and darted his\nwarm, sultry beams upon the head of the poor weather-beaten\ntraveller. The man, growing faint with the heat, and unable to\nendure it any longer, first throws off his heavy cloak, and then\nflies for protection to the shade of a neighbouring grove.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nSoft and gentle means will often accomplish what force and fury\ncan never effect.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXVI.\n\nTHE TRAVELLERS AND THE BEAR.\n\n\nTwo men, being about to travel through a forest together,\nmutually promised to stand by each other in any danger they\nshould meet on the way. They had not gone far when a Bear came\nrushing towards them out of a thicket; upon which, one, being a\nlight, nimble fellow, got up into a tree. The other, falling flat\nupon his face, and holding his breath, lay still, while the Bear\ncame up and smelled at him; but that creature, supposing him to\nbe a dead carcass, went back to the wood without doing him the\nleast harm. When all was over, the man who had climbed the tree\ncame down to his companion, and, with a pleasant smile, asked\nwhat the Bear had said to him; \"For,\" says he, \"I took notice\nthat he clapped his mouth very close to your ear.\" \"Why,\" replied\nthe other, \"he charged me to take care, for the future, not to\nput any confidence in such cowardly rascals as you are.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nNothing is more common than to hear people profess friendship\nwhen there is no occasion for it; but he is a true friend who is\nready to assist us in the time of danger and difficulty. Choose,\ntherefore, friends whom you can depend on for such a time, and\ngreatly value them.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXVII.\n\nTHE DOG AND THE SHADOW.\n\n\nA DOG, crossing a small rivulet, with a piece of flesh in his\nmouth, which he had stolen from a butcher's shop, saw his own\nshadow represented in the clear mirror of the limpid stream; and,\nbelieving it to be another dog who was carrying another piece of\nflesh, he could not forbear catching at it, but was so far from\ngetting anything by his greedy design, that he dropped the piece\nhe had in his mouth, which immediately sank to the bottom, and\nwas irrecoverably lost.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIt is the just punishment of greediness to lose the substance by\ngrasping at the shadow; while the man who would take what does\nnot belong to him deserves to lose what he has.\n\n[Illustration: THE DOG AND THE SHADOW.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXVIII.\n\nTHE HERMIT AND THE BEAR.\n\n\n      ONCE on a time, a mountain Bear\n    Lived in a forest drear, with no Bears near him;\n          Fat, fierce, and sulky.\n      Nor man nor other beast approached his lair;\n    His neighbours all despise, or hate, or fear him.\n      'Tis good to talk--to hold one's tongue--\n      Though either in excess be wrong:\n          Our hermit bulky,\n    So shaggy, sullen, taciturn, and rude,\n    Bear as he was, grew sick of solitude.\n\n      At the same time, by chance, retired\n    Far from the world, a man advanced in age,\n          But stout and healthy.\n      Not with devotion's flame his heart was fired;\n    Not prayer and fasting occupied the sage;\n      Though on mankind he shut his door,\n      No vows of poverty he swore:\n          The wight was wealthy.\n    But by some treacherous friend, or fair, betrayed,\n    He lived with plants, and communed with his spade.\n\n      High priest of Flora you might call him;\n    Nor less was he the favourite of Pomona.\n          But one day, walking,\n      He found it dull; and should some ill befall him,\n    In his sweet paradise, he felt alone,--Ah!\n      For neither rose, nor pink, nor vine,\n      Except in such a lay as mine,\n          Are given to talking.\n    His head old Time had now long years heaped many on;\n    So he resolved to look for some companion.\n\n      On this important expedition--\n    But fearing his researches would be vain--\n          The sage departed:\n      Revolving deeply his forlorn condition,\n    He slowly mused along a narrow lane;\n      When on a sudden--unawares--\n      A nose met his:--it was the Bear's!\n          With fright he started.\n    Fear is a common feeling: he that wise is,\n    Although his fright be great, his fear disguises.\n\n      Prudence suggested--\"Stand your ground;\n    'Tis hard to turn, and harder still to dash on.\"\n          Prudence prevails.\n      'Twixt kindred minds a sympathy is found\n    Which lights up oft at sight a tender passion.\n\n      Where sexes are of different kind;\n      And oft 'twill ties of friendship bind\n          Between two males:\n    These magic signs our hermits, at a glance, see:\n    Each found he strongly pleased the other's fancy.\n\n      Bruin at compliments was awkward,\n    But was not long his sentiments in telling--\n          \"Old man, I like you!\"\n      The man replied, \"Fair sir, you need not walk hard,\n    In half an hour you'll reach my humble dwelling.\n    I've milk, and various sorts of fruit,\n    If any should your palate suit,\n          Take what may strike you;\n    On me it will confer the highest pleasure\n    To spread before you all my garden's treasure.\"\n\n      On jogged the human Hermit with the Bear,\n    Like smoking Germans, few words interlarding;\n          Though little said,\n      Finding their tempers suited to a hair,\n    They grew firm friends before they reached the garden.\n      Each took his task, their moods the same,\n      One dug, the other hunted game,\n          And often sped;\n    And Bruin, o'er his friend a strict watch keeping,\n    Chased off the flies that haunted him when sleeping.\n\n      One afternoon, as in the sun\n    The weary Hermit took his usual nap,\n          And at his post\n      The faithful Bear his daily work begun,\n    Giving full many a brush and gentle slap,\n      With a light whisp of herbs sweet-scented,\n      And thus the teasing flies prevented,\n          That buzzing host,\n    From fixing on his sleeping patron's visage,\n    Sunk in the deep repose so fit for his age.\n\n      One blue-bottle his care defied;\n    No place could please him but the old man's nose,\n          Quite unabashed.\n      The Bear, provoked, no means would leave untried;\n    At last, a vigorous, certain mode, he chose:\n      Extending wide his heavy paw,\n      And thrusting hard each crooked claw,\n          The fly was smashed:\n    But his poor patron's face, so roughly patted,\n    All streamed with blood, and smooth his nose was flatted.\n\n      The Bear sneaked off to humble distance,\n    Seeing the damage he had done his friend;\n          Who raged with smart.\n      But calling in philosophy's assistance,\n    Anger, he thought, his wounds would never mend,\n      So coolly said, \"Farewell, friend Bruin!\n      Since you have laid my face in ruin,\n          'Tis time to part.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    All those must such mishaps expect to share,\n    Who, for a friend, think fit to take a Bear.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XXXIX.\n\nTHE SHEPHERD'S BOY AND THE WOLF.\n\n\nA CERTAIN Shepherd's Boy, who kept sheep upon a common, in sport\nand wantonness would often cry out, \"The Wolf! the Wolf!\" By this\nmeans, he several times drew the husbandmen in an adjoining field\nfrom their work; who, finding themselves deluded, resolved for\nthe future to take no notice of his alarm. Soon after the Wolf\ncame indeed. The boy cried out in earnest; but no heed being\ngiven to his cries, the sheep were devoured by the Wolf.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThe notorious liar, besides the sin of the thing, will not be\nbelieved when, by chance, he tells the truth.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XL.\n\nTHE FAWN AND HER MOTHER.\n\n\nA HIND was one day stamping with her foot, and bellowing so\nloudly that the whole herd quaked for fear, when one of her\nlittle Fawns, coming up to her, said, \"Mother, what is the reason\nthat you, who are so strong and bold at all other times, if you\ndo but hear the cry of the hounds, are so afraid of them?\" \"What\nyou say is true,\" replied the Hind; \"though I know not how to\naccount for it. I am, indeed, vigorous and strong enough, and\noften resolve that nothing shall ever dismay my courage; but,\nalas! I no sooner hear the voice of a hound than all my spirits\nfail me, and I cannot help making off as fast as my legs can\ncarry me.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nWhen we have done all, Nature will remain what she was. There is\nno arguing a coward into courage.\n\n[Illustration: THE FAWN AND HER MOTHER.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLI.\n\nTHE TORTOISE AND THE EAGLE.\n\n\nThe Tortoise, weary of his condition, by which he was confined to\ncreep upon the ground, and being ambitious to have a prospect,\nand look about him, gave out that, if any bird would take him up\ninto the air, and show him the world, he would reward him with\nthe discovery of many precious stones, which he knew were hidden\nin a certain part of the earth.\n\nThe Eagle undertook to do as he desired, and, when he had\nperformed his commission, demanded the reward. But, finding the\nTortoise could not make good his words, he stuck his talons into\nthe softer parts of his body, and made him a sacrifice to his\nrevenge.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nHe that, to secure an advantage, deceives his friend by an\nuntruth, will surely suffer for it when he is detected.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLII.\n\nTHE BROTHER AND SISTER.\n\n\nA CERTAIN Man had two children, a Son and a Daughter--the Boy\nhandsome enough, the Girl not quite so comely. They were both\nvery young, and happened one day to be playing near the\nlooking-glass, which stood on their mother's toilet. The Boy,\npleased with the novelty of the thing, viewed himself for some\ntime, and in a wanton, roguish manner observed to the Girl how\nhandsome he was. She resented the insult, and ran immediately to\nher father, and, with a great deal of aggravation, complained of\nher brother, particularly for having acted so effeminate a part\nas to look in a glass, and meddle with things which belong to\nwomen only. The father, embracing them both with much tenderness\nand affection, told them that he should like to have them both\nlook in the glass every day; \"To the intent that you,\" says he to\nthe Boy, \"if you think that face of yours handsome, may not\ndisgrace and spoil it by an ugly temper and a bad behaviour; and\nthat you,\" added he, addressing the Girl, \"may make up for the\ndefects of your person by the sweetness of your manners and the\nexcellence of your understanding.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nA well-informed mind is better than a handsome person.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLIII.\n\nTHE SHEPHERD'S DOG AND THE WOLF.\n\n\n    A WOLF, with hunger fierce and bold,\n    Ravaged the plains, and thinned the fold;\n    Deep in the wood secure he lay,\n    The thefts of night regaled the day.\n    In vain the shepherd's wakeful care\n    Had spread the toils, and watched the snare;\n    In vain the Dog pursued his pace,\n    The fleeter robber mocked the chase.\n\n      As Lightfoot ranged the forest round,\n    By chance his foe's retreat he found:\n    \"Let us awhile the war suspend,\n    And reason as from friend to friend.\"\n    \"A truce!\" replies the Wolf. 'Tis done.\n    The Dog the parley thus begun:--\n\n      \"How can that strong, intrepid mind\n    Attack a weak, defenceless kind?\n    Those jaws should prey on nobler food,\n    And drink the boar's and lion's blood;\n    Great souls with generous pity melt,\n    Which coward tyrants never felt.\n    How harmless is our fleecy care!\n    Be brave, and let thy mercy spare.\"\n\n      \"Friend,\" says the Wolf, \"the matter weigh:\n    Nature designed us beasts of prey;\n    As such, when hunger finds a treat,\n    'Tis necessary Wolves should eat.\n    If, mindful of the bleating weal,\n    Thy bosom burn with real zeal,\n    Hence, and thy tyrant lord beseech;\n    To him repeat the moving speech.\n    A Wolf eats sheep but now and then;\n    Ten thousands are devoured by men.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    An open foe may prove a curse,\n    But a pretended friend is worse.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLIV.\n\nTHE COVETOUS MAN.\n\n\nA POOR covetous wretch, who had scraped together a good parcel of\nmoney, went and dug a hole in one of his fields and hid it. The\ngreat pleasure of his life was to go and look upon this treasure\nonce a day at least; which one of his servants observing, and\nguessing there was something more than ordinary in the place,\ncame at night, found it, and carried it off. The next day,\nreturning as usual to the scene of his delight, and perceiving it\nhad been stolen away from him, he tore his hair for grief, and\nuttered the doleful complaints of his despair to the woods and\nmeadows. At last, a neighbour of his, who knew his temper,\noverhearing him, and being informed of the occasion of his\nsorrow, \"Cheer up, man!\" says he, \"thou has lost nothing; there\nis the hole for thee to go and peep at still; and if thou canst\nbut fancy thy money there, it will do just as well.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nMoney, well used, has its full value; but when allowed to lie\nuseless to others or to one's self, it possesses no more value\nthan a heap of oyster shells. Avarice is, therefore, a silly as\nwell as a sinful vice. Use your wealth in doing good, and its\nhighest value will be attained.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLV.\n\nTHE HARE AND THE TORTOISE.\n\n\nA HARE twitted a Tortoise on account of his slowness, and vainly\nboasted of her own great speed in running. \"Let us make a match,\"\nreplied the Tortoise: \"I'll run with you five miles for five\npounds, and the Fox yonder shall be the umpire of the race.\" The\nHare agreed, and away they both started together. But the Hare,\nby reason of her exceeding swiftness, outran the Tortoise to such\na degree that she made a jest of the matter, and, finding herself\na little tired, squatted in a tuft of fern that grew by the way,\nand took a nap, thinking that, if the Tortoise went by, she could\nat any time catch him up with all the ease imaginable. In the\nmeanwhile the Tortoise came jogging on, with a slow but continued\nmotion; and the Hare, out of a too great security and confidence\nof victory, oversleeping herself, the Tortoise arrived at the end\nof the race first.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIndustry and application will, in most cases, do more than quick\nand ready wit. The highest genius, without industry, will\ngenerally fail of any great exploit.\n\n[Illustration: THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLVI.\n\nTHE HOG AND THE ACORNS.\n\n\n          ONE moonshiny night,\n          With a great appetite,\n    A Hog feasted on Acorns with all his might:\n          Quite pleased with his prize\n          Both in taste and in size,\n    While he ate he devoured the rest with his eyes.\n\n          You know, I'm in joke,\n          When I say that the oak,\n    Moved a _bough_ to the grunter before she spoke;\n          But you know, too, in fable,\n          We feel ourselves able\n    To make anything speak--tree, flower, or table.\n\n          Said the Oak, looking big,\n          \"I think, Mr. Pig,\n    You might thank me for sending you fruit from my twig;\n          But, you ill-behaved Hog!\n          You devour the prog,\n    And have no better manners, I think, than a dog.\"\n\n          He replied, looking up,\n          Though not ceasing to sup,\n    Till the Acorns were eaten--ay, every cup--\n          \"I acknowledge, to you\n          My thanks would be due,\n    If from feelings of kindness my supper you threw.\n\n          \"To-morrow, good dame,\n          Give my children the same,\n    And then you, with justice, may gratitude claim.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n          He merits no praise\n          To the end of his days,\n    Who to those who surround him no service conveys.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLVII.\n\nTHE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE CITY MOUSE.\n\n\nAn honest, plain, sensible country Mouse is said to have\nentertained at his hole one day a fine Mouse of the town. Having\nformerly been playfellows together, they were old acquaintances,\nwhich served as an apology for the visit. However, as master of\nthe house, he thought himself obliged to do the honours of it, in\nall respects, and to make as great a stranger of his guest as he\npossibly could. In order to this, he set before him a reserve of\ndelicate grey pease and bacon, a dish of fine oatmeal, some\nparings of new cheese, and, to crown all with a dessert, a\nremnant of a charming mellow apple.\n\nIn good manners, he forebore to eat any of it himself, lest the\nstranger should not have enough; but, that he might seem to bear\nthe other company, sat and nibbled a piece of wheaten straw very\nbusily. At last, says the spark of the town, \"Old croney, give me\nleave to be a little free with you. How can you bear to live in\nthis nasty, dirty, melancholy hole here, with nothing but woods\nand meadows, mountains and rivulets about you? Do you not prefer\nthe busy world to the chirping of birds, and the splendour of a\ncourt to the rude aspect of an uncultivated desert? Come, take my\nword for it, you will find it a change for the better. Stand not\nconsidering, but away this moment. Remember, we are not immortal,\nand therefore have no time to lose. Make sure of to-day, and\nspend it as agreeably as you can; you know not what may happen\nto-morrow.\"\n\nIn short, these and such like arguments prevailed, and his country\nfriend was resolved to go to town that night. So they both set out\nupon their journey, proposing to sneak in after the close of the\nevening. They did so, and about midnight made their entry into a\ncertain great house, where there had been an extraordinary\nentertainment the day before, and several tit-bits, which some of\nthe servants had purloined, were hid under a seat of a window. The\ncountry guest was immediately placed in the midst of a rich Persian\ncarpet; and now it was the courtier's turn to entertain, who,\nindeed, acquitted himself in that capacity with the utmost readiness\nand address, changing the courses as elegantly, and tasting\neverything first as judiciously, as any clerk of the kitchen. The\nother sat and enjoyed himself like a delighted epicure, tickled to\nthe last degree with this new turn of his affairs; when, on a\nsudden, a noise of somebody opening the door made them start from\ntheir seats and scuttle in confusion about the dining-room. Our\ncountry friend, in particular, was ready to die with fear at the\nbarking of a huge Mastiff or two, which opened their throats just\nabout the same time, and made the whole house echo.\n\nAt last, recovering himself, \"Well,\" says he, \"if this be your\ntown life, much good may you do with it; give me my poor, quiet\nhole again, with my homely but comfortable grey pease.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nPoverty and safety are preferable to luxury and danger.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLVIII.\n\nTHE CAT AND THE MICE.\n\n\nA CERTAIN house was much infested with Mice; but at last they got\na Cat, who caught and ate every day some of them. The Mice,\nfinding their numbers grow thin, consulted what was best to be\ndone for the preservation of the public from the jaws of the\ndevouring Cat. They debated and came to this resolution, that no\none should go down below the upper shelf.\n\nThe Cat, observing the Mice no longer came down as usual, hungry and\ndisappointed of her prey, had recourse to this stratagem:--She hung\nby her hind legs on a peg which stuck in the wall, and made as if\nshe had been dead, hoping by this lure to entice the Mice to come\ndown. She had not been in this posture long before a cunning old\nMouse peeped over the edge of the shelf, and spoke thus:--\"Ha! ha!\nmy good friend, are you there? There you may be! I would not trust\nmyself with you, though your skin were stuffed with straw.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThey that are wise will never trust those a second time who have\ndeceived them once.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XLIX.\n\nTHE KID AND THE WOLF.\n\n\nA KID, being mounted upon the roof of a lofty shed, and seeing a\nWolf below, loaded him with all manner of reproaches. Upon which,\nthe Wolf, looking up, replied, \"Do not vaunt yourself, vain\ncreature, and think you mortify me; for I look upon this ill\nlanguage as not coming from you, but from the place that protects\nyou.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nTo rail or give bad language is wrong at all times; but when a\nman is protected by circumstances, it is cowardly, as well as\nwrong. The man who then uses it becomes a fit object of contempt\nto him that he reviles.\n\n[Illustration: THE KID AND THE WOLF.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE L.\n\nTHE COUNCIL OF HORSES.\n\n\n    UPON a time, a neighing Steed,\n    Who grazed among a numerous breed,\n    With mutiny had fired the train,\n    And spread dissension through the plain.\n\n    On matters that concerned the state\n    The council met in grand debate.\n    A Colt, whose eye-balls flamed with ire,\n    Elate with strength and youthful fire,\n    In haste stepped forth before the rest,\n    And thus the listening throng addressed:--\n\n      \"Good gods! how abject is our race!\n    Condemned to slavery and disgrace!\n    Shall we our servitude retain,\n    Because our sires have borne the chain?\n    Consider, friends, your strength and might;\n    'Tis conquest to assert your right.\n    How cumberous is the gilded coach!\n    The pride of man is our reproach.\n    Were we designed for daily toil,\n    To drag the ploughshare through the soil;\n    To sweat in harness through the road;\n    To groan beneath the carrier's load?\n    How feeble are the two-legged kind!\n    What force is in our nerves combined!\n    Shall, then, our nobler jaws submit\n    To foam and champ the galling bit?\n    Shall haughty men my back bestride?\n    Shall the sharp spur provoke my side?\n    Forbid it, heavens! reject the rein,\n    Your shame, your infamy disdain.\n    Let him the Lion first control,\n    And still the Tiger's famished growl!\n    Let us, like them, our freedom claim;\n    And make him tremble at our name.\"\n\n      A general nod approved the cause,\n    And all the circle neighed applause;\n    When, lo! with grave and solemn pace,\n    A Steed advanced before the race,\n    With age and long experience wise;\n    Around he casts his thoughtful eyes,\n    And, to the murmurs of the train,\n    Thus spoke the Nestor of the plain:--\n\n      \"When I had health and strength, like you,\n    The toils of servitude I knew.\n    Now, grateful man rewards my pains,\n    And gives me all these wide domains.\n    At will I crop the year's increase;\n    My latter life is rest and peace.\n    I grant, to man we lend our pains,\n    And aid him to correct the plains.\n    But doth not he divide the care,\n    Through all the labours of the year?\n    How many thousand structures rise,\n    To fence us from inclement skies!\n    For us he bears the sultry day,\n    And stores up all our winter's hay.\n    He sows, he reaps the harvest gain;\n    We share the toil, and share the grain.\"\n\n      The tumult ceased. The Colt submitted;\n    And, like his ancestors, was bitted.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Since every creature is decreed\n    To aid each other's mutual need;\n    Submit with a contented mind\n    To act the part by heaven assigned.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LI.\n\nTHE ASS AND THE LITTLE DOG.\n\n\nThe Ass, observing how great a favourite a little Dog was with\nhis master, how much caressed, and fondled, and fed with good\nbits at every meal, and for no other reason, as he could\nperceive, but skipping and frisking about, wagging his tail, and\nleaping up in his master's lap, was resolved to imitate the same,\nand see whether such behaviour would not procure him the same\nfavours. Accordingly, the master was no sooner come home from\nwalking about his fields and gardens, and was seated in his easy\nchair, than the Ass, who observed him, came gamboling and braying\ntowards him, in a very awkward manner. The master could not help\nlaughing aloud at the odd sight. But the jest soon became\nearnest, when he felt the rough salute of the fore-feet, as the\nAss, raising himself upon his hinder legs, pawed against his\nbreast with a most loving air, and would fain have jumped into\nhis lap. The good man, terrified at this outrageous conduct, and\nunable to endure the weight of so heavy a beast, cried out; upon\nwhich one of his servants, running in with a good stick, and\nlaying heartily upon the bones of the poor Ass, soon convinced\nhim that everyone who desires it is not qualified to be a\nfavourite.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nAll men have not the same gifts of pleasing. It will be well,\ntherefore, to keep in our own place; and, in that condition of\nlife, to do our duty. By which we shall be most likely to give\nsatisfaction.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LII.\n\nTHE LION AND THE FOUR BULLS.\n\n\nFour Bulls, which had entered into a very strict friendship, kept\nalways near one another, and fed together. The Lion often saw\nthem, and as often wished to make one of them his prey; but\nthough he could easily have subdued any of them singly, yet he\nwas afraid to attack the whole when together, knowing they would\nhave been too hard for him; and, therefore, contented himself for\nthe present with keeping at a distance. At last, perceiving no\nattempt was to be made upon them as long as their combination\nlasted, he took occasion, by whispers and hints, to foment\njealousies and raise divisions among them.\n\nThis stratagem succeeded so well, that the Bulls grew cold and\nreserved towards one another, which soon after ripened into a\ndownright hatred and aversion, and, at last, ended in a total\nseparation. The Lion had now obtained his ends; and, as\nimpossible as it was for him to hurt them while they were united,\nhe found no difficulty, now they were parted, to seize and devour\nevery Bull of them, one after another.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nUnion is strength. Jealousy and envy, especially when fomented by\nwhisperers, will destroy gradually the ties that make us safe\nagainst enemies.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LIII.\n\nTHE LEOPARD AND THE FOX.\n\n\nThe Leopard one day took it into his head to value himself upon\nthe great variety and beauty of his spots; and, truly, he saw no\nreason why even the lion should take place of him, since he could\nnot show so beautiful a skin. As for the rest of the wild beasts\nof the forests, he treated them all, without distinction, in the\nmost haughty and disdainful manner. But the Fox, being among\nthem, went up to him with a great deal of spirit and resolution,\nand told him that he was mistaken in the value he was pleased to\nset upon himself, since people of judgment were not used to form\ntheir opinion of merit from an outside appearance, but by\nconsidering the good qualities and endowments with which the mind\nwas stored within.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nHaughty beauty is an ungraceful thing. True beauty is always\nfound in a setting of modesty, and then only appears the bright\njewel that it is.\n\n[Illustration: THE LEOPARD AND THE FOX.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LIV.\n\nTHE WARRIOR WOLF.\n\n\n          A YOUNG Wolf said aloud\n          To the listening crowd,\n    \"I may well of my father's great courage be proud;\n          Wherever he came,\n          Flock, shepherd, or dame,\n    All trembled and fled at the sound of his name.\n          Did anyone spy\n          My papa coming by--\n    Two hundred or more--Oh! he made them all fly!\n          One day, by a blow,\n          He was conquered, I know;\n    But no wonder at last he should yield to a foe:\n          He yielded, poor fellow!\n          The conquering bellow\n    Resounds in my ears as my poor father's knell--Oh!\"\n          A Fox then replied,\n          While, leering aside,\n    He laughed at his folly and vapouring pride:\n          \"My chattering youth,\n          Your nonsense, forsooth,\n    Is more like a funeral sermon than truth.\n          Let history tell\n          How your old father fell;\n    And see if the narrative sounds as well.\n          Your folly surpasses,\n          Of monkeys all classes;\n    The beasts which he frightened, or conquered, were asses,\n          Except a few sheep,\n          When the shepherd, asleep,\n    The dog by his side for safety did keep.\n          Your father fell back,\n          Knocked down by a whack\n    From the very first bull that he dared to attack.\n          Away he'd have scoured,\n          But soon overpowered,\n    He lived like a thief, and he died like a coward.\"\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LV.\n\nTHE BELLY AND THE MEMBERS.\n\n\nIn former days, when the Belly and the other parts of the body\nenjoyed the faculty of speech, and had separate views and designs\nof their own; each part, it seems, in particular, for himself,\nand in the name of the whole, took exception at the conduct of\nthe Belly, and were resolved to grant him supplies no longer.\n\nThey said they thought it very hard that he should lead an idle,\ngood-for-nothing life, spending and squandering away upon his own\nvile appetites all the fruits of their labour; and that, in\nshort, they were resolved for the future to strike off his\nallowance, and let him shift for himself as well as he could.\n\nThe hands protested they would not lift a finger to keep him from\nstarving; and the mouth wished he might never speak again if he\ntook in the least bit of nourishment for him as long as he lived;\nand the teeth said, \"May we be rotten if ever we chew a morsel\nfor him for the future!\" This solemn league and covenant was kept\nso long, until each of the rebel members pined away to the skin\nand bone, and could hold out no longer. Then they found there was\nno doing without the Belly, and that, as idle and insignificant\nas he seemed, he contributed as much to the maintenance and\nwelfare of all the other parts as they did to his.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nMen are dependent upon their fellow-creatures, and it is foolish\nto expect we can do without the help of others.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LVI.\n\nTHE CUR, THE HORSE, AND THE SHEPHERD'S DOG.\n\n\n    A VILLAGE Cur, of snappish race,\n    The pertest puppy in the place,\n    Imagined that his treble throat\n    Was blessed with music's sweetest note;\n    In the mid road he basking lay,\n    The yelping nuisance of the way;\n    For not a creature passed along,\n    But had a sample of his song.\n\n      Soon as the trotting steed he hears,\n    He starts, he cocks his dapper ears;\n    Away he scours, assaults his hoof;\n    Now near him snarls, now barks aloof;\n    With shrill impertinence attends;\n    Nor leaves him till the village ends.\n\n      It chanced, upon his evil day,\n    A Pad came pacing down the way;\n    The Cur, with never-ceasing tongue,\n    Upon the passing traveller sprung.\n    The Horse, from scorn provoked to ire,\n    Flung backward; rolling in the mire,\n    The Puppy howled, and bleeding lay;\n    The Pad in peace pursued his way.\n\n      A Shepherd's Dog, who saw the deed,\n    Detesting the vexatious breed,\n    Bespoke him thus: \"When coxcombs prate,\n    They kindle wrath, contempt, or hate;\n    Thy teasing tongue, had judgment tied,\n    Thou hadst not like a Puppy died.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Too late the forward youth will find\n    That jokes are sometimes paid in kind;\n    Or, if they canker in the breast,\n    He makes a foe who makes a jest.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LVII.\n\nTHE JACKDAW AND THE EAGLE.\n\n\nAn Eagle flew down from the top of a high rock, and settled upon\nthe back of a lamb, and then, instantly flying up into the air\nagain, bore his bleating prize aloft in his talons. A Jackdaw,\nwho sat upon an elm, and beheld his exploit, resolved to imitate\nit. So, flying upon the back of a ram, and entangling his claws\nin the wool, he fell a-chattering and attempting to fly; by which\nmeans he drew the observation of the shepherd upon him, who,\nfinding his feet hampered in the fleece of the ram, easily took\nhim, and gave him to his boys for their sport and diversion,\nsaying, \"The silly bird thought he was an Eagle; but, no doubt,\nby this time he has found out he is but a Jackdaw.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nA false estimate of our own abilities ever exposes us to\nridicule, and often to danger.\n\n[Illustration: THE JACKDAW AND THE EAGLE.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LVIII.\n\nTHE ASS AND THE LION HUNTING.\n\n\nThe Lion took a fancy to hunt in company with the Ass; and, to\nmake him the more useful, gave him instructions to hide himself\nin a thicket, and then to bray in the most frightful manner that\nhe could possibly contrive. \"By this means,\" says he, \"you will\nrouse all the beasts within hearing of you, while I stand at the\noutlets and take them as they are making off.\" This was done; and\nthe stratagem took effect accordingly. The Ass brayed most\nhideously, and the timorous beasts, not knowing what to make of\nit, began to scour off as fast as they could; when the Lion, who\nwas posted at a convenient place, seized and devoured them as he\npleased.\n\nHaving got his belly full, he called out to the Ass, and bid him\nleave off braying, as he had had enough. Upon this the lop-eared\nbrute came out of his ambush, and, approaching the Lion, asked\nhim, with an air of conceit, \"how he liked his performance.\"\n\"Prodigiously,\" says he; \"you did it so well, that I protest, had\nI not known your nature and temper, I might have been frightened\nmyself.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nBoastful cowards may impose upon those who do not know them, but\nare held to be only ridiculous by those who do. Pompous persons\nwho would wish themselves thought perfect Lions, when known are\nmostly found arrant Asses.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LIX.\n\nTHE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING.\n\n\nA WOLF clothing himself in the skin of a Sheep, and getting in\namong the flock, by this means took the opportunity to devour\nmany of them. At last, the Shepherd discovered him, and cunningly\nfastened a rope about his neck, tying him up to a tree which\nstood hard by.\n\nSome other Shepherds happening to pass that way, and observing\nwhat he was about, drew near, and expressed their wonder at it.\n\"What,\" says one of them, \"Brother, do you hang Sheep?\" \"No,\"\nreplies the other; \"I hang a Wolf whenever I catch him, though in\nthe habit and garb of Sheep.\" Then he showed them their mistake,\nand they applauded the justice of the execution.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThose who try to seem what they are not will not always thereby\nescape the punishment of what they are.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LX.\n\nTHE TWO BEES.\n\n\nOn a fine morning in May, two Bees set forward in quest of honey;\nthe one, wise and temperate; the other, careless and extravagant.\nThey soon arrived at a garden enriched with aromatic herbs, the\nmost fragrant flowers, and the most delicious fruits. They\nregaled themselves for a time on the various dainties that were\nset before them: the one loading his thigh at intervals with\nprovisions for the hive against the distant winter, the other\nrevelling in sweets, without regard to anything but his present\ngratification.\n\nAt length, they found a wide-mouthed vial, that hung beneath the\nbough of a peach-tree, filled with honey ready tempered, and\nexposed to their taste in the most alluring manner. The\nthoughtless Epicure, spite of all his friend's remonstrances,\nplunged headlong into the vessel, resolving to indulge himself in\nall the pleasures of sensuality. The Philosopher, on the other\nhand, sipped a little with caution, but, being suspicious of\ndanger, flew off to fruits and flowers; where, by the moderation\nof his meals, he improved his relish for the true enjoyment of\nthem.\n\nIn the evening, however, he called upon his friend, to inquire\nwhether he would return to the hive, but found him surfeited in\nsweets, which he was as unable to leave as to enjoy. Clogged in\nhis wings, enfeebled in his feet, and his whole frame totally\nenervated, he was but just able to bid his friend adieu, and to\nlament, with his latest breath, that though a taste of pleasure\nmay quicken the relish of life, an unrestrained indulgence is\ninevitable destruction.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nModeration rewards and intemperance punishes itself.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXI.\n\nTHE TURKEY AND THE ANT.\n\n\n    A TURKEY, tired of common food,\n    Forsook the barn, and sought the wood;\n    Behind her ran her infant train,\n    Collecting here and there a grain.\n    \"Draw near, my birds,\" the mother cries,\n    \"This hill delicious fare supplies;\n    Behold the busy negro race,\n    See millions blacken all the place.\n    Fear not: like me, with freedom eat;\n    An Ant is most delightful meat.\n    How blessed, how envied were our life,\n    Could we but 'scape the poulterer's knife!\n    But man, cursed man, on Turkeys preys,\n    And Christmas shortens all our days.\n    Sometimes with oysters we combine;\n    Sometimes assist the savoury chine:\n    From the low peasant to the lord,\n    The Turkey smokes on every board;\n    Sure, men for gluttony are cursed,\n    Of the seven deadly sins, the worst.\"\n\n      An Ant, who climbed beyond her reach,\n    Thus answered from the neighbouring beech:\n    \"Ere you remark another's sin,\n    Bid thy own conscience look within;\n    Control thy more voracious bill,\n    Nor, for a breakfast, nations kill.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    In other folks we faults can spy,\n    And blame the mote that dims their eye;\n    Each little speck and blemish find:\n    To our own stronger errors blind.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXII.\n\nTHE DOG AND THE WOLF.\n\n\nA LEAN, hungry, half-starved Wolf happened, one moonshiny night,\nto meet a jolly, plump, well-fed Mastiff; and after the first\ncompliments were passed, says the Wolf, \"You look extremely well;\nI protest, I think I never saw a more graceful, comely person;\nbut how comes it about, I beseech you, that you should live so\nmuch better than I? I may say, without vanity, that I venture\nfifty times more than you do, and yet I am almost ready to perish\nwith hunger.\" The Dog answered very bluntly, \"Why, you may live\nas well, if you do the same for it as I do.\" \"Indeed! what is\nthat?\" says he. \"Why,\" says the Dog, \"only to guard the house at\nnight, and keep it from thieves.\" \"With all my heart,\" replies\nthe Wolf, \"for at present I have but a sorry time of it; and I\nthink to change my hard lodging in the woods, where I endure\nrain, frost, and snow, for a warm roof over my head and enough of\ngood victuals, will be no bad bargain.\" \"True,\" says the Dog;\n\"therefore you have nothing to do but to follow me.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE HOUSE DOG AND THE WOLF.]\n\nNow, as they were jogging on together, the Wolf spied a crease\nin the Dog's neck, and having a strange curiosity, could not\nforbear asking him what it meant! \"Pugh! nothing,\" says the Dog.\n\"Nay, but pray,\" says the Wolf. \"Why,\" says the Dog, \"if you must\nknow, I am tied up in the day-time, because I am a little fierce,\nfor fear I should bite people, and am only let loose at nights.\nBut this is done with a design to make me sleep by day, more than\nanything else, and that I may watch the better in the night time;\nfor, as soon as ever the twilight appears, out I am turned, and\nmay go where I please. Then my master brings me plates of bones\nfrom the table with his own hands; and whatever scraps are left\nby any of the family, all fall to my share; for, you must know, I\nam a favourite with everybody. So you see how you are to\nlive.--Come, come along; what is the matter with you?\" \"No,\"\nreplied the Wolf, \"I beg your pardon; keep your happiness all to\nyourself. Liberty is the word with me; and I would not be a king\nupon the terms you mention.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThe lowest condition of life, with freedom, is happier than the\ngreatest without it. The bird of the air, though he roosts on a\nbough, has more real joy than the well-fed captive in a gilded\ncage.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXIII.\n\nTHE SATYR AND THE TRAVELLER.\n\n\nA SATYR, as he was ranging the forest in an exceedingly cold, snowy\nseason, met with a Traveller half starved with the extremity of the\nweather. He took compassion on him, and kindly invited him home to a\nwarm, comfortable cave he had in a hollow of a rock. As soon as they\nhad entered and sat down, notwithstanding there was a good fire in\nthe place, the chilled Traveller could not forbear blowing his\nfinger-ends.\n\nUpon the Satyr asking him why he did so, he answered that he did\nit to warm his hands. The honest Sylvan having seen little of the\nworld, admired a man who was master of so valuable a quality as\nthat of blowing heat; and, therefore, was resolved to entertain\nhim in the best manner he could. He spread the table before him\nwith dried fruits of several sorts, and produced a remnant of\ncold cordial wine, which, as the rigour of the season made very\nproper, he mulled with some warm spices, over the fire, and\npresented to his shivering guest. But this the Traveller thought\nfit to blow likewise; and upon the Satyr's demanding the reason\nwhy he blowed again, he replied, to cool the dish.\n\nThis second answer provoked the Satyr's indignation, as much as\nthe first had kindled his surprise; so, taking the man by the\nshoulder, he thrust him out, saying he would have nothing to do\nwith a wretch who had so vile a quality as to blow hot and cold\nwith the same mouth.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nDouble dealing is always detestable. The man that blows hot and\ncold at the same time is not worthy to be trusted; the sooner we\npart from him the better.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXIV.\n\nTHE BARLEY-MOW AND THE DUNGHILL.\n\n\n    As 'CROSS his yard, at early day,\n    A careful farmer took his way,\n    He stopped, and leaning on his fork,\n    Observed the flail's incessant work.\n    In thought he measured all his store;\n    His geese, his hogs, he numbered o'er;\n    In fancy weighed the fleeces shorn,\n    And multiplied the next year's corn.\n\n      A Barley-Mow, which stood beside,\n    Thus to its musing master cried:\n\n      \"Say, good sir, is it fit or right,\n    To treat me with neglect and slight?\n    Me, who contribute to your cheer,\n    And raise your mirth with ale and beer!\n    Why thus insulted, thus disgraced,\n    And that vile Dunghill near me placed?\n    Are those poor sweepings of a groom,\n    That filthy sight, that nauseous fume,\n    Meet objects here? Command it hence:\n    A thing so mean must give offence.\"\n\n      The humble Dunghill thus replied:\n    \"Thy master hears, and mocks thy pride.\n    Insult not thus the meek and low;\n    In me thy benefactor know:\n    My warm assistance gave thee birth,\n    Or thou hadst perished low in earth:\n    But upstarts, to support their station,\n    Cancel at once all obligation.\"\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXV.\n\nTHE SHEEP-BITER AND SHEPHERD.\n\n\nA CERTAIN Shepherd had a Dog, upon whose fidelity he relied very\nmuch; for whenever he had occasion to be absent himself, he\ncommitted the care and tuition of the flock to the charge of his\nDog; and, to encourage him to do his duty cheerfully, he fed him\nconstantly with sweet curds and whey, and sometimes threw him a\ncrust or two. Yet, notwithstanding this, no sooner was his back\nturned, but the treacherous cur fell foul of the flock, and\ndevoured the sheep, instead of guarding and defending them. The\nShepherd being informed of this, was resolved to hang him; and\nthe Dog, when the rope was about his neck, and he was just going\nto be hung, began to expostulate with his master, asking him, why\nhe was so unmercifully bent against him, who was his own servant\nand creature, and had only committed two or three crimes, and why\nhe did not rather execute vengeance upon the Wolf, who was a\nconstant and declared enemy? \"Nay,\" replies the Shepherd, \"it is\nfor that very reason that I think you ten times more deserving of\ndeath than he. From him I expected nothing but hostilities; and\ntherefore could guard against him. You I depended upon as a just\nand faithful servant, and fed and encouraged you accordingly; and\ntherefore your treachery is the more notorious, and your\ningratitude the more unpardonable.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nA known enemy is better than a treacherous friend.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXVI.\n\nTHE STAG AT THE POOL.\n\n\nA STAG that had been drinking at a clear spring, saw himself in\nthe water; and, pleased with the sight, stood long contemplating\nand surveying his shape and features from head to foot. \"Ah!\"\nsays he, \"what a glorious pair of branching horns are there! How\ngracefully do those antlers hang over my forehead, and give an\nagreeable turn to my whole face! If some other parts of my body\nwere but in proportion to them, I would turn my back to nobody;\nbut I have a set of such legs as really make me ashamed to see\nthem. People may talk what they please of their conveniences, and\nwhat great need we stand in of them, upon several occasions; but,\nfor my part, I find them so very slender and unsightly that I had\nas lief have none at all.\"\n\nWhile he was giving himself these airs, he was alarmed with the\nnoise of some huntsmen and a pack of hounds that had been just\nlaid on upon the scent, and were making towards him.\n\n[Illustration: THE STAG AT THE POOL.]\n\nAway he flees in some consternation, and, bounding nimbly over\nthe plain, threw dogs and men at a vast distance behind him.\nAfter which, taking a very thick copse, he had the ill-fortune to\nbe entangled by his horns in a thicket, where he was held\nfast, till the hounds came in and pulled him down. Finding now\nhow it was likely to go with him, in the pangs of death, he is\nsaid to have uttered these words:--\"Unhappy creature that I am! I\nam too late convinced that what I prided myself in has been the\ncause of my undoing, and what I so much disliked was the only\nthing that could have saved me.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nBeauty often becomes a snare and ruin, while solid virtue, though\nunadorned, gains respect. The latter, too, will mature with age,\nwhile the former will surely fade.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXVII.\n\nTHE OLD SWALLOWS AND THE YOUNG BIRDS.\n\n\nA SWALLOW, observing a husbandman employed in sowing hemp, called\nthe little Birds together, and informed them what the farmer was\nabout. He told them that hemp was the material from which the\nnets, so fatal to the feathered race, were composed; and advised\nthem unanimously to join in picking it up, in order to prevent\nthe consequences.\n\nThe Birds, either disbelieving his information, or neglecting his\nadvice, gave themselves no trouble about the matter. In a little\ntime, the hemp appeared above the ground. The friendly Swallow\nagain addressed himself to them--told them it was not yet too\nlate, provided they would immediately set about the work, before\nthe seeds had taken too deep root. But, they still rejecting his\nadvice, he forsook their society; repaired, for safety, to towns\nand cities; there built his habitation, and kept his residence.\n\nOne day, as he was skimming along the streets, he happened to see\na great number of these very Birds, imprisoned in a cage, on the\nshoulders of a bird-catcher. \"Unhappy wretches!\" said he, \"you\nnow feel the punishment of your former neglect. But those who,\nhaving no foresight of their own, despise the wholesome\nadmonition of their friends, deserve the mischiefs which their\nown obstinacy or negligence bring upon their heads.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    This Fable teaches thoughtless youth\n    A most important moral truth:--\n    The seeds, which proved the young birds' ruin,\n    Are emblems of their own undoing,\n    Should they neglect, while yet 'tis time,\n    To pluck the early shoots of crime;\n    Or, in their own opinions wise,\n    The counsel of their friends despise.\n    For evil habits, left to grow,\n    Are ever sure to lead to woe;\n    But checked in time with vigorous hand,\n    Will bend to virtue's firm command.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXVIII.\n\nTHE WAGGONER AND THE BUTTERFLY.\n\n\n    The rain so soft had made the road,\n    That, in a rut, a waggon-load,\n    The poor man's harvest, (bitter luck!)\n    Sank down a foot, and there it stuck.\n    He whipped his horses, but in vain;\n    They pulled and splashed, and pulled again,\n    But vainly still; the slippery soil\n    Defied their strength, and mocked their toil.\n    Panting they stood, with legs outspread;\n    The driver stood, and scratched his head:\n    (A common custom, by-the-bye,\n    When people know not what to try,\n    Though not, it seems, a remedy).\n\n      A Butterfly, in flower concealed,\n    Had travelled with them from the field;\n    Who in the waggon was thrown up,\n    While feasting on a buttercup.\n    The panting of each labouring beast\n    Disturbed her at her fragrant feast;\n    The sudden stop, the driver's sigh,\n    Awoke her generous sympathy.\n    And, seeing the distressing case\n    She cried, while springing from her place,\n    (Imagining her tiny freight\n    A vast addition to the weight,)\n    \"I must have pity--and be gone,\n    Now, master Waggoner, drive on.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Do not admire this Butterfly,\n    Young reader; I will tell you why.\n    At first, goodnature seems a cause,\n    Why she should merit your applause;\n    But 'twas conceit that filled her breast:\n    Her self-importance made a jest\n    Of what might otherwise have claimed\n    Your praise,--but now she must be blamed.\n    Should any case occur, when you\n    May have some friendly act to do;\n    Give all _your feeble aid_--as such,\n    But estimate it not too much.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXIX.\n\nTHE LION, THE BEAR, AND THE FOX.\n\n\nA LION and a Bear quarrelling over the carcase of a Fawn, which\nthey found in the forest, their title to him had to be decided by\nforce of arms. The battle was severe and tough on both sides, and\nthey fought it out, tearing and worrying one another so long,\nthat, what with wounds and fatigue, they were so faint and weary,\nthat they were not able to strike another stroke. Thus, while\nthey lay upon the ground, panting and lolling out their tongues,\na Fox chanced to pass by that way, who, perceiving how the case\nstood, very impudently stepped in between them, seized the booty\nwhich they had all this while been contending for, and carried it\noff. The two combatants, who lay and beheld all this, without\nhaving strength to stir and prevent it, were only wise enough to\nmake this reflection:--\"Behold the fruits of our strife and\ncontention! That villain, the Fox, bears away the prize, and we\nourselves have deprived each other of the power to recover it\nfrom him.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nWhen fools quarrel, knaves get the prize of contention.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXX.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE GRAPES.\n\n\nIn days of yore, when a young Fox would take more pains to get a\nbunch of grapes than a plump, fat goose, an arch young thief cast\nhis eyes on a fine bunch which hung on the top of a poor man's\nvine, and made him lick his lips like a hound at the sight of a\njoint of meat. \"Oh,\" said he, \"how nice they look! I must have a\ntaste of them, if I die for it;\" and with that, up he jumped with\nall his might, but had the ill-luck not to reach the grapes; yet,\nas he could not find in his heart to leave them, he tried for\nthem as long as he was able; so he leaped and jumped, and jumped\nand leaped, till at last he was glad to rest. But when he found\nall his pains were in vain, \"Hang them!\" said he, \"I am sure they\nare not fit to eat, for they are as sour as crabs, and would set\nmy teeth on edge for a whole week; and so I shall leave them for\nthe next fool who may chance to come this way.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nSome men make light of that which is out of their reach, though\nat the same time in their hearts they know not what to do for\nwant of it.\n\n[Illustration: THE FOX AND THE GRAPES.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXI.\n\nTHE HARE AND MANY FRIENDS.\n\n\n    A HARE, who, in a civil way,\n    Complied with everything, like Gay,\n    Was known by all the bestial train,\n    Who haunt the wood, or graze the plain.\n\n      As forth she went, at early dawn,\n    To taste the dew-besprinkled lawn,\n    Behind she hears the hunter's cries,\n    And from the deep-mouthed thunder flies.\n    She starts, she stops, she pants for breath;\n    She hears the near approach of death;\n    She doubles, to mislead the hound,\n    And measures back her mazy round;\n    Till, fainting in the public way,\n    Half dead with fear, she gasping lay:--\n    What transport in her bosom grew,\n    When first the Horse appeared in view!\n\n      \"Let me,\" says she, \"your back ascend,\n    And owe my safety to a friend;\n    You know my feet betray my flight;\n    To friendship, ev'ry burthen's light.\"\n\n      The Horse replied,--\"Poor, honest Puss!\n    It grieves my heart to see thee thus:\n    Be comforted,--relief is near;\n    For all our friends are in the rear.\"\n\n      She next the stately Bull implored,\n    And thus replied the mighty lord:--\n    \"Since every beast alive can tell,\n    That I sincerely wish you well,\n    I may, without offence, pretend\n    To take the freedom of a friend.\n    Love calls me hence; a favourite cow\n    Expects me near yon barley-mow;\n    And when a lady's in the case,\n    You know, all other things give place.\n    To leave you thus may seem unkind;\n    But see,--the Goat is just behind.\"\n\n      The Goat remarked her pulse was high;\n    Her languid head, her heavy eye;\n    \"My back,\" says she, \"may do you harm;\n    The Sheep's at hand, and wool is warm.\"\n\n      The Sheep was feeble, and complained,\n    His sides a load of wool sustained;\n    Said he was slow; confessed his fears;\n    For Hounds eat Sheep as well as Hares.\n\n      She now the trotting Calf addressed,\n    To save from death a friend distressed.\n    \"Shall I,\" says he, \"of tender age,\n    In this important care engage?\n    Older and abler pass you by;\n    How strong are those! how weak am I!\n    Should I presume to bear you hence,\n    Those friends of mine may take offence.\n    Excuse me, then,--you know my heart;\n    But dearest friends, alas! must part.\n    How shall we all lament!--Adieu!\n    For see, the Hounds are just in view.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Friendships are single: who depend\n    On many rarely find a friend.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXII.\n\nTHE COCK AND THE FOX.\n\n\nA COCK, being perched among the branches of a lofty tree, crowed\naloud, so that the shrillness of his voice echoed through the\nwood and invited a Fox to the place, who was prowling in that\nneighbourhood in quest of his prey. But Reynard, finding the Cock\nwas inaccessible by reason of the height of his situation, had\nrecourse to stratagem in order to decoy him down. So, approaching\nthe tree, \"Cousin,\" says he, \"I am heartily glad to see you; but\nat the same time I cannot forbear expressing my uneasiness at the\ninconvenience of the place, which will not let me pay my respects\nto you in a handsomer manner; though I suppose you will come down\npresently, and thus the difficulty will be easily removed.\"\n\n\"Indeed, cousin,\" says the Cock, \"to tell you the truth, I do not\nthink it safe to venture upon the ground; for though I am\nconvinced how much you are my friend, yet I may have the\nmisfortune to fall into the clutches of some other beasts, and\nwhat will become of me then?\" \"Oh, dear!\" says Reynard, \"is it\npossible that you can be so ignorant, as not to know of the\npeace which has been lately proclaimed between all kinds of birds\nand beasts; and that we are for the future to forbear hostilities\non all sides, and to live in the utmost love and harmony, and\nthis, under the penalty of suffering the severest punishment that\ncan be inflicted?\" All this while the Cock seemed to give little\nattention to what was said, but stretched out his neck, as if he\nsaw something at a distance.\n\n\"Cousin,\" says the Fox, \"what is it that you look at so\nearnestly?\" \"Why,\" says the Cock, \"I think I see a pack of hounds\nyonder, a little way off.\" \"Oh, then,\" says the Fox, \"your humble\nservant, I must begone.\" \"Nay, pray cousin, do not go,\" says the\nCock, \"I am just coming down; surely you are not afraid of Dogs\nin these peaceable times?\" \"No, no,\" says he, \"but ten to one\nwhether they have heard of the proclamation yet.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nWhen rogues are met in their own strain, they are generally\nworsted. It is interesting to see the snares of the wicked\ndefeated by the discreet management of the innocent. \"Answer a\nfool according to his folly,\" is an old maxim.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXIII.\n\nTHE LION AND THE MOUSE.\n\n\nA LION, faint with heat and weary with hunting, was lying down to\ntake his repose under the spreading boughs of a thick shady oak.\nIt happened that while he slept, a company of scrambling mice ran\nover his back, and waked him; upon which, starting up, he clapped\nhis paw upon one of them, and was just going to put it to death,\nwhen the little supplicant implored his mercy in a very moving\nmanner, begging him not to stain his noble character with the\nblood of so despicable and small a beast.\n\nThe Lion, considering the matter, thought proper to do as he was\ndesired, and immediately released his little trembling prisoner.\n\nNot long after, while traversing the forest in pursuit of his\nprey, he chanced to run into the toils of the hunters, from\nwhence, not being able to disengage himself, he set up a most\nhideous and loud roar.\n\nThe Mouse, hearing a voice, and knowing it to be the Lion's,\nimmediately repaired to the place, and bid him fear nothing, for\nthat he was his friend. Then straight he fell to work, and\nwith his sharp little teeth gnawing asunder the knots and\nfastenings of the toils, set the royal brute at liberty.\n\n[Illustration: THE LION AND THE MOUSE.]\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThere is none so little, but that even the greatest may at some\ntime or other stand in need of his assistance.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXIV.\n\nTHE TRUMPETER TAKEN PRISONER.\n\n\nA TRUMPETER, being taken prisoner in a battle, begged hard for\nquarter, declaring his innocence, and protesting that he neither\nhad nor could kill any man, bearing no arms but only a trumpet,\nwhich he was obliged to sound at the word of command. \"For that\nreason,\" replied his enemies, \"we are determined not to spare\nyou; for though you yourself never fight, yet with that wicked\ninstrument of yours, you blow up animosity between other people,\nand so become the occasion of much bloodshed.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThe hand may rest quiet by the side, and yet the tongue be the\nmeans of doing more injury than a thousand hands.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXV.\n\nTHE MOUSE AND THE ELEPHANT.\n\n\n    A PERT young Mouse, but just arrived\n    From Athens, where some time he'd lived;\n    And daily to the portico,\n    To pick up learning, used to go;\n    Vain of the wisdom he had stored,\n    And of the books he had devoured;\n    Puffed up with pride and self-conceit,\n    And proud to show his little wit,\n    Thus to an Elephant, one day,\n    He took it in his head to say:--\n\n      \"Nay, not so pompous in your gait,\n    Because Dame Nature made you great;\n    I tell you, sir, your mighty size\n    Is of no value in my eyes;--\n    Your magnitude, I have a notion,\n    Is quite unfit for locomotion;\n    When journeying far, you often prove\n    How sluggishly your feet can move.\n    Now, look at me: I'm made to fly;\n    Behold, with what rapidity\n    I skip about from place to place,\n    And still unwearied with the race;\n    But you--how lazily you creep,\n    And stop to breathe at every step!\n    Whenever I your bulk survey,\n    I pity--\" What he meant to say,\n    Or with what kind of peroration\n    He'd have concluded his oration,\n    I cannot tell; for, all at once,\n    There pounced upon the learned dunce\n    An ambushed Cat; who, very soon,\n    Experimentally made known,\n    That between Mice and Elephants\n    There is a mighty difference.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    When fools pretend to wit and sense,\n    And wish to shine at your expense,\n    Defy them to the proof, and you\n    Will make them their own folly show.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXVI.\n\nTHE HUSBANDMAN AND HIS SONS.\n\n\nA CERTAIN Husbandman, lying at the point of death, and being\ndesirous his sons should pursue that innocent, entertaining\ncourse of agriculture in which he himself had been engaged all\nhis life, made use of this expedient to induce them to it. He\ncalled them to his bed-side and spoke to this effect: \"All the\npatrimony I have to bequeath you, Sons, is my farm and my\nvineyard, of which I make you joint heirs. But I charge you not\nto let it go out of your own occupation; for if I have any\ntreasure besides, it lies buried somewhere in the ground, within\na foot of the surface.\"\n\nThis made the Sons conclude that he talked of money which he had hid\nthere; so, after their father's death, with unwearied diligence and\napplication, they carefully dug up every inch, both of the farm and\nvineyard; from which it came to pass that, though they missed the\ntreasure which they expected, the ground, by being so well stirred\nand loosened, produced so plentiful a crop of all that was sowed in\nit as proved a real, and no inconsiderable treasure.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nLabour and industry, well applied, seldom fail of finding a rich\ntreasure. And if these do not give us exactly the wealth we are\nlooking for, they will certainly give us health and cheerfulness,\nwith a tranquil mind, and, without these, all the gold of Peru\nwould lie in our coffers useless.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXVII.\n\nTHE BALD KNIGHT.\n\n\nA CERTAIN Knight growing old, his hair fell off, and he became\nbald; to hide which imperfection he wore a periwig. But as he was\nriding out with some others a-hunting, a sudden gust of wind blew\noff the periwig, and exposed his bald pate.\n\nThe company could not forbear laughing at the accident; and he\nhimself laughed as loud as anybody, saying, \"How was it to be\nexpected that I should keep strange hair on my head, when my own\nwould not stay there.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIf, by any word or action, we happen to raise the laughter of\nthose about us, we cannot stifle it better than, by a brisk\npresence of mind, to join in the mirth of the company, and, if\npossible, anticipate the jests they are ready to make on us.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXVIII.\n\nTHE DOG IN THE MANGER.\n\n\nA DOG was lying upon a manger full of hay. An Ox, being hungry,\ncame near, and wanted to eat of the hay; but the envious,\nill-natured cur, getting up and snarling at him, would not suffer\nhim to touch it. Upon which the Ox, in the bitterness of his\nheart, said, \"What a selfish wretch thou art, for thou canst\nneither eat hay thyself, nor suffer others to do so.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nSelfishness is a most contemptible thing; but that degree of it\nwhich withholds from others what we can make no possible use of\nourselves, is hateful in the extreme.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXIX.\n\nTHE OLD MAN AND DEATH.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE DOG IN THE MANGER.]\n\nA POOR, feeble old Man, who had crawled out into a neighbouring\nwood to gather a few sticks, had made up his bundle, and,\nlaying it over his shoulders, was trudging homeward with it; but\nwhat with age, and the length of the way, and the weight of his\nburden, he grew so faint and weak that he sunk under it, and, as\nhe sat on the ground, called upon Death to come and ease him of\nhis troubles. Death no sooner heard him than he came and demanded\nof him what he wanted. The poor old creature, who little thought\nDeath had been so near, and frightened almost out of his senses\nwith his terrible aspect, answered him, trembling, That, having\nby chance let his bundle of sticks fall, and being too infirm to\nget it up himself, he had made bold to call upon him to help him;\nthat, indeed, this was all he wanted at present, and that he\nhoped his worship was not offended with him for the liberty he\nhad taken in so doing.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nMen lightly speak of Death when they think he is far away; but\nlet him appear near, and the very sense of his approach almost\ndrives the life away. Men then resume the burden of cares which\nthey had thrown down as insupportable, being content to bear the\nills they have than fly to others that they know not of.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXX.\n\nTHE OLD HEN AND YOUNG COCK.\n\n\n    As an old Hen led forth her train,\n    And seemed to peck, to show the grain;\n    She raked the chaff, she scratched the ground,\n    And gleaned the spacious yard around.\n    A giddy chick, to try her wings,\n    On the well's narrow margin springs,\n    And prone she drops. The mother's breast\n    All day with sorrow was possessed.\n\n      A Cock she met--her son, she knew;\n    And in her heart affection grew.\n\n      \"My son,\" says she, \"I grant, your years\n    Have reached beyond a mother's cares;\n    I see you vigorous, strong, and bold;\n    I hear, with joy, your triumphs told.\n    'Tis not from Cocks thy fate I dread;\n    But let thy ever-wary tread\n    Avoid yon well; that fatal place\n    Is sure perdition to our race.\n    Print this, my counsel, on thy breast;\n    To the just gods I leave the rest.\"\n\n      He thanked her care; yet, day by day,\n    His bosom burned to disobey;\n    And every time the well he saw,\n    Scorned, in his heart, the foolish law;\n    Near and more near each day he drew,\n    And longed to try the dangerous view.\n\n      \"Why was this idle charge?\" he cries;\n    \"Let courage female fears despise!\n    Or did she doubt my heart was brave,\n    And, therefore, this injunction gave?\n    Or does her harvest store the place,\n    A treasure for her younger race?\n    And would she thus my search prevent?--\n    I stand resolved, and dare th' event.\"\n\n      Thus said, he mounts the margin's round,\n    And pries into the depth profound.\n    He stretched his neck; and, from below,\n    With stretching neck advanced a foe:\n    With wrath his ruffled plumes he tears;\n    The foe with ruffled plumes appears:\n    Threat answered threat, his fury grew;\n    Headlong to meet the war he flew;\n    But when the watery death he found,\n    He thus lamented as he drowned:\n    \"I ne'er had been in this condition,\n    Had I obeyed the prohibition.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Obey your parents, or 'twill be your fate,\n    To feel repentance when it comes too late.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXI.\n\nMERCURY AND THE WOODMAN.\n\n\nA MAN was felling a tree on the bank of a river, and by chance\nlet his hatchet slip out of his hand, which dropped into the\nwater, and immediately sunk to the bottom. Being, therefore, in\ngreat distress from the loss of his tool, he sat down and\nbemoaned himself most lamentably.\n\nUpon this, Mercury appeared to him, and being informed of the\ncause of his complaint, dived to the bottom of the river, and,\ncoming up again, showed the man a golden hatchet, demanding if\nthat were his. He denied that it was; upon which Mercury dived a\nsecond time, and brought up a silver one. The Man refused it,\nalleging likewise that this was not his. He dived a third time,\nand fetched up the individual hatchet the man had lost; upon\nsight of which the poor fellow was overjoyed, and took it with\nall humility and thankfulness. Mercury was so pleased with the\nfellow's honesty, that he gave him the other two into the\nbargain, as a reward for his just dealing.\n\nThe man then went to his companions, and, giving them an account\nof what had happened, one of them went presently to the river\nside, and let his hatchet fall designedly into the stream. Then,\nsitting down upon the bank, he fell a-weeping and lamenting, as\nif he had been really and sorely afflicted. Mercury appeared as\nbefore, and, diving, brought him up a golden hatchet, asking if\nthat was the one he had lost. Transported at the precious metal,\nhe answered \"Yes,\" and went to snatch it greedily. But the god,\ndetesting his abominable impudence, not only refused to give him\nthat, but would not so much as let him have his own hatchet\nagain.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nHonesty is the best policy; it has made many a man's fortune,\nbeing blessed by God, and highly valued by man.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXII.\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE KID.\n\n\nThe GOAT, going abroad to feed, shut up her young kid at home,\ncharging him to bolt the door fast, and open it to nobody, till\nshe herself should return. The Wolf, who lay lurking just by,\nheard this charge given, and soon after came and knocked at the\ndoor, counterfeiting the voice of the Goat, and desiring to be\nadmitted. The Kid, looking out of the window and discovering the\ncheat, bid him go about his business; for however he might\nimitate a Goat's voice, yet he appeared too much like a Wolf to\nbe trusted.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nWe cannot use too much caution in avoiding those things which\nthose who have more experience than we have warned us against.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXIII.\n\nTHE OLD MAN AND HIS SONS.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE WOLF AND THE GOAT.]\n\nAn Old Man had many Sons, who were often falling out with one\nanother. When the father had exerted his authority, and used\nother means in order to reconcile them, and all to no purpose, he\nat last had recourse to this expedient: he ordered his Sons to be\ncalled before him, and a short bundle of sticks to be brought;\nand then commanded them, one by one, to try if, with all their\nmight and strength, they could any of them break it. They all\ntried, but to no purpose; for the sticks being closely and\ncompactly bound up together, it was impossible for the force of\nman to do it.\n\nAfter this the father ordered the bundle to be untied, and gave a\nsingle stick to each of his Sons, at the same time bidding him\ntry to break it, which, when each did, with all imaginable ease,\nthe father addressed himself to them to this effect: \"O, my sons,\nbehold the power of unity! for if you, in like manner, would but\nkeep yourselves strictly joined in the bonds of friendship, it\nwould not be in the power of any mortal to hurt you; but when\nonce the ties of brotherly affection are dissolved, how soon do\nyou fall to pieces, and become liable to be violated by every\ninjurious hand that assaults you.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nUnion is strength. Love is a powerful bond, which, when\ncherished, will make those who are bound together by it\nirresistible.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXIV.\n\nTHE BROOK AND THE FOUNTAIN.\n\n\n    A FOUNTAIN varied gambols played,\n      Close by an humble Brook;\n    While gently murmuring through the glade,\n      Its peaceful course it took.\n\n    Perhaps it gave one envious gaze\n      Upon the Fountain's height,\n    While glittering in the morning rays\n      Pre-eminently bright.\n\n    In all the colours of the sky,\n      Alternately it shone:\n    The Brook observed it with a sigh,\n      But quietly rolled on.\n\n    The owner of the Fountain died;\n      Neglect soon brought decay;\n    The bursting pipes were ill-supplied;\n      The Fountain ceased to play.\n\n    But still the Brook its peaceful course\n      Continued to pursue;\n    Her ample, inexhausted source,\n      From Nature's fount she drew.\n\n    \"Now,\" said the Brook, \"I bless my fate,\n      My showy rival gone;\n    Contented in its native state\n      My little stream rolls on.\n\n    And all the world has cause, indeed,\n      To own, with grateful heart,\n    How much great Nature's works excel\n      The feeble works of art.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nHumble usefulness is preferable to idle splendour.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXV.\n\nTHE MICE IN COUNCIL.\n\n\nThe Mice called a general council, and, having met, after the\ndoors were locked, entered into a free consultation about ways\nand means how to render their fortunes and estates more secure\nfrom the danger of the Cat. Many things were offered, and much\nwas debated, \"pro and con,\" upon the matter. At last, a young\nMouse, in a fine, florid speech, concluded with an expedient, and\nthat the only one, which was to put them for the future entirely\nout of the power of the enemy; and this was that the Cat should\nwear a bell about her neck, which, upon the least motion, would\ngive the alarm, and be a signal for them to retire into their\nholes. This speech was received with great applause, and it was\neven proposed by some that the Mouse who made it should have the\nthanks of the assembly; upon which an old, grave Mouse, who had\nsat silent all the while, stood up, and, in another speech, owned\nthat the contrivance was admirable, and the author of it, without\ndoubt, an ingenious Mouse, but, he said, he thought it would not\nbe so proper to vote him thanks till he should farther inform\nthem how this bell was to be fastened about the Cat's neck, and\nwhat Mouse would undertake to do it.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nMany things appear excellent in theory which are impossible in\npractice. It often requires a great deal of courage to carry out\nprojects which a fine, florid speech may persuade the hearers are\nmost plausible.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXVI.\n\nTHE FOX IN THE WELL.\n\n\nA FOX, having fallen into a well, made a shift by sticking his\nclaws into the sides to keep his head above water. Soon after a\nWolf came and peeped over the brink, to whom the Fox applied very\nearnestly for assistance; entreating that he would help him to a\nrope, or something of the kind, which might favour his escape.\nThe Wolf moved with compassion at his misfortune, could not\nforbear expressing his concern. \"Ah, poor Reynard,\" says he, \"I\nam sorry for you with all my heart; how could you possibly come\ninto this melancholy condition?\"\n\n\"Nay, pr'ythee, friend,\" replied the Fox, \"if you wish me well,\ndo not stand pitying me, but lend me some succour as fast as you\ncan; for pity is but cold comfort when one is up to the chin in\nwater, and within a hair's breadth of starving or drowning.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nMere expressions of pity, without a desire or attempt to\nalleviate suffering, are a mockery. He that would be truly a\nfriend, will be ready to give his assistance when needed.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXVII.\n\nTHE HORSE AND THE WOLF.\n\n\nAs a Wolf was roaming over a farm, he came to a field of oats,\nbut not being able to eat them, he left them and went his way.\n\nPresently, meeting with a Horse, he bade him come with him into\nthe field, \"For,\" says he, \"I have found some capital oats; and I\nhave not tasted one, but have kept them all for you, for the very\nsound of your teeth is music to my ear.\" But the Horse replied,\n\"A pretty fellow! if Wolves were able to eat oats, I suspect you\nwould not have preferred your ears to your appetite.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nLittle thanks are due to him, who only gives away whatever is of\nno use to himself.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXVIII.\n\nTHE TWO SPRINGS.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE HORSE AND THE WOLF.]\n\nTwo springs, which issued from the same mountain, began their\ncourse together: one of them took her way in a silent and\ngentle stream, while the other rushed along with a sounding and\nrapid current. \"Sister,\" said the latter, \"at the rate you move,\nyou will probably be dried up, before you advance much farther;\nwhereas, for myself, I will venture a wager, that, within two or\nthree hundred furlongs, I shall become navigable; and, after\ndistributing commerce and wealth wherever I flow, I shall\nmajestically proceed to pay my tribute to the ocean. So,\nfarewell, dear sister! and patiently submit to your fate.\"\n\nHer sister made no reply; but, calmly descending to the meadows\nbelow, increased her stream by numberless little rills which she\ncollected in her progress, till, at length, she was enabled to\nrise into a considerable river; whilst the proud stream, who had\nthe vanity to depend solely upon her own sufficiency, continued a\nshallow brook; and was glad, at last, to be helped forward, by\nthrowing herself into the arms of her despised sister.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nHis strength in words the blusterer vainly spends, While\nsteadiness in quiet gains its ends.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE LXXXIX.\n\nTHE COUNTRYMAN AND THE RAVEN.\n\n\n      A RAVEN, while with glossy breast,\n    Her new laid eggs she fondly pressed,\n    And, on her wicker-work high mounted,\n    Her chickens prematurely counted.\n    (A fault philosophers might blame,\n    If quite exempted from the same,)\n    Enjoyed at ease the genial day;\n    'Twas April, as the bumpkins say;--\n    The legislature called it May;\n    But suddenly, a wind, as high\n    As ever swept a winter's sky,\n    Shook the young leaves about her ears,\n    And filled her with a thousand fears,\n    Lest the rude blast should snap the bough,\n    And spread her golden hopes below.\n    But just at eve the blowing weather,\n    And all her fears, were hushed together.\n    \"And now,\" quoth poor unthinking Ralph,\n    \"'Tis over, and the brood is safe.\"\n\n    (For Ravens, though as birds of omen,\n    They teach both conjurors and old women;\n    To tell us what is to befall,\n    Can't prophesy themselves at all.)\n    The morning came, when neighbour Hodge,\n    Who long had marked her airy lodge,\n    And destined all the treasure there,\n    A gift to his expecting fair,\n    Climbed, like a squirrel to his dray,\n    And bore the worthless prize away.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Safety consists not in escape\n    From danger of a frightful shape;\n    Fate steals along with silent tread,\n    Found oftenest in what least we dread;\n    Frowns in the storm with angry brow,\n    But in the sunshine strikes the blow.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XC.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE BRAMBLE.\n\n\nA FOX, hard pressed by the hounds, was getting over a hedge, but\ntore his foot upon a Bramble, which grew just in the midst of it,\nupon which he reproached the Bramble for his inhospitable cruelty in\nusing a stranger, which had fled to him for protection, after such a\nbarbarous manner. \"Yes,\" says the Bramble, \"you intended to have\nmade me serve your turn, I know; but take this piece of advice with\nyou for the future: Never lay hold of a Bramble again, as you value\nyour sweet person; for laying hold is a privilege that belongs to us\nBrambles, and we do not care to let it go out of the family.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nImpertinent people, who take liberties with others, are often\nmuch surprised if they are retorted on with severity. It is\nbetter, then, to keep from undue familiarity with strangers, for\nwe know not of what temper they may be.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCI.\n\nHERCULES AND THE CARTER.\n\n\nAs a clownish fellow was driving his cart along a deep miry lane,\nthe wheels stuck so fast in the clay, that the horses could not\ndraw them out. Upon this he fell a-bawling and praying to\nHercules to come and help him.\n\nHercules, looking down from a cloud, bade him not lie there,\nlike an idle rascal, as he was, but get up and whip his horses\nstoutly, and clap his shoulder to the wheel; adding, that this\nwas the only way for him to obtain his assistance.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThe man who asks Heaven for gifts, and neglects the gifts Heaven\nhas given, must expect silence until he shows that he is in\nearnest by putting his shoulder to the wheel.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCII.\n\nTHE BOYS AND THE FROGS.\n\n\nOn the margin of a large lake, which was inhabited by a great\nnumber of Frogs, a company of Boys happened to be at play. Their\ndiversion was duck and drake, and whole volleys of stones were\nthrown into the water, to the great annoyance and danger of the\npoor terrified Frogs. At length, one of the most hardy, lifting\nup his head above the surface of the lake;--\"Ah! dear children!\"\nsaid he, \"why will ye learn so soon to be cruel? Consider, I\nbeseech you, that though this may be sport to _you_, it is death\nto _us_.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    A noble mind disdains to gain\n    Its pleasure from another's pain.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCIII.\n\nTHE COCK AND THE JEWEL.\n\n\nA BRISK young Cock, in company with two or three pullets, raking\nupon a dunghill for something to entertain them with, happened to\nscratch up a jewel, which sparkled with an exceeding bright\nlustre; but, not knowing what to do with it, endeavoured to cover\nhis ignorance under a look of contempt. So, shrugging up his\nwings, shaking his head, and putting on a grimace, he expressed\nhimself to this purpose: \"Indeed, you are a very fine thing, but\nI know not what business you have here. I make no scruple of\ndeclaring that my taste lies quite another way, and I had rather\nhave one grain of dear delicious barley than all the jewels under\nthe sun.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nWe should not despise as worthless what does not come within the\nlimit of our understanding. Some lose what is truly valuable for\nwant of knowledge, and prefer what is comparatively worthless.\n\n[Illustration: THE COCK AND THE JEWEL.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCIV.\n\nTHE NIGHTINGALE AND THE GLOW-WORM.\n\n\n      A NIGHTINGALE, that, all day long,\n    Had cheered the village with his song,\n    Nor yet at eve his note suspended,\n    Nor yet when eventide was ended,\n    Began to feel, as well he might,\n    The keen demands of appetite;\n    When, looking eagerly around,\n    He spied, far off, upon the ground,\n    A something shining in the dark,\n    And knew the Glow-worm by his spark;\n    So, stooping down from hawthorn top,\n    He thought to put him in his crop.\n    The Worm, aware of his intent,\n    Harangued him thus, right eloquent:--\n    \"Did you admire my lamp,\" quoth he,\n    \"As much as I your minstrelsy,\n    You would abhor to do me wrong,\n    As much as I to spoil your song;\n    For 'twas the self-same power divine\n    Taught you to sing and me to shine;\n    That you with music, I with light,\n    Might beautify and cheer the night.\"\n    The songster heard his short oration,\n    And, warbling out his approbation,\n    Released him, as my story tells,\n    And found a supper somewhere else.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    From this short fable, youth may learn\n    Their real interest to discern,\n    That brother should not strive with brother,\n    And worry and oppress each other;\n    But, joined in unity and peace,\n    Their mutual happiness increase:\n    Pleased when each others' faults they hide,\n    And in their virtues feel a pride.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCV.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE SICK LION.\n\n\nIt was reported that the Lion was sick, and the beasts were made\nto believe that they could not make their court better than by\ngoing to visit him. Upon this, they generally went, but it was\nparticularly remarked that the Fox was not one of the number. The\nLion, therefore, dispatched one of his Jackals to sound him about\nit, and to ask him why he had so little charity and respect as\nnever to come near him at a time when he lay so dangerously ill,\nand everybody else had been to see him. \"Why,\" replied the Fox,\n\"pray present my duty to his majesty, and tell him that I have\nthe same respect for him as ever, and have been coming several\ntimes to kiss his royal paw, but I am so terribly frightened at\nthe mouth of his cave, to see the print of my fellow-subjects'\nfeet all pointing forwards, and none backwards, that I had not\nresolution enough to venture in.\"\n\nNow, the truth of the matter was, that the sickness of the Lion\nwas only a sham to draw the beasts into his den, the more easily\nto devour them.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nIt is well to weigh and consider the nature of any proposal\nthoroughly before we accede to it; but, certainly, if we have\nreason, from the injury done to others, to suspect that we may\nsuffer harm, it is decidedly better to decline.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCVI.\n\nTHE LION, THE FOX, AND THE GEESE.\n\n\n      A LION, tired with state affairs,\n    Quite sick of pomp, and worn with cares,\n    Resolved (remote from noise and strife)\n    In peace to pass his latter life.\n\n      It was proclaimed: the day was set:\n    Behold the general council met:\n    The Fox was viceroy named. The crowd\n    To the new regent humbly bowed!\n    Wolves, bears, and mighty tigers bend,\n    And strive who most shall condescend.\n    The crowd admire his wit, his sense:\n    Each word hath weight and consequence.\n    The flatterer all his art displays;\n    He who hath power, is sure of praise.\n    A Fox stepped forth before the rest,\n    And thus the servile throng addressed:--\n\n      \"How vast his talents, born to rule,\n    And train'd in virtue's honest school!\n    What clemency his temper sways!\n    How uncorrupt are all his ways!\n    Beneath his conduct and command\n    Rapine shall cease to waste the land;\n    What blessings must attend the nation\n    Under this good administration!\"\n\n      He said. A Goose, who distant stood,\n    Harangu'd apart the cackling brood:\n\n      \"Whene'er I hear a knave commend,\n    He bids me shun his worthy friend.\n    What praise! what mighty commendation!\n    But 'twas a Fox who spoke th' oration.\n    Foxes this government may prize,\n    As gentle, plentiful, and wise;\n    If they enjoy the sweets, 'tis plain\n    We Geese must feel a tyrant reign.\n    What havoc now shall thin our race!\n    When every petty clerk in place,\n    To prove his taste, and seem polite,\n    Will feed on Geese both noon and night.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nThose flatter the plunderer who share in the spoil.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCVII.\n\nTHE ONE-EYED DOE.\n\n\nA DOE, that had but one eye, used to graze near the sea, and that\nshe might be the more secure from harm, she kept her blind side\ntoward the water, from whence she had no apprehension of danger,\nand with the other surveyed the country as she fed.\n\nBy this vigilance and precaution she thought herself in the\nutmost security; when a sly fellow, with two or three of his\ncompanions, who had been poaching after her several days to no\npurpose, at last took a boat, and, fetching a compass upon the\nsea, came gently down upon her, and shot her. The Doe, in the\nagonies of death, breathed out this doleful complaint:--\"Oh, hard\nfate! that I should receive my death wound from that side whence\nI expected no ill; and be safe in that part where I looked for\nthe most danger.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nOur troubles and dangers frequently arise from the direction we\nleast expect them.\n\n[Illustration: THE ONE-EYED DOE.]\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCVIII.\n\nTHE FOX, THE RAVEN, AND THE DOVE.\n\n\nA FOX, who was half-starved with hunger, stretched himself all\nalong upon the ground, and lay as if he were dead, that he might\nentice the harmless birds to come within his reach, and then leap\nof a sudden upon them, and make them his prey; but it happened\nthat a Raven, who was hovering near him, observed that he fetched\nhis breath; and, by consequence, found it to be only a trick in\nhim to catch the birds. She, therefore, instantly gave them\nnotice of it; and forewarned them, as they valued their own\nlives, not to come within reach of the Fox, who only feigned\nhimself to be dead.\n\nThe Fox, finding his plot to be discovered, was obliged to go\naway hungry; but soon bethought himself of another invention:\nwhich was, to go and kennel himself in a hollow tree, upon which\na Dove had her nest, and was breeding up her young ones. Having\ndone this, he called to her, that, unless she would throw down to\nhim sometimes one of her eggs, and sometimes one of her young\nones, he would climb up the tree, take away all her eggs, kill\nboth her and her young, and break her nest to pieces.\n\nThe harmless Dove, thinking of two ills to choose the least, did\nas the Fox required her; and threw him down now one of her eggs,\nand then one of her young ones. Having done so, for some time,\nwith a great deal of grief and sorrow, and the Fox continuing\nstill to demand it of her, she, at last, made her complaint to\nthe Raven, who chanced to come and perch herself on the same\ntree; grievously bemoaning her fate, that she, like a good\nmother, to provide for her children, was at last obliged to make\nthem a sacrifice to such a villain. But the Raven, who was not so\ntimorous as she, advised her, whenever the Fox threatened her\nagain, that he would kill both her and her young, if she would\nnot throw one of them down to him, to answer him roundly,--\"If\nyou could have flown or climbed up the tree, you would not have\nbeen so often contented with one of my eggs, or of my young; but\nwould, long since, according to your ravenous and blood-thirsty\nnature, have devoured both me and them.\" In short, the next time\nthe Fox came, and threatened her as before, she replied as the\nRaven had instructed her.\n\nThe Fox, hearing her answer, and knowing very well that she was\nnot so wise and cunning of herself, resolved to find out the\ntruth of the matter; and, at length, came to understand that it\nwas the Raven who had been her counsellor. He, therefore, vowed\nto be revenged on her, who had now, the second time, hindered him\nfrom getting his prey. Not long after, he espied her sitting on a\nhigh thorn-tree; and, going to her, began to praise her at a\nmighty rate,--magnifying her good fortune above that of all\nbeasts, who could neither fly like her, nor tread the ground with\nso majestical a gait: adding, withal, that it would be a great\npleasure to him to see her lordly walk; that he might from\nthence, be certain whether she were indeed so divine and\nprophetic a bird as men had always held her to be.\n\nThe Raven, transported to hear herself thus praised to the skies,\nflew down; and, pitching upon the ground, walked to and fro, in\nmighty pomp and state. The Fox seemed highly delighted; and said,\nthat he extremely wondered how the Raven could keep upon the\nground, when the wind blew her feathers over her eyes, and\nhindered her sight; but chiefly when it blew before, behind, and\non all sides of her. \"I can very well provide against that,\" said\nthe Raven; \"for then I hide my head under my left wing.\" \"How!\"\ncried the Fox; \"hide your head under your left wing! So wonderful\na thing I can never believe, till I see it.\" Immediately the\nRaven put her head under her left wing, and held it there so long\nthat the Fox caught hold of her and killed her for his prey.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nSo must they fare who give good advice to others, but have not\ndiscretion enough to follow it themselves.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE XCIX.\n\nTHE TWO POTS.\n\n\n    Two Pots, of different size and matter made,\n    Were swiftly down a rolling stream convey'd.\n    The larger vessel, form'd of solid brass,\n    Did boldly o'er the rapid water pass;\n    While that whose substance was but brittle clay,\n    Would, for his safety, give the stronger way.\n    Him the Brass Pot invited to draw near,\n    And said, \"His frailty need not cause his fear;\n    For he, with just precaution would prevent\n    The danger of their jostling as they went.\"\n      The Earthen Pot, that knew his weaker frame,\n    Excused himself, that he no nearer came;\n    And said, \"My friend, if the impetuous tide\n    Should dash my clay against your brazen side,\n    By the hard fate of that unequal stroke,\n    While you are whole, I shall be surely broke.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Men safest still in equal friendship live,\n    Where they can do no harm, and none receive;\n    The strong, by power led to insult the weak,\n    With every touch the brittle vessels break;\n    While they, abused and injured by the strong,\n    Must, without remedy, sustain the wrong.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE C.\n\nTHE TWO FROGS.\n\n\nOne hot, sultry summer, the lakes and ponds being almost\neverywhere dried up, a couple of Frogs agreed to travel together\nin search of water. At last they came to a deep well, and,\nsitting on the brink of it, began to consult whether they should\nleap in or no. One of them was so inclined, urging that there was\nplenty of clear, spring water, and no danger of being disturbed.\n\"Well,\" says the other, \"all this may be true, and yet I cannot\ncome into your opinion for my life; for if the water should\nhappen to dry up here too, how should we get out again.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nSkilful generals always secure a way for retreat. \"Look before\nyou leap\" is an old and trite proverb. We should not undertake\nany action of importance without considering what may be the\nresult, in all its aspects.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE CI.\n\nTHE FOX AND THE MASK.\n\n\nA FOX, being in a shop where Masks were sold, laid his foot upon\none of them, and considering it awhile attentively, at last broke\nout into this exclamation:--\"Bless me!\" says he, \"what a handsome\nface this is! What a pity it is that it should want brains!\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nBeauty without sense is of little value. A fair outside is but a\npoor substitute for inward worth.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE CII.\n\nTHE CAT, THE COCK, AND THE YOUNG MOUSE.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE FOX AND THE MASK.]\n\nA YOUNG Mouse, that had seen very little of the world, came running,\none day, to his mother in great haste:--\"Oh, mother!\" said he, \"I am\nfrightened almost to death! I have seen the most extraordinary\ncreature that ever was. He has a fierce, angry look, and struts\nabout on two legs; a strange piece of flesh grows on his head, and\nanother under his throat, as red as blood: he flapped his arms\nagainst his sides, as if he intended to rise into the air; and\nstretching out his head, he opened a sharp-pointed mouth so wide,\nthat I thought he was preparing to swallow me up: then he roared at\nme so horribly, that I trembled in every joint, and was glad to run\nhome as fast as I could. If I had not been frightened away by this\nterrible monster, I was just going to commence an acquaintance with\nthe prettiest creature you ever saw. She had a soft fur skin,\nthicker than ours, and all beautifully streaked with black and grey;\nwith a modest look, and a demeanour so humble and courteous, that\nmethought I could have fallen in love with her. Then she had a fine,\nlong tail, which she waved about so prettily, and looked so\nearnestly at me, that I do believe she was just going to speak to\nme, when the horrid monster frightened me away.\"\n\n\"Ah, my dear child!\" said the mother, \"you have escaped being\ndevoured, but not by that monster you were so much afraid of;\nwhich, in truth, was only a bird, and would have done you no\nmanner of harm. Whereas, the sweet creature, of whom you seem so\nfond, was no other than a Cat; who, under that hypocritical\ncountenance, conceals the most inveterate hatred to all our race,\nand subsists entirely by devouring Mice. Learn from this\nincident, my dear, never, while you live, to rely on outward\nappearances.\"\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Beneath a fair, alluring guise,\n    A hidden danger often lies.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE CIII.\n\nTHE MICE AND THE TRAP.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, the Mice saw a broiled rasher of bacon hanging\nup in a very little room, the door of which being open, enticed\nthem to fall on with greedy appetites. But some of them took\nparticular notice that there was but one way into the room, and,\nby consequence, but one way to get out of it; so that, if that\ndoor, by misfortune or art, should chance to be shut, they would\nall be inevitably taken: they could not, therefore, find in their\nhearts to venture in; but said, that they had rather content\nthemselves with homely fare, in safety, than, for the sake of a\ndainty bit, to run the danger of being taken, and lost for ever.\n\nThe other Mice, who were looked upon to be great epicures,\ndeclared that they saw no danger; and, therefore, ran into the\nroom, and fell to eating the bacon with great delight: but they\nsoon heard the door fall down, and saw that they were all taken.\nThen the fear of approaching death so seized them, that they\nfound no relish in their exquisite food; and immediately came the\nCook who had set the Trap, and killed them: but the others, who\nhad contented themselves with their usual food, fled into their\nholes, and, by that means, preserved their lives.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE CIV.\n\nTHE CHAMELEON.\n\n\n      Oft has it been my lot to mark\n    A proud, conceited, talking spark,\n    With eyes that hardly served at most\n    To guard their master 'gainst a post;\n    Yet round the world the blade has been,\n    To see whatever could be seen.\n    Returning from his finish'd tour,\n    Grown ten times perter than before,\n    Whatever word you chance to drop,\n    The travelled fool your mouth will stop;\n    \"Sir, if my judgment you'll allow,--\n    I've seen,--and, sure, I ought to know;\"--\n    So begs you'd pay a due submission,\n    And acquiesce in his decision.\n\n      Two travellers, of such a cast,\n    As o'er Arabia's wilds they pass'd,\n    And on their way, in friendly chat,\n    Now talked of this, and then of that;\n    Discoursed awhile, 'mongst other matter,\n    Of the Chameleon's form and nature.\n    \"A stranger animal,\" cries one,\n    \"Sure never lived beneath the sun:\n    A lizard's body, lean and long,\n    A fish's head, a serpent's tongue.\n    In truth, with triple jaw disjoin'd;\n    And what a length of tail behind!\n    How slow its pace! and then its hue!\n    Who ever saw so fine a blue?\"\n\n      \"Hold there!\" the other quick replies,\n    \"'Tis green:--I saw it with these eyes,\n    As late with open mouth it lay,\n    And warm'd it in the sunny ray:\n    Stretch'd at its ease the beast I view'd,\n    And saw it eat the air for food.\"\n\n      \"I've seen it, sir, as well as you,\n    And must again affirm it blue;\n    At leisure I the beast survey'd,\n    Extended in the cooling shade.\"\n\n      \"'Tis green! 'tis green! sir, I assure ye.\"--\n    \"Green!\" cries the other, in a fury,--\n    \"Why, sir, d'ye think I've lost my eyes?\"\n    \"'Twere no great loss!\" the friend replies;\n    \"For if they always serve you thus,\n    You find 'em but of little use.\"\n\n      So high at last the contest rose,\n    From words they almost came to blows;\n    When, luckily, came by a third;\n    To him the question they referr'd;\n    And begged he'd tell 'em, if he knew,\n    Whether the thing was green or blue.\n\n      \"Sirs,\" cries the umpire, \"cease your pother--\n    The creature's neither one nor t'other.\n    I caught the animal last night,\n    And viewed it o'er by candle-light;\n    I marked it well--'twas black as jet;--\n    You stare--but, sirs, I've got it yet,\n    And can produce it.\"--\"Pray, sir, do;\n    I'll lay my life the thing is blue.\"\n    \"And I'll be sworn that when you've seen\n    The reptile, you'll pronounce him green.\"\n\n      \"Well, then, at once to ease the doubt,\"\n    Replies the man, \"I'll turn him out;\n    And when before your eyes I've set him,\n    If you don't find him black I'll eat him;\"\n    He said. Then full before their sight,\n    Produced the beast, and lo! 'twas white.\n    Both stared, the man looked wondrous wise.\n    \"My children,\" the Chameleon cries,\n    (Then first the creature found a tongue),\n    \"You all are right and all are wrong;\n    When next you talk of what you view,\n    Think others see as well as you;\n    Nor wonder, if you find that none\n    Prefers your eye-sight to his own.\"\n\n\n\n\nFABLE CV.\n\nTHE WOLF, THE FOX, AND THE ASS.\n\n\nThe Lion, as king of the beasts, made a law that no beast should,\nwithout lawful cause, do any hurt to another; and should come\nonce a year to court, to confess, and be absolved or punished,\naccording to his deserts. Now it happened that the Wolf and the\nFox were going thither together, and overtaking the Ass on the\nroad, said to him:--\"Brother, it is a long way to court, and it\ncertainly must be much more tedious to you than to ourselves,\nbecause of your slow pace; but we can avoid the trouble of going\nthither, if you think fit. Let us three confess ourselves to one\nanother, and send our absolutions to court, attested by two of us\nas witnesses.\"\n\nThe Ass liked the proposal; into a clover field they went, and\nthe Fox thus confessed himself first:--\"It happened, as I was\ngoing one night through a village, a Cock, by his loud crowing,\ndisturbed all the people that were asleep; at which I grew very\nangry, and bit off his head; then, fearing that the stench of his\ndead body might be offensive to the Hens, I ate him up.\nNevertheless, it happened, three days after, as I was going by\nthe same village, those very Hens spied me; and, instead of\nthanking me for the great kindness I had done them, cried out,\n'Murderer, murderer!' Then I, in defence of my honour, killed\nthree of them; and, lest they should have stunk and offended the\nneighbourhood, ate them up too. This is all I have done; for\nwhich I now await your sentence.\"\n\nThe Wolf thereupon expressed himself thus:--\"You have, indeed,\noffended against the letter of our monarch's law, but not against\nthe meaning of it; since your intentions were honourable, to take\ncare of the quiet of men, and to vindicate your injured\nreputation. If, therefore, you will promise never to be so hasty\nagain in killing any beast, I vote for your absolution.\" This the\nFox readily did; and the Ass joined in opinion with the Wolf, who\nthen thus began his confession:--\n\n\"As I was one day walking along, I saw a Sow trampling down the\ncorn of a poor peasant, and tearing it up by the roots, while her\nhungry Pigs were strayed far from her, and could not get\nthemselves out of the mire; so that I, growing very angry at the\ngreat mischief she did the peasant, and at her neglect of\nmotherly duty, killed and ate her up. Three days after, chancing\nto go again the same way, I observed that those Pigs were grown\nvery lean; and reflecting that, through want of their mother's\nmilk, they would certainly die a languishing death, I put an end\nto their miseries, and ate them up too. This I have to confess.\"\n\nThe Fox instantly argued in this manner:--\"Though you confess to\nhaving killed both mother and children; and though it seems, at\nfirst sight, that you have heinously offended against the law of\nour king; yet I see, nevertheless, that your intentions were\ngood: to prevent mischief from falling upon men, to stir up a\nmother to her duty, and to show compassion to her miserable\nchildren, are virtues that no law can forbid or punish. I,\ntherefore, declare you absolved.\" To which the Ass agreed.\n\nThe Ass then made his confession:--\"You both know,\" said he,\n\"that it is not in my nature to do hurt to other beasts, nor to\nshed blood; and, therefore, you cannot expect to hear any such\nthing from me; but, to content you, I will relate to you what\nhappened innocently to me, while I was in the service of a\nmaster. He was an old man, and apt to take cold in his feet; so\nthat, when he travelled, to keep them dry and warm, he was wont\nto stick a little hay in his shoes. Now I carried him, one\nwinter, to an inn, where he was to lie all night; and when we\ncame to the door, the innkeeper brought him a pair of dry\nslippers, that his dirty shoes might not soil the house; so that\nhe pulled them off, and left them without, and me by them. In\nshort, my master and his host found themselves so well in the\nchimney-corner, that they never thought of poor me; but left me\nall night in the bitter cold, without giving me a handful of\nfood: so that I ate up all the hay that stuck in his shoes. This\nis all I have to say;--if you will call it a confession, you may:\nhowever, I think nothing can be said against it.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said the Fox, immediately, \"this is not, indeed, an offence\nagainst the letter of the law, which mentions only the doing hurt\nto beasts, and takes no notice of eating of hay; but, if we\nreflect on the dangerous consequences of this action, and that so\nreverend a creature as a chill, aged man, by being thus robbed of\nhis hay in the winter, and the next day continuing his road\nwithout it, might have caught a cold, a cough, and a cholic, that\nwould have brought his grey hairs to the grave:--whoever, I say,\nreflects on this, cannot but be of my opinion,--which is, that\nthe Ass largely deserves to die. Cousin Wolf, what say you to\nthis matter?\" \"I,\" said the Wolf, \"am of opinion that by reason\nof the ill consequences that might have attended this action, the\nAss deserves a double death, and to be made an example to\nothers.\" With that he leaped upon him, and tore out his throat,\nand the Fox and he immediately ate him up.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nKnaves can always find reasons for justifying their own conduct,\nand condemning that of others.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE CVI.\n\nTHE BOY AND THE BUTTERFLY.\n\n\nA boy, greatly smitten with the colours of a Butterfly, pursued\nit from flower to flower with indefatigable pains. First, he\naimed to surprise it among the leaves of a rose; then to cover it\nwith his hat, as it was feeding on a daisy; now hoped to secure\nit, as it rested on a sprig of myrtle; and now grew sure of his\nprize, perceiving it loiter on a bed of violets. But the fickle\nFly, continually changing one blossom for another, still eluded\nhis attempts. At length, observing it half buried in the cup of a\ntulip, he rushed forward, and snatching it with violence, crushed\nit all to pieces.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\n    Pleasure, like the Butterfly,\n    Will still elude as we draw nigh;\n    And when we think we hold it fast,\n    Will, like the insect, breathe its last.\n\n\n\n\nFABLE CVII.\n\nTHE CROW AND THE PITCHER.\n\n\nA Crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a Pitcher,\nwhich he beheld at some distance. When he came he found water in\nit, indeed, but so near the bottom that, with all his stooping\nand straining, he was not able to reach it. Then he endeavoured\nto overturn the Pitcher, that so at least he might be able to get\na little of it. But his strength was not sufficient for this. At\nlast, seeing some pebbles lie near the place, he cast them one by\none into the Pitcher; and thus, by degrees, raised the water up\nto the very brim, and satisfied his thirst.\n\n\nMORAL.\n\nNecessity is the mother of invention, and that which cannot be\naccomplished by strength may be achieved by ingenuity.\n\n[Illustration: WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY.]\n\n\n\n\nGRIFFITH & FARRAN'S NEW AND POPULAR WORKS FOR THE YOUNG.\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF THE ROBINS. By MRS. TRIMMER. A New Edition, with\nTwenty-four beautiful Illustrations from Drawings by HARRISON\nWEIR. Small 4to, price 6_s._ extra cloth; 7_s._ 6_d._ cloth\nelegant, gilt edges.\n\n    \"The delicious story of Dicksy, Flapsy and Picksey--who can\n    have forgotten it? Harrison Weir is the Painter Laureate of\n    the lower world, we have, therefore, a most attractive\n    book.\"--_Art Journal_.\n\nTHE LITTLE GIPSY. By ELIE SAUVAGE. Translated by ANNA BLACKWELL.\nProfusely Illustrated by LORENZ FROeLICH. 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The melodies are all of a\n    suitable compass, so that the voices may not be injured by\n    practice at an early age.\"--_Extract from Preface._\n\nCASIMIR, THE LITTLE EXILE. By CAROLINE PEACHY. With Illustrations\nby C. STANTON. Post 8vo, price 4_s._ 6_d._ cloth elegant.\n\nLUCY'S CAMPAIGN: a Story of Adventure. By MARY and CATHERINE LEE.\nWith Illustrations by GEORGE HAY. Fcap. 8vo, price 3_s._ cloth\nelegant 3_s._ 6_d._ gilt edges.\n\n    \"Written with some of the grace and facility that distinguish\n    the literary style of the two sisters--Sophia and Harriet\n    Lee.\"--_Athenaeum._\n\nHELEN IN SWITZERLAND. By the Hon. AUGUSTA BETHELL, Author of \"The\nEchoes of an Old Bell.\" With Illustrations by E. WHYMPER.\nSuper-royal 16mo, price 3_s._ 6_d._ cloth extra; 4_s._ 6_d._\ncoloured, gilt edges.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n[Triple stars] _A Complete Catalogue of_ G.& F.'s _Publications\nsent post free on application._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *","title":"Favourite Fables in Prose and Verse","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":27863}