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+Project Gutenberg's A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, by Jean de La Fontaine
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine
+
+Author: Jean de La Fontaine
+
+Illustrator: Percy J. Billinghurst
+
+Release Date: May 6, 2008 [EBook #25357]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE
+
+WITH PICTURES BY PERCY J. BILLINGHURST]
+
+
+
+
+A HUNDRED FABLES OF
+
+LA FONTAINE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+A HUNDRED FABLES
+
+OF
+
+LA FONTAINE
+
+WITH PICTURES BY PERCY J. BILLINGHURST
+
+    LONDON
+    JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
+    NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY
+
+
+_SECOND EDITION_
+
+    Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
+    At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+A
+
+                                            _Page_
+_The Acorn and the Pumpkin_                    128
+_The Animals Sick of the Plague_               200
+_The Ape_                                       90
+_The Ass and his Masters_                       34
+_The Ass and the Dog_                          120
+_The Ass and the Little Dog_                    18
+_The Ass Carrying Relics_                       26
+_The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin_           166
+_The Ass Loaded with Sponges_                   72
+
+B
+
+_The Bat and the Two Weasels_                   66
+_The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels_       198
+_The Bear and the Two Companions_              194
+_The Bird Wounded by an Arrow_                  68
+
+C
+
+_The Camel and the Floating Sticks_             82
+_The Carter in the Mire_                       104
+_The Cat and the Fox_                          138
+_The Cat and the Two Sparrows_                 150
+_The Cock and the Fox_                          76
+_The Council held by the Rats_                  62
+_The Countryman and the Serpent_               102
+_The Cunning Fox_                               88
+
+D
+
+_Death and the Woodman_                         56
+_The Dog and his Master's Dinner_              110
+_The Dog whose Ears were Cropped_              144
+_The Dove and the Ant_                          74
+_The Dragon with many Heads_                    54
+
+E
+
+_The Eagle and the Magpie_                      94
+_The Eagle and the Owl_                        184
+_The Ears of the Hare_                          22
+_The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot_             192
+_Education_                                    122
+
+F
+
+_The Fool who Sold Wisdom_                     130
+_The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog_          92
+_The Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals_          98
+_The Fox and the Turkeys_                      172
+_The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse_             170
+
+G
+
+_The Grasshopper and the Ant_                    2
+
+H
+
+_The Hare and the Partridge_                    28
+_The Head and the Tail of the Serpent_         108
+_The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep_           48
+_The Heron_                                    106
+_The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep_             116
+_The Hornets and the Bees_                      58
+_The Horse and the Wolf_                       182
+
+J
+
+_The Joker and the Fishes_                     112
+
+L
+
+_The Lion and the Ass Hunting_                   8
+_The Lion and the Hunter_                       96
+_The Lion and the Gnat_                         70
+_The Lion and the Monkey_                      178
+_The Lion beaten by the Man_                    78
+_The Lioness and the Bear_                     146
+_The Lion Going to War_                         30
+_The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox_              196
+_The Lobster and her Daughter_                 162
+
+M
+
+_The Man and his Image_                         52
+_The Man and the Wooden God_                    20
+_The Man and the Owl_                          148
+_The Miser and the Monkey_                     186
+_The Monkey and the Cat_                       140
+_The Monkey and the Leopard_                   126
+
+N
+
+_Nothing too Much_                             136
+
+O
+
+_The Oak and the Reed_                          60
+_The Old Cat and the Young Mouse_              154
+_The Old Man and the Ass_                       32
+_The Old Woman and her Servants_                24
+_The Oyster and the Litigants_                 132
+
+P
+
+_Philomet and Progne_                           80
+_The Ploughman and his Sons_                   164
+
+Q
+
+_The Quarrel of the Dogs and Cats_             158
+
+R
+
+_The Rat and the Elephant_                     118
+_The Rat and the Oyster_                       114
+_The Rat Retired from the World_                86
+
+S
+
+_The Shepherd and his Dog_                      44
+_The Shepherd and his Flock_                    38
+_The Shepherd and the Lion_                    180
+_The Shepherd and the Sea_                      16
+_The Sick Stag_                                156
+_The Spider and the Swallow_                   142
+_The Stag and the Vine_                        190
+_The Sun and the Frogs_                        100
+_The Swan and the Cook_                         12
+
+T
+
+_The Thieves and the Ass_                        4
+_The Tortoise and the Two Ducks_                40
+_The Two Asses_                                 42
+_The Two Bulls and the Frog_                    64
+_The Two Dogs and the Dead Ass_                124
+_The Two Goats_                                152
+_The Two Mules_                                 46
+_The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg_            50
+
+V
+
+_The Vultures and the Pigeons_                 188
+
+W
+
+_The Wallet_                                   174
+_The Wax-Candle_                                36
+_The Weasel in the Granary_                     14
+_The Wolf Accusing the Fox_                      6
+_The Wolf and the Fox_                         160
+_The Wolf and the Lean Dog_                    134
+_The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid_               84
+_The Wolf turned Shepherd_                      10
+_The Woodman and Mercury_                      176
+_The Woods and the Woodman_                    168
+
+
+
+
+A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE
+
+
+
+
+The Grasshopper and the Ant.
+
+
+    A grasshopper gay
+      Sang the summer away,
+    And found herself poor
+    By the winter's first roar.
+    Of meat or of bread,
+    Not a morsel she had!
+    So a-begging she went,
+    To her neighbour the ant,
+      For the loan of some wheat,
+      Which would serve her to eat,
+    Till the season came round.
+      "I will pay you," she saith,
+      "On an animal's faith,
+    Double weight in the pound
+    Ere the harvest be bound."
+      The ant is a friend
+      (And here she might mend)
+      Little given to lend.
+    "How spent you the summer?"
+      Quoth she, looking shame
+      At the borrowing dame.
+    "Night and day to each comer
+      I sang, if you please."
+      "You sang! I'm at ease;
+    For 'tis plain at a glance,
+    Now, ma'am, you must dance."
+
+[Illustration: THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Thieves and the Ass.
+
+
+    Two thieves, pursuing their profession,
+          Had of a donkey got possession,
+        Whereon a strife arose,
+        Which went from words to blows.
+    The question was, to sell, or not to sell;
+    But while our sturdy champions fought it well,
+        Another thief, who chanced to pass,
+        With ready wit rode off the ass.
+
+        _This ass is, by interpretation,_
+        _Some province poor, or prostrate nation._
+        _The thieves are princes this and that,_
+        _On spoils and plunder prone to fat,--_
+        _As those of Austria, Turkey, Hungary._
+        _(Instead of two, I've quoted three--_
+        _Enough of such commodity.)_
+        _These powers engaged in war all,_
+        _Some fourth thief stops the quarrel,_
+            _According all to one key,_
+            _By riding off the donkey_
+
+[Illustration: THE THIEVES AND THE ASS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf Accusing the Fox.
+
+
+        A wolf, affirming his belief
+            That he had suffer'd by a thief,
+          Brought up his neighbour fox--
+        Of whom it was by all confess'd,
+        His character was not the best--
+          To fill the prisoner's box.
+        As judge between these vermin,
+        A monkey graced the ermine;
+        And truly other gifts of Themis
+          Did scarcely seem his;
+        For while each party plead his cause,
+        Appealing boldly to the laws,
+        And much the question vex'd,
+        Our monkey sat perplex'd.
+          Their words and wrath expended,
+        Their strife at length was ended;
+        When, by their malice taught,
+        The judge this judgment brought:
+    "Your characters, my friends, I long have known,
+        As on this trial clearly shown;
+    And hence I fine you both--the grounds at large
+        To state would little profit--
+    You wolf, in short, as bringing groundless charge,
+        You fox, as guilty of it."
+
+    _Come at it right or wrong, the judge opined_
+    _No other than a villain could be fined_
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF ACCUSING THE FOX BEFORE THE MONKEY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Ass Hunting.
+
+
+    The king of animals, with royal grace,
+          Would celebrate his birthday in the chase.
+        'Twas not with bow and arrows,
+        To slay some wretched sparrows;
+      The lion hunts the wild boar of the wood,
+      The antlered deer and stags, the fat and good.
+        This time, the king, t' insure success,
+        Took for his aide-de-camp an ass,
+        A creature of stentorian voice,
+        That felt much honour'd by the choice.
+      The lion hid him in a proper station,
+      And order'd him to bray, for his vocation,
+        Assured that his tempestuous cry
+        The boldest beasts would terrify,
+        And cause them from their lairs to fly.
+    And, sooth, the horrid noise the creature made
+    Did strike the tenants of the wood with dread;
+        And, as they headlong fled,
+      All fell within the lion's ambuscade.
+        "Has not my service glorious
+        Made both of us victorious?"
+        Cried out the much-elated ass.
+      "Yes," said the lion; "bravely bray'd!
+        Had I not known yourself and race,
+      I should have been myself afraid!"
+        The donkey, had he dared,
+        With anger would have flared
+      At this retort, though justly made;
+        For who could suffer boasts to pass
+        So ill-befitting to an ass?
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE ASS HUNTING.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf turned Shepherd.
+
+
+    A wolf, whose gettings from the flocks
+          Began to be but few,
+    Bethought himself to play the fox
+      In character quite new.
+    A shepherd's hat and coat he took,
+        A cudgel for a crook,
+        Nor e'en the pipe forgot:
+    And more to seem what he was not,
+    Himself upon his hat he wrote,
+    "I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep."
+      His person thus complete,
+      His crook in upraised feet,
+    The impostor Willie stole upon the keep.
+    The real Willie, on the grass asleep,
+      Slept there, indeed, profoundly,
+    His dog and pipe slept, also soundly;
+      His drowsy sheep around lay.
+      As for the greatest number,
+    Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber,
+    And hoped to drive away the flock,
+    Could he the shepherd's voice but mock.
+      He thought undoubtedly he could.
+    He tried: the tone in which he spoke,
+      Loud echoing from the wood,
+      The plot and slumber broke;
+      Sheep, dog, and man awoke.
+      The wolf, in sorry plight,
+      In hampering coat bedight,
+      Could neither run nor fight.
+
+    _There's always leakage of deceit_
+    _Which makes it never safe to cheat._
+      _Whoever is a wolf had better_
+      _Keep clear of hypocritic fetter._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF TURNED SHEPHERD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Swan and the Cook.
+
+
+    The pleasures of a poultry yard
+          Were by a swan and gosling shared.
+    The swan was kept there for his looks,
+    The thrifty gosling for the cooks;
+    The first the garden's pride, the latter
+    A greater favourite on the platter.
+    They swam the ditches, side by side,
+    And oft in sports aquatic vied,
+    Plunging, splashing far and wide,
+    With rivalry ne'er satisfied.
+      One day the cook, named Thirsty John,
+      Sent for the gosling, took the swan
+          In haste his throat to cut,
+          And put him in the pot.
+      The bird's complaint resounded
+          In glorious melody;
+      Whereat the cook, astounded
+          His sad mistake to see,
+      Cried, "What! make soup of a musician!
+      Please God, I'll never set such dish on.
+      No, no; I'll never cut a throat
+      That sings so sweet a note."
+
+      _'Tis thus, whatever peril may alarm us,_
+      _Sweet words will never harm us._
+
+[Illustration: THE SWAN AND THE COOK.]
+
+
+
+
+The Weasel in the Granary.
+
+
+    A weasel through a hole contrived to squeeze,
+          (She was recovering from disease,)
+          Which led her to a farmer's hoard.
+    There lodged, her wasted form she cherish'd;
+      Heaven knows the lard and victuals stored
+        That by her gnawing perish'd!
+        Of which the consequence
+        Was sudden corpulence.
+        A week or so was past,
+      When having fully broken fast,
+        A noise she heard, and hurried
+      To find the hole by which she came,
+      And seem'd to find it not the same;
+        So round she ran, most sadly flurried;
+      And, coming back, thrust out her head,
+      Which, sticking there, she said,
+      "This is the hole, there can't be blunder:
+      What makes it now so small, I wonder,
+    Where, but the other day, I pass'd with ease?"
+          A rat her trouble sees,
+      And cries, "But with an emptier belly;
+      You enter'd lean, and lean must sally."
+
+[Illustration: THE WEASEL IN THE GRANARY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and the Sea.
+
+
+        A shepherd, neighbour to the sea,
+              Lived with his flock contentedly.
+          His fortune, though but small,
+          Was safe within his call.
+        At last some stranded kegs of gold
+        Him tempted, and his flock he sold,
+        Turn'd merchant, and the ocean's waves
+        Bore all his treasure--to its caves.
+        Brought back to keeping sheep once more,
+        But not chief shepherd, as before,
+        When sheep were his that grazed the shore,
+        He who, as Corydon or Thyrsis,
+        Might once have shone in pastoral verses,
+        Bedeck'd with rhyme and metre,
+        Was nothing now but Peter.
+        But time and toil redeem'd in full
+        Those harmless creatures rich in wool;
+        And as the lulling winds, one day,
+    The vessels wafted with a gentle motion,
+    "Want you," he cried, "more money, Madam Ocean?
+      Address yourself to some one else, I pray;
+          You shall not get it out of me!
+          I know too well your treachery."
+
+            _This tale's no fiction, but a fact,_
+            _Which, by experience back'd,_
+            _Proves that a single penny,_
+              _At present held, and certain,_
+            _Is worth five times as many,_
+              _Of Hope's, beyond the curtain;_
+
+        _That one should be content with his condition,_
+        _And shut his ears to counsels of ambition,_
+        _More faithless than the wreck-strown sea, and which_
+        _Doth thousands beggar where it makes one rich,--_
+        _Inspires the hope of wealth, in glorious forms,_
+        _And blasts the same with piracy and storms._
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass and the Little Dog.
+
+
+    One's native talent from its course
+          Cannot be turned aside by force;
+    But poorly apes the country clown
+    The polish'd manners of the town.
+      Their Maker chooses but a few
+      With power of pleasing to imbue;
+      Where wisely leave it we, the mass,
+      Unlike a certain fabled ass,
+    That thought to gain his master's blessing
+    By jumping on him and caressing.
+      "What!" said the donkey in his heart;
+      "Ought it to be that puppy's part
+        To lead his useless life
+          In full companionship
+        With master and his wife,
+          While I must bear the whip?
+      What doth the cur a kiss to draw?
+      Forsooth, he only gives his paw!
+      If that is all there needs to please,
+      I'll do the thing myself, with ease."
+        Possess'd with this bright notion,--
+      His master sitting on his chair,
+      At leisure in the open air,--
+        He ambled up, with awkward motion,
+      And put his talents to the proof;
+      Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof,
+      And, with an amiable mien,
+      His master patted on the chin,
+      The action gracing with a word--
+      The fondest bray that e'er was heard!
+      O, such caressing was there ever?
+      Or melody with such a quaver?
+    "Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!"
+      Out cried the master, sore offended.
+    So Martin gave the ass a drubbing,--
+      And so the comedy was ended.
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS AND THE LITTLE DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Man and the Wooden God.
+
+
+    A pagan kept a god of wood,--
+          A sort that never hears,
+          Though furnish'd well with ears,--
+    From which he hoped for wondrous good.
+    The idol cost the board of three;
+      So much enrich'd was he
+      With vows and offerings vain,
+    With bullocks garlanded and slain:
+      No idol ever had, as that,
+      A kitchen quite so full and fat.
+    But all this worship at his shrine
+    Brought not from this same block divine
+    Inheritance, or hidden mine,
+      Or luck at play, or any favour.
+      Nay, more, if any storm whatever
+    Brew'd trouble here or there,
+    The man was sure to have his share,
+      And suffer in his purse,
+    Although the god fared none the worse.
+    At last, by sheer impatience bold,
+        The man a crowbar seizes,
+        His idol breaks in pieces,
+    And finds it richly stuff'd with gold.
+    "How's this? Have I devoutly treated,"
+    Says he, "your godship, to be cheated?
+    Now leave my house, and go your way,
+    And search for altars where you may."
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN AND THE WOODEN GOD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ears of the Hare.
+
+
+      Some beast with horns did gore
+          The lion; and that sovereign dread,
+      Resolved to suffer so no more,
+        Straight banish'd from his realm, 'tis said,
+      All sorts of beasts with horns--
+      Rams, bulls, goats, stags, and unicorns.
+        Such brutes all promptly fled.
+    A hare, the shadow of his ears perceiving,
+        Could hardly help believing
+    That some vile spy for horns would take them,
+    And food for accusation make them.
+        "Adieu," said he, "my neighbour cricket;
+        I take my foreign ticket.
+          My ears, should I stay here,
+          Will turn to horns, I fear;
+        And were they shorter than a bird's,
+        I fear the effect of words."
+      "These horns!" the cricket answer'd; "why,
+      God made them ears who can deny?"
+      "Yes," said the coward, "still they'll make them horns,
+      And horns, perhaps, of unicorns!
+        In vain shall I protest,
+      With all the learning of the schools:
+        My reasons they will send to rest
+            In th' Hospital of Fools."
+
+[Illustration: THE EARS OF THE HARE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Old Woman and Her Servants.
+
+
+      A beldam kept two spinning maids,
+        Who plied so handily their trades,
+      Those spinning sisters down below
+    Were bunglers when compared with these.
+      No care did this old woman know
+    But giving tasks as she might please.
+      No sooner did the god of day
+        His glorious locks enkindle,
+      Than both the wheels began to play,
+        And from each whirling spindle
+      Forth danced the thread right merrily,
+      And back was coil'd unceasingly.
+    Soon as the dawn, I say, its tresses show'd,
+      A graceless cock most punctual crow'd.
+      The beldam roused, more graceless yet,
+        In greasy petticoat bedight,
+        Struck up her farthing light,
+      And then forthwith the bed beset,
+      Where deeply, blessedly did snore
+      Those two maid-servants tired and poor.
+      One oped an eye, an arm one stretch'd,
+      And both their breath most sadly fetch'd,
+      This threat concealing in the sigh--
+      "That cursed cock shall surely die!"
+      And so he did:--they cut his throat,
+      And put to sleep his rousing note.
+      And yet this murder mended not
+      The cruel hardship of their lot;
+      For now the twain were scarce in bed
+      Before they heard the summons dread.
+      The beldam, full of apprehension
+      Lest oversleep should cause detention,
+      Ran like a goblin through her mansion.
+
+          _Thus often, when one thinks_
+          _To clear himself from ill,_
+          _His effort only sinks_
+          _Him in the deeper still._
+          _The beldam acting for the cock,_
+          _Was Scylla for Charybdis' rock._
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD WOMAN AND HER TWO SERVANTS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass Carrying Relics.
+
+
+    An ass, with relics for his load,
+      Supposed the worship on the road
+    Meant for himself alone,
+      And took on lofty airs,
+    Receiving as his own
+      The incense and the prayers.
+    Some one, who saw his great mistake,
+    Cried, "Master Donkey, do not make
+      Yourself so big a fool.
+    Not you they worship, but your pack;
+    They praise the idols on your back,
+      And count yourself a paltry tool."
+
+      _'Tis thus a brainless magistrate_
+      _Is honour'd for his robe of state._
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS CARRYING RELICS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Hare and the Partridge.
+
+
+      A field in common share
+            A partridge and a hare,
+      And live in peaceful state,
+      Till, woeful to relate!
+      The hunters' mingled cry
+      Compels the hare to fly.
+      He hurries to his fort,
+      And spoils almost the sport
+      By faulting every hound
+      That yelps upon the ground.
+      At last his reeking heat
+      Betrays his snug retreat.
+    Old Tray, with philosophic nose,
+    Snuffs carefully, and grows
+      So certain, that he cries,
+        "The hare is here; bow wow!"
+        And veteran Ranger now,--
+      The dog that never lies,--
+      "The hare is gone," replies.
+      Alas! poor, wretched hare,
+      Back comes he to his lair,
+      To meet destruction there!
+      The partridge, void of fear,
+      Begins her friend to jeer:--
+      "You bragg'd of being fleet;
+      How serve you, now, your feet?"
+      Scarce has she ceased to speak,--
+      The laugh yet in her beak,--
+      When comes her turn to die,
+      From which she could not fly.
+      She thought her wings, indeed,
+      Enough for every need;
+      But in her laugh and talk,
+      Forgot the cruel hawk!
+
+[Illustration: THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion Going to War.
+
+
+    The lion had an enterprise in hand;
+          Held a war-council, sent his provost-marshal,
+      And gave the animals a call impartial--
+    Each, in his way, to serve his high command.
+    The elephant should carry on his back
+    The tools of war, the mighty public pack,
+    And fight in elephantine way and form;
+    The bear should hold himself prepared to storm;
+    The fox all secret stratagems should fix;
+    The monkey should amuse the foe by tricks.
+    "Dismiss," said one, "the blockhead asses,
+      And hares, too cowardly and fleet."
+    "No," said the king; "I use all classes;
+      Without their aid my force were incomplete.
+    The ass shall be our trumpeter, to scare
+    Our enemy. And then the nimble hare
+    Our royal bulletins shall homeward bear."
+
+      _A monarch provident and wise_
+    _Will hold his subjects all of consequence,_
+      _And know in each what talent lies._
+    _There's nothing useless to a man of sense._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION GOING TO WAR.]
+
+
+
+
+The Old Man and the Ass.
+
+
+    An old man, riding on his ass,
+        Had found a spot of thrifty grass,
+    And there turn'd loose his weary beast.
+    Old Grizzle, pleased with such a feast,
+    Flung up his heels, and caper'd round,
+    Then roll'd and rubb'd upon the ground,
+    And frisk'd and browsed and bray'd,
+    And many a clean spot made.
+    Arm'd men came on them as he fed:
+    "Let's fly," in haste the old man said.
+    "And wherefore so?" the ass replied;
+    "With heavier burdens will they ride?"
+      "No," said the man, already started.
+      "Then," cried the ass, as he departed
+      "I'll stay, and be--no matter whose;
+      Save you yourself, and leave me loose
+      But let me tell you, ere you go,
+      (I speak plain English, as you know,)
+      My master is my only foe."
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD MAN AND THE ASS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass and his Masters.
+
+
+    A gardener's ass complain'd to Destiny
+        Of being made to rise before the dawn.
+    "The cocks their matins have not sung," said he,
+        "Ere I am up and gone.
+    And all for what? To market herbs, it seems.
+    Fine cause, indeed, to interrupt my dreams!"
+      Fate, moved by such a prayer,
+      Sent him a currier's load to bear,
+    Whose hides so heavy and ill-scented were,
+      They almost choked the foolish beast.
+    "I wish me with my former lord," he said:
+    "For then, whene'er he turn'd his head,
+          If on the watch, I caught
+      A cabbage-leaf, which cost me nought.
+      But, in this horrid place, I find
+      No chance or windfall of the kind;--
+          Or if, indeed, I do,
+          The cruel blows I rue."
+          Anon it came to pass
+          He was a collier's ass.
+    Still more complaint. "What now?" said Fate,
+            Quite out of patience.
+        "If on this jackass I must wait,
+      What will become of kings and nations?
+      Has none but he aught here to tease him?
+      Have I no business but to please him?"
+        And Fate had cause;--for all are so
+        Unsatisfied while here below.
+      Our present lot is aye the worst.
+        Our foolish prayers the skies infest.
+        Were Jove to grant all we request,
+      The din renew'd, his head would burst.
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS AND HIS MASTERS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wax-Candle.
+
+
+    From bowers of gods the bees came down to man.
+        On Mount Hymettus, first, they say,
+        They made their home, and stored away
+        The treasures which the zephyrs fan.
+    When men had robb'd these daughters of the sky,
+    And left their palaces of nectar dry,--
+        Or, in English as the thing's explain'd,
+        When hives were of their honey drain'd--
+      The spoilers 'gan the wax to handle,
+      And fashion'd from it many a candle.
+    Of these, one, seeing clay, made brick by fire,
+    Remain uninjured by the teeth of time,
+      Was kindled into great desire
+        For immortality sublime.
+      And so this new Empedocles
+      Upon the blazing pile one sees,
+      Self-doom'd by purest folly
+      To fate so melancholy.
+      The candle lack'd philosophy:
+      All things are made diverse to be.
+      To wander from our destined tracks--
+        There cannot be a vainer wish;
+      But this Empedocles of wax,
+        That melted in chafing-dish
+      Was truly not a greater fool
+      Than he of whom we read at school.
+
+[Illustration: THE WAX-CANDLE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and his Flock.
+
+
+          "What! shall I lose them one by one,
+              This stupid coward throng?
+      And never shall the wolf have done?
+        They were at least a thousand strong,
+      But still they've let poor Robin fall a prey!
+              Ah, woe's the day!
+        Poor Robin Wether lying dead!
+        He follow'd for a bit of bread
+      His master through the crowded city,
+        And would have follow'd, had he led,
+      Around the world. Oh! what a pity!
+        My pipe, and even step, he knew;
+        To meet me when I came, he flew;
+    In hedge-row shade we napp'd together;
+        Alas, alas, my Robin Wether!"
+      When Willy thus had duly said
+      His eulogy upon the dead,
+      And unto everlasting fame
+      Consign'd poor Robin Wether's name,
+      He then harangued the flock at large,
+        From proud old chieftain rams
+        Down to the smallest lambs,
+      Addressing them this weighty charge,--
+      Against the wolf, as one, to stand,
+      In firm, united, fearless band,
+    By which they might expel him from their land.
+      Upon their faith, they would not flinch,
+      They promised him, a single inch.
+    "We'll choke," said they, "the murderous glutton
+    Who robb'd us of our Robin Mutton."
+      Their lives they pledged against the beast,
+      And Willy gave them all a feast.
+      But evil Fate, than Phoebus faster,
+      Ere night had brought a new disaster:
+      A wolf there came. By nature's law,
+        The total flock were prompt to run;
+      And yet 'twas not the wolf they saw,
+    But shadow of him from the setting sun.
+
+    _Harangue a craven soldiery,_
+    _What heroes they will seem to be!_
+    _But let them snuff the smoke of battle,_
+    _Or even hear the ramrods rattle,_
+    _Adieu to all their boast and mettle:_
+    _Your own example will be vain,_
+    _And exhortations, to retain_
+        _The timid cattle._
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK.]
+
+
+
+
+The Tortoise and the Two Ducks.
+
+
+      A light-brain'd tortoise, anciently,
+        Tired of her hole, the world would see.
+    Prone are all such, self-banish'd, to roam--
+    Prone are all cripples to abhor their home.
+      Two ducks, to whom the gossip told
+      The secret of her purpose bold,
+        Profess'd to have the means whereby
+        They could her wishes gratify.
+       "Our boundless road," said they, "behold!
+          It is the open air;
+          And through it we will bear
+        You safe o'er land and ocean.
+      Republics, kingdoms, you will view,
+      And famous cities, old and new;
+        And get of customs, laws, a notion,--
+    Of various wisdom, various pieces,
+    As did, indeed, the sage Ulysses."
+      The eager tortoise waited not
+      To question what Ulysses got,
+      But closed the bargain on the spot.
+      A nice machine the birds devise
+      To bear their pilgrim through the skies.
+      Athwart her mouth a stick they throw:
+      "Now bite it hard, and don't let go,"
+      They say, and seize each duck an end,
+      And, swiftly flying, upward tend.
+      It made the people gape and stare
+        Beyond the expressive power of words,
+      To see a tortoise cut the air,
+        Exactly poised between two birds.
+        "A miracle," they cried, "is seen!
+      There goes the flying tortoise queen!"
+      "The queen!" ('twas thus the tortoise spoke;)
+      "I'm truly that, without a joke."
+      Much better had she held her tongue,
+      For, opening that whereby she clung,
+      Before the gazing crowd she fell,
+      And dash'd to bits her brittle shell.
+
+    _Imprudence, vanity, and babble,_
+        _And idle curiosity,_
+    _An ever-undivided rabble,_
+        _Have all the same paternity._
+
+[Illustration: THE TORTOISE AND THE TWO DUCKS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Asses.
+
+
+      Two asses tracking, t'other day,
+          Of which each in his turn,
+        Did incense to the other burn,
+          Quite in the usual way,--
+      I heard one to his comrade say,
+          "My lord, do you not find
+        The prince of knaves and fools
+      To be this man, who boasts of mind
+        Instructed in his schools?
+        With wit unseemly and profane,
+          He mocks our venerable race--
+        On each of his who lacketh brain
+          Bestows our ancient surname, ass!
+      And, with abusive tongue portraying,
+      Describes our laugh and talk as braying!
+      These bipeds of their folly tell us,
+      While thus pretending to excel us."
+      "No, 'tis for you to speak, my friend,
+        And let their orators attend.
+    The braying is their own, but let them be:
+    We understand each other, and agree,
+      And that's enough. As for your song,
+      Such wonders to its notes belong,
+      The nightingale is put to shame,
+      The Sirens lose one half their fame."
+      "My lord," the other ass replied,
+      "Such talents in yourself reside,
+      Of asses all, the joy and pride."
+      These donkeys, not quite satisfied
+      With scratching thus each other's hide,
+        Must needs the cities visit,
+        Their fortunes there to raise,
+        By sounding forth the praise,
+      Each, of the other's skill exquisite.
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO ASSES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and his Dog.
+
+
+    A shepherd, with a single dog,
+    Was ask'd the reason why
+    He kept a dog, whose least supply
+    Amounted to a loaf of bread
+    For every day. The people said
+    He'd better give the animal
+    To guard the village seignior's hall;
+    For him, a shepherd, it would be
+    A thriftier economy
+    To keep small curs, say two or three,
+    That would not cost him half the food,
+    And yet for watching be as good.
+    The fools, perhaps, forgot to tell
+    If they would fight the wolf as well.
+    The silly shepherd, giving heed,
+    Cast off his dog of mastiff breed,
+    And took three dogs to watch his cattle,
+    Which ate far less, but fled in battle.
+
+    _Not vain our tale, if it convinces_
+      _Small states that 'tis a wiser thing_
+      _To trust a single powerful king,_
+    _Than half a dozen petty princes._
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND HIS DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Mules.
+
+
+      Two mules were bearing on their backs,
+          One, oats; the other, silver of the tax.
+        The latter glorying in his load,
+        March'd proudly forward on the road;
+      And, from the jingle of his bell,
+      'Twas plain he liked his burden well.
+          But in a wild-wood glen
+          A band of robber men
+      Rush'd forth upon the twain.
+          Well with the silver pleased,
+          They by the bridle seized
+      The treasure mule so vain.
+      Poor mule! in struggling to repel
+      His ruthless foes, he fell
+    Stabb'd through; and with a bitter sighing,
+      He cried, "Is this the lot they promised me?
+      My humble friend from danger free,
+    While, weltering in my gore, I'm dying?"
+      "My friend," his fellow-mule replied,
+    "It is not well to have one's work too high.
+    If thou hadst been a miller's drudge, as I,
+      Thou wouldst not thus have died."
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO MULES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep.
+
+
+    The heifer, the goat, and their sister the sheep,
+         Compacted their earnings in common to keep,
+    'Tis said, in time past, with a lion, who sway'd
+    Full lordship o'er neighbours, of whatever grade.
+    The goat, as it happen'd, a stag having snared,
+    Sent off to the rest, that the beast might be shared.
+    All gather'd; the lion first counts on his claws,
+    And says, "We'll proceed to divide with our paws
+    The stag into pieces, as fix'd by our laws."
+       This done, he announces part first as his own;
+       "'Tis mine," he says, "truly, as lion alone."
+       To such a decision there's nought to be said,
+      As he who has made it is doubtless the head.
+    "Well, also, the second to me should belong;
+    'Tis mine, be it known, by the right of the strong.
+    Again, as the bravest, the third must be mine.
+    To touch but the fourth whoso maketh a sign,
+          I'll choke him to death
+          In the space of a breath!"
+
+[Illustration: THE HEIFER, THE GOAT, & THE SHEEP.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg.
+
+
+      Two rats in foraging fell on an egg,--
+            For gentry such as they
+        A genteel dinner every way;
+      They needed not to find an ox's leg.
+        Brimful of joy and appetite,
+          They were about to sack the box,
+          So tight without the aid of locks,
+        When suddenly there came in sight
+          A personage--Sir Pullet Fox.
+        Sure, luck was never more untoward
+        Since Fortune was a vixen froward!
+      How should they save their egg--and bacon?
+        Their plunder couldn't then be bagg'd;
+      Should it in forward paws be taken,
+        Or roll'd along, or dragg'd?
+        Each method seem'd impossible,
+        And each was then of danger full.
+      Necessity, ingenious mother,
+    Brought forth what help'd them from their pother.
+    As still there was a chance to save their prey,--
+    The sponger yet some hundred yards away,--
+    One seized the egg, and turn'd upon his back,
+    And then, in spite of many a thump and thwack,
+    That would have torn, perhaps, a coat of mail,
+        The other dragg'd him by the tail.
+        Who dares the inference to blink,
+        That beasts possess wherewith to think?
+
+          _Were I commission'd to bestow_
+          _This power on creatures here below,_
+          _The beasts should have as much of mind_
+          _As infants of the human kind._
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO RATS THE FOX AND THE EGG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Man and his Image.
+
+
+    A man, who had no rivals in the love
+        Which to himself he bore,
+    Esteem'd his own dear beauty far above
+        What earth had seen before.
+        More than contented in his error,
+        He lived the foe of every mirror.
+        Officious fate, resolved our lover
+        From such an illness should recover,
+        Presented always to his eyes
+        The mute advisers which the ladies prize;--
+        Mirrors in parlours, inns, and shops,--
+        Mirrors the pocket furniture of fops,--
+        Mirrors on every lady's zone,
+        From which his face reflected shone.
+        What could our dear Narcissus do?
+        From haunts of men he now withdrew,
+        On purpose that his precious shape
+        From every mirror might escape.
+          But in his forest glen alone,
+            Apart from human trace,
+            A watercourse,
+            Of purest source,
+        While with unconscious gaze
+        He pierced its waveless face,
+        Reflected back his own.
+        Incensed with mingled rage and fright,
+        He seeks to shun the odious sight;
+        But yet that mirror sheet, so clear and still,
+        He cannot leave, do what he will.
+
+        _Ere this, my story's drift you plainly see._
+        _From such mistake there is no mortal free._
+            _That obstinate self-lover_
+            _The human soul doth cover;_
+        _The mirrors' follies are of others,_
+        _In which, as all are genuine brothers,_
+        _Each soul may see to life depicted_
+        _Itself with just such faults afflicted;_
+        _And by that charming placid brook,_
+        _Needless to say, I mean your Maxim Book._
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE]
+
+
+
+
+The Dragon with Many Heads.
+
+
+        An envoy of the Porte Sublime,
+            As history says, once on a time,
+        Before th' imperial German court
+        Did rather boastfully report,
+    The troops commanded by his master's firman,
+    As being a stronger army than the German:
+        To which replied a Dutch attendant,
+        "Our prince has more than one dependant
+        Who keeps an army at his own expense."
+          The Turk, a man of sense,
+          Rejoin'd, "I am aware
+        What power your emperor's servants share.
+    It brings to mind a tale both strange and true,
+    A thing which once, myself, I chanced to view.
+        I saw come darting through a hedge,
+        Which fortified a rocky ledge,
+        A hydra's hundred heads; and in a trice
+          My blood was turning into ice.
+          But less the harm than terror,--
+          The body came no nearer;
+          Nor could, unless it had been sunder'd,
+          To parts at least a hundred.
+          While musing deeply on this sight,
+          Another dragon came to light,
+          Whose single head avails
+          To lead a hundred tails:
+        And, seized with juster fright,
+          I saw him pass the hedge,--
+          Head, body, tails,--a wedge
+        Of living and resistless powers.--
+    The other was your emperor's force; this ours."
+
+[Illustration: THE DRAGON WITH MANY HEADS.]
+
+
+
+
+Death and the Woodman
+
+
+    A poor wood-chopper, with his fagot load,
+    Whom weight of years, as well as load, oppress'd,
+    Sore groaning in his smoky hut to rest,
+    Trudged wearily along his homeward road.
+    At last his wood upon the ground he throws,
+    And sits him down to think o'er all his woes.
+    To joy a stranger, since his hapless birth,
+    What poorer wretch upon this rolling earth?
+    No bread sometimes, and ne'er a moment's rest;
+    Wife, children, soldiers, landlords, public tax,
+    All wait the swinging of his old, worn axe,
+    And paint the veriest picture of a man unblest.
+    On Death he calls. Forthwith that monarch grim
+    Appears, and asks what he should do for him.
+    "Not much, indeed; a little help I lack--
+    To put these fagots on my back."
+
+        _Death ready stands all ills to cure;_
+          _But let us not his cure invite._
+        _Than die, 'tis better to endure,--_
+          _Is both a manly maxim and a right._
+
+[Illustration: DEATH AND THE WOODMAN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Hornets and the Bees.
+
+
+    "The artist by his work is known."
+          A piece of honey-comb, one day,
+      Discover'd as a waif and stray,
+      The hornets treated as their own.
+      Their title did the bees dispute,
+      And brought before a wasp the suit.
+      The judge was puzzled to decide,
+      For nothing could be testified
+      Save that around this honey-comb
+      There had been seen, as if at home,
+      Some longish, brownish, buzzing creatures,
+      Much like the bees in wings and features.
+      But what of that? for marks the same,
+      The hornets, too, could truly claim.
+      Between assertion, and denial,
+      The wasp, in doubt, proclaim'd new trial;
+      And, hearing what an ant-hill swore,
+      Could see no clearer than before.
+      "What use, I pray, of this expense?"
+      At last exclaim'd a bee of sense.
+        "We've labour'd months in this affair,
+        And now are only where we were.
+          Meanwhile the honey runs to waste:
+    'Tis time the judge should show some haste.
+    The parties, sure, have had sufficient bleeding,
+    Without more fuss of scrawls and pleading.
+    Let's set ourselves at work, these drones and we
+    And then all eyes the truth may plainly see,
+      Whose art it is that can produce
+      The magic cells, the nectar juice."
+        The hornets, flinching on their part,
+        Show that the work transcends their art.
+        The wasp at length their title sees,
+        And gives the honey to the bees.
+
+          _Would God that suits at law with us_
+          _Might all be managed thus!_
+
+[Illustration: THE HORNETS AND THE BEES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Oak and the Reed.
+
+
+      The oak one day address'd the reed:--
+          "To you ungenerous indeed
+      Has nature been, my humble friend,
+      With weakness aye obliged to bend.
+      The smallest bird that flits in air
+      Is quite too much for you to bear;
+      The slightest wind that wreathes the lake
+      Your ever-trembling head doth shake.
+        The while, my towering form
+        Dares with the mountain top
+        The solar blaze to stop,
+        And wrestle with the storm.
+      What seems to you the blast of death,
+      To me is but a zephyr's breath.
+    Beneath my branches had you grown,
+    Less suffering would your life have known,
+      Unhappily you oftenest show
+        In open air your slender form,
+      Along the marshes wet and low,
+        That fringe the kingdom of the storm.
+        To you, declare I must,
+        Dame Nature seems unjust."
+      Then modestly replied the reed:
+      "Your pity, sir, is kind indeed,
+      But wholly needless for my sake.
+      The wildest wind that ever blew
+      Is safe to me compared with you.
+      I bend, indeed, but never break.
+      Thus far, I own, the hurricane
+      Has beat your sturdy back in vain;
+      But wait the end." Just at the word,
+      The tempest's hollow voice was heard.
+      The North sent forth her fiercest child,
+      Dark, jagged, pitiless, and wild.
+      The oak, erect, endured the blow;
+      The reed bow'd gracefully and low.
+      But, gathering up its strength once more,
+      In greater fury than before,
+          The savage blast
+          O'erthrew, at last,
+      That proud, old, sky-encircled head,
+      Whose feet entwined the empire of the dead!
+
+[Illustration: THE OAK AND THE REED.]
+
+
+
+
+The Council held by the Rats.
+
+
+      Old Rodilard, a certain cat,
+        Such havoc of the rats had made,
+      'Twas difficult to find a rat
+        With nature's debt unpaid.
+      The few that did remain,
+        To leave their holes afraid,
+      From usual food abstain,
+        Not eating half their fill.
+        And wonder no one will
+    That one who made of rats his revel,
+    With rats pass'd not for cat, but devil.
+    Now, on a day, this dread rat-eater,
+    Who had a wife, went out to meet her;
+    And while he held his caterwauling,
+    The unkill'd rats, their chapter calling,
+    Discuss'd the point, in grave debate,
+    How they might shun impending fate.
+        Their dean, a prudent rat,
+    Thought best, and better soon than late,
+        To bell the fatal cat;
+    That, when he took his hunting round,
+    The rats, well caution'd by the sound,
+    Might hide in safety under ground;
+      Indeed he knew no other means.
+          And all the rest
+          At once confess'd
+      Their minds were with the dean's.
+    No better plan, they all believed,
+    Could possibly have been conceived.
+    No doubt the thing would work right well,
+    If any one would hang the bell.
+      But, one by one, said every rat,
+      "I'm not so big a fool as that."
+    The plan knock'd up in this respect,
+    The council closed without effect.
+
+    And many a council I have seen,
+    Or reverend chapter with its dean,
+      That, thus resolving wisely,
+      Fell through like this precisely.
+
+        _To argue or refute_
+          _Wise counsellors abound;_
+        _The man to execute_
+          _Is harder to be found._
+
+[Illustration: THE COUNCIL HELD BY THE RATS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Bulls and the Frog.
+
+
+    Two bulls engaged in shocking battle,
+      Both for a certain heifer's sake,
+    And lordship over certain cattle,
+      A frog began to groan and quake.
+        "But what is this to you?"
+    Inquired another of the croaking crew.
+        "Why, sister, don't you see,
+        The end of this will be,
+    That one of these big brutes will yield,
+    And then be exiled from the field?
+    No more permitted on the grass to feed,
+    He'll forage through our marsh, on rush and reed;
+        And while he eats or chews the cud,
+        Will trample on us in the mud.
+        Alas! to think how frogs must suffer
+        By means of this proud lady heifer!"
+    This fear was not without good sense.
+    One bull was beat, and much to their expense;
+    For, quick retreating to their reedy bower,
+    He trod on twenty of them in an hour.
+
+        _Of little folks it oft has been the fate_
+        _To suffer for the follies of the great._
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO BULLS AND THE FROG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Bat and the Two Weasels.
+
+
+      A blundering bat once stuck her head
+          Into a wakeful weasel's bed;
+      Whereat the mistress of the house,
+        A deadly foe of rats and mice,
+        Was making ready in a trice
+      To eat the stranger as a mouse.
+        "What! do you dare," she said, "to creep in
+      The very bed I sometimes sleep in,
+      Now, after all the provocation
+      I've suffered from your thievish nation?
+      Are you not really a mouse,
+      That gnawing pest of every house,
+      Your special aim to do the cheese ill?
+      Ay, that you are, or I'm no weasel."
+        "I beg your pardon," said the bat;
+      "My kind is very far from that.
+    What! I a mouse! Who told you such a lie?
+          Why, ma'am, I am a bird;
+          And, if you doubt my word,
+      Just see the wings with which I fly.
+      Long live the mice that cleave the sky!"
+        These reasons had so fair a show,
+        The weasel let the creature go.
+
+          By some strange fancy led,
+          The same wise blunderhead,
+        But two or three days later,
+          Had chosen for her rest
+          Another weasel's nest,
+      This last, of birds a special hater.
+        New peril brought this step absurd:
+      Without a moment's thought or puzzle,
+      Dame weasel opened her peaked muzzle
+        To eat th' intruder as a bird.
+      "Hold! do not wrong me," cried the bat;
+      "I'm truly no such thing as that.
+    Your eyesight strange conclusions gathers.
+    What makes a bird, I pray? Its feathers.
+        I'm cousin of the mice and rats.
+        Great Jupiter confound the cats!"
+      The bat, by such adroit replying,
+      Twice saved herself from dying.
+
+        _And many a human stranger_
+        _Thus turns his coat in danger;_
+        _And sings, as suits, where'er he goes,_
+        _"God save the king!"--or "save his foes!"_
+
+[Illustration: THE BAT AND THE TWO WEASELS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Bird wounded by an Arrow.
+
+
+      A bird, with plumèd arrow shot,
+          In dying case deplored her lot:
+    "Alas!" she cried, "the anguish of the thought!
+    This ruin partly by myself was brought!
+        Hard-hearted men! from us to borrow
+        What wings to us the fatal arrow!
+        But mock us not, ye cruel race,
+        For you must often take our place."
+
+        _The work of half the human brothers_
+        _Is making arms against the others._
+
+[Illustration: THE BIRD WOUNDED BY AN ARROW.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Gnat.
+
+
+      "Go, paltry insect, nature's meanest brat!"
+            Thus said the royal lion to the gnat.
+      The gnat declared immediate war.
+        "Think you," said he, "your royal name
+            To me worth caring for?
+      Think you I tremble at your power or fame?
+        The ox is bigger far than you;
+        Yet him I drive, and all his crew."
+        This said, as one that did no fear owe,
+          Himself he blew the battle charge,
+        Himself both trumpeter and hero.
+          At first he play'd about at large,
+    Then on the lion's neck, at leisure, settled,
+    And there the royal beast full sorely nettled.
+        With foaming mouth, and flashing eye,
+        He roars. All creatures hide or fly,--
+            Such mortal terror at
+            The work of one poor gnat!
+      With constant change of his attack,
+      The snout now stinging, now the back,
+      And now the chambers of the nose;
+      The pigmy fly no mercy shows.
+        The lion's rage was at its height;
+        His viewless foe now laugh'd outright,
+        When on his battle-ground he saw,
+        That every savage tooth and claw
+            Had got its proper beauty
+            By doing bloody duty;
+        Himself, the hapless lion, tore his hide,
+        And lash'd with sounding tail from side to side.
+          Ah! bootless blow, and bite, and curse!
+          He beat the harmless air, and worse;
+            For, though so fierce and stout,
+            By effort wearied out,
+          He fainted, fell, gave up the quarrel;
+          The gnat retires with verdant laurel.
+
+            _We often have the most to fear_
+              _From those we most despise;_
+            _Again, great risks a man may clear,_
+              _Who by the smallest dies._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE GNAT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass Loaded with Sponges.
+
+
+    A man, whom I shall call an ass-eteer,
+        His sceptre like some Roman emperor bearing,
+      Drove on two coursers of protracted ear,
+    The one, with sponges laden, briskly faring;
+            The other lifting legs
+            As if he trod on eggs,
+          With constant need of goading,
+          And bags of salt for loading.
+    O'er hill and dale our merry pilgrims pass'd,
+    Till, coming to a river's ford at last,
+    They stopp'd quite puzzled on the shore.
+    Our asseteer had cross'd the stream before;
+      So, on the lighter beast astride,
+        He drives the other, spite of dread,
+        Which, loath indeed to go ahead,
+      Into a deep hole turns aside,
+          And, facing right about,
+          Where he went in, comes out;
+          For duckings, two or three
+            Had power the salt to melt,
+            So that the creature felt
+          His burden'd shoulders free.
+          The sponger, like a sequent sheep,
+          Pursuing through the water deep,
+            Into the same hole plunges
+          Himself, his rider, and the sponges.
+      All three drank deeply: asseteer and ass
+      For boon companions of their load might pass;
+        Which last became so sore a weight,
+              The ass fell down,
+              Belike to drown
+          His rider risking equal fate.
+          A helper came, no matter who.
+
+          _The moral needs no more ado--_
+            _That all can't act alike,--_
+            _The point I wish'd to strike._
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS LOADED WITH SPONGES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Dove and the Ant.
+
+
+    A dove came to a brook to drink,
+    When, leaning o'er its crumbling brink,
+    An ant fell in, and vainly tried,
+    In this, to her, an ocean tide,
+    To reach the land; whereat the dove,
+    With every living thing in love,
+    Was prompt a spire of grass to throw her,
+    By which the ant regain'd the shore.
+
+    A barefoot scamp, both mean and sly,
+    Soon after chanced this dove to spy;
+    And, being arm'd with bow and arrow,
+      The hungry codger doubted not
+      The bird of Venus, in his pot,
+    Would make a soup before the morrow.
+      Just as his deadly bow he drew,
+          Our ant just bit his heel.
+          Roused by the villain's squeal,
+      The dove took timely hint, and flew
+           Far from the rascal's coop;--
+           And with her flew his soup.
+
+[Illustration: THE DOVE AND THE ANT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cock and the Fox.
+
+
+    Upon a tree there mounted guard
+             A veteran cock, adroit and cunning;
+        When to the roots a fox up running,
+    Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard:--
+        "Our quarrel, brother, 's at an end;
+        Henceforth I hope to live your friend;
+              For peace now reigns
+          Throughout the animal domains.
+        I bear the news:--come down, I pray,
+             And give me the embrace fraternal;
+        And please, my brother, don't delay.
+             So much the tidings do concern all,
+        That I must spread them far to-day.
+        Now you and yours can take your walks
+        Without a fear or thought of hawks.
+    And should you clash with them or others,
+    In us you'll find the best of brothers;--
+    For which you may, this joyful night,
+        Your merry bonfires light.
+              But, first, let's seal the bliss
+              With one fraternal kiss."
+        "Good friend," the cock replied, "upon my word,
+         A better thing I never heard;
+                 And doubly I rejoice
+                 To hear it from your voice;
+         And, really there must be something in it,
+    For yonder come two greyhounds, which I flatter
+    Myself are couriers on this very matter.
+         They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute.
+    I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessing
+         With general kissing and caressing."
+         "Adieu," said fox; "my errand's pressing;
+                  I'll hurry on my way,
+                  And we'll rejoice some other day."
+    So off the fellow scamper'd, quick and light,
+    To gain the fox-holes of a neighbouring height,
+    Less happy in his stratagem than flight.
+          The cock laugh'd sweetly in his sleeve;--
+          'Tis doubly sweet deceiver to deceive.
+
+[Illustration: THE COCK AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion beaten by the Man.
+
+
+        A picture once was shown,
+            In which one man, alone,
+        Upon the ground had thrown
+        A lion fully grown.
+      Much gloried at the sight the rabble.
+      A lion thus rebuked their babble:--
+          "That you have got the victory there,
+        There is no contradiction.
+      But, gentles, possibly you are
+        The dupes of easy fiction:
+    Had we the art of making pictures,
+    Perhaps our champion had beat yours!"
+
+[Illustration: THE LION BEATEN BY THE MAN.]
+
+
+
+
+Philomel and Progne.
+
+
+    From home and city spires, one day,
+          The swallow Progne flew away,
+        And sought the bosky dell
+        Where sang poor Philomel.
+    "My sister," Progne said, "how do you do?
+    'Tis now a thousand years since you
+    Have been conceal'd from human view;
+    I'm sure I have not seen your face
+      Once since the times of Thrace.
+    Pray, will you never quit this dull retreat?"
+    "Where could I find," said Philomel, "so sweet?"
+      "What! sweet?" cried Progne--"sweet to waste
+      Such tones on beasts devoid of taste
+      Or on some rustic, at the most!
+      Should you by deserts be engross'd?
+      Come, be the city's pride and boast.
+      Besides, the woods remind of harms
+      That Tereus in them did your charms."
+      "Alas!" replied the bird of song,
+      "The thought of that so cruel wrong
+        Makes me, from age to age,
+        Prefer this hermitage;
+      For nothing like the sight of men
+      Can call up what I suffer'd then."
+
+[Illustration: PHILOMEL AND PROGNE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Camel and the Floating Sticks.
+
+
+    The first who saw the humpback'd camel
+        Fled off for life; the next approach'd with care;
+      The third with tyrant rope did boldly dare
+    The desert wanderer to trammel.
+        Such is the power of use to change
+        The face of objects new and strange;
+        Which grow, by looking at, so tame,
+        They do not even seem the same.
+      And since this theme is up for our attention,
+        A certain watchman I will mention,
+          Who, seeing something far
+            Away upon the ocean,
+            Could not but speak his notion
+          That 'twas a ship of war.
+        Some minutes more had past,--
+          A bomb-ketch 'twas without a sail,
+          And then a boat, and then a bale,
+        And floating sticks of wood at last!
+
+          _Full many things on earth, I wot,_
+        _Will claim this tale,--and well they may;_
+        _They're something dreadful far away,_
+          _But near at hand--they're not._
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMEL AND THE FLOATING STICKS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid.
+
+
+    As went a goat of grass to take her fill,
+          And browse the herbage of a distant hill,
+        She latch'd her door, and bid,
+        With matron care, her kid;
+        "My daughter, as you live,
+          This portal don't undo
+          To any creature who
+        This watchword does not give:
+      'Deuce take the wolf and all his race!'"
+      The wolf was passing near the place
+    By chance, and heard the words with pleasure,
+        And laid them up as useful treasure;
+      And hardly need we mention,
+      Escaped the goat's attention.
+        No sooner did he see
+        The matron off, than he,
+      With hypocritic tone and face,
+      Cried out before the place,
+      "Deuce take the wolf and all his race!"
+        Not doubting thus to gain admission.
+        The kid, not void of all suspicion,
+        Peer'd through a crack, and cried,
+          "Show me white paw before
+          You ask me to undo the door."
+        The wolf could not, if he had died,
+          For wolves have no connection
+          With pains of that complexion.
+        So, much surprised, our gourmandiser
+        Retired to fast till he was wiser.
+
+        _How would the kid have been undone_
+          _Had she but trusted to the word?_
+          _The wolf by chance had overheard!_
+        _Two sureties better are than one;_
+          _And caution's worth its cost,_
+          _Though sometimes seeming lost._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF, THE GOAT, AND THE KID.]
+
+
+
+
+The Rat Retired from the World.
+
+
+    The sage Levantines have a tale
+        About a rat that weary grew
+      Of all the cares which life assail,
+    And to a Holland cheese withdrew.
+    His solitude was there profound,
+    Extending through his world so round.
+    Our hermit lived on that within;
+    And soon his industry had been
+    With claws and teeth so good,
+      That in his novel hermitage,
+      He had in store, for wants of age,
+    Both house and livelihood.
+    One day this personage devout,
+    Whose kindness none might doubt,
+    Was ask'd, by certain delegates
+    That came from Rat-United-States,
+    For some small aid, for they
+    To foreign parts were on their way,
+    For succour in the great cat-war.
+    Ratopolis beleaguer'd sore,
+      Their whole republic drain'd and poor,
+    No morsel in their scrips they bore.
+      Slight boon they craved, of succour sure
+    In days at utmost three or four.
+    "My friends," the hermit said,
+    "To worldly things I'm dead.
+    How can a poor recluse
+    To such a mission be of use?
+    What can he do but pray
+    That God will aid it on its way?
+    And so, my friends, it is my prayer
+    That God will have you in his care."
+    His well-fed saintship said no more,
+    But in their faces shut the door.
+
+    _What think you, reader, is the service_
+      _For which I use this niggard rat?_
+    _To paint a monk? No, but a dervise._
+      _A monk, I think, however fat,_
+      _Must be more bountiful than that._
+
+[Illustration: THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cunning Fox.
+
+
+    A fox once practised, 'tis believed,
+        A stratagem right well conceived.
+    The wretch, when in the utmost strait
+    By dogs of nose so delicate,
+    Approach'd a gallows, where,
+    A lesson to like passengers,
+    Or clothed in feathers or in furs,
+    Some badgers, owls, and foxes, pendent were.
+    Their comrade, in his pressing need,
+    Arranged himself among the dead.
+    I seem to see old Hannibal
+    Outwit some Roman general,
+    And sit securely in his tent,
+    The legions on some other scent.
+    But certain dogs, kept back
+    To tell the errors of the pack,
+    Arriving where the traitor hung,
+    A fault in fullest chorus sung.
+    Though by their bark the welkin rung,
+    Their master made them hold the tongue.
+    Suspecting not a trick so odd,
+    Said he, "The rogue's beneath the sod.
+    My dogs, that never saw such jokes,
+    Won't bark beyond these honest folks."
+
+    The rogue would try the trick again.
+    He did so to his cost and pain.
+    Again with dogs the welkin rings;
+    Again our fox from gallows swings;
+    But though he hangs with greater faith
+    This time, he does it to his death.
+
+      _So uniformly is it true,_
+        _A stratagem is best when new._
+
+[Illustration: THE CUNNING FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ape.
+
+
+      There is an ape in Paris,
+          To which was given a wife:
+      Like many a one that marries,
+        This ape, in brutal strife,
+        Soon beat her out of life.
+    Their infant cries,--perhaps not fed,--
+        But cries, I ween, in vain;
+    The father laughs: his wife is dead,
+      And he has other loves again,
+    Which he will also beat, I think,--
+    Return'd from tavern drown'd in drink.
+
+    _For aught that's good, you need not look_
+      _Among the imitative tribe;_
+    _A monkey be it, or what makes a book--_
+      _The worse, I deem--the aping scribe._
+
+[Illustration: THE APE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog.
+
+
+    A fox, old, subtle, vigilant, and sly,--
+          By hunters wounded, fallen in the mud,--
+      Attracted by the traces of his blood,
+        That buzzing parasite, the fly.
+        He blamed the gods, and wonder'd why
+        The Fates so cruelly should wish
+        To feast the fly on such a costly dish.
+        "What! light on me! make me its food!
+        Me, me, the nimblest of the wood!
+        How long has fox-meat been so good?
+    What serves my tail? Is it a useless weight?
+    Go,--Heaven confound thee, greedy reprobate!--
+    And suck thy fill from some more vulgar veins!"
+        A hedgehog, witnessing his pains,
+            (This fretful personage
+            Here graces first my page,)
+            Desired to set him free
+            From such cupidity.
+            "My neighbour fox," said he,
+        "My quills these rascals shall empale,
+        And ease thy torments without fail."
+    "Not for the world, my friend!" the fox replied.
+      "Pray let them finish their repast.
+    These flies are full. Should they be set aside,
+      New hungrier swarms would finish me at last."
+
+    _Consumers are too common here below,_
+    _In court and camp, in church and state, we know._
+        _Old Aristotle's penetration_
+        _Remark'd our fable's application;_
+        _It might more clearly in our nation._
+        _The fuller certain men are fed,_
+        _The less the public will be bled._
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX THE FLIES & THE HEDGEHOG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Eagle and the Magpie.
+
+
+    The eagle, through the air a queen,
+        And one far different, I ween,
+    In temper, language, thought, and mien,--
+    The magpie,--once a prairie cross'd.
+      The by-path where they met was drear,
+    And Madge gave up herself for lost;
+      But having dined on ample cheer,
+      The eagle bade her, "Never fear;
+    You're welcome to my company;
+    For if the king of gods can be
+      Full oft in need of recreation,--
+    Who rules the world,--right well may I,
+      Who serve him in that high relation:
+    Amuse me, then, before you fly."
+    Our cackler, pleased, at quickest rate
+    Of this and that began to prate.
+      No fool, or babbler for that matter,
+      Could more incontinently chatter.
+    At last she offer'd to make known--
+    A better spy had never flown--
+    All things, whatever she might see,
+    In travelling from tree to tree.
+    But, with her offer little pleased--
+    Nay, gathering wrath at being teased,--
+    For such a purpose, never rove,--
+    Replied th' impatient bird of Jove.
+      "Adieu, my cackling friend, adieu;
+    My court is not the place for you:
+    Heaven keep it free from such a bore!"
+    Madge flapp'd her wings, and said no more.
+
+        _'Tis far less easy than it seems_
+          _An entrance to the great to gain._
+        _The honour oft hath cost extremes_
+            _Of mortal pain._
+        _The craft of spies, the tattling art,_
+        _And looks more gracious than the heart,_
+            _Are odious there;_
+        _But still, if one would meet success,_
+        _Of different parishes the dress_
+          _He, like the pie, must wear._
+
+[Illustration: THE EAGLE AND THE MAGPIE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Hunter.
+
+
+      A braggart, lover of the chase,
+          Had lost a dog of valued race,
+      And thought him in a lion's maw.
+      He ask'd a shepherd whom he saw,
+      "Pray show me, man, the robber's place,
+      And I'll have justice in the case."
+          "'Tis on this mountain side,"
+          The shepherd man replied.
+      "The tribute of a sheep I pay,
+    Each month, and where I please I stray."
+      Out leap'd the lion as he spake,
+        And came that way with agile feet.
+      The braggart, prompt his flight to take,
+        Cried, "Jove, O grant a safe retreat!"
+
+          _A danger close at hand_
+            _Of courage is the test._
+          _It shows us who will stand--_
+            _Whose legs will run their best._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE HUNTER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals
+
+
+      Left kingless by the lion's death,
+          The beasts once met, our story saith,
+      Some fit successor to install.
+    Forth from a dragon-guarded, moated place,
+    The crown was brought, and, taken from its case,
+      And being tried by turns on all,
+      The heads of most were found too small;
+      Some hornèd were, and some too big;
+        Not one would fit the regal gear.
+      For ever ripe for such a rig,
+      The monkey, looking very queer,
+      Approach'd with antics and grimaces,
+      And, after scores of monkey faces,
+    With what would seem a gracious stoop,
+    Pass'd through the crown as through a hoop.
+      The beasts, diverted with the thing,
+      Did homage to him as their king.
+      The fox alone the vote regretted,
+      But yet in public never fretted.
+      When he his compliments had paid
+      To royalty, thus newly made,
+      "Great sire, I know a place," said he,
+        "Where lies conceal'd a treasure,
+      Which, by the right of royalty,
+        Should bide your royal pleasure."
+      The king lack'd not an appetite
+        For such financial pelf,
+      And, not to lose his royal right,
+        Ran straight to see it for himself.
+      It was a trap, and he was caught.
+      Said Renard, "Would you have it thought,
+      You ape, that you can fill a throne,
+      And guard the rights of all, alone,
+      Not knowing how to guard your own?"
+
+      _The beasts all gather'd from the farce,_
+      _That stuff for kings is very scarce._
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX, THE MONKEY, AND THE ANIMALS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Sun and the Frogs.
+
+
+    Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day,
+        The people drown'd their care in drink;
+    While from the general joy did Æsop shrink,
+      And show'd its folly in this way.
+    "The sun," said he, "once took it in his head
+      To have a partner: so he wed.
+    From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs,
+    Up rose the wailings of the frogs.
+    "What shall we do, should he have progeny?"
+        Said they to Destiny;
+      'One sun we scarcely can endure,
+      And half-a-dozen, we are sure,
+        Will dry the very sea.
+        Adieu to marsh and fen!
+        Our race will perish then,
+        Or be obliged to fix
+        Their dwelling in the Styx!'
+      For such an humble animal,
+      The frog, I take it, reason'd well."
+
+[Illustration: THE SUN AND THE FROGS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Countryman and the Serpent.
+
+
+    A countryman, as Æsop certifies,
+          A charitable man, but not so wise,
+      One day in winter found,
+      Stretch'd on the snowy ground,
+      A chill'd or frozen snake,
+      As torpid as a stake,
+      And, if alive, devoid of sense.
+    He took him up, and bore him home,
+      And, thinking not what recompense
+    For such a charity would come,
+          Before the fire stretch'd him,
+          And back to being fetch'd him.
+        The snake scarce felt the genial heat
+      Before his heart with native malice beat.
+    He raised his head, thrust out his forkèd tongue,
+    Coil'd up, and at his benefactor sprung.
+    "Ungrateful wretch!" said he, "is this the way
+        My care and kindness you repay?
+    Now you shall die." With that his axe he takes,
+    And with two blows three serpents makes.
+    Trunk, head, and tail were separate snakes;
+      And, leaping up with all their might,
+      They vainly sought to reunite.
+
+      _'Tis good and lovely to be kind;_
+      _But charity should not be blind;_
+      _For as to wretchedness ingrate,_
+    _You cannot raise it from its wretched state._
+
+[Illustration: THE COUNTRYMAN AND THE SERPENT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Carter in the Mire.
+
+
+          The Phaëton who drove a load of hay
+             Once found his cart bemired.
+          Poor man! the spot was far away
+             From human help--retired,
+          In some rude country place,
+          In Brittany, as near as I can trace,
+              Near Quimper Corentan,--
+              A town that poet never sang,--
+       Which Fate, they say, puts in the traveller's path,
+       When she would rouse the man to special wrath.
+           May Heaven preserve us from that route!
+           But to our carter, hale and stout:--
+           Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst,
+             And, fill'd with rage extreme,
+           The mud-holes now he cursed,
+               And now he cursed his team,
+           And now his cart and load,--
+           Anon, the like upon himself bestow'd.
+           Upon the god he call'd at length,
+           Most famous through the world for strength.
+    "O, help me, Hercules!" cried he; "for if thy back of yore
+    This burly planet bore, thy arm can set me free."
+       This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there broke
+       A voice which thus in godlike accents spoke:--
+           "The suppliant must himself bestir,
+           Ere Hercules will aid confer.
+           Look wisely in the proper quarter,
+               To see what hindrance can be found;
+            Remove the execrable mud and mortar,
+        Which, axle-deep, beset thy wheels around.
+           Thy sledge and crowbar take,
+           And pry me up that stone, or break;
+           Now fill that rut upon the other side.
+           Hast done it?" "Yes," the man replied.
+           "Well," said the voice, "I'll aid thee now;
+           Take up thy whip." "I have ... but, how?
+               My cart glides on with ease!
+                I thank thee, Hercules."
+        "Thy team," rejoin'd the voice, "has light ado;
+         So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too."
+
+[Illustration: THE CARTER IN THE MIRE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Heron.
+
+
+          One day,--no matter when or where,--
+             A long-legg'd heron chanced to fare
+          By a certain river's brink,
+          With his long, sharp beak
+           Helved on his slender neck;
+        'Twas a fish-spear, you might think.
+        The water was clear and still,
+        The carp and the pike there at will
+          Pursued their silent fun,
+          Turning up, ever and anon,
+          A golden side to the sun.
+       With ease might the heron have made
+       Great profits in his fishing trade.
+       So near came the scaly fry,
+       They might be caught by the passer-by.
+       But he thought he better might
+       Wait for a better appetite--
+       For he lived by rule, and could not eat,
+       Except at his hours, the best of meat.
+       Anon his appetite return'd once more;
+       So, approaching again the shore,
+       He saw some tench taking their leaps,
+       Now and then, from their lowest deeps.
+       With as dainty a taste as Horace's rat,
+       He turn'd away from such food as that.
+       "What, tench for a heron! poh!
+       I scorn the thought, and let them go."
+    The tench refused, there came a gudgeon;
+    "For all that," said the bird, "I budge on.
+    I'll ne'er open my beak, if the gods please,
+    For such mean little fishes as these."
+    He did it for less; | For it came to pass,
+       That not another fish could he see;
+       And, at last, so hungry was he,
+       That he thought it of some avail
+       To find on the bank a single snail.
+
+    _Such is the sure result_
+    _Of being too difficult._
+
+    _Would you be strong and great_
+    _Learn to accommodate._
+
+[Illustration: THE HERON.]
+
+
+
+
+The Head and the Tail of the Serpent.
+
+
+       Two parts the serpent has--
+             Of men the enemies--
+       The head and tail: the same
+       Have won a mighty fame,
+           Next to the cruel Fates;--
+       So that, indeed, hence
+             They once had great debates
+          About precedence.
+       The first had always gone ahead;
+       The tail had been for ever led;
+       And now to Heaven it pray'd,
+             And said,
+       "O, many and many a league,
+          Dragg'd on in sore fatigue,
+          Behind his back I go.
+       Shall he for ever use me so?
+       Am I his humble servant?
+       No. Thanks to God most fervent!
+          His brother I was born,
+          And not his slave forlorn.
+          The self-same blood in both,
+          I'm just as good as he:
+          A poison dwells in me
+       As virulent as doth
+       In him. In mercy, heed,
+          And grant me this decree,
+       That I, in turn, may lead--
+          My brother, follow me.
+       My course shall be so wise,
+       That no complaint shall rise."
+    With cruel kindness Heaven granted
+       The very thing he blindly wanted:
+             At once this novel guide,
+       That saw no more in broad daylight
+       Than in the murk of darkest night,
+             His powers of leading tried,
+    Struck trees, and men, and stones, and bricks,
+       And led his brother straight to Styx.
+          And to the same unlovely home,
+          Some states by such an error come.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEAD & THE TAIL OF THE SERPENT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Dog And His Master's Dinner.
+
+
+    Our eyes are not made proof against the fair,
+          Nor hands against the touch of gold.
+             Fidelity is sadly rare,
+       And has been from the days of old.
+       Well taught his appetite to check,
+          And do full many a handy trick,
+          A dog was trotting, light and quick,
+       His master's dinner on his neck.
+    A temperate, self-denying dog was he,
+    More than, with such a load, he liked to be.
+    But still he was, while many such as we
+    Would not have scrupled to make free.
+    Strange that to dogs a virtue you may teach,
+    Which, do your best, to men you vainly preach!
+    This dog of ours, thus richly fitted out,
+    A mastiff met, who wish'd the meat, no doubt.
+    To get it was less easy than he thought:
+          The porter laid it down and fought.
+          Meantime some other dogs arrive:
+          Such dogs are always thick enough,
+          And, fearing neither kick nor cuff,
+             Upon the public thrive.
+          Our hero, thus o'ermatch'd and press'd,--
+          The meat in danger manifest,--
+          Is fain to share it with the rest;
+          And, looking very calm and wise,
+          "No anger, gentlemen," he cries:
+          "My morsel will myself suffice;
+          The rest shall be your welcome prize."
+          With this, the first his charge to violate,
+          He snaps a mouthful from his freight.
+          Then follow mastiff, cur, and pup,
+          Till all is cleanly eaten up.
+          Not sparingly the party feasted,
+          And not a dog of all but tasted.
+
+                _In some such manner men abuse_
+                _Of towns and states the revenues._
+                _The sheriffs, aldermen, and mayor,_
+                _Come in for each a liberal share._
+
+[Illustration: THE DOG AND HIS MASTER'S DINNER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Joker and the Fishes.
+
+
+       A joker at a banker's table,
+             Most amply spread to satisfy
+          The height of epicurean wishes,
+           Had nothing near but little fishes.
+       So, taking several of the fry,
+       He whisper'd to them very nigh,
+       And seem'd to listen for reply.
+       The guests much wonder'd what it meant,
+       And stared upon him all intent.
+       The joker, then, with sober face,
+       Politely thus explain'd the case:
+       "A friend of mine, to India bound,
+             Has been, I fear,
+             Within a year,
+       By rocks or tempests wreck'd and drown'd.
+       I ask'd these strangers from the sea
+       To tell me where my friend might be.
+          But all replied they were too young
+       To know the least of such a matter--
+       The older fish could tell me better.
+          Pray, may I hear some older tongue?"
+       What relish had the gentlefolks
+       For such a sample of his jokes,
+       Is more than I can now relate.
+       They put, I'm sure, upon his plate,
+       A monster of so old a date,
+       He must have known the names and fate
+       Of all the daring voyagers,
+       Who, following the moon and stars,
+       Have, by mischances, sunk their bones
+       Within the realms of Davy Jones;
+       And who, for centuries, had seen,
+    Far down, within the fathomless,
+    Where whales themselves are sceptreless,
+       The ancients in their halls of green.
+
+[Illustration: THE JOKER AND THE FISHES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Rat and the Oyster.
+
+
+    A country rat, of little brains,
+          Grown weary of inglorious rest,
+    Left home with all its straws and grains,
+      Resolved to know beyond his nest.
+    When peeping through the nearest fence,
+    "How big the world is, how immense!"
+    He cried; "there rise the Alps, and that
+    Is doubtless famous Ararat."
+    His mountains were the works of moles,
+    Or dirt thrown up in digging holes!
+    Some days of travel brought him where
+    The tide had left the oysters bare.
+    Since here our traveller saw the sea,
+    He thought these shells the ships must be.
+    "My father was, in truth," said he,
+      "A coward, and an ignoramus;
+    He dared not travel: as for me,
+      I've seen the ships and ocean famous;
+    Have cross'd the deserts without drinking,
+    And many dangerous streams unshrinking."
+    Among the shut-up shell-fish, one
+    Was gaping widely at the sun;
+    It breathed, and drank the air's perfume,
+    Expanding, like a flower in bloom.
+      Both white and fat, its meat
+      Appear'd a dainty treat.
+    Our rat, when he this shell espied,
+    Thought for his stomach to provide.
+    "If not mistaken in the matter,"
+    Said he, "no meat was ever fatter,
+    Or in its flavour half so fine,
+    As that on which to-day I dine."
+    Thus full of hope, the foolish chap
+      Thrust in his head to taste,
+    And felt the pinching of a trap--
+      The oyster closed in haste.
+
+    _Now those to whom the world is new_
+    _Are wonder-struck at every view;_
+    _And the marauder finds his match,_
+    _When he is caught who thinks to catch._
+
+[Illustration: THE RAT AND THE OYSTER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep.
+
+
+      A goat, a sheep, and porker fat,
+            All to the market rode together.
+      Their own amusement was not that
+        Which caused their journey thither.
+    Their coachman did not mean to "set them down"
+    To see the shows and wonders of the town.
+        The porker cried, in piercing squeals,
+        As if with butchers at his heels.
+        The other beasts, of milder mood,
+        The cause by no means understood.
+        They saw no harm, and wonder'd why
+        At such a rate the hog should cry.
+        "Hush there, old piggy!" said the man,
+        "And keep as quiet as you can.
+        What wrong have you to squeal about,
+        And raise this dev'lish, deaf'ning shout?
+        These stiller persons at your side
+        Have manners much more dignified.
+              Pray, have you heard
+              A single word
+        Come from that gentleman in wool?
+        That proves him wise." "That proves him fool!"
+            The testy hog replied;
+              "For did he know
+              To what we go,
+        He'd cry almost to split his throat;
+        So would her ladyship the goat.
+        They only think to lose with ease,
+        The goat her milk, the sheep his fleece:
+        They're, maybe, right; but as for me
+        This ride is quite another matter.
+        Of service only on the platter,
+        My death is quite a certainty.
+        Adieu, my dear old piggery!"
+        The porker's logic proved at once
+        Himself a prophet and a dunce.
+
+        _Hope ever gives a present ease,_
+        _But fear beforehand kills:_
+        _The wisest he who least foresees_
+        _Inevitable ills._
+
+[Illustration: THE HOG THE GOAT AND THE SHEEP.]
+
+
+
+
+The Rat and the Elephant.
+
+
+      A rat, of quite the smallest size,
+          Fix'd on an elephant his eyes,
+      And jeer'd the beast of high descent
+      Because his feet so slowly went.
+      Upon his back, three stories high,
+      There sat, beneath a canopy,
+      A certain sultan of renown,
+        His dog, and cat, and wife sublime,
+        His parrot, servant, and his wine,
+      All pilgrims to a distant town.
+      The rat profess'd to be amazed
+      That all the people stood and gazed
+      With wonder, as he pass'd the road,
+      Both at the creature and his load.
+      "As if," said he, "to occupy
+      A little more of land or sky
+    Made one, in view of common sense,
+      Of greater worth and consequence!
+      What see ye, men, in this parade,
+      That food for wonder need be made?
+      The bulk which makes a child afraid?
+      In truth, I take myself to be,
+      In all aspects, as good as he."
+      And further might have gone his vaunt;
+        But, darting down, the cat
+        Convinced him that a rat
+      Is smaller than an elephant.
+
+[Illustration: THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass and the Dog.
+
+
+    Along the road an ass and dog
+          One master following, did jog.
+    Their master slept: meanwhile, the ass
+    Applied his nippers to the grass,
+    Much pleased in such a place to stop,
+    Though there no thistle he could crop.
+    He would not be too delicate,
+    Nor spoil a dinner for a plate,
+    Which, but for that, his favourite dish,
+    Were all that any ass could wish.
+      "My dear companion," Towser said,--
+    "'Tis as a starving dog I ask it,--
+    Pray lower down your loaded basket,
+      And let me get a piece of bread."
+    No answer--not a word!--indeed,
+    The truth was, our Arcadian steed
+    Fear'd lest, for every moment's flight,
+    His nimble teeth should lose a bite.
+    At last, "I counsel you," said he, "to wait
+      Till master is himself awake,
+      Who then, unless I much mistake,
+    Will give his dog the usual bait."
+    Meanwhile, there issued from the wood
+    A creature of the wolfish brood,
+    Himself by famine sorely pinch'd.
+    At sight of him the donkey flinch'd,
+    And begg'd the dog to give him aid.
+    The dog budged not, but answer made,--
+    "I counsel thee, my friend, to run,
+    Till master's nap is fairly done;
+    There can, indeed, be no mistake,
+    That he will very soon awake;
+    Till then, scud off with all your might;
+    And should he snap you in your flight,
+    This ugly wolf,--why, let him feel
+    The greeting of your well-shod heel.
+    I do not doubt, at all, but that
+    Will be enough to lay him flat."
+      But ere he ceased it was too late;
+      The ass had met his cruel fate.
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS AND THE DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+Education.
+
+
+    Lapluck and Cæsar brothers were, descended
+          From dogs by Fame the most commended,
+        Who falling, in their puppyhood,
+          To different masters anciently,
+    One dwelt and hunted in the boundless wood;
+      From thieves the other kept a kitchen free.
+        At first, each had another name;
+        But, by their bringing up, it came,
+      While one improved upon his nature,
+      The other grew a sordid creature,
+        Till, by some scullion called Lapluck,
+        The name ungracious ever stuck.
+          To high exploits his brother grew,
+        Put many a stag at bay, and tore
+        Full many a trophy from the boar;
+          In short, him first, of all his crew,
+            The world as Cæsar knew;
+      And care was had, lest, by a baser mate,
+      His noble blood should e'er degenerate.
+      Not so with him of lower station,
+      Whose race became a countless nation--
+      The common turnspits throughout France--
+      Where danger is, they don't advance--
+      Precisely the Antipodes
+      Of what we call the Cæsars, these!
+
+    _Oft falls the son below his sire's estate:_
+    _Through want of care all things degenerate._
+    _For lack of nursing Nature and her gifts,_
+    _What crowds from gods become mere kitchen-thrifts!_
+
+[Illustration: EDUCATION.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Dogs and the Dead Ass.
+
+
+      Two lean and hungry mastiffs once espied
+        A dead ass floating on a water wide.
+      The distance growing more and more,
+      Because the wind the carcass bore,--
+      "My friend," said one, "your eyes are best;
+      Pray let them on the water rest:
+      What thing is that I seem to see?
+      An ox, or horse? what can it be?"
+      "Hey!" cried his mate; "what matter which,
+      Provided we could get a flitch?
+      It doubtless is our lawful prey:
+      The puzzle is to find some way
+      To get the prize; for wide the space
+      To swim, with wind against your face.
+      Let's drink the flood; our thirsty throats
+      Will gain the end as well as boats.
+      The water swallow'd, by and by
+      We'll have the carcass, high and dry--
+      Enough to last a week, at least."
+      Both drank as some do at a feast;
+    Their breath was quench'd before their thirst,
+      And presently the creatures burst!
+
+      _And such is man. Whatever he_
+      _May set his soul to do or be,_
+      _To him is possibility._
+        _How many vows he makes!_
+        _How many steps he takes!_
+      _How does he strive, and pant, and strain,_
+      _Fortune's or Glory's prize to gain!_
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO DOGS AND THE DEAD ASS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Monkey and the Leopard.
+
+
+      A monkey and a leopard were
+          The rivals at a country fair.
+      Each advertised his own attractions.
+        Said one, "Good sirs, the highest place
+        My merit knows; for, of his grace,
+        The king hath seen me face to face;
+      And, judging by his looks and actions,
+      I gave the best of satisfactions.
+      When I am dead, 'tis plain enough,
+      My skin will make his royal muff.
+      So richly is it streak'd and spotted,
+      So delicately waved and dotted,
+      Its various beauty cannot fail to please."
+      And, thus invited, everybody sees;
+      But soon they see, and soon depart.
+      The monkey's show-bill to the mart
+      His merits thus sets forth the while,
+      All in his own peculiar style:--
+      "Come, gentlemen, I pray you, come;
+      In magic arts I am at home.
+      The whole variety in which
+      My neighbour boasts himself so rich,
+      Is to his simple skin confined,
+      While mine is living in the mind.
+      For I can speak, you understand;
+      Can dance, and practise sleight-of-hand;
+    Can jump through hoops, and balance sticks;
+    In short, can do a thousand tricks;
+      One penny is my charge to you,
+      And, if you think the price won't do,
+      When you have seen, then I'll restore
+      Each man his money at the door."
+
+      _The ape was not to reason blind;_
+      _For who in wealth of dress can find_
+      _Such charms as dwell in wealth of mind?_
+      _One meets our ever-new desires,_
+      _The other in a moment tires._
+      _Alas! how many lords there are,_
+        _Of mighty sway and lofty mien,_
+      _Who, like this leopard at the fair,_
+        _Show all their talents on the skin!_
+
+[Illustration: THE MONKEY AND THE LEOPARD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Acorn and the Pumpkin.
+
+
+      God's works are good. This truth to prove
+          Around the world I need not move;
+        I do it by the nearest pumpkin.
+      "This fruit so large, on vine so small,"
+        Surveying once, exclaim'd a bumpkin--
+      "What could He mean who made us all?
+      He's left this pumpkin out of place.
+      If I had order'd in the case,
+      Upon that oak it should have hung--
+      A noble fruit as ever swung
+      To grace a tree so firm and strong.
+      Indeed, it was a great mistake,
+          As this discovery teaches,
+      That I myself did not partake
+      His counsels whom my curate preaches.
+      All things had then in order come;
+        This acorn, for example,
+          Not bigger than my thumb,
+      Had not disgraced a tree so ample.
+      The more I think, the more I wonder
+      To see outraged proportion's laws,
+      And that without the slightest cause;
+    God surely made an awkward blunder."
+      With such reflections proudly fraught,
+      Our sage grew tired of mighty thought,
+      And threw himself on Nature's lap,
+      Beneath an oak, to take his nap.
+      Plump on his nose, by lucky hap,
+      An acorn fell: he waked, and in
+      The scarf he wore beneath his chin,
+      He found the cause of such a bruise
+      As made him different language use.
+      "O! O!" he cried; "I bleed! I bleed!
+      And this is what has done the deed!
+      But, truly, what had been my fate,
+      Had this had half a pumpkin's weight!
+      I see that God had reasons good,
+      And all His works were understood."
+      Thus home he went in humbler mood.
+
+[Illustration: THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fool who Sold Wisdom.
+
+
+    A fool, in town, did wisdom cry;
+          The people, eager, flock'd to buy.
+      Each for his money got,
+      Paid promptly on the spot,
+      Besides a box upon the head,
+      Two fathoms' length of thread.
+    The most were vex'd--but quite in vain,
+    The public only mock'd their pain.
+    The wiser they who nothing said,
+    But pocketed the box and thread.
+    To search the meaning of the thing
+    Would only laughs and hisses bring.
+    Hath reason ever guaranteed
+    The wit of fools in speech or deed?
+    'Tis said of brainless heads in France,
+    The cause of what they do is chance.
+    One dupe, however, needs must know
+    What meant the thread, and what the blow
+    So ask'd a sage, to make it sure.
+    "They're both hieroglyphics pure,"
+    The sage replied without delay;
+    "All people well advised will stay
+    From fools this fibre's length away,
+    Or get--I hold it sure as fate--
+    The other symbol on the pate.
+    So far from cheating you of gold,
+    The fool this wisdom fairly sold."
+
+[Illustration: THE FOOL WHO SOLD WISDOM.]
+
+
+
+
+The Oyster and the Litigants.
+
+
+        Two pilgrims on the sand espied
+            An oyster thrown up by the tide.
+        In hope, both swallow'd ocean's fruit;
+        But ere the fact there came dispute.
+        While one stoop'd down to take the prey,
+        The other push'd him quite away.
+          Said he, "'Twere rather meet
+          To settle which shall eat.
+        Why, he who first the oyster saw
+        Should be its eater by the law;
+        The other should but see him do it."
+        Replied his mate, "If thus you view it,
+        Thank God the lucky eye is mine."
+        "But I've an eye not worse than thine,"
+        The other cried, "and will be cursed,
+        If, too, I didn't see it first."
+        "You saw it, did you? Grant it true,
+        I saw it then, and felt it too."
+            Amidst this sweet affair,
+          Arrived a person very big,
+          Ycleped Sir Nincom Periwig.
+    They made him judge,--to set the matter square.
+        Sir Nincom, with a solemn face,
+        Took up the oyster and the case:
+        In opening both, the first he swallow'd,
+        And, in due time, his judgment follow'd.
+    "Attend: the court awards you each a shell
+    Cost free; depart in peace, and use them well."
+
+        _Foot up the cost of suits at law,_
+        _The leavings reckon and awards,_
+        _The cash you'll see Sir Nincom draw,_
+        _And leave the parties--purse and cards._
+
+[Illustration: THE OYSTER AND THE LITIGANTS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf and the Lean Dog.
+
+
+        A Troutling, some time since,
+            Endeavour'd vainly to convince
+          A hungry fisherman
+      Of his unfitness for the frying-pan.
+        The fisherman had reason good--
+        The troutling did the best he could--
+          Both argued for their lives.
+        Now, if my present purpose thrives,
+      I'll prop my former proposition
+      By building on a small addition.
+        A certain wolf, in point of wit
+        The prudent fisher's opposite,
+        A dog once finding far astray,
+        Prepared to take him as his prey.
+          The dog his leanness pled;
+          "Your lordship, sure," he said,
+          "Cannot be very eager
+          To eat a dog so meagre.
+        To wait a little do not grudge:
+    The wedding of my master's only daughter
+    Will cause of fatted calves and fowls a slaughter;
+        And then, as you yourself can judge,
+        I cannot help becoming fatter."
+        The wolf, believing, waived the matter,
+        And so, some days therefrom,
+          Return'd with sole design to see
+          If fat enough his dog might be.
+        The rogue was now at home:
+        He saw the hunter through the fence.
+          "My friend," said he, "please wait;
+        I'll be with you a moment hence,
+          And fetch our porter of the gate."
+        This porter was a dog immense,
+        That left to wolves no future tense.
+          Suspicion gave our wolf a jog,--
+          It might not be so safely tamper'd.
+            "My service to your porter dog,"
+          Was his reply, as off he scamper'd.
+          His legs proved better than his head,
+          And saved him life to learn his trade.
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF AND THE LEAN DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+Nothing too Much.
+
+
+    Look where we will throughout creation,
+        We look in vain for moderation.
+
+    The grain, best gift of Ceres fair,
+    Green waving in the genial air,
+    By overgrowth exhausts the soil;
+      By superfluity of leaves
+      Defrauds the treasure of its sheaves,
+    And mocks the busy farmer's toil.
+    Not less redundant is the tree,
+    So sweet a thing is luxury.
+    The grain within due bounds to keep,
+    Their Maker licenses the sheep
+    The leaves excessive to retrench.
+      In troops they spread across the plain,
+      And, nibbling down the hapless grain,
+    Contrive to spoil it, root and branch.
+      So, then, with licence from on high,
+    The wolves are sent on sheep to prey;
+    The whole the greedy gluttons slay;
+      Or, if they don't, they try.
+
+    Next, men are sent on wolves to take
+      The vengeance now condign:
+    In turn the same abuse they make
+      Of this behest divine.
+
+    Of animals, the human kind
+    Are to excess the most inclined.
+    On low and high we make the charge,--
+    Indeed, upon the race at large.
+    There liveth not the soul select
+    That sinneth not in this respect.
+    Of "Nought too much," the fact is,
+    All preach the truth,--none practise.
+
+[Illustration: NOTHING TOO MUCH.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cat and the Fox.
+
+
+    The cat and fox, when saints were all the rage
+      Together went upon pilgrimage.
+    Our pilgrims, as a thing of course,
+    Disputed till their throats were hoarse.
+      Then, dropping to a lower tone,
+    They talk'd of this, and talk'd of that,
+    Till Renard whisper'd to the cat,
+      "You think yourself a knowing one:
+    How many cunning tricks have you?
+    For I've a hundred, old and new,
+    All ready in my haversack."
+    The cat replied, "I do not lack,
+      Though with but one provided;
+    And, truth to honour, for that matter,
+    I hold it than a thousand better."
+      In fresh dispute they sided;
+    And loudly were they at it, when
+    Approach'd a mob of dogs and men.
+    "Now," said the cat, "your tricks ransack,
+    And put your cunning brains to rack,
+    One life to save; I'll show you mine--
+    A trick, you see, for saving nine."
+    With that, she climb'd a lofty pine.
+    The fox his hundred ruses tried,
+      And yet no safety found.
+    A hundred times he falsified
+      The nose of every hound.--
+    Was here, and there, and everywhere,
+      Above, and under ground;
+    But yet to stop he did not dare,
+    Pent in a hole, it was no joke,
+    To meet the terriers or the smoke.
+    So, leaping into upper air,
+    He met two dogs, that choked him there.
+
+        _Expedients may be too many,_
+      _Consuming time to choose and try._
+        _On one, but that as good as any,_
+      _'Tis best in danger to rely._
+
+[Illustration: THE CAT AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Monkey and the Cat.
+
+
+    Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat,
+        (The one was a monkey, the other a cat,)
+        Co-servants and lodgers:
+        More mischievous codgers
+    Ne'er mess'd from a platter, since platters were flat.
+    Was anything wrong in the house or about it,
+    The neighbours were blameless,--no mortal could doubt it;
+    For Bertrand was thievish, and Ratto so nice,
+    More attentive to cheese than he was to the mice.
+    One day the two plunderers sat by the fire,
+    Where chestnuts were roasting, with looks of desire.
+    To steal them would be a right noble affair.
+    A double inducement our heroes drew there--
+    'Twould benefit them, could they swallow their fill,
+    And then 'twould occasion to somebody ill.
+    Said Bertrand to Ratto, "My brother, to-day
+    Exhibit your powers in a masterly way,
+        And take me these chestnuts, I pray.
+        Which were I but otherwise fitted
+        (As I am ingeniously witted)
+        For pulling things out of the flame,
+        Would stand but a pitiful game."
+    "'Tis done," replied Ratto, all prompt to obey;
+    And thrust out his paw in a delicate way.
+        First giving the ashes a scratch,
+        He open'd the coveted batch;
+        Then lightly and quickly impinging,
+        He drew out, in spite of the singeing,
+    One after another, the chestnuts at last,--
+    While Bertrand contrived to devour them as fast.
+        A servant girl enters. Adieu to the fun.
+        Our Ratto was hardly contented, says one.--
+
+        _No more are the princes, by flattery paid_
+        _For furnishing help in a different trade,_
+          _And burning their fingers to bring_
+          _More power to some mightier king._
+
+[Illustration: THE MONKEY AND THE CAT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Spider and the Swallow.
+
+
+        "O Jupiter, whose fruitful brain,
+              By odd obstetrics freed from pain,
+        Bore Pallas, erst my mortal foe,
+        Pray listen to my tale of woe.
+        This Progne takes my lawful prey.
+        As through the air she cuts her way,
+        My flies she catches from my door,--
+          Yes, _mine_--I emphasize the word,--
+        And, but for this accursed bird,
+        My net would hold an ample store:
+        For I have woven it of stuff
+        To hold the strongest strong enough."
+        'Twas thus, in terms of insolence,
+        Complain'd the fretful spider, once
+          Of palace-tapestry a weaver,
+        But then a spinster and deceiver,
+        That hoped within her toils to bring
+        Of insects all that ply the wing.
+        The sister swift of Philomel,
+        Intent on business, prosper'd well;
+        In spite of the complaining pest,
+        The insects carried to her nest--
+        Nest pitiless to suffering flies--
+        Mouths gaping aye, to gormandize,
+          Of young ones clamouring,
+            And stammering,
+        With unintelligible cries.
+        The spider, with but head and feet,
+          And powerless to compete
+          With wings so fleet,
+          Soon saw herself a prey.
+        The swallow, passing swiftly by,
+          Bore web and all away,
+        The spinster dangling in the sky!
+
+        _Two tables hath our Maker set_
+        _For all that in this world are met._
+          _To seats around the first_
+    _The skilful, vigilant, and strong are beckon'd:_
+          _Their hunger and their thirst_
+    _The rest must quell with leavings at the second._
+
+[Illustration: THE SPIDER AND THE SWALLOW.]
+
+
+
+
+The Dog whose Ears were Cropped.
+
+
+    "What have I done, I'd like to know,
+            To make my master maim me so?
+        A pretty figure I shall cut!
+    From other dogs I'll keep, in kennel shut.
+    Ye kings of beasts, or rather tyrants, ho!
+      Would any beast have served you so?"
+      Thus Growler cried, a mastiff young;--
+      The man, whom pity never stung,
+        Went on to prune him of his ears.
+    Though Growler whined about his losses,
+        He found, before the lapse of years,
+    Himself a gainer by the process;
+      For, being by his nature prone
+      To fight his brethren for a bone,
+      He'd oft come back from sad reverse
+      With those appendages the worse.
+        All snarling dogs have ragged ears.
+
+      The less of hold for teeth of foe,
+      The better will the battle go.
+        When, in a certain place, one fears
+      The chance of being hurt or beat,
+      He fortifies it from defeat.
+        Besides the shortness of his ears,
+      See Growler arm'd against his likes
+      With gorget full of ugly spikes.
+      A wolf would find it quite a puzzle
+      To get a hold about his muzzle.
+
+[Illustration: THE DOG WHOSE EARS WERE CROPPED.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lioness and the Bear.
+
+
+      The lioness had lost her young;
+          A hunter stole it from the vale;
+      The forests and the mountains rung
+        Responsive to her hideous wail.
+      Nor night, nor charms of sweet repose,
+      Could still the loud lament that rose
+          From that grim forest queen.
+        No animal, as you might think,
+        With such a noise could sleep a wink.
+          A bear presumed to intervene.
+            "One word, sweet friend," quoth she,
+            "And that is all, from me.
+      The young that through your teeth have pass'd,
+        In file unbroken by a fast,
+            Had they nor dam nor sire?"
+            "They had them both." "Then I desire,
+    Since all their deaths caused no such grievous riot,
+    While mothers died of grief beneath your fiat,
+    To know why you yourself cannot be quiet?"
+        "I quiet!--I!--a wretch bereaved!
+        My only son!--such anguish be relieved!
+        No, never! All for me below
+        Is but a life of tears and woe!"--
+        "But say, why doom yourself to sorrow so?"--
+        "Alas! 'tis Destiny that is my foe."
+
+        _Such language, since the mortal fall,_
+        _Has fallen from the lips of all._
+        _Ye human wretches, give your heed;_
+        _For your complaints there's little need._
+      _Let him who thinks his own the hardest case,_
+        _Some widowed, childless Hecuba behold,_
+        _Herself to toil and shame of slavery sold,_
+      _And he will own the wealth of heavenly grace._
+
+[Illustration: THE LIONESS AND THE BEAR.]
+
+
+
+
+The Mice and the Owl.
+
+
+      A pine was by a woodman fell'd,
+          Which ancient, huge, and hollow tree
+      An owl had for his palace held--
+        A bird the Fates had kept in fee,
+        Interpreter to such as we.
+      Within the caverns of the pine,
+      With other tenants of that mine,
+      Were found full many footless mice,
+      But well provision'd, fat, and nice.
+      The bird had bit off all their feet,
+      And fed them there with heaps of wheat.
+      That this owl reason'd, who can doubt?
+      When to the chase he first went out,
+      And home alive the vermin brought,
+      Which in his talons he had caught,
+      The nimble creatures ran away.
+      Next time, resolved to make them stay,
+    He cropp'd their legs, and found, with pleasure,
+    That he could eat them at his leisure;
+      It were impossible to eat
+      Them all at once, did health permit.
+      His foresight, equal to our own,
+      In furnishing their food was shown.
+      Now, let Cartesians, if they can,
+        Pronounce this owl a mere machine.
+      Could springs originate the plan
+        Of maiming mice when taken lean,
+        To fatten for his soup-tureen?
+      If reason did no service there,
+      I do not know it anywhere.
+        Observe the course of argument:
+    These vermin are no sooner caught than gone:
+      They must be used as soon, 'tis evident;
+        But this to all cannot be done.
+          Hence, while their ribs I lard,
+        I must from their elopement guard.
+          But how?--A plan complete!--
+          I'll clip them of their feet!
+      Now, find me, in your human schools,
+      A better use of logic's tools!
+
+[Illustration: THE MICE AND THE OWL.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cat and the Two Sparrows.
+
+
+        Contemporary with a sparrow tame
+              There lived a cat; from tenderest age,
+      Of both, the basket and the cage
+          Had household gods the same.
+    The bird's sharp beak full oft provoked the cat,
+    Who play'd in turn, but with a gentle pat,
+    His wee friend sparing with a merry laugh,
+    Not punishing his faults by half.
+      In short, he scrupled much the harm,
+      Should he with points his ferule arm.
+      The Sparrow, less discreet than he,
+      With dagger beak made very free.
+      Sir Cat, a person wise and staid,
+      Excused the warmth with which he play'd:
+        For 'tis full half of friendship's art
+        To take no joke in serious part.
+        Familiar since they saw the light,
+          Mere habit kept their friendship good;
+        Fair play had never turn'd to fight,
+          Till, of their neighbourhood,
+        Another sparrow came to greet
+        Old Ratto grave and Saucy Pete.
+        Between the birds a quarrel rose,
+          And Ratto took his side.
+        "A pretty stranger, with such blows
+          To beat our friend!" he cried.
+        "A neighbour's sparrow eating ours!
+        Not so, by all the feline powers."
+        And quick the stranger he devours.
+          "Now, truly," saith Sir Cat,
+        "I know how sparrows taste by that.
+        Exquisite, tender, delicate!"
+        This thought soon seal'd the other's fate.--
+        But hence what moral can I bring?
+        For, lacking that important thing,
+        A fable lacks its finishing:
+        I seem to see of one some trace,
+        But still its shadow mocks my chase.
+
+[Illustration: THE CAT AND THE TWO SPARROWS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Goats.
+
+
+      Two goats, who self-emancipated,--
+          The white that on their feet they wore
+    Look'd back to noble blood of yore,--
+      Once quit the lowly meadows, sated,
+    And sought the hills, as it would seem:
+      In search of luck, by luck they met
+    Each other at a mountain stream.
+      As bridge a narrow plank was set,
+    On which, if truth must be confest,
+    Two weasels scarce could go abreast.
+    And then the torrent, foaming white,
+    As down it tumbled from the height,
+    Might well those Amazons affright.
+    But maugre such a fearful rapid,
+    Both took the bridge, the goats intrepid!
+      I seem to see our Louis Grand
+        And Philip IV. advance
+        To the Isle of Conference,
+        That lies 'twixt Spain and France,
+      Each sturdy for his glorious land.
+      Thus each of our adventurers goes,
+      Till foot to foot, and nose to nose,
+      Somewhere about the midst they meet,
+      And neither will an inch retreat.
+    For why? they both enjoy'd the glory
+    Of ancestors in ancient story.
+      The one, a goat of peerless rank,
+      Which, browsing on Sicilian bank,
+      The Cyclop gave to Galatæa;
+      The other famous Amalthæa,
+      The goat that suckled Jupiter,
+      As some historians aver.
+      For want of giving back, in troth,
+      A common fall involved them both.--
+      A common accident, no doubt,
+      On Fortune's changeful route.
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO GOATS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Old Cat and the Young Mouse.
+
+
+    A young and inexperienced mouse
+        Had faith to try a veteran cat,--
+      Raminagrobis, death to rat,
+    And scourge of vermin through the house,--
+    Appealing to his clemency
+      With reasons sound and fair.
+    "Pray let me live; a mouse like me
+      It were not much to spare.
+    Am I, in such a family,
+    A burden? Would my largest wish
+    Our wealthy host impoverish?
+    A grain of wheat will make my meal;
+    A nut will fat me like a seal.
+    I'm lean at present; please to wait,
+    And for your heirs reserve my fate."
+      The captive mouse thus spake.
+    Replied the captor, "You mistake;
+    To me shall such a thing be said?
+    Address the deaf! address the dead!
+    A cat to pardon!--old one too!
+    Why, such a thing I never knew.
+      Thou victim of my paw,
+      By well-establish'd law,
+      Die as a mousling should,
+      And beg the sisterhood
+      Who ply the thread and shears,
+      To lend thy speech their ears.
+      Some other like repast
+      My heirs may find, or fast."
+
+      He ceased. The moral's plain.
+      _Youth always hopes its ends to gain,_
+      _Believes all spirits like its own:_
+      _Old age is not to mercy prone._
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD CAT AND THE YOUNG MOUSE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Sick Stag
+
+
+      A stag, where stags abounded,
+          Fell sick and was surrounded
+      Forthwith by comrades kind,
+        All pressing to assist,
+        Or see, their friend, at least,
+      And ease his anxious mind--
+        An irksome multitude.
+    "Ah, sirs!" the sick was fain to cry,
+    "Pray leave me here to die,
+        As others do, in solitude.
+    Pray, let your kind attentions cease,
+    Till death my spirit shall release."
+    But comforters are not so sent:
+    On duty sad full long intent,
+    When Heaven pleased, they went:
+    But not without a friendly glass;
+    That is to say, they cropp'd the grass
+    And leaves which in that quarter grew,
+    From which the sick his pittance drew.
+    By kindness thus compell'd to fast,
+    He died for want of food at last.
+
+      _The men take off no trifling dole_
+      _Who heal the body, or the soul._
+      _Alas the times! do what we will,_
+      _They have their payment, cure or kill._
+
+[Illustration: THE SICK STAG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Quarrel of the Dogs and Cats.
+
+
+        In mansion deck'd with frieze and column,
+            Dwelt dogs and cats in multitudes;
+        Decrees, promulged in manner solemn,
+          Had pacified their ancient feuds.
+    Their lord had so arranged their meals and labours,
+        And threaten'd quarrels with the whip,
+        That, living in sweet cousinship,
+      They edified their wondering neighbours.
+        At last, some dainty plate to lick,
+        Or profitable bone to pick,
+        Bestow'd by some partiality,
+        Broke up the smooth equality.
+        The side neglected were indignant
+        At such a slight malignant.
+        From words to blows the altercation
+        Soon grew a perfect conflagration.
+      In hall and kitchen, dog and cat
+        Took sides with zeal for this or that.
+        New rules upon the cat side falling
+        Produced tremendous caterwauling.
+      Their advocate, against such rules as these,
+      Advised recurrence to the old decrees.
+    They search'd in vain, for, hidden in a nook,
+    The thievish mice had eaten up the book.
+        Another quarrel, in a trice,
+        Made many sufferers with the mice;
+        For many a veteran whisker'd-face,
+      With craft and cunning richly stored,
+        And grudges old against the race,
+      Now watch'd to put them to the sword;
+      Nor mourn'd for this that mansion's lord.
+
+      _Look wheresoever we will, we see_
+      _No creature from opponents free._
+      _'Tis nature's law for earth and sky;_
+      _'Twere vain to ask the reason why:_
+    _God's works are good,--I cannot doubt it,--_
+    _And that is all I know about it._
+
+[Illustration: THE QUARREL OF THE DOGS AND CATS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf and the Fox.
+
+
+      "Dear wolf," complain'd a hungry fox,
+            "A lean chick's meat, or veteran cock's,
+      Is all I get by toil or trick:
+      Of such a living I am sick.
+      With far less risk, you've better cheer;
+      A house you need not venture near,
+      But I must do it, spite of fear.
+      Pray, make me master of your trade.
+      And let me by that means be made
+      The first of all my race that took
+      Fat mutton to his larder's hook:
+      Your kindness shall not be repented."
+      The wolf quite readily consented.
+      "I have a brother, lately dead:
+      Go fit his skin to yours," he said.
+    'Twas done; and then the wolf proceeded:
+      "Now mark you well what must be done,
+      The dogs that guard the flock to shun."
+    The fox the lessons strictly heeded.
+      At first he boggled in his dress;
+      But awkwardness grew less and less,
+      Till perseverance gave success.
+      His education scarce complete,
+      A flock, his scholarship to greet,
+        Came rambling out that way.
+      The new-made wolf his work began,
+      Amidst the heedless nibblers ran,
+        And spread a sore dismay.
+      The bleating host now surely thought
+      That fifty wolves were on the spot:
+        Dog, shepherd, sheep, all homeward fled,
+      And left a single sheep in pawn,
+      Which Renard seized when they were gone.
+        But, ere upon his prize he fed,
+      There crow'd a cock near by, and down
+      The scholar threw his prey and gown,
+    That he might run that way the faster--
+    Forgetting lessons, prize and master.
+
+        _Reality, in every station,_
+        _Will burst out on the first occasion._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lobster and her Daughter.
+
+
+      The wise, sometimes, as lobsters do,
+      To gain their ends back foremost go.
+      It is the rower's art; and those
+      Commanders who mislead their foes,
+      Do often seem to aim their sight
+      Just where they don't intend to smite.
+      My theme, so low, may yet apply
+      To one whose fame is very high,
+        Who finds it not the hardest matter
+        A hundred-headed league to scatter.
+      What he will do, what leave undone,
+        Are secrets with unbroken seals,
+        Till victory the truth reveals.
+      Whatever he would have unknown
+      Is sought in vain. Decrees of Fate
+    Forbid to check, at first, the course
+    Which sweeps at last the torrent force.
+      One Jove, as ancient fables state,
+      Exceeds a hundred gods in weight.
+      So Fate and Louis would seem able
+        The universe to draw,
+        Bound captive to their law.--
+      But come we to our fable.
+    A mother lobster did her daughter chide:
+    "For shame, my daughter! can't you go ahead?"
+      "And how go you yourself?" the child replied;
+    "Can I be but by your example led?
+      Head foremost should I, singularly, wend,
+      While all my race pursue the other end."
+    She spoke with sense: for better or for worse,
+      Example has a universal force.
+        To some it opens wisdom's door,
+        But leads to folly many more.
+        Yet, as for backing to one's aim,
+          When properly pursued
+          The art is doubtless good,
+        At least in grim Bellona's game.
+
+[Illustration: THE LOBSTER AND HER DAUGHTER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ploughman and his Sons.
+
+    _The farmer's patient care and toil
+    Are oftener wanting than the soil._
+
+
+      A wealthy ploughman drawing near his end,
+      Call'd in his sons apart from every friend,
+      And said, "When of your sire bereft,
+      The heritage our fathers left
+      Guard well, nor sell a single field.
+      A treasure in it is conceal'd:
+      The place, precisely, I don't know,
+      But industry will serve to show.
+      The harvest past, Time's forelock take,
+      And search with plough, and spade, and rake;
+      Turn over every inch of sod,
+      Nor leave unsearch'd a single clod."
+    The father died. The sons--and not in vain--
+      Turn'd o'er the soil, and o'er again;
+      That year their acres bore
+      More grain than e'er before.
+      Though hidden money found they none,
+      Yet had their father wisely done,
+        To show by such a measure,
+        That toil itself is treasure.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLOUGHMAN AND HIS SONS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin.
+
+
+        Clad in a lion's shaggy hide,
+        An ass spread terror far and wide,
+      And, though himself a coward brute,
+      Put all the world to scampering rout:
+        But, by a piece of evil luck,
+        A portion of an ear outstuck,
+        Which soon reveal'd the error
+        Of all the panic terror.
+      Old Martin did his office quick.
+    Surprised were all who did not know the trick,
+        To see that Martin, at his will,
+        Was driving lions to the mill!
+
+    _In France, the men are not a few_
+    _Of whom this fable proves too true;_
+    _Whose valour chiefly doth reside_
+    _In coat they wear and horse they ride._
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS DRESSED IN THE LION'S SKIN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Woods and the Woodman.
+
+
+    A certain wood-chopper lost or broke
+       From his axe's eye a bit of oak.
+    The forest must needs be somewhat spared
+    While such a loss was being repair'd.
+    Came the man at last, and humbly pray'd
+       That the woods would kindly lend to him--
+       A moderate loan--a single limb,
+    Whereof might another helve be made,
+    And his axe should elsewhere drive its trade.
+    O, the oaks and firs that then might stand,
+    A pride and a joy throughout the land,
+    For their ancientness and glorious charms!
+    The innocent Forest lent him arms;
+    But bitter indeed was her regret;
+    For the wretch, his axe new-helved and whet,
+    Did nought but his benefactress spoil
+    Of the finest trees that graced her soil;
+    And ceaselessly was she made to groan,
+    Doing penance for that fatal loan.
+
+    _Behold the world-stage and its actors,_
+    _Where benefits hurt benefactors!--_
+       _A weary theme, and full of pain;_
+    _For where's the shade so cool and sweet,_
+    _Protecting strangers from the heat,_
+       _But might of such a wrong complain?_
+          _Alas! I vex myself in vain;_
+          _Ingratitude, do what I will,_
+          _Is sure to be the fashion still._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOODS AND THE WOODMAN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox, the Wolf, and the horse.
+
+
+    A fox, though young, by no means raw,
+          Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw:
+    "Ho! neighbour wolf," said he to one quite green,
+    "A creature in our meadow I have seen,--
+          Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet,--
+          The finest beast I ever met."
+          "Is he a stouter one than we?"
+          The wolf demanded, eagerly;
+          "Some picture of him let me see."
+    "If I could paint," said fox, "I should delight
+    T' anticipate your pleasure at the sight;
+    But come; who knows? perhaps it is a prey
+         By fortune offer'd in our way."
+       They went. The horse, turn'd loose to graze,
+       Not liking much their looks and ways,
+          Was just about to gallop off.
+    "Sir," said the fox, "your humble servants, we
+    Make bold to ask you what your name may be."
+       The horse, an animal with brains enough,
+    Replied, "Sirs, you yourselves may read my name;
+    My shoer round my heel hath writ the same."
+    The fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge:
+       "Me, sir, my parents did not educate,--
+       So poor, a hole was their entire estate.
+    My friend, the wolf, however, taught at college,
+          Could read it were it even Greek."
+             The wolf, to flattery weak,
+          Approach'd to verify the boast;
+          For which four teeth he lost.
+    The high raised hoof came down with such a blow,
+    As laid him bleeding on the ground full low.
+    "My brother," said the fox, "this shows how just
+       What once was taught me by a fox of wit,--
+       Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ,--
+    'All unknown things the wise mistrust.'"
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX THE WOLF AND THE HORSE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox and the Turkeys.
+
+
+       Against a robber fox, a tree
+           Some turkeys served as citadel.
+       That villain, much provoked to see
+           Each standing there as sentinel,
+              Cried out, "Such witless birds
+    At me stretch out their necks, and gobble!
+    No, by the powers! I'll give them trouble."
+               He verified his words.
+       The moon, that shined full on the oak,
+       Seem'd then to help the turkey folk.
+       But fox, in arts of siege well versed,
+       Ransack'd his bag of tricks accursed.
+       He feign'd himself about to climb;
+       Walk'd on his hinder legs sublime;
+    Then death most aptly counterfeited,
+    And seem'd anon resuscitated.
+       A practiser of wizard arts
+       Could not have fill'd so many parts.
+       In moonlight he contrived to raise
+       His tail, and make it seem a blaze:
+       And countless other tricks like that.
+       Meanwhile, no turkey slept or sat.
+       Their constant vigilance at length,
+       As hoped the fox, wore out their strength.
+       Bewilder'd by the rigs he run,
+       They lost their balance one by one.
+       As Renard slew, he laid aside,
+       Till nearly half of them had died;
+       Then proudly to his larder bore,
+       And laid them up, an ample store.
+
+             _A foe, by being over-heeded,_
+             _Has often in his plan succeeded._
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX AND THE TURKEYS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wallet.
+
+
+    From heaven, one day, did Jupiter proclaim,
+        "Let all that live before my throne appear,
+    And there if any one hath aught to blame,
+    In matter, form, or texture of his frame,
+      He may bring forth his grievance without fear.
+    Redress shall instantly be given to each.
+    Come, monkey, now, first let us have your speech.
+        You see these quadrupeds, your brothers;
+        Comparing, then, yourself with others,
+      Are you well satisfied?" "And wherefore not?"
+    Says Jock. "Haven't I four trotters with the rest?
+    Is not my visage comely as the best?
+      But this my brother Bruin, is a blot
+        On thy creation fair;
+      And sooner than be painted I'd be shot,
+        Were I, great sire, a bear."
+    The bear approaching, doth he make complaint?
+    Not he;--himself he lauds without restraint.
+      The elephant he needs must criticise;
+      To crop his ears and stretch his tail were wise;
+      A creature he of huge, misshapen size.
+    The elephant, though famed as beast judicious,
+    While on his own account he had no wishes,
+    Pronounced dame whale too big to suit his taste;
+    Of flesh and fat she was a perfect waste.
+    The little ant, again, pronounced the gnat too wee;
+    To such a speck, a vast colossus she.
+    Each censured by the rest, himself content,
+    Back to their homes all living things were sent.
+
+      _Such folly liveth yet with human fools._
+      _For others lynxes, for ourselves but moles._
+      _Great blemishes in other men we spy,_
+      _Which in ourselves we pass most kindly by._
+      _As in this world we're but way-farers,_
+      _Kind Heaven has made us wallet-bearers._
+      _The pouch behind our own defects must store,_
+      _The faults of others lodge in that before._
+
+[Illustration: THE WALLET.]
+
+
+
+
+The Woodman and Mercury.
+
+
+    A man that labour'd in the wood
+          Had lost his honest livelihood;
+              That is to say,
+      His axe was gone astray.
+      He had no tools to spare;
+      This wholly earn'd his fare.
+      Without a hope beside,
+      He sat him down and cried,
+    "Alas, my axe! where can it be?
+    O Jove! but send it back to me,
+    And it shall strike good blows for thee."
+    His prayer in high Olympus heard,
+    Swift Mercury started at the word.
+    "Your axe must not be lost," said he:
+    "Now, will you know it when you see?
+    An axe I found upon the road."
+    With that an axe of gold he show'd.
+    "Is't this?" The woodman answer'd, "Nay."
+    An axe of silver, bright and gay,
+    Refused the honest woodman too.
+    At last the finder brought to view
+    An axe of iron, steel, and wood.
+    "That's mine," he said, in joyful mood;
+    "With that I'll quite contented be."
+    The god replied, "I give the three,
+    As due reward of honesty."
+    This luck when neighbouring choppers knew,
+    They lost their axes, not a few,
+    And sent their prayers to Jupiter
+    So fast, he knew not which to hear.
+    His winged son, however, sent
+    With gold and silver axes, went.
+    Each would have thought himself a fool
+    Not to have own'd the richest tool.
+    But Mercury promptly gave, instead
+    Of it, a blow upon the head.
+
+        _With simple truth to be contented,_
+        _Is surest not to be repented;_
+        _But still there are who would_
+        _With evil trap the good,--_
+        _Whose cunning is but stupid,_
+        _For Jove is never dupéd._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOODMAN AND MERCURY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Monkey.
+
+
+      The lion, for his kingdom's sake,
+          In morals would some lessons take,
+      And therefore call'd, one summer's day,
+      The monkey, master of the arts,
+      An animal of brilliant parts,
+        To hear what he could say.
+      "Great king," the monkey thus began,
+      "To reign upon the wisest plan
+      Requires a prince to set his zeal,
+      And passion for the public weal,
+      Distinctly and quite high above
+      A certain feeling call'd self-love,
+          The parent of all vices,
+          In creatures of all sizes.
+    To will this feeling from one's breast away,
+    Is not the easy labour of a day;
+      By that your majesty august,
+      Will execute your royal trust,
+      From folly free and aught unjust."
+          "Give me," replied the king,
+          "Example of each thing."
+          "Each species," said the sage,--
+            "And I begin with ours,--
+        Exalts its own peculiar powers
+          Above sound reason's gauge.
+      Meanwhile, all other kinds and tribes
+      As fools and blockheads it describes,
+        With other compliments as cheap.
+      But, on the other hand, the same
+        Self-love inspires a beast to heap
+      The highest pyramid of fame
+      For every one that bears his name;
+      Because he justly deems such praise
+      The easiest way himself to raise.
+      'Tis my conclusion in the case,
+        That many a talent here below
+      Is but cabal, or sheer grimace,--
+        The art of seeming things to know--
+      An art in which perfection lies
+      More with the ignorant than wise."
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE MONKEY]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and the Lion.
+
+
+    The Fable Æsop tells is nearly this:--
+        A shepherd from his flock began to miss,
+    And long'd to catch the stealer of, his sheep.
+        Before a cavern, dark and deep,
+        Where wolves retired by day to sleep,
+        Which he suspected as the thieves,
+        He set his trap among the leaves;
+        And, ere he left the place,
+        He thus invoked celestial grace:--
+        "O king of all the powers divine,
+    Against the rogue but grant me this delight,
+    That this my trap may catch him in my sight,
+      And I, from twenty calves of mine,
+        Will make the fattest thine."
+      But while the words were on his tongue,
+      Forth came a lion great and strong.
+      Down crouch'd the man of sheep, and said,
+        With shivering fright half dead,
+    "Alas! that man should never be aware
+    Of what may be the meaning of his prayer!
+        To catch the robber of my flocks,
+      O king of gods, I pledged a calf to thee:
+      If from his clutches thou wilt rescue me,
+        I'll raise my offering to an ox."
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND THE LION.]
+
+
+
+
+The Horse and the Wolf.
+
+
+        A wolf who, fall'n on needy days,
+              In sharp look-out for means and ways,
+        Espied a horse turn'd out to graze.
+        His joy the reader may opine.
+        "Once got," said he, "this game were fine;
+        But if a sheep, 'twere sooner mine.
+        I can't proceed my usual way;
+        Some trick must now be put in play."
+              This said,
+        He came with measured tread,
+        And told the horse, with learned verbs,
+        He knew the power of roots and herbs,--
+        Whatever grew about those borders,--
+        He soon could cure of all disorders.
+        If he, Sir Horse, would not conceal
+          The symptoms of his case,
+        He, Doctor Wolf, would gratis heal;
+        For that to feed in such a place,
+          And run about untied,
+        Was proof itself of some disease,
+          As all the books decide.
+        "I have, good Doctor, if you please,"
+        Replied the horse, "as I presume,
+        Beneath my foot, an aposthume."
+        "My son," replied the learned leech,
+        "That part, as all our authors teach,
+        Is strikingly susceptible
+        Of ills which make acceptable
+        What you may also have from me--
+        The aid of skilful surgery."
+        The fellow, with this talk sublime,
+        Watch'd for a snap the fitting time.
+        Meanwhile, suspicious of some trick,
+          The weary patient nearer draws,
+        And gives his doctor such a kick,
+          As makes a chowder of his jaws.
+        Exclaim'd the Wolf, in sorry plight,
+          "I own those heels have served me right.
+    I err'd to quit my trade, as I will not in future;
+    Me Nature surely made for nothing but a butcher."
+
+[Illustration: THE HORSE AND THE WOLF.]
+
+
+
+
+The Eagle and the Owl.
+
+
+    The eagle and the owl, resolved to cease
+        Their war, embraced in pledge of peace.
+    On faith of king, on faith of owl, they swore
+    That they would eat each other's chicks no more.
+      "But know you mine?" said Wisdom's bird.
+        "Not I, indeed," the eagle cried.
+        "The worse for that," the owl replied:
+      "I fear your oath's a useless word;
+        I fear that you, as king, will not
+        Consider duly who or what:
+      Adieu, my young, if you should meet them!"
+      "Describe them, then, and I'll not eat them,"
+      The eagle said. The owl replied:
+      "My little ones, I say with pride,
+      For grace of form cannot be match'd,--
+      The prettiest birds that e'er were hatch'd;
+      By this you cannot fail to know them;
+      'Tis needless, therefore, that I show them."
+      At length God gives the owl a set of heirs,
+      And while at early eve abroad he fares,
+        In quest of birds and mice for food,
+        Our eagle haply spies the brood,
+        As on some craggy rock they sprawl,
+        Or nestle in some ruined wall,
+        (But which it matters not at all,)
+        And thinks them ugly little frights,
+        Grim, sad, with voice like shrieking sprites.
+    "These chicks," says he, "with looks almost infernal,
+    Can't be the darlings of our friend nocturnal.
+    I'll sup of them." And so he did, not slightly:--
+    He never sups, if he can help it, lightly.
+        The owl return'd; and, sad, he found
+        Nought left but claws upon the ground.
+    He pray'd the gods above and gods below
+    To smite the brigand who had caused his woe.
+    Quoth one, "On you alone the blame must fall;
+    Thinking your like the loveliest of all
+    You told the eagle of your young ones' graces;
+        You gave the picture of their faces:--
+        Had it of likeness any traces?"
+
+[Illustration: THE EAGLE AND THE OWL.]
+
+
+
+
+The Miser and the Monkey.
+
+
+      A Man amass'd. The thing, we know,
+          Doth often to a frenzy grow.
+    No thought had he but of his minted gold--
+    Stuff void of worth when unemploy'd, I hold.
+    Now, that this treasure might the safer be,
+        Our miser's dwelling had the sea
+    As guard on every side from every thief.
+    With pleasure, very small in my belief,
+      But very great in his, he there
+      Upon his hoard bestow'd his care.
+        No respite came of everlasting
+        Recounting, calculating, casting;
+      For some mistake would always come
+      To mar and spoil the total sum.
+      A monkey there, of goodly size,--
+      And than his lord, I think, more wise,--
+      Some doubloons from the window threw,
+      And render'd thus the count untrue.
+        The padlock'd room permitted
+        Its owner, when he quitted,
+      To leave his money on the table.
+        One day, bethought this monkey wise
+        To make the whole a sacrifice
+      To Neptune on his throne unstable.
+        I could not well award the prize
+    Between the monkey's and the miser's pleasure
+      Derived from that devoted treasure.
+        One day, then, left alone,
+      That animal, to mischief prone,
+        Coin after coin detach'd,
+        A gold jacobus snatch'd,
+        Or Portuguese doubloon,
+          Or silver ducatoon,
+        Or noble, of the English rose,
+        And flung with all his might
+        Those discs, which oft excite
+    The strongest wishes mortal ever knows.
+        Had he not heard, at last,
+      The turning of his master's key,
+        The money all had pass'd
+      The same short road to sea;
+    And not a single coin but had been pitch'd
+    Into the gulf by many a wreck enrich'd.
+
+    _Now, God preserve full many a financier_
+    _Whose use of wealth may find its likeness here!_
+
+[Illustration: THE MISER AND THE MONKEY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Vultures and the Pigeons.
+
+
+    Mars once made havoc in the air:
+        Some cause aroused a quarrel there
+    Among the birds;--not those that sing,
+    The courtiers of the merry Spring,
+    But naughty hawk and vulture folks,
+    Of hooked beak and talons keen.
+      The carcass of a dog, 'tis said,
+      Had to this civil carnage led.
+    Blood rain'd upon the swarded green,
+    And valiant deeds were done, I ween.
+    Suffice to say, that chiefs were slain,
+    And heroes strow'd the sanguine plain.
+    'Twas sport to see the battle rage,
+    And valiant hawk with hawk engage;
+    'Twas pitiful to see them fall,--
+    Torn, bleeding, weltering, gasping, all.
+    Force, courage, cunning, all were plied;
+    Intrepid troops on either side
+    No effort spared to populate
+    The dusky realms of hungry Fate.
+    This woful strife awoke compassion
+    Within another feather'd nation,
+      Of iris neck and tender heart.
+    They tried their hand at mediation--
+      To reconcile the foes, or part.
+    The pigeon people duly chose
+      Ambassadors, who work'd so well
+      As soon the murderous rage to quell,
+    And stanch the source of countless woes.
+    A truce took place, and peace ensued.
+      Alas! the people dearly paid
+      Who such pacification made!
+    Those cursed hawks at once pursued
+    The harmless pigeons, slew and ate,
+    Till towns and fields were desolate.
+
+      _The safety of the rest requires_
+    _The bad should flesh each other's spears:_
+      _Whoever peace with them desires_
+    _Had better set them by the ears._
+
+[Illustration: THE VULTURES AND THE PIGEONS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Stag and the Vine.
+
+
+    A stag, by favour of a vine,
+        Which grew where suns most genial shine,
+    And form'd a thick and matted bower
+    Which might have turn'd a summer shower,
+    Was saved from ruinous assault.
+    The hunters thought their dogs at fault,
+    And call'd them off. In danger now no more
+      The stag, a thankless wretch and vile,
+    Began to browse his benefactress o'er.
+      The hunters, listening the while,
+        The rustling heard, came back,
+        With all their yelping pack,
+      And seized him in that very place.
+      "This is," said he, "but justice, in my case.
+        Let every black ingrate
+        Henceforward profit by my fate."
+      The dogs fell to--'twere wasting breath
+      To pray those hunters at the death.
+      They left, and we will not revile 'em
+      A warning for profaners of asylum.
+
+[Illustration: THE STAG AND THE VINE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot.
+
+
+    An iron pot proposed
+        To an earthen pot a journey.
+    The latter was opposed,
+      Expressing the concern he
+    Had felt about the danger
+    Of going out a ranger.
+    He thought the kitchen hearth
+    The safest place on earth
+    For one so very brittle.
+    "For thee, who art a kettle,
+    And hast a tougher skin,
+    There's nought to keep thee in."
+    "I'll be thy body-guard,"
+      Replied the iron pot;
+    "If anything that's hard
+      Should threaten thee a jot,
+    Between you I will go,
+    And save thee from the blow."
+      This offer him persuaded.
+      The iron pot paraded
+      Himself as guard and guide
+      Close at his cousin's side.
+      Now, in their tripod way,
+      They hobble as they may;
+      And eke together bolt
+      At every little jolt,--
+      Which gives the crockery pain;
+        But presently his comrade hits
+        So hard, he dashes him to bits,
+      Before he can complain.
+
+    _Take care that you associate_
+    _With equals only, lest your fate_
+    _Between these pots should find its mate._
+
+[Illustration: THE EARTHEN POT AND THE IRON POT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Bear and the Two Companions.
+
+
+      Two fellows, needing funds, and bold,
+          A bearskin to a furrier sold,
+      Of which the bear was living still,
+      But which they presently would kill--
+        At least they said they would,
+        And vow'd their word was good.
+        The bargain struck upon the skin,
+        Two days at most must bring it in.
+    Forth went the two. More easy found than got,
+      The bear came growling at them on the trot.
+      Behold our dealers both confounded,
+      As if by thunderbolt astounded!
+    Their bargain vanish'd suddenly in air;
+    For who could plead his interest with a bear?
+      One of the friends sprung up a tree;
+      The other, cold as ice could be,
+        Fell on his face, feign'd death,
+        And closely held his breath,--
+      He having somewhere heard it said
+      The bear ne'er preys upon the dead.
+      Sir Bear, sad blockhead, was deceived--
+      The prostrate man a corpse believed;
+      But, half suspecting some deceit,
+      He feels and snuffs from head to feet,
+        And in the nostrils blows.
+      The body's surely dead, he thinks.
+      "I'll leave it," says he, "for it stinks;"
+        And off into the woods he goes.
+      The other dealer, from his tree
+      Descending cautiously, to see
+      His comrade lying in the dirt,
+        Consoling, says, "It is a wonder
+        That, by the monster forced asunder,
+      We're, after all, more scared than hurt.
+      But," addeth he, "what of the creature's skin?
+      He held his muzzle very near;
+      What did he whisper in your ear?"
+      "He gave this caution,--'Never dare
+      Again to sell the skin of bear
+      Its owner has not ceased to wear.'"
+
+[Illustration: THE BEAR AND THE TWO COMPANIONS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox
+
+
+      A Lion, old, and impotent with gout,
+          Would have some cure for age found out.
+      This king, from every species,--
+      Call'd to his aid the leeches.
+      They came, from quacks without degree
+      To doctors of the highest fee.
+      Advised, prescribed, talk'd learnedly;
+          But with the rest
+      Came not Sir Cunning Fox, M.D.
+      Sir Wolf the royal couch attended,
+        And his suspicions there express'd.
+      Forthwith his majesty, offended,
+      Resolved Sir Cunning Fox should come,
+      And sent to smoke him from his home.
+      He came, was duly usher'd in,
+      And, knowing where Sir Wolf had been,
+        Said, "Sire, abused your royal ear
+        Has been by rumours insincere;
+      To wit, that I've been self-exempt
+      From coming here, through sheer contempt.
+      But, sire, your royal health to aid,
+      I vow'd to make a pilgrimage,
+      And, on my way, met doctors sage,
+      In skill the wonder of the age,
+        Whom carefully I did consult
+        About that great debility
+        Term'd in the books senility,
+    Of which you fear, with reason, the result.
+      You lack, they say, the vital heat,
+      By age extreme become effete.
+      Drawn from a living wolf, the hide
+      Should warm and smoking be applied.
+      Sir Wolf, here, won't refuse to give
+      His hide to cure you, as I live."
+      The king was pleased with this advice.
+      Flay'd, jointed, served up in a trice,
+      Sir Wolf first wrapped the monarch up,
+      Then furnish'd him whereon to sup.
+
+      _Beware, ye courtiers, lest ye gain,_
+      _By slander's arts, less power than pain._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION THE WOLF AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Battle of the Rats and Weasels.
+
+
+    The weasels live, no more than cats,
+    On terms of friendship with the rats;
+      And, were it not that these
+      Through doors contrive to squeeze
+          Too narrow for their foes,
+        The animals long-snouted
+        Would long ago have routed,
+        And from the planet scouted
+          Their race, as I suppose.
+
+    One year it did betide,
+    When they were multiplied,
+    An army took the field
+    Of rats, with spear and shield,
+    Whose crowded ranks led on
+    A king named Ratapon.
+      The weasels, too, their banner
+      Unfurl'd in warlike manner.
+    As Fame her trumpet sounds,
+      The victory balanced well;
+    Enrich'd were fallow grounds
+      Where slaughter'd legions fell;
+    But by said trollop's tattle,
+    The loss of life in battle
+    Thinn'd most the rattish race
+    In almost every place;
+
+      And finally their rout
+      Was total, spite of stout
+      Artarpax and Psicarpax,
+    And valiant Meridarpax,
+    Who, cover'd o'er with dust,
+    Long time sustain'd their host
+    Down sinking on the plain.
+    Their efforts were in vain;
+    Fate ruled that final hour,
+    (Inexorable power!)
+    And so the captains fled
+    As well as those they led;
+    The princes perish'd all.
+    The undistinguish'd small
+    In certain holes found shelter;
+    In crowding, helter-skelter;
+    But the nobility
+    Could not go in so free,
+    Who proudly had assumed
+    Each one a helmet plumed;
+    We know not, truly, whether
+    For honour's sake the feather,
+    Or foes to strike with terror;
+    But, truly, 'twas their error.
+    Nor hole, nor crack, nor crevice
+      Will let their head-gear in;
+    While meaner rats in bevies
+      An easy passage win;--
+    So that the shafts of fate
+    Do chiefly hit the great.
+
+    _A feather in the cap_
+    _Is oft a great mishap._
+    _An equipage too grand_
+    _Comes often to a stand_
+    _Within a narrow place._
+    _The small, whate'er the case,_
+    _With ease slip through a strait,_
+    _Where larger folks must wait._
+
+[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF THE RATS AND THE WEASELS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Animals Sick of the Plague.
+
+
+      The sorest ill that Heaven hath
+          Sent on this lower world in wrath,--
+      The plague (to call it by its name,)
+          One single day of which
+        Would Pluto's ferryman enrich,--
+      Waged war on beasts, both wild and tame.
+      They died not all, but all were sick:
+      No hunting now, by force or trick,
+      To save what might so soon expire.
+      No food excited their desire;
+      Nor wolf nor fox now watch'd to slay
+      The innocent and tender prey.
+              The turtles fled;
+      So love and therefore joy were dead.
+      The lion council held, and said:
+      "My friends, I do believe
+      This awful scourge, for which we grieve,
+      Is for our sins a punishment
+      Most righteously by Heaven sent.
+      Let us our guiltiest beast resign,
+      A sacrifice to wrath divine.
+      Perhaps this offering, truly small,
+      May gain the life and health of all.
+      By history we find it noted
+      That lives have been just so devoted.
+      Then let us all turn eyes within,
+      And ferret out the hidden sin.
+      Himself let no one spare nor flatter,
+      But make clean conscience in the matter.
+    For me, my appetite has play'd the glutton
+      Too much and often upon mutton.
+      What harm had e'er my victims done?
+          I answer, truly, None.
+      Perhaps, sometimes, by hunger press'd,
+      I've eat the shepherd with the rest.
+      I yield myself, if need there be;
+      And yet I think, in equity,
+    Each should confess his sins with me;
+      For laws of right and justice cry,
+      The guiltiest alone should die."
+        "Sire," said the fox, "your majesty
+      Is humbler than a king should be,
+
+[Illustration: THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE.]
+
+    And over-squeamish in the case.
+      What! eating stupid sheep a crime?
+      No, never, sire, at any time.
+    It rather was an act of grace,
+    A mark of honour to their race.
+    And as to shepherds, one may swear,
+      The fate your majesty describes,
+    Is recompense less full than fair
+      For such usurpers o'er our tribes."
+
+      Thus Renard glibly spoke,
+    And loud applause from flatterers broke.
+    Of neither tiger, boar, nor bear,
+    Did any keen inquirer dare
+    To ask for crimes of high degree;
+      The fighters, biters, scratchers, all
+    From every mortal sin were free;
+      The very dogs, both great and small,
+    Were saints, as far as dogs could be.
+
+      The ass, confessing in his turn,
+    Thus spoke in tones of deep concern:--
+    "I happen'd through a mead to pass;
+    The monks, its owners, were at mass;
+    Keen hunger, leisure, tender grass,
+      And add to these the devil too,
+      All tempted me the deed to do.
+    I browsed the bigness of my tongue;
+    Since truth must out, I own it wrong."
+
+    On this, a hue and cry arose,
+    As if the beasts were all his foes:
+    A wolf, haranguing lawyer-wise.
+    Denounced the ass for sacrifice--
+    The bald-pate, scabby, ragged lout,
+    By whom the plague had come, no doubt.
+    His fault was judged a hanging crime.
+      "What? eat another's grass? O shame!
+    The noose of rope and death sublime,
+      For that offence, were all too tame!"
+      And soon poor Grizzle felt the same.
+
+    _Thus human courts acquit the strong,_
+    _And doom the weak, as therefore wrong._
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, by 
+Jean de La Fontaine
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine.
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, by Jean de La Fontaine
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine
+
+Author: Jean de La Fontaine
+
+Illustrator: Percy J. Billinghurst
+
+Release Date: May 6, 2008 [EBook #25357]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;">
+<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="324" height="500" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 363px;">
+<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="363" height="500" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<h2>A HUNDRED FABLES</h2>
+
+<h4>OF</h4>
+
+<h1>LA FONTAINE</h1>
+
+<h3>WITH PICTURES BY PERCY J. BILLINGHURST</h3>
+
+
+<p class="center">LONDON
+JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
+NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 378px;">
+<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="378" height="500" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h4><i>SECOND EDITION</i></h4>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i10">Printed by <span class="smcap">Ballantyne, Hanson &amp; Co.</span><br /></span>
+<span class="i10">At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'>A</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'><i>Page</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Acorn and the Pumpkin</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_128'>128</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Animals Sick of the Plague</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_200'>200</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ape</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_90'>90</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ass and his Masters</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ass and the Dog</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_120'>120</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ass and the Little Dog</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_18'>18</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ass Carrying Relics</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_26'>26</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_166'>166</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ass Loaded with Sponges</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>B</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Bat and the Two Weasels</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_66'>66</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_198'>198</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Bear and the Two Companions</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_194'>194</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Bird Wounded by an Arrow</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_68'>68</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>C</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Camel and the Floating Sticks</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_82'>82</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Carter in the Mire</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_104'>104</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Cat and the Fox</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Cat and the Two Sparrows</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_150'>150</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Cock and the Fox</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_76'>76</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Council held by the Rats</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Countryman and the Serpent</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_102'>102</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Cunning Fox</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_88'>88</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>D</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>Death and the Woodman</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_56'>56</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Dog and his Master's Dinner</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_110'>110</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Dog whose Ears were Cropped</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_144'>144</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Dove and the Ant</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_74'>74</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Dragon with many Heads</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_54'>54</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>E</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Eagle and the Magpie</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_94'>94</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Eagle and the Owl</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_184'>184</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ears of the Hare</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_22'>22</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_192'>192</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>Education</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_122'>122</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>F</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Fool who Sold Wisdom</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_130'>130</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_92'>92</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_98'>98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Fox and the Turkeys</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_172'>172</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_170'>170</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>G</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Grasshopper and the Ant</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_2'>2</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>H</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Hare and the Partridge</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Head and the Tail of the Serpent</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_108'>108</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Heron</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_106'>106</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Hornets and the Bees</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_58'>58</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Horse and the Wolf</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_182'>182</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>J</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Joker and the Fishes</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_112'>112</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>L</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lion and the Ass Hunting</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_8'>8</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lion and the Hunter</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_96'>96</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lion and the Gnat</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_70'>70</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lion and the Monkey</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_178'>178</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lion beaten by the Man</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_78'>78</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lioness and the Bear</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_146'>146</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lion Going to War</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_30'>30</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_196'>196</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Lobster and her Daughter</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_162'>162</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>M</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Man and his Image</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_52'>52</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Man and the Wooden God</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_20'>20</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Man and the Owl</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_148'>148</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Miser and the Monkey</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_186'>186</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Monkey and the Cat</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_140'>140</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Monkey and the Leopard</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_126'>126</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>N</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>Nothing too Much</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_136'>136</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>O</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Oak and the Reed</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_60'>60</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Old Cat and the Young Mouse</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_154'>154</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Old Man and the Ass</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_32'>32</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Old Woman and her Servants</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_24'>24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Oyster and the Litigants</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_132'>132</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>P</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>Philomet and Progne</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_80'>80</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Ploughman and his Sons</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_164'>164</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Q</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Quarrel of the Dogs and Cats</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_158'>158</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>R</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Rat and the Elephant</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_118'>118</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Rat and the Oyster</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_114'>114</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Rat Retired from the World</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_86'>86</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>S</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Shepherd and his Dog</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_44'>44</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Shepherd and his Flock</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_38'>38</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Shepherd and the Lion</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_180'>180</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Shepherd and the Sea</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_16'>16</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Sick Stag</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_156'>156</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Spider and the Swallow</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_142'>142</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Stag and the Vine</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_190'>190</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Sun and the Frogs</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_100'>100</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Swan and the Cook</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_12'>12</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>T</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Thieves and the Ass</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_4'>4</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Tortoise and the Two Ducks</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_40'>40</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Two Asses</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_42'>42</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Two Bulls and the Frog</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_64'>64</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Two Dogs and the Dead Ass</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_124'>124</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Two Goats</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_152'>152</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Two Mules</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_46'>46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_50'>50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>V</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Vultures and the Pigeons</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_188'>188</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>W</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Wallet</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_174'>174</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Wax-Candle</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_36'>36</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Weasel in the Granary</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_14'>14</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Wolf Accusing the Fox</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_6'>6</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Wolf and the Fox</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_160'>160</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Wolf and the Lean Dog</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_134'>134</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_84'>84</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Wolf turned Shepherd</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_10'>10</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Woodman and Mercury</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The Woods and the Woodman</i></td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_168'>168</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A HUNDRED FABLES OF</h2>
+
+<h2>LA FONTAINE</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Grasshopper and the Ant.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A grasshopper gay<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sang the summer away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And found herself poor<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By the winter's first roar.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of meat or of bread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not a morsel she had!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So a-begging she went,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To her neighbour the ant,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For the loan of some wheat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which would serve her to eat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till the season came round.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I will pay you," she saith,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"On an animal's faith,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Double weight in the pound<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ere the harvest be bound."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The ant is a friend<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">(And here she might mend)<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Little given to lend.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"How spent you the summer?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Quoth she, looking shame<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At the borrowing dame.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Night and day to each comer<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I sang, if you please."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"You sang! I'm at ease;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For 'tis plain at a glance,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now, ma'am, you must dance."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i004.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE GRASSHOPPER and THE ANT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Thieves and the Ass.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Two thieves, pursuing their profession,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had of a donkey got possession,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Whereon a strife arose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which went from words to blows.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The question was, to sell, or not to sell;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But while our sturdy champions fought it well,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Another thief, who chanced to pass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With ready wit rode off the ass.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>This ass is, by interpretation,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Some province poor, or prostrate nation.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The thieves are princes this and that,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>On spoils and plunder prone to fat,&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>As those of Austria, Turkey, Hungary.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>(Instead of two, I've quoted three&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Enough of such commodity.)</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>These powers engaged in war all,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Some fourth thief stops the quarrel,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>According all to one key,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>By riding off the donkey</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i005.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE THIEVES and THE ASS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Wolf Accusing the Fox.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">A wolf, affirming his belief<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">That he had suffer'd by a thief,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Brought up his neighbour fox&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of whom it was by all confess'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His character was not the best&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To fill the prisoner's box.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">As judge between these vermin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A monkey graced the ermine;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And truly other gifts of Themis<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Did scarcely seem his;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For while each party plead his cause,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Appealing boldly to the laws,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And much the question vex'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Our monkey sat perplex'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Their words and wrath expended,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Their strife at length was ended;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When, by their malice taught,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The judge this judgment brought:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Your characters, my friends, I long have known,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">As on this trial clearly shown;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hence I fine you both&mdash;the grounds at large<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To state would little profit&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You wolf, in short, as bringing groundless charge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">You fox, as guilty of it."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Come at it right or wrong, the judge opined</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>No other than a villain could be fined</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i006.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE WOLF accusing THE FOX before THE MONKEY." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lion and the Ass Hunting.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The king of animals, with royal grace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Would celebrate his birthday in the chase.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">'Twas not with bow and arrows,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To slay some wretched sparrows;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The lion hunts the wild boar of the wood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The antlered deer and stags, the fat and good.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This time, the king, t' insure success,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Took for his aide-de-camp an ass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A creature of stentorian voice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That felt much honour'd by the choice.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The lion hid him in a proper station,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And order'd him to bray, for his vocation,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Assured that his tempestuous cry<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The boldest beasts would terrify,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And cause them from their lairs to fly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, sooth, the horrid noise the creature made<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Did strike the tenants of the wood with dread;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And, as they headlong fled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All fell within the lion's ambuscade.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Has not my service glorious<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Made both of us victorious?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Cried out the much-elated ass.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Yes," said the lion; "bravely bray'd!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Had I not known yourself and race,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I should have been myself afraid!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The donkey, had he dared,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With anger would have flared<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At this retort, though justly made;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For who could suffer boasts to pass<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So ill-befitting to an ass?<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 357px;">
+<img src="images/i007.jpg" width="357" height="500" alt="THE LION and THE ASS hunting." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Wolf turned Shepherd.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A wolf, whose gettings from the flocks<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Began to be but few,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bethought himself to play the fox<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In character quite new.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A shepherd's hat and coat he took,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A cudgel for a crook,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Nor e'en the pipe forgot:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And more to seem what he was not,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Himself upon his hat he wrote,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His person thus complete,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His crook in upraised feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The impostor Willie stole upon the keep.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The real Willie, on the grass asleep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Slept there, indeed, profoundly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His dog and pipe slept, also soundly;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His drowsy sheep around lay.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As for the greatest number,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hoped to drive away the flock,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Could he the shepherd's voice but mock.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He thought undoubtedly he could.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He tried: the tone in which he spoke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Loud echoing from the wood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The plot and slumber broke;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sheep, dog, and man awoke.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The wolf, in sorry plight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In hampering coat bedight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Could neither run nor fight.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>There's always leakage of deceit</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Which makes it never safe to cheat.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Whoever is a wolf had better</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Keep clear of hypocritic fetter.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 357px;">
+<img src="images/i008.jpg" width="357" height="500" alt="THE WOLF turned SHEPHERD." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Swan and the Cook.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The pleasures of a poultry yard<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Were by a swan and gosling shared.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The swan was kept there for his looks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The thrifty gosling for the cooks;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The first the garden's pride, the latter<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A greater favourite on the platter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They swam the ditches, side by side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And oft in sports aquatic vied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Plunging, splashing far and wide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With rivalry ne'er satisfied.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">One day the cook, named Thirsty John,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sent for the gosling, took the swan<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In haste his throat to cut,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And put him in the pot.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bird's complaint resounded<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In glorious melody;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whereat the cook, astounded<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">His sad mistake to see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Cried, "What! make soup of a musician!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Please God, I'll never set such dish on.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No, no; I'll never cut a throat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That sings so sweet a note."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>'Tis thus, whatever peril may alarm us,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Sweet words will never harm us.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;">
+<img src="images/i009.jpg" width="356" height="500" alt="THE SWAN AND THE COOK." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Weasel in the Granary.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A weasel through a hole contrived to squeeze,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">(She was recovering from disease,)<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Which led her to a farmer's hoard.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There lodged, her wasted form she cherish'd;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Heaven knows the lard and victuals stored<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That by her gnawing perish'd!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of which the consequence<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Was sudden corpulence.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A week or so was past,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When having fully broken fast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A noise she heard, and hurried<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To find the hole by which she came,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And seem'd to find it not the same;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So round she ran, most sadly flurried;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, coming back, thrust out her head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which, sticking there, she said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"This is the hole, there can't be blunder:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What makes it now so small, I wonder,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where, but the other day, I pass'd with ease?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A rat her trouble sees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And cries, "But with an emptier belly;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">You enter'd lean, and lean must sally."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i010.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE WEASEL IN THE GRANARY." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Shepherd and the Sea.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">A shepherd, neighbour to the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">Lived with his flock contentedly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">His fortune, though but small,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Was safe within his call.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">At last some stranded kegs of gold<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Him tempted, and his flock he sold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Turn'd merchant, and the ocean's waves<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Bore all his treasure&mdash;to its caves.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Brought back to keeping sheep once more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But not chief shepherd, as before,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When sheep were his that grazed the shore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He who, as Corydon or Thyrsis,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Might once have shone in pastoral verses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Bedeck'd with rhyme and metre,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Was nothing now but Peter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But time and toil redeem'd in full<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Those harmless creatures rich in wool;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And as the lulling winds, one day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The vessels wafted with a gentle motion,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Want you," he cried, "more money, Madam Ocean?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Address yourself to some one else, I pray;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">You shall not get it out of me!<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">I know too well your treachery."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8"><i>This tale's no fiction, but a fact,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Which, by experience back'd,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Proves that a single penny,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i10"><i>At present held, and certain,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Is worth five times as many,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i10"><i>Of Hope's, beyond the curtain;</i><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>That one should be content with his condition,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>And shut his ears to counsels of ambition,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>More faithless than the wreck-strown sea, and which</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Doth thousands beggar where it makes one rich,&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Inspires the hope of wealth, in glorious forms,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>And blasts the same with piracy and storms.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i011.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE SHEPHERD and THE SEA." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ass and the Little Dog.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One's native talent from its course<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Cannot be turned aside by force;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But poorly apes the country clown<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The polish'd manners of the town.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their Maker chooses but a few<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With power of pleasing to imbue;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where wisely leave it we, the mass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Unlike a certain fabled ass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That thought to gain his master's blessing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By jumping on him and caressing.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"What!" said the donkey in his heart;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Ought it to be that puppy's part<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To lead his useless life<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In full companionship<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With master and his wife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">While I must bear the whip?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What doth the cur a kiss to draw?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Forsooth, he only gives his paw!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">If that is all there needs to please,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I'll do the thing myself, with ease."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Possess'd with this bright notion,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His master sitting on his chair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At leisure in the open air,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He ambled up, with awkward motion,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And put his talents to the proof;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, with an amiable mien,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His master patted on the chin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The action gracing with a word&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The fondest bray that e'er was heard!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">O, such caressing was there ever?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or melody with such a quaver?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Out cried the master, sore offended.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So Martin gave the ass a drubbing,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And so the comedy was ended.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i012.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE ASS and the LITTLE DOG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Man and the Wooden God.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A pagan kept a god of wood,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A sort that never hears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Though furnish'd well with ears,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From which he hoped for wondrous good.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The idol cost the board of three;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So much enrich'd was he<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With vows and offerings vain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With bullocks garlanded and slain:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No idol ever had, as that,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A kitchen quite so full and fat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But all this worship at his shrine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brought not from this same block divine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Inheritance, or hidden mine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or luck at play, or any favour.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Nay, more, if any storm whatever<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brew'd trouble here or there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The man was sure to have his share,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And suffer in his purse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Although the god fared none the worse.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At last, by sheer impatience bold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The man a crowbar seizes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His idol breaks in pieces,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And finds it richly stuff'd with gold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"How's this? Have I devoutly treated,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Says he, "your godship, to be cheated?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now leave my house, and go your way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And search for altars where you may."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/i013.jpg" width="358" height="500" alt="THE MAN AND THE WOODEN GOD." title="" />
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ears of the Hare.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Some beast with horns did gore<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The lion; and that sovereign dread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Resolved to suffer so no more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Straight banish'd from his realm, 'tis said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All sorts of beasts with horns&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Rams, bulls, goats, stags, and unicorns.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Such brutes all promptly fled.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A hare, the shadow of his ears perceiving,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Could hardly help believing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That some vile spy for horns would take them,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And food for accusation make them.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Adieu," said he, "my neighbour cricket;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I take my foreign ticket.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">My ears, should I stay here,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Will turn to horns, I fear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And were they shorter than a bird's,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I fear the effect of words."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"These horns!" the cricket answer'd; "why,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">God made them ears who can deny?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Yes," said the coward, "still they'll make them horns,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And horns, perhaps, of unicorns!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In vain shall I protest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With all the learning of the schools:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My reasons they will send to rest<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">In th' Hospital of Fools."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i014.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE EARS OF THE HARE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Old Woman and Her Servants.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A beldam kept two spinning maids,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Who plied so handily their trades,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Those spinning sisters down below<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Were bunglers when compared with these.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No care did this old woman know<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But giving tasks as she might please.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No sooner did the god of day<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His glorious locks enkindle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Than both the wheels began to play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And from each whirling spindle<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Forth danced the thread right merrily,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And back was coil'd unceasingly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Soon as the dawn, I say, its tresses show'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A graceless cock most punctual crow'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The beldam roused, more graceless yet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In greasy petticoat bedight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Struck up her farthing light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And then forthwith the bed beset,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where deeply, blessedly did snore<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Those two maid-servants tired and poor.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">One oped an eye, an arm one stretch'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And both their breath most sadly fetch'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This threat concealing in the sigh&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"That cursed cock shall surely die!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And so he did:&mdash;they cut his throat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And put to sleep his rousing note.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And yet this murder mended not<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The cruel hardship of their lot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For now the twain were scarce in bed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before they heard the summons dread.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The beldam, full of apprehension<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Lest oversleep should cause detention,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Ran like a goblin through her mansion.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6"><i>Thus often, when one thinks</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>To clear himself from ill,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>His effort only sinks</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Him in the deeper still.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>The beldam acting for the cock,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Was Scylla for Charybdis' rock.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;">
+<img src="images/i015.jpg" width="356" height="500" alt="THE OLD WOMAN AND HER TWO SERVANTS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ass Carrying Relics.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">An ass, with relics for his load,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Supposed the worship on the road<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Meant for himself alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And took on lofty airs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Receiving as his own<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The incense and the prayers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Some one, who saw his great mistake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cried, "Master Donkey, do not make<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Yourself so big a fool.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not you they worship, but your pack;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They praise the idols on your back,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And count yourself a paltry tool."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>'Tis thus a brainless magistrate</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Is honour'd for his robe of state.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/i016.jpg" width="358" height="500" alt="THE ASS CARRYING RELICS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Hare and the Partridge.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A field in common share<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">A partridge and a hare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And live in peaceful state,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till, woeful to relate!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hunters' mingled cry<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Compels the hare to fly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He hurries to his fort,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And spoils almost the sport<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By faulting every hound<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That yelps upon the ground.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At last his reeking heat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Betrays his snug retreat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Old Tray, with philosophic nose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Snuffs carefully, and grows<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So certain, that he cries,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"The hare is here; bow wow!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And veteran Ranger now,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The dog that never lies,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"The hare is gone," replies.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Alas! poor, wretched hare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Back comes he to his lair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To meet destruction there!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The partridge, void of fear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Begins her friend to jeer:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"You bragg'd of being fleet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">How serve you, now, your feet?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Scarce has she ceased to speak,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The laugh yet in her beak,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When comes her turn to die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From which she could not fly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">She thought her wings, indeed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Enough for every need;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But in her laugh and talk,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Forgot the cruel hawk!<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i017.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE HARE and THE PARTRIDGE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lion Going to War.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The lion had an enterprise in hand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Held a war-council, sent his provost-marshal,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And gave the animals a call impartial&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each, in his way, to serve his high command.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The elephant should carry on his back<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The tools of war, the mighty public pack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And fight in elephantine way and form;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bear should hold himself prepared to storm;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fox all secret stratagems should fix;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The monkey should amuse the foe by tricks.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Dismiss," said one, "the blockhead asses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And hares, too cowardly and fleet."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"No," said the king; "I use all classes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Without their aid my force were incomplete.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The ass shall be our trumpeter, to scare<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our enemy. And then the nimble hare<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our royal bulletins shall homeward bear."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>A monarch provident and wise</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Will hold his subjects all of consequence,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>And know in each what talent lies.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>There's nothing useless to a man of sense.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/i018.jpg" width="358" height="500" alt="THE LION GOING TO WAR." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Old Man and the Ass.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">An old man, riding on his ass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Had found a spot of thrifty grass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there turn'd loose his weary beast.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Old Grizzle, pleased with such a feast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Flung up his heels, and caper'd round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then roll'd and rubb'd upon the ground,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And frisk'd and browsed and bray'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And many a clean spot made.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arm'd men came on them as he fed:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Let's fly," in haste the old man said.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"And wherefore so?" the ass replied;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"With heavier burdens will they ride?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"No," said the man, already started.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Then," cried the ass, as he departed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I'll stay, and be&mdash;no matter whose;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Save you yourself, and leave me loose<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But let me tell you, ere you go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">(I speak plain English, as you know,)<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">My master is my only foe."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i019.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE OLD MAN AND THE ASS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ass and his Masters.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A gardener's ass complain'd to Destiny<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of being made to rise before the dawn.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"The cocks their matins have not sung," said he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Ere I am up and gone.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And all for what? To market herbs, it seems.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fine cause, indeed, to interrupt my dreams!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Fate, moved by such a prayer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sent him a currier's load to bear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose hides so heavy and ill-scented were,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They almost choked the foolish beast.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I wish me with my former lord," he said:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"For then, whene'er he turn'd his head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">If on the watch, I caught<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A cabbage-leaf, which cost me nought.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, in this horrid place, I find<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No chance or windfall of the kind;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Or if, indeed, I do,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The cruel blows I rue."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Anon it came to pass<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">He was a collier's ass.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Still more complaint. "What now?" said Fate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Quite out of patience.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"If on this jackass I must wait,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What will become of kings and nations?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Has none but he aught here to tease him?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Have I no business but to please him?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And Fate had cause;&mdash;for all are so<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Unsatisfied while here below.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Our present lot is aye the worst.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Our foolish prayers the skies infest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Were Jove to grant all we request,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The din renew'd, his head would burst.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 357px;">
+<img src="images/i020.jpg" width="357" height="500" alt="THE ASS AND HIS MASTERS." title="" />
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Wax-Candle.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">From bowers of gods the bees came down to man.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">On Mount Hymettus, first, they say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They made their home, and stored away<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The treasures which the zephyrs fan.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When men had robb'd these daughters of the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And left their palaces of nectar dry,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or, in English as the thing's explain'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When hives were of their honey drain'd&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The spoilers 'gan the wax to handle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And fashion'd from it many a candle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of these, one, seeing clay, made brick by fire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Remain uninjured by the teeth of time,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Was kindled into great desire<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For immortality sublime.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And so this new Empedocles<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upon the blazing pile one sees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Self-doom'd by purest folly<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To fate so melancholy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The candle lack'd philosophy:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All things are made diverse to be.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To wander from our destined tracks&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">There cannot be a vainer wish;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But this Empedocles of wax,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That melted in chafing-dish<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Was truly not a greater fool<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Than he of whom we read at school.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i021.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE WAX-CANDLE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Shepherd and his Flock.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">"What! shall I lose them one by one,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">This stupid coward throng?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And never shall the wolf have done?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They were at least a thousand strong,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But still they've let poor Robin fall a prey!<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">Ah, woe's the day!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Poor Robin Wether lying dead!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He follow'd for a bit of bread<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His master through the crowded city,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And would have follow'd, had he led,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Around the world. Oh! what a pity!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My pipe, and even step, he knew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To meet me when I came, he flew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In hedge-row shade we napp'd together;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Alas, alas, my Robin Wether!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When Willy thus had duly said<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His eulogy upon the dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And unto everlasting fame<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Consign'd poor Robin Wether's name,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He then harangued the flock at large,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">From proud old chieftain rams<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Down to the smallest lambs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Addressing them this weighty charge,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Against the wolf, as one, to stand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In firm, united, fearless band,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By which they might expel him from their land.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upon their faith, they would not flinch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They promised him, a single inch.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"We'll choke," said they, "the murderous glutton<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who robb'd us of our Robin Mutton."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their lives they pledged against the beast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And Willy gave them all a feast.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But evil Fate, than Ph&oelig;bus faster,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Ere night had brought a new disaster:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A wolf there came. By nature's law,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The total flock were prompt to run;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And yet 'twas not the wolf they saw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But shadow of him from the setting sun.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Harangue a craven soldiery,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>What heroes they will seem to be!</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>But let them snuff the smoke of battle,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Or even hear the ramrods rattle,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Adieu to all their boast and mettle:</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Your own example will be vain,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>And exhortations, to retain</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The timid cattle.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i022.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Tortoise and the Two Ducks.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A light-brain'd tortoise, anciently,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Tired of her hole, the world would see.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Prone are all such, self-banish'd, to roam&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Prone are all cripples to abhor their home.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Two ducks, to whom the gossip told<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The secret of her purpose bold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Profess'd to have the means whereby<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They could her wishes gratify.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Our boundless road," said they, "behold!<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">It is the open air;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And through it we will bear<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">You safe o'er land and ocean.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Republics, kingdoms, you will view,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And famous cities, old and new;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And get of customs, laws, a notion,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of various wisdom, various pieces,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As did, indeed, the sage Ulysses."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The eager tortoise waited not<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To question what Ulysses got,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But closed the bargain on the spot.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A nice machine the birds devise<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To bear their pilgrim through the skies.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Athwart her mouth a stick they throw:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Now bite it hard, and don't let go,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They say, and seize each duck an end,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, swiftly flying, upward tend.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">It made the people gape and stare<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Beyond the expressive power of words,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To see a tortoise cut the air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Exactly poised between two birds.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"A miracle," they cried, "is seen!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">There goes the flying tortoise queen!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"The queen!" ('twas thus the tortoise spoke;)<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I'm truly that, without a joke."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Much better had she held her tongue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For, opening that whereby she clung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before the gazing crowd she fell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And dash'd to bits her brittle shell.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Imprudence, vanity, and babble,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>And idle curiosity,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>An ever-undivided rabble,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Have all the same paternity.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 348px;">
+<img src="images/i023.jpg" width="348" height="500" alt="THE TORTOISE AND THE TWO DUCKS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Two Asses.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Two asses tracking, t'other day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Of which each in his turn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Did incense to the other burn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Quite in the usual way,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I heard one to his comrade say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"My lord, do you not find<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The prince of knaves and fools<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To be this man, who boasts of mind<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Instructed in his schools?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With wit unseemly and profane,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">He mocks our venerable race&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">On each of his who lacketh brain<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Bestows our ancient surname, ass!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, with abusive tongue portraying,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Describes our laugh and talk as braying!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">These bipeds of their folly tell us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">While thus pretending to excel us."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"No, 'tis for you to speak, my friend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And let their orators attend.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The braying is their own, but let them be:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We understand each other, and agree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And that's enough. As for your song,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Such wonders to its notes belong,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The nightingale is put to shame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The Sirens lose one half their fame."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"My lord," the other ass replied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Such talents in yourself reside,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of asses all, the joy and pride."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">These donkeys, not quite satisfied<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With scratching thus each other's hide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Must needs the cities visit,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Their fortunes there to raise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">By sounding forth the praise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Each, of the other's skill exquisite.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i024.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE TWO ASSES." title="" />
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Shepherd and his Dog.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A shepherd, with a single dog,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was ask'd the reason why<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He kept a dog, whose least supply<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Amounted to a loaf of bread<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For every day. The people said<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He'd better give the animal<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To guard the village seignior's hall;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For him, a shepherd, it would be<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A thriftier economy<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To keep small curs, say two or three,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That would not cost him half the food,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And yet for watching be as good.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fools, perhaps, forgot to tell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If they would fight the wolf as well.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The silly shepherd, giving heed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cast off his dog of mastiff breed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And took three dogs to watch his cattle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which ate far less, but fled in battle.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Not vain our tale, if it convinces</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Small states that 'tis a wiser thing</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>To trust a single powerful king,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Than half a dozen petty princes.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i025.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE SHEPHERD AND HIS DOG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Two Mules.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Two mules were bearing on their backs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">One, oats; the other, silver of the tax.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The latter glorying in his load,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">March'd proudly forward on the road;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, from the jingle of his bell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Twas plain he liked his burden well.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">But in a wild-wood glen<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A band of robber men<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Rush'd forth upon the twain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Well with the silver pleased,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">They by the bridle seized<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The treasure mule so vain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Poor mule! in struggling to repel<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His ruthless foes, he fell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stabb'd through; and with a bitter sighing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He cried, "Is this the lot they promised me?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">My humble friend from danger free,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While, weltering in my gore, I'm dying?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"My friend," his fellow-mule replied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"It is not well to have one's work too high.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If thou hadst been a miller's drudge, as I,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thou wouldst not thus have died."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i026.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE TWO MULES." title="" />
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The heifer, the goat, and their sister the sheep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Compacted their earnings in common to keep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis said, in time past, with a lion, who sway'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Full lordship o'er neighbours, of whatever grade.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The goat, as it happen'd, a stag having snared,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sent off to the rest, that the beast might be shared.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All gather'd; the lion first counts on his claws,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And says, "We'll proceed to divide with our paws<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The stag into pieces, as fix'd by our laws."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This done, he announces part first as his own;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"'Tis mine," he says, "truly, as lion alone."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To such a decision there's nought to be said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As he who has made it is doubtless the head.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Well, also, the second to me should belong;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis mine, be it known, by the right of the strong.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Again, as the bravest, the third must be mine.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To touch but the fourth whoso maketh a sign,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">I'll choke him to death<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In the space of a breath!"<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i027.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE HEIFER, THE GOAT, &amp; THE SHEEP." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Two rats in foraging fell on an egg,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">For gentry such as they<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A genteel dinner every way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They needed not to find an ox's leg.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Brimful of joy and appetite,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">They were about to sack the box,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">So tight without the aid of locks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When suddenly there came in sight<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A personage&mdash;Sir Pullet Fox.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Sure, luck was never more untoward<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Since Fortune was a vixen froward!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">How should they save their egg&mdash;and bacon?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Their plunder couldn't then be bagg'd;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Should it in forward paws be taken,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or roll'd along, or dragg'd?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Each method seem'd impossible,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And each was then of danger full.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Necessity, ingenious mother,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brought forth what help'd them from their pother.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As still there was a chance to save their prey,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sponger yet some hundred yards away,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One seized the egg, and turn'd upon his back,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then, in spite of many a thump and thwack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That would have torn, perhaps, a coat of mail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The other dragg'd him by the tail.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Who dares the inference to blink,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That beasts possess wherewith to think?<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6"><i>Were I commission'd to bestow</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>This power on creatures here below,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>The beasts should have as much of mind</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>As infants of the human kind.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i028.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE TWO RATS the FOX and the EGG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Man and his Image.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A man, who had no rivals in the love<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which to himself he bore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Esteem'd his own dear beauty far above<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">What earth had seen before.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">More than contented in his error,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He lived the foe of every mirror.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Officious fate, resolved our lover<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">From such an illness should recover,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Presented always to his eyes<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The mute advisers which the ladies prize;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Mirrors in parlours, inns, and shops,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Mirrors the pocket furniture of fops,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Mirrors on every lady's zone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">From which his face reflected shone.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">What could our dear Narcissus do?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">From haunts of men he now withdrew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">On purpose that his precious shape<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">From every mirror might escape.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">But in his forest glen alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Apart from human trace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">A watercourse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Of purest source,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">While with unconscious gaze<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He pierced its waveless face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Reflected back his own.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Incensed with mingled rage and fright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He seeks to shun the odious sight;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But yet that mirror sheet, so clear and still,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He cannot leave, do what he will.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Ere this, my story's drift you plainly see.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>From such mistake there is no mortal free.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>That obstinate self-lover</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>The human soul doth cover;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The mirrors' follies are of others,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>In which, as all are genuine brothers,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Each soul may see to life depicted</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Itself with just such faults afflicted;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>And by that charming placid brook,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Needless to say, I mean your Maxim Book.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i029.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Dragon with Many Heads.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">An envoy of the Porte Sublime,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">As history says, once on a time,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Before th' imperial German court<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Did rather boastfully report,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The troops commanded by his master's firman,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As being a stronger army than the German:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To which replied a Dutch attendant,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Our prince has more than one dependant<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Who keeps an army at his own expense."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The Turk, a man of sense,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Rejoin'd, "I am aware<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">What power your emperor's servants share.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It brings to mind a tale both strange and true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A thing which once, myself, I chanced to view.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I saw come darting through a hedge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which fortified a rocky ledge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A hydra's hundred heads; and in a trice<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">My blood was turning into ice.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">But less the harm than terror,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The body came no nearer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Nor could, unless it had been sunder'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To parts at least a hundred.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">While musing deeply on this sight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Another dragon came to light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Whose single head avails<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To lead a hundred tails:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And, seized with juster fright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">I saw him pass the hedge,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Head, body, tails,&mdash;a wedge<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of living and resistless powers.&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The other was your emperor's force; this ours."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i030.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE DRAGON WITH MANY HEADS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Death and the Woodman</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A poor wood-chopper, with his fagot load,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whom weight of years, as well as load, oppress'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sore groaning in his smoky hut to rest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Trudged wearily along his homeward road.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At last his wood upon the ground he throws,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sits him down to think o'er all his woes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To joy a stranger, since his hapless birth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What poorer wretch upon this rolling earth?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No bread sometimes, and ne'er a moment's rest;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wife, children, soldiers, landlords, public tax,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All wait the swinging of his old, worn axe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And paint the veriest picture of a man unblest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On Death he calls. Forthwith that monarch grim<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Appears, and asks what he should do for him.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Not much, indeed; a little help I lack&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To put these fagots on my back."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Death ready stands all ills to cure;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>But let us not his cure invite.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Than die, 'tis better to endure,&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Is both a manly maxim and a right.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;">
+<img src="images/i031.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt="DEATH AND THE WOODMAN." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Hornets and the Bees.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The artist by his work is known."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A piece of honey-comb, one day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Discover'd as a waif and stray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hornets treated as their own.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their title did the bees dispute,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And brought before a wasp the suit.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The judge was puzzled to decide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For nothing could be testified<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Save that around this honey-comb<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">There had been seen, as if at home,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Some longish, brownish, buzzing creatures,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Much like the bees in wings and features.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But what of that? for marks the same,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hornets, too, could truly claim.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Between assertion, and denial,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The wasp, in doubt, proclaim'd new trial;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, hearing what an ant-hill swore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Could see no clearer than before.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"What use, I pray, of this expense?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At last exclaim'd a bee of sense.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"We've labour'd months in this affair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And now are only where we were.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Meanwhile the honey runs to waste:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis time the judge should show some haste.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The parties, sure, have had sufficient bleeding,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Without more fuss of scrawls and pleading.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let's set ourselves at work, these drones and we<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then all eyes the truth may plainly see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whose art it is that can produce<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The magic cells, the nectar juice."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The hornets, flinching on their part,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Show that the work transcends their art.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The wasp at length their title sees,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And gives the honey to the bees.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6"><i>Would God that suits at law with us</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Might all be managed thus!</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 348px;">
+<img src="images/i032.jpg" width="348" height="500" alt="THE HORNETS AND THE BEES." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Oak and the Reed.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">The oak one day address'd the reed:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"To you ungenerous indeed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Has nature been, my humble friend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With weakness aye obliged to bend.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The smallest bird that flits in air<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is quite too much for you to bear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The slightest wind that wreathes the lake<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Your ever-trembling head doth shake.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The while, my towering form<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Dares with the mountain top<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The solar blaze to stop,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And wrestle with the storm.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What seems to you the blast of death,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To me is but a zephyr's breath.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beneath my branches had you grown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Less suffering would your life have known,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Unhappily you oftenest show<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In open air your slender form,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Along the marshes wet and low,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That fringe the kingdom of the storm.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To you, declare I must,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Dame Nature seems unjust."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Then modestly replied the reed:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Your pity, sir, is kind indeed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But wholly needless for my sake.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The wildest wind that ever blew<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is safe to me compared with you.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I bend, indeed, but never break.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thus far, I own, the hurricane<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Has beat your sturdy back in vain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But wait the end." Just at the word,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The tempest's hollow voice was heard.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The North sent forth her fiercest child,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Dark, jagged, pitiless, and wild.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The oak, erect, endured the blow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The reed bow'd gracefully and low.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, gathering up its strength once more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In greater fury than before,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The savage blast<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">O'erthrew, at last,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That proud, old, sky-encircled head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whose feet entwined the empire of the dead!<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;">
+<img src="images/i033.jpg" width="356" height="500" alt="THE OAK AND THE REED." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Council held by the Rats.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Old Rodilard, a certain cat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Such havoc of the rats had made,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Twas difficult to find a rat<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With nature's debt unpaid.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The few that did remain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To leave their holes afraid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From usual food abstain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Not eating half their fill.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And wonder no one will<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That one who made of rats his revel,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With rats pass'd not for cat, but devil.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now, on a day, this dread rat-eater,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who had a wife, went out to meet her;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And while he held his caterwauling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The unkill'd rats, their chapter calling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Discuss'd the point, in grave debate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How they might shun impending fate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Their dean, a prudent rat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thought best, and better soon than late,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To bell the fatal cat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That, when he took his hunting round,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The rats, well caution'd by the sound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Might hide in safety under ground;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Indeed he knew no other means.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And all the rest<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">At once confess'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their minds were with the dean's.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No better plan, they all believed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Could possibly have been conceived.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No doubt the thing would work right well,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If any one would hang the bell.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, one by one, said every rat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I'm not so big a fool as that."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The plan knock'd up in this respect,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The council closed without effect.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And many a council I have seen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or reverend chapter with its dean,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That, thus resolving wisely,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Fell through like this precisely.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>To argue or refute</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Wise counsellors abound;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The man to execute</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Is harder to be found.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i034.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE COUNCIL HELD BY THE RATS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Two Bulls and the Frog.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Two bulls engaged in shocking battle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Both for a certain heifer's sake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And lordship over certain cattle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A frog began to groan and quake.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"But what is this to you?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Inquired another of the croaking crew.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Why, sister, don't you see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The end of this will be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That one of these big brutes will yield,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then be exiled from the field?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No more permitted on the grass to feed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He'll forage through our marsh, on rush and reed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And while he eats or chews the cud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Will trample on us in the mud.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Alas! to think how frogs must suffer<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">By means of this proud lady heifer!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This fear was not without good sense.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One bull was beat, and much to their expense;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For, quick retreating to their reedy bower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He trod on twenty of them in an hour.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Of little folks it oft has been the fate</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>To suffer for the follies of the great.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i035.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE TWO BULLS AND THE FROG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Bat and the Two Weasels.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A blundering bat once stuck her head<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Into a wakeful weasel's bed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whereat the mistress of the house,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A deadly foe of rats and mice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Was making ready in a trice<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To eat the stranger as a mouse.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"What! do you dare," she said, "to creep in<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The very bed I sometimes sleep in,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now, after all the provocation<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I've suffered from your thievish nation?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Are you not really a mouse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That gnawing pest of every house,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Your special aim to do the cheese ill?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Ay, that you are, or I'm no weasel."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"I beg your pardon," said the bat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"My kind is very far from that.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What! I a mouse! Who told you such a lie?<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Why, ma'am, I am a bird;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And, if you doubt my word,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Just see the wings with which I fly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Long live the mice that cleave the sky!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">These reasons had so fair a show,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The weasel let the creature go.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">By some strange fancy led,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The same wise blunderhead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But two or three days later,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had chosen for her rest<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Another weasel's nest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This last, of birds a special hater.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">New peril brought this step absurd:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Without a moment's thought or puzzle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Dame weasel opened her peaked muzzle<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To eat th' intruder as a bird.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Hold! do not wrong me," cried the bat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I'm truly no such thing as that.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Your eyesight strange conclusions gathers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What makes a bird, I pray? Its feathers.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I'm cousin of the mice and rats.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Great Jupiter confound the cats!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bat, by such adroit replying,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Twice saved herself from dying.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>And many a human stranger</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Thus turns his coat in danger;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>And sings, as suits, where'er he goes,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>"God save the king!"&mdash;or "save his foes!"</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;">
+<img src="images/i036.jpg" width="359" height="500" alt="THE BAT and the two WEASELS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Bird wounded by an Arrow.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A bird, with plum&egrave;d arrow shot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In dying case deplored her lot:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Alas!" she cried, "the anguish of the thought!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This ruin partly by myself was brought!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Hard-hearted men! from us to borrow<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">What wings to us the fatal arrow!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But mock us not, ye cruel race,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For you must often take our place."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>The work of half the human brothers</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Is making arms against the others.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i037.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE BIRD WOUNDED BY AN ARROW." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lion and the Gnat.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">"Go, paltry insect, nature's meanest brat!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Thus said the royal lion to the gnat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The gnat declared immediate war.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Think you," said he, "your royal name<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">To me worth caring for?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Think you I tremble at your power or fame?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The ox is bigger far than you;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Yet him I drive, and all his crew."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This said, as one that did no fear owe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Himself he blew the battle charge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Himself both trumpeter and hero.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">At first he play'd about at large,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then on the lion's neck, at leisure, settled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there the royal beast full sorely nettled.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With foaming mouth, and flashing eye,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He roars. All creatures hide or fly,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Such mortal terror at<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">The work of one poor gnat!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With constant change of his attack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The snout now stinging, now the back,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And now the chambers of the nose;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The pigmy fly no mercy shows.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The lion's rage was at its height;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His viewless foe now laugh'd outright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When on his battle-ground he saw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That every savage tooth and claw<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Had got its proper beauty<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">By doing bloody duty;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Himself, the hapless lion, tore his hide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And lash'd with sounding tail from side to side.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Ah! bootless blow, and bite, and curse!<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">He beat the harmless air, and worse;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">For, though so fierce and stout,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">By effort wearied out,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">He fainted, fell, gave up the quarrel;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The gnat retires with verdant laurel.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8"><i>We often have the most to fear</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i10"><i>From those we most despise;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Again, great risks a man may clear,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i10"><i>Who by the smallest dies.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;">
+<img src="images/i038.jpg" width="347" height="500" alt="THE LION AND THE GNAT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ass Loaded with Sponges.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A man, whom I shall call an ass-eteer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His sceptre like some Roman emperor bearing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Drove on two coursers of protracted ear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The one, with sponges laden, briskly faring;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">The other lifting legs<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">As if he trod on eggs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">With constant need of goading,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And bags of salt for loading.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O'er hill and dale our merry pilgrims pass'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till, coming to a river's ford at last,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They stopp'd quite puzzled on the shore.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our asseteer had cross'd the stream before;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So, on the lighter beast astride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He drives the other, spite of dread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which, loath indeed to go ahead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Into a deep hole turns aside,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And, facing right about,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Where he went in, comes out;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">For duckings, two or three<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Had power the salt to melt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">So that the creature felt<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">His burden'd shoulders free.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The sponger, like a sequent sheep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Pursuing through the water deep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Into the same hole plunges<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Himself, his rider, and the sponges.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All three drank deeply: asseteer and ass<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For boon companions of their load might pass;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which last became so sore a weight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">The ass fell down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">Belike to drown<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">His rider risking equal fate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A helper came, no matter who.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6"><i>The moral needs no more ado&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>That all can't act alike,&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>The point I wish'd to strike.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 346px;">
+<img src="images/i039.jpg" width="346" height="500" alt="THE ASS LOADED WITH SPONGES." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Dove and the Ant.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A dove came to a brook to drink,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When, leaning o'er its crumbling brink,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An ant fell in, and vainly tried,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In this, to her, an ocean tide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To reach the land; whereat the dove,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With every living thing in love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was prompt a spire of grass to throw her,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By which the ant regain'd the shore.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A barefoot scamp, both mean and sly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Soon after chanced this dove to spy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, being arm'd with bow and arrow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hungry codger doubted not<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bird of Venus, in his pot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would make a soup before the morrow.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Just as his deadly bow he drew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Our ant just bit his heel.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Roused by the villain's squeal,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The dove took timely hint, and flew<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Far from the rascal's coop;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And with her flew his soup.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i040.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE DOVE AND THE ANT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Cock and the Fox.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Upon a tree there mounted guard<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">A veteran cock, adroit and cunning;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When to the roots a fox up running,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Our quarrel, brother, 's at an end;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Henceforth I hope to live your friend;<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">For peace now reigns<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Throughout the animal domains.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I bear the news:&mdash;come down, I pray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">And give me the embrace fraternal;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And please, my brother, don't delay.<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">So much the tidings do concern all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That I must spread them far to-day.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Now you and yours can take your walks<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Without a fear or thought of hawks.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And should you clash with them or others,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In us you'll find the best of brothers;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For which you may, this joyful night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Your merry bonfires light.<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">But, first, let's seal the bliss<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">With one fraternal kiss."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Good friend," the cock replied, "upon my word,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A better thing I never heard;<br /></span>
+<span class="i12">And doubly I rejoice<br /></span>
+<span class="i12">To hear it from your voice;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And, really there must be something in it,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For yonder come two greyhounds, which I flatter<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Myself are couriers on this very matter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessing<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With general kissing and caressing."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Adieu," said fox; "my errand's pressing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i14">I'll hurry on my way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i14">And we'll rejoice some other day."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So off the fellow scamper'd, quick and light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To gain the fox-holes of a neighbouring height,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Less happy in his stratagem than flight.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The cock laugh'd sweetly in his sleeve;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">'Tis doubly sweet deceiver to deceive.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i041.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE COCK AND THE FOX." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lion beaten by the Man.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">A picture once was shown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">In which one man, alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Upon the ground had thrown<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A lion fully grown.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Much gloried at the sight the rabble.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A lion thus rebuked their babble:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"That you have got the victory there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">There is no contradiction.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, gentles, possibly you are<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The dupes of easy fiction:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Had we the art of making pictures,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Perhaps our champion had beat yours!"<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 357px;">
+<img src="images/i042.jpg" width="357" height="500" alt="THE LION BEATEN BY THE MAN." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Philomel and Progne.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">From home and city spires, one day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The swallow Progne flew away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And sought the bosky dell<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Where sang poor Philomel.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"My sister," Progne said, "how do you do?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis now a thousand years since you<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Have been conceal'd from human view;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'm sure I have not seen your face<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Once since the times of Thrace.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pray, will you never quit this dull retreat?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Where could I find," said Philomel, "so sweet?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"What! sweet?" cried Progne&mdash;"sweet to waste<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Such tones on beasts devoid of taste<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or on some rustic, at the most!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Should you by deserts be engross'd?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Come, be the city's pride and boast.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Besides, the woods remind of harms<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That Tereus in them did your charms."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Alas!" replied the bird of song,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"The thought of that so cruel wrong<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Makes me, from age to age,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Prefer this hermitage;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For nothing like the sight of men<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Can call up what I suffer'd then."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i043.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="PHILOMEL and PROGNE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Camel and the Floating Sticks.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The first who saw the humpback'd camel<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Fled off for life; the next approach'd with care;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The third with tyrant rope did boldly dare<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The desert wanderer to trammel.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Such is the power of use to change<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The face of objects new and strange;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which grow, by looking at, so tame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They do not even seem the same.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And since this theme is up for our attention,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A certain watchman I will mention,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Who, seeing something far<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Away upon the ocean,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Could not but speak his notion<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">That 'twas a ship of war.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Some minutes more had past,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A bomb-ketch 'twas without a sail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And then a boat, and then a bale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And floating sticks of wood at last!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6"><i>Full many things on earth, I wot,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Will claim this tale,&mdash;and well they may;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>They're something dreadful far away,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>But near at hand&mdash;they're not.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i044.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE CAMEL AND THE FLOATING STICKS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">As went a goat of grass to take her fill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And browse the herbage of a distant hill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">She latch'd her door, and bid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With matron care, her kid;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"My daughter, as you live,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">This portal don't undo<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To any creature who<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This watchword does not give:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Deuce take the wolf and all his race!'"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The wolf was passing near the place<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By chance, and heard the words with pleasure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And laid them up as useful treasure;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And hardly need we mention,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Escaped the goat's attention.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">No sooner did he see<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The matron off, than he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With hypocritic tone and face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Cried out before the place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Deuce take the wolf and all his race!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Not doubting thus to gain admission.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The kid, not void of all suspicion,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Peer'd through a crack, and cried,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Show me white paw before<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">You ask me to undo the door."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The wolf could not, if he had died,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">For wolves have no connection<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">With pains of that complexion.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So, much surprised, our gourmandiser<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Retired to fast till he was wiser.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>How would the kid have been undone</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Had she but trusted to the word?</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>The wolf by chance had overheard!</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Two sureties better are than one;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>And caution's worth its cost,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Though sometimes seeming lost.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i045.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE WOLF, the GOAT, and the KID." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Rat Retired from the World.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The sage Levantines have a tale<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">About a rat that weary grew<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of all the cares which life assail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And to a Holland cheese withdrew.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His solitude was there profound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Extending through his world so round.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our hermit lived on that within;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And soon his industry had been<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With claws and teeth so good,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That in his novel hermitage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He had in store, for wants of age,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both house and livelihood.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One day this personage devout,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose kindness none might doubt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was ask'd, by certain delegates<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That came from Rat-United-States,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For some small aid, for they<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To foreign parts were on their way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For succour in the great cat-war.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ratopolis beleaguer'd sore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their whole republic drain'd and poor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No morsel in their scrips they bore.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Slight boon they craved, of succour sure<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In days at utmost three or four.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"My friends," the hermit said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"To worldly things I'm dead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How can a poor recluse<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To such a mission be of use?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What can he do but pray<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That God will aid it on its way?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And so, my friends, it is my prayer<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That God will have you in his care."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His well-fed saintship said no more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But in their faces shut the door.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>What think you, reader, is the service</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>For which I use this niggard rat?</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>To paint a monk? No, but a dervise.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>A monk, I think, however fat,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Must be more bountiful than that.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i046.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE RAT retired from the world." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Cunning Fox.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A fox once practised, 'tis believed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A stratagem right well conceived.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wretch, when in the utmost strait<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By dogs of nose so delicate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Approach'd a gallows, where,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A lesson to like passengers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or clothed in feathers or in furs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Some badgers, owls, and foxes, pendent were.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their comrade, in his pressing need,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arranged himself among the dead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I seem to see old Hannibal<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Outwit some Roman general,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sit securely in his tent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The legions on some other scent.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But certain dogs, kept back<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To tell the errors of the pack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Arriving where the traitor hung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A fault in fullest chorus sung.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though by their bark the welkin rung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their master made them hold the tongue.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Suspecting not a trick so odd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Said he, "The rogue's beneath the sod.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My dogs, that never saw such jokes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Won't bark beyond these honest folks."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The rogue would try the trick again.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He did so to his cost and pain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Again with dogs the welkin rings;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Again our fox from gallows swings;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But though he hangs with greater faith<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This time, he does it to his death.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>So uniformly is it true,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>A stratagem is best when new.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i047.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE CUNNING FOX." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ape.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">There is an ape in Paris,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To which was given a wife:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Like many a one that marries,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This ape, in brutal strife,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Soon beat her out of life.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their infant cries,&mdash;perhaps not fed,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But cries, I ween, in vain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The father laughs: his wife is dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And he has other loves again,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which he will also beat, I think,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Return'd from tavern drown'd in drink.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>For aught that's good, you need not look</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Among the imitative tribe;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>A monkey be it, or what makes a book&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>The worse, I deem&mdash;the aping scribe.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;">
+<img src="images/i048.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt="THE APE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A fox, old, subtle, vigilant, and sly,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">By hunters wounded, fallen in the mud,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Attracted by the traces of his blood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That buzzing parasite, the fly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He blamed the gods, and wonder'd why<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The Fates so cruelly should wish<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To feast the fly on such a costly dish.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"What! light on me! make me its food!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Me, me, the nimblest of the wood!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">How long has fox-meat been so good?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What serves my tail? Is it a useless weight?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Go,&mdash;Heaven confound thee, greedy reprobate!&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And suck thy fill from some more vulgar veins!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A hedgehog, witnessing his pains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">(This fretful personage<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Here graces first my page,)<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Desired to set him free<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">From such cupidity.<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">"My neighbour fox," said he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"My quills these rascals shall empale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And ease thy torments without fail."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Not for the world, my friend!" the fox replied.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Pray let them finish their repast.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">These flies are full. Should they be set aside,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">New hungrier swarms would finish me at last."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Consumers are too common here below,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>In court and camp, in church and state, we know.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Old Aristotle's penetration</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Remark'd our fable's application;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>It might more clearly in our nation.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The fuller certain men are fed,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The less the public will be bled.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 360px;">
+<img src="images/i049.jpg" width="360" height="500" alt="THE FOX THE FLIES &amp; THE HEDGEHOG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Eagle and the Magpie.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The eagle, through the air a queen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And one far different, I ween,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In temper, language, thought, and mien,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The magpie,&mdash;once a prairie cross'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The by-path where they met was drear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Madge gave up herself for lost;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But having dined on ample cheer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The eagle bade her, "Never fear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You're welcome to my company;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For if the king of gods can be<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Full oft in need of recreation,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who rules the world,&mdash;right well may I,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Who serve him in that high relation:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Amuse me, then, before you fly."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our cackler, pleased, at quickest rate<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of this and that began to prate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No fool, or babbler for that matter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Could more incontinently chatter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At last she offer'd to make known&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A better spy had never flown&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All things, whatever she might see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In travelling from tree to tree.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But, with her offer little pleased&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nay, gathering wrath at being teased,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For such a purpose, never rove,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Replied th' impatient bird of Jove.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Adieu, my cackling friend, adieu;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My court is not the place for you:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heaven keep it free from such a bore!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Madge flapp'd her wings, and said no more.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>'Tis far less easy than it seems</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>An entrance to the great to gain.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The honour oft hath cost extremes</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Of mortal pain.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The craft of spies, the tattling art,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>And looks more gracious than the heart,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Are odious there;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>But still, if one would meet success,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Of different parishes the dress</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>He, like the pie, must wear.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i050.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE EAGLE AND THE MAGPIE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lion and the Hunter.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A braggart, lover of the chase,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had lost a dog of valued race,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And thought him in a lion's maw.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He ask'd a shepherd whom he saw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Pray show me, man, the robber's place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And I'll have justice in the case."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"'Tis on this mountain side,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The shepherd man replied.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"The tribute of a sheep I pay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each month, and where I please I stray."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Out leap'd the lion as he spake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And came that way with agile feet.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The braggart, prompt his flight to take,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Cried, "Jove, O grant a safe retreat!"<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6"><i>A danger close at hand</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Of courage is the test.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>It shows us who will stand&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Whose legs will run their best.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i051.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE LION AND THE HUNTER." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Left kingless by the lion's death,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The beasts once met, our story saith,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Some fit successor to install.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Forth from a dragon-guarded, moated place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The crown was brought, and, taken from its case,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And being tried by turns on all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The heads of most were found too small;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Some horn&egrave;d were, and some too big;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Not one would fit the regal gear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For ever ripe for such a rig,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The monkey, looking very queer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Approach'd with antics and grimaces,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, after scores of monkey faces,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With what would seem a gracious stoop,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pass'd through the crown as through a hoop.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The beasts, diverted with the thing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Did homage to him as their king.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The fox alone the vote regretted,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But yet in public never fretted.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When he his compliments had paid<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To royalty, thus newly made,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Great sire, I know a place," said he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Where lies conceal'd a treasure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which, by the right of royalty,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Should bide your royal pleasure."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The king lack'd not an appetite<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For such financial pelf,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, not to lose his royal right,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Ran straight to see it for himself.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">It was a trap, and he was caught.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Said Renard, "Would you have it thought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">You ape, that you can fill a throne,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And guard the rights of all, alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Not knowing how to guard your own?"<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>The beasts all gather'd from the farce,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>That stuff for kings is very scarce.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i052.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE FOX, THE MONKEY, and the ANIMALS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Sun and the Frogs.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The people drown'd their care in drink;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While from the general joy did &AElig;sop shrink,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And show'd its folly in this way.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"The sun," said he, "once took it in his head<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To have a partner: so he wed.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Up rose the wailings of the frogs.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"What shall we do, should he have progeny?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Said they to Destiny;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'One sun we scarcely can endure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And half-a-dozen, we are sure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Will dry the very sea.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Adieu to marsh and fen!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Our race will perish then,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or be obliged to fix<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Their dwelling in the Styx!'<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For such an humble animal,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The frog, I take it, reason'd well."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;">
+<img src="images/i053.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt="THE SUN AND THE FROGS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Countryman and the Serpent.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A countryman, as &AElig;sop certifies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A charitable man, but not so wise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">One day in winter found,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Stretch'd on the snowy ground,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A chill'd or frozen snake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As torpid as a stake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, if alive, devoid of sense.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He took him up, and bore him home,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, thinking not what recompense<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For such a charity would come,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Before the fire stretch'd him,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And back to being fetch'd him.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The snake scarce felt the genial heat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before his heart with native malice beat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He raised his head, thrust out his fork&egrave;d tongue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Coil'd up, and at his benefactor sprung.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Ungrateful wretch!" said he, "is this the way<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My care and kindness you repay?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now you shall die." With that his axe he takes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And with two blows three serpents makes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Trunk, head, and tail were separate snakes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, leaping up with all their might,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They vainly sought to reunite.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>'Tis good and lovely to be kind;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>But charity should not be blind;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>For as to wretchedness ingrate,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>You cannot raise it from its wretched state.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;">
+<img src="images/i054.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt="THE COUNTRYMAN AND THE SERPENT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Carter in the Mire.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">The Pha&euml;ton who drove a load of hay<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Once found his cart bemired.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Poor man! the spot was far away<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">From human help&mdash;retired,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In some rude country place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In Brittany, as near as I can trace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">Near Quimper Corentan,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">A town that poet never sang,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which Fate, they say, puts in the traveller's path,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When she would rouse the man to special wrath.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">May Heaven preserve us from that route!<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">But to our carter, hale and stout:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">And, fill'd with rage extreme,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The mud-holes now he cursed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">And now he cursed his team,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And now his cart and load,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Anon, the like upon himself bestow'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Upon the god he call'd at length,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Most famous through the world for strength.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"O, help me, Hercules!" cried he; "for if thy back of yore<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This burly planet bore, thy arm can set me free."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there broke<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A voice which thus in godlike accents spoke:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"The suppliant must himself bestir,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Ere Hercules will aid confer.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Look wisely in the proper quarter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">To see what hindrance can be found;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Remove the execrable mud and mortar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which, axle-deep, beset thy wheels around.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Thy sledge and crowbar take,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And pry me up that stone, or break;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Now fill that rut upon the other side.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Hast done it?" "Yes," the man replied.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Well," said the voice, "I'll aid thee now;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Take up thy whip." "I have ... but, how?<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">My cart glides on with ease!<br /></span>
+<span class="i12">I thank thee, Hercules."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Thy team," rejoin'd the voice, "has light ado;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i055.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE CARTER IN THE MIRE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Heron.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">One day,&mdash;no matter when or where,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">A long-legg'd heron chanced to fare<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">By a certain river's brink,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">With his long, sharp beak<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Helved on his slender neck;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">'Twas a fish-spear, you might think.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The water was clear and still,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The carp and the pike there at will<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Pursued their silent fun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Turning up, ever and anon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A golden side to the sun.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With ease might the heron have made<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Great profits in his fishing trade.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So near came the scaly fry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They might be caught by the passer-by.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But he thought he better might<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Wait for a better appetite&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For he lived by rule, and could not eat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Except at his hours, the best of meat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Anon his appetite return'd once more;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So, approaching again the shore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He saw some tench taking their leaps,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Now and then, from their lowest deeps.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With as dainty a taste as Horace's rat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He turn'd away from such food as that.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"What, tench for a heron! poh!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I scorn the thought, and let them go."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The tench refused, there came a gudgeon;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"For all that," said the bird, "I budge on.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll ne'er open my beak, if the gods please,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For such mean little fishes as these."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He did it for less; | For it came to pass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That not another fish could he see;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And, at last, so hungry was he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That he thought it of some avail<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To find on the bank a single snail.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Such is the sure result</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Of being too difficult.</i><br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Would you be strong and great</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Learn to accommodate.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i056.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE HERON." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Head and the Tail of the Serpent.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Two parts the serpent has&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Of men the enemies&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The head and tail: the same<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Have won a mighty fame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Next to the cruel Fates;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So that, indeed, hence<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">They once had great debates<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">About precedence.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The first had always gone ahead;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The tail had been for ever led;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And now to Heaven it pray'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">And said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"O, many and many a league,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Dragg'd on in sore fatigue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Behind his back I go.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Shall he for ever use me so?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Am I his humble servant?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No. Thanks to God most fervent!<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">His brother I was born,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And not his slave forlorn.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The self-same blood in both,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">I'm just as good as he:<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A poison dwells in me<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As virulent as doth<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In him. In mercy, heed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And grant me this decree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That I, in turn, may lead&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">My brother, follow me.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">My course shall be so wise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That no complaint shall rise."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With cruel kindness Heaven granted<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The very thing he blindly wanted:<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">At once this novel guide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That saw no more in broad daylight<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Than in the murk of darkest night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">His powers of leading tried,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Struck trees, and men, and stones, and bricks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And led his brother straight to Styx.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And to the same unlovely home,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Some states by such an error come.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 345px;">
+<img src="images/i057.jpg" width="345" height="500" alt="THE HEAD &amp; THE TAIL OF THE SERPENT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Dog And His Master's Dinner.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Our eyes are not made proof against the fair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Nor hands against the touch of gold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Fidelity is sadly rare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And has been from the days of old.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Well taught his appetite to check,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And do full many a handy trick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A dog was trotting, light and quick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His master's dinner on his neck.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A temperate, self-denying dog was he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">More than, with such a load, he liked to be.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But still he was, while many such as we<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would not have scrupled to make free.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strange that to dogs a virtue you may teach,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which, do your best, to men you vainly preach!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This dog of ours, thus richly fitted out,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A mastiff met, who wish'd the meat, no doubt.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To get it was less easy than he thought:<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The porter laid it down and fought.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Meantime some other dogs arrive:<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Such dogs are always thick enough,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And, fearing neither kick nor cuff,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Upon the public thrive.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Our hero, thus o'ermatch'd and press'd,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The meat in danger manifest,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Is fain to share it with the rest;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And, looking very calm and wise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"No anger, gentlemen," he cries:<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"My morsel will myself suffice;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The rest shall be your welcome prize."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">With this, the first his charge to violate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">He snaps a mouthful from his freight.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Then follow mastiff, cur, and pup,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Till all is cleanly eaten up.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Not sparingly the party feasted,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And not a dog of all but tasted.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i12"><i>In some such manner men abuse</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i12"><i>Of towns and states the revenues.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i12"><i>The sheriffs, aldermen, and mayor,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i12"><i>Come in for each a liberal share.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i058.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE DOG AND HIS MASTER&#39;S DINNER." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Joker and the Fishes.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A joker at a banker's table,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Most amply spread to satisfy<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The height of epicurean wishes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had nothing near but little fishes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So, taking several of the fry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He whisper'd to them very nigh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And seem'd to listen for reply.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The guests much wonder'd what it meant,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And stared upon him all intent.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The joker, then, with sober face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Politely thus explain'd the case:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"A friend of mine, to India bound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Has been, I fear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Within a year,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By rocks or tempests wreck'd and drown'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I ask'd these strangers from the sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To tell me where my friend might be.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">But all replied they were too young<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To know the least of such a matter&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The older fish could tell me better.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Pray, may I hear some older tongue?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What relish had the gentlefolks<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For such a sample of his jokes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is more than I can now relate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They put, I'm sure, upon his plate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A monster of so old a date,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He must have known the names and fate<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of all the daring voyagers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Who, following the moon and stars,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Have, by mischances, sunk their bones<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Within the realms of Davy Jones;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And who, for centuries, had seen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Far down, within the fathomless,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where whales themselves are sceptreless,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The ancients in their halls of green.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i059.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="THE JOKER and THE FISHES." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Rat and the Oyster.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A country rat, of little brains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Grown weary of inglorious rest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Left home with all its straws and grains,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Resolved to know beyond his nest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When peeping through the nearest fence,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"How big the world is, how immense!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He cried; "there rise the Alps, and that<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is doubtless famous Ararat."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His mountains were the works of moles,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or dirt thrown up in digging holes!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Some days of travel brought him where<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The tide had left the oysters bare.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Since here our traveller saw the sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He thought these shells the ships must be.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"My father was, in truth," said he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"A coward, and an ignoramus;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He dared not travel: as for me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I've seen the ships and ocean famous;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Have cross'd the deserts without drinking,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And many dangerous streams unshrinking."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Among the shut-up shell-fish, one<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was gaping widely at the sun;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It breathed, and drank the air's perfume,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Expanding, like a flower in bloom.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Both white and fat, its meat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Appear'd a dainty treat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our rat, when he this shell espied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thought for his stomach to provide.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"If not mistaken in the matter,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Said he, "no meat was ever fatter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or in its flavour half so fine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As that on which to-day I dine."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thus full of hope, the foolish chap<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thrust in his head to taste,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And felt the pinching of a trap&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The oyster closed in haste.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Now those to whom the world is new</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Are wonder-struck at every view;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>And the marauder finds his match,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>When he is caught who thinks to catch.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i060.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE RAT AND THE OYSTER." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A goat, a sheep, and porker fat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">All to the market rode together.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their own amusement was not that<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which caused their journey thither.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their coachman did not mean to "set them down"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To see the shows and wonders of the town.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The porker cried, in piercing squeals,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">As if with butchers at his heels.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The other beasts, of milder mood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The cause by no means understood.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They saw no harm, and wonder'd why<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">At such a rate the hog should cry.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Hush there, old piggy!" said the man,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"And keep as quiet as you can.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">What wrong have you to squeal about,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And raise this dev'lish, deaf'ning shout?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">These stiller persons at your side<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Have manners much more dignified.<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">Pray, have you heard<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">A single word<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Come from that gentleman in wool?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That proves him wise." "That proves him fool!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">The testy hog replied;<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">"For did he know<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">To what we go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He'd cry almost to split his throat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So would her ladyship the goat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They only think to lose with ease,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The goat her milk, the sheep his fleece:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">They're, maybe, right; but as for me<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This ride is quite another matter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of service only on the platter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My death is quite a certainty.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Adieu, my dear old piggery!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The porker's logic proved at once<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Himself a prophet and a dunce.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Hope ever gives a present ease,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>But fear beforehand kills:</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The wisest he who least foresees</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Inevitable ills.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i061.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE HOG THE GOAT and the SHEEP." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Rat and the Elephant.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A rat, of quite the smallest size,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Fix'd on an elephant his eyes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And jeer'd the beast of high descent<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Because his feet so slowly went.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upon his back, three stories high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">There sat, beneath a canopy,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A certain sultan of renown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His dog, and cat, and wife sublime,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His parrot, servant, and his wine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All pilgrims to a distant town.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The rat profess'd to be amazed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That all the people stood and gazed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With wonder, as he pass'd the road,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Both at the creature and his load.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"As if," said he, "to occupy<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A little more of land or sky<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Made one, in view of common sense,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of greater worth and consequence!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What see ye, men, in this parade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That food for wonder need be made?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bulk which makes a child afraid?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In truth, I take myself to be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In all aspects, as good as he."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And further might have gone his vaunt;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But, darting down, the cat<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Convinced him that a rat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is smaller than an elephant.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i062.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ass and the Dog.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Along the road an ass and dog<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">One master following, did jog.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their master slept: meanwhile, the ass<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Applied his nippers to the grass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Much pleased in such a place to stop,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though there no thistle he could crop.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He would not be too delicate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor spoil a dinner for a plate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which, but for that, his favourite dish,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Were all that any ass could wish.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"My dear companion," Towser said,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"'Tis as a starving dog I ask it,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pray lower down your loaded basket,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And let me get a piece of bread."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No answer&mdash;not a word!&mdash;indeed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The truth was, our Arcadian steed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fear'd lest, for every moment's flight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His nimble teeth should lose a bite.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At last, "I counsel you," said he, "to wait<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till master is himself awake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Who then, unless I much mistake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Will give his dog the usual bait."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Meanwhile, there issued from the wood<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A creature of the wolfish brood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Himself by famine sorely pinch'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At sight of him the donkey flinch'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And begg'd the dog to give him aid.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The dog budged not, but answer made,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I counsel thee, my friend, to run,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till master's nap is fairly done;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There can, indeed, be no mistake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That he will very soon awake;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till then, scud off with all your might;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And should he snap you in your flight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This ugly wolf,&mdash;why, let him feel<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The greeting of your well-shod heel.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I do not doubt, at all, but that<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Will be enough to lay him flat."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But ere he ceased it was too late;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The ass had met his cruel fate.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/i063.jpg" width="358" height="500" alt="THE ASS AND THE DOG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Education.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Lapluck and C&aelig;sar brothers were, descended<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">From dogs by Fame the most commended,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Who falling, in their puppyhood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To different masters anciently,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One dwelt and hunted in the boundless wood;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From thieves the other kept a kitchen free.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">At first, each had another name;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But, by their bringing up, it came,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">While one improved upon his nature,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The other grew a sordid creature,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Till, by some scullion called Lapluck,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The name ungracious ever stuck.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To high exploits his brother grew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Put many a stag at bay, and tore<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Full many a trophy from the boar;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In short, him first, of all his crew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">The world as C&aelig;sar knew;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And care was had, lest, by a baser mate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His noble blood should e'er degenerate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Not so with him of lower station,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whose race became a countless nation&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The common turnspits throughout France&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where danger is, they don't advance&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Precisely the Antipodes<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of what we call the C&aelig;sars, these!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Oft falls the son below his sire's estate:</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Through want of care all things degenerate.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>For lack of nursing Nature and her gifts,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>What crowds from gods become mere kitchen-thrifts!</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i064.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="EDUCATION." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Two Dogs and the Dead Ass.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Two lean and hungry mastiffs once espied<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A dead ass floating on a water wide.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The distance growing more and more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Because the wind the carcass bore,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"My friend," said one, "your eyes are best;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Pray let them on the water rest:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What thing is that I seem to see?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">An ox, or horse? what can it be?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Hey!" cried his mate; "what matter which,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Provided we could get a flitch?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">It doubtless is our lawful prey:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The puzzle is to find some way<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To get the prize; for wide the space<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To swim, with wind against your face.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Let's drink the flood; our thirsty throats<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Will gain the end as well as boats.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The water swallow'd, by and by<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">We'll have the carcass, high and dry&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Enough to last a week, at least."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Both drank as some do at a feast;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their breath was quench'd before their thirst,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And presently the creatures burst!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>And such is man. Whatever he</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>May set his soul to do or be,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>To him is possibility.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>How many vows he makes!</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>How many steps he takes!</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>How does he strive, and pant, and strain,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Fortune's or Glory's prize to gain!</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i065.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE TWO DOGS and the dead ASS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Monkey and the Leopard.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A monkey and a leopard were<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The rivals at a country fair.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Each advertised his own attractions.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Said one, "Good sirs, the highest place<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My merit knows; for, of his grace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The king hath seen me face to face;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, judging by his looks and actions,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I gave the best of satisfactions.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When I am dead, 'tis plain enough,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">My skin will make his royal muff.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So richly is it streak'd and spotted,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So delicately waved and dotted,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Its various beauty cannot fail to please."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, thus invited, everybody sees;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But soon they see, and soon depart.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The monkey's show-bill to the mart<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His merits thus sets forth the while,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All in his own peculiar style:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Come, gentlemen, I pray you, come;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In magic arts I am at home.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The whole variety in which<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">My neighbour boasts himself so rich,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is to his simple skin confined,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">While mine is living in the mind.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For I can speak, you understand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Can dance, and practise sleight-of-hand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Can jump through hoops, and balance sticks;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In short, can do a thousand tricks;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">One penny is my charge to you,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, if you think the price won't do,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When you have seen, then I'll restore<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Each man his money at the door."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>The ape was not to reason blind;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>For who in wealth of dress can find</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Such charms as dwell in wealth of mind?</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>One meets our ever-new desires,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>The other in a moment tires.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Alas! how many lords there are,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Of mighty sway and lofty mien,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Who, like this leopard at the fair,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Show all their talents on the skin!</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;">
+<img src="images/i066.jpg" width="356" height="500" alt="THE MONKEY AND THE LEOPARD." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Acorn and the Pumpkin.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">God's works are good. This truth to prove<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Around the world I need not move;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I do it by the nearest pumpkin.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"This fruit so large, on vine so small,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Surveying once, exclaim'd a bumpkin&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"What could He mean who made us all?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He's left this pumpkin out of place.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">If I had order'd in the case,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upon that oak it should have hung&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A noble fruit as ever swung<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To grace a tree so firm and strong.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Indeed, it was a great mistake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">As this discovery teaches,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That I myself did not partake<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His counsels whom my curate preaches.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All things had then in order come;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This acorn, for example,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Not bigger than my thumb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Had not disgraced a tree so ample.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The more I think, the more I wonder<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To see outraged proportion's laws,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And that without the slightest cause;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">God surely made an awkward blunder."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With such reflections proudly fraught,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Our sage grew tired of mighty thought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And threw himself on Nature's lap,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Beneath an oak, to take his nap.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Plump on his nose, by lucky hap,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">An acorn fell: he waked, and in<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The scarf he wore beneath his chin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He found the cause of such a bruise<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As made him different language use.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"O! O!" he cried; "I bleed! I bleed!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And this is what has done the deed!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, truly, what had been my fate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Had this had half a pumpkin's weight!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I see that God had reasons good,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And all His works were understood."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thus home he went in humbler mood.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i067.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE ACORN and the PUMPKIN." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Fool who Sold Wisdom.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A fool, in town, did wisdom cry;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The people, eager, flock'd to buy.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Each for his money got,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Paid promptly on the spot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Besides a box upon the head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Two fathoms' length of thread.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The most were vex'd&mdash;but quite in vain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The public only mock'd their pain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wiser they who nothing said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But pocketed the box and thread.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To search the meaning of the thing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would only laughs and hisses bring.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hath reason ever guaranteed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wit of fools in speech or deed?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis said of brainless heads in France,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The cause of what they do is chance.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One dupe, however, needs must know<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What meant the thread, and what the blow<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So ask'd a sage, to make it sure.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"They're both hieroglyphics pure,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sage replied without delay;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"All people well advised will stay<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From fools this fibre's length away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or get&mdash;I hold it sure as fate&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The other symbol on the pate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So far from cheating you of gold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fool this wisdom fairly sold."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i068.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE FOOL WHO SOLD WISDOM." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Oyster and the Litigants.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">Two pilgrims on the sand espied<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">An oyster thrown up by the tide.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In hope, both swallow'd ocean's fruit;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But ere the fact there came dispute.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">While one stoop'd down to take the prey,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The other push'd him quite away.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Said he, "'Twere rather meet<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To settle which shall eat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Why, he who first the oyster saw<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Should be its eater by the law;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The other should but see him do it."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Replied his mate, "If thus you view it,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Thank God the lucky eye is mine."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"But I've an eye not worse than thine,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The other cried, "and will be cursed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">If, too, I didn't see it first."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"You saw it, did you? Grant it true,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I saw it then, and felt it too."<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Amidst this sweet affair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Arrived a person very big,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Ycleped Sir Nincom Periwig.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They made him judge,&mdash;to set the matter square.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Sir Nincom, with a solemn face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Took up the oyster and the case:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In opening both, the first he swallow'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And, in due time, his judgment follow'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Attend: the court awards you each a shell<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cost free; depart in peace, and use them well."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Foot up the cost of suits at law,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The leavings reckon and awards,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>The cash you'll see Sir Nincom draw,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>And leave the parties&mdash;purse and cards.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;">
+<img src="images/i069.jpg" width="359" height="500" alt="THE OYSTER AND THE LITIGANTS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Wolf and the Lean Dog.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">A Troutling, some time since,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Endeavour'd vainly to convince<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A hungry fisherman<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of his unfitness for the frying-pan.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The fisherman had reason good&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The troutling did the best he could&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Both argued for their lives.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Now, if my present purpose thrives,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I'll prop my former proposition<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By building on a small addition.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A certain wolf, in point of wit<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The prudent fisher's opposite,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A dog once finding far astray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Prepared to take him as his prey.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The dog his leanness pled;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Your lordship, sure," he said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Cannot be very eager<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To eat a dog so meagre.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To wait a little do not grudge:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wedding of my master's only daughter<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Will cause of fatted calves and fowls a slaughter;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And then, as you yourself can judge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I cannot help becoming fatter."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The wolf, believing, waived the matter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And so, some days therefrom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Return'd with sole design to see<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">If fat enough his dog might be.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The rogue was now at home:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He saw the hunter through the fence.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"My friend," said he, "please wait;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I'll be with you a moment hence,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And fetch our porter of the gate."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This porter was a dog immense,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That left to wolves no future tense.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Suspicion gave our wolf a jog,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">It might not be so safely tamper'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">"My service to your porter dog,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Was his reply, as off he scamper'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">His legs proved better than his head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And saved him life to learn his trade.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i070.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE WOLF AND THE LEAN DOG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Nothing too Much.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Look where we will throughout creation,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">We look in vain for moderation.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The grain, best gift of Ceres fair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Green waving in the genial air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By overgrowth exhausts the soil;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By superfluity of leaves<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Defrauds the treasure of its sheaves,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And mocks the busy farmer's toil.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not less redundant is the tree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So sweet a thing is luxury.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The grain within due bounds to keep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their Maker licenses the sheep<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The leaves excessive to retrench.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In troops they spread across the plain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, nibbling down the hapless grain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Contrive to spoil it, root and branch.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So, then, with licence from on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wolves are sent on sheep to prey;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The whole the greedy gluttons slay;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or, if they don't, they try.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Next, men are sent on wolves to take<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The vengeance now condign:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In turn the same abuse they make<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of this behest divine.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Of animals, the human kind<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are to excess the most inclined.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On low and high we make the charge,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Indeed, upon the race at large.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There liveth not the soul select<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That sinneth not in this respect.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of "Nought too much," the fact is,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All preach the truth,&mdash;none practise.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 351px;">
+<img src="images/i071.jpg" width="351" height="500" alt="NOTHING TOO MUCH." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Cat and the Fox.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The cat and fox, when saints were all the rage<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Together went upon pilgrimage.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our pilgrims, as a thing of course,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Disputed till their throats were hoarse.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Then, dropping to a lower tone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They talk'd of this, and talk'd of that,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till Renard whisper'd to the cat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"You think yourself a knowing one:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How many cunning tricks have you?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For I've a hundred, old and new,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All ready in my haversack."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The cat replied, "I do not lack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Though with but one provided;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, truth to honour, for that matter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I hold it than a thousand better."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In fresh dispute they sided;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And loudly were they at it, when<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Approach'd a mob of dogs and men.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Now," said the cat, "your tricks ransack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And put your cunning brains to rack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One life to save; I'll show you mine&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A trick, you see, for saving nine."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With that, she climb'd a lofty pine.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fox his hundred ruses tried,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And yet no safety found.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A hundred times he falsified<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The nose of every hound.&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was here, and there, and everywhere,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Above, and under ground;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But yet to stop he did not dare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pent in a hole, it was no joke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To meet the terriers or the smoke.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So, leaping into upper air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He met two dogs, that choked him there.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Expedients may be too many,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Consuming time to choose and try.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>On one, but that as good as any,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>'Tis best in danger to rely.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 348px;">
+<img src="images/i072.jpg" width="348" height="500" alt="THE CAT AND THE FOX." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Monkey and the Cat.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">(The one was a monkey, the other a cat,)<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Co-servants and lodgers:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">More mischievous codgers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ne'er mess'd from a platter, since platters were flat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was anything wrong in the house or about it,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The neighbours were blameless,&mdash;no mortal could doubt it;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For Bertrand was thievish, and Ratto so nice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">More attentive to cheese than he was to the mice.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One day the two plunderers sat by the fire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where chestnuts were roasting, with looks of desire.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To steal them would be a right noble affair.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A double inducement our heroes drew there&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Twould benefit them, could they swallow their fill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then 'twould occasion to somebody ill.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Said Bertrand to Ratto, "My brother, to-day<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Exhibit your powers in a masterly way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And take me these chestnuts, I pray.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which were I but otherwise fitted<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">(As I am ingeniously witted)<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For pulling things out of the flame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Would stand but a pitiful game."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"'Tis done," replied Ratto, all prompt to obey;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thrust out his paw in a delicate way.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">First giving the ashes a scratch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He open'd the coveted batch;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Then lightly and quickly impinging,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He drew out, in spite of the singeing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One after another, the chestnuts at last,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While Bertrand contrived to devour them as fast.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A servant girl enters. Adieu to the fun.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Our Ratto was hardly contented, says one.&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>No more are the princes, by flattery paid</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>For furnishing help in a different trade,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>And burning their fingers to bring</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>More power to some mightier king.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i073.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE MONKEY AND THE CAT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Spider and the Swallow.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">"O Jupiter, whose fruitful brain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">By odd obstetrics freed from pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Bore Pallas, erst my mortal foe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Pray listen to my tale of woe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This Progne takes my lawful prey.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">As through the air she cuts her way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My flies she catches from my door,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Yes, <i>mine</i>&mdash;I emphasize the word,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And, but for this accursed bird,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My net would hold an ample store:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For I have woven it of stuff<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To hold the strongest strong enough."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">'Twas thus, in terms of insolence,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Complain'd the fretful spider, once<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Of palace-tapestry a weaver,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But then a spinster and deceiver,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That hoped within her toils to bring<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of insects all that ply the wing.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The sister swift of Philomel,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Intent on business, prosper'd well;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In spite of the complaining pest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The insects carried to her nest&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Nest pitiless to suffering flies&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Mouths gaping aye, to gormandize,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Of young ones clamouring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">And stammering,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With unintelligible cries.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The spider, with but head and feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And powerless to compete<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">With wings so fleet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Soon saw herself a prey.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The swallow, passing swiftly by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Bore web and all away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The spinster dangling in the sky!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Two tables hath our Maker set</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>For all that in this world are met.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>To seats around the first</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>The skilful, vigilant, and strong are beckon'd:</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Their hunger and their thirst</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>The rest must quell with leavings at the second.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/i074.jpg" width="358" height="500" alt="THE SPIDER AND THE SWALLOW." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Dog whose Ears were Cropped.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"What have I done, I'd like to know,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">To make my master maim me so?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A pretty figure I shall cut!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From other dogs I'll keep, in kennel shut.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ye kings of beasts, or rather tyrants, ho!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Would any beast have served you so?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thus Growler cried, a mastiff young;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The man, whom pity never stung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Went on to prune him of his ears.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Though Growler whined about his losses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He found, before the lapse of years,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Himself a gainer by the process;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For, being by his nature prone<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To fight his brethren for a bone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He'd oft come back from sad reverse<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With those appendages the worse.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">All snarling dogs have ragged ears.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">The less of hold for teeth of foe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The better will the battle go.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">When, in a certain place, one fears<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The chance of being hurt or beat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He fortifies it from defeat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Besides the shortness of his ears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">See Growler arm'd against his likes<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With gorget full of ugly spikes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A wolf would find it quite a puzzle<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To get a hold about his muzzle.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i075.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE DOG WHOSE EARS WERE CROPPED." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lioness and the Bear.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">The lioness had lost her young;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A hunter stole it from the vale;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The forests and the mountains rung<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Responsive to her hideous wail.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Nor night, nor charms of sweet repose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Could still the loud lament that rose<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">From that grim forest queen.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">No animal, as you might think,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With such a noise could sleep a wink.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A bear presumed to intervene.<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">"One word, sweet friend," quoth she,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">"And that is all, from me.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The young that through your teeth have pass'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In file unbroken by a fast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Had they nor dam nor sire?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">"They had them both." "Then I desire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Since all their deaths caused no such grievous riot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While mothers died of grief beneath your fiat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To know why you yourself cannot be quiet?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"I quiet!&mdash;I!&mdash;a wretch bereaved!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">My only son!&mdash;such anguish be relieved!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">No, never! All for me below<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Is but a life of tears and woe!"&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"But say, why doom yourself to sorrow so?"&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Alas! 'tis Destiny that is my foe."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Such language, since the mortal fall,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Has fallen from the lips of all.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Ye human wretches, give your heed;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>For your complaints there's little need.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Let him who thinks his own the hardest case,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Some widowed, childless Hecuba behold,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Herself to toil and shame of slavery sold,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>And he will own the wealth of heavenly grace.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 315px;">
+<img src="images/i076.jpg" width="315" height="448" alt="THE LIONESS AND THE BEAR." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Mice and the Owl.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A pine was by a woodman fell'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Which ancient, huge, and hollow tree<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">An owl had for his palace held&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A bird the Fates had kept in fee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Interpreter to such as we.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Within the caverns of the pine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With other tenants of that mine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Were found full many footless mice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But well provision'd, fat, and nice.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bird had bit off all their feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And fed them there with heaps of wheat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That this owl reason'd, who can doubt?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When to the chase he first went out,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And home alive the vermin brought,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which in his talons he had caught,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The nimble creatures ran away.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Next time, resolved to make them stay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He cropp'd their legs, and found, with pleasure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That he could eat them at his leisure;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">It were impossible to eat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Them all at once, did health permit.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His foresight, equal to our own,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In furnishing their food was shown.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now, let Cartesians, if they can,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Pronounce this owl a mere machine.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Could springs originate the plan<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of maiming mice when taken lean,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To fatten for his soup-tureen?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">If reason did no service there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I do not know it anywhere.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Observe the course of argument:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">These vermin are no sooner caught than gone:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They must be used as soon, 'tis evident;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But this to all cannot be done.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Hence, while their ribs I lard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I must from their elopement guard.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">But how?&mdash;A plan complete!&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">I'll clip them of their feet!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now, find me, in your human schools,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A better use of logic's tools!<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i077.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE MICE AND THE OWL." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Cat and the Two Sparrows.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">Contemporary with a sparrow tame<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">There lived a cat; from tenderest age,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of both, the basket and the cage<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had household gods the same.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bird's sharp beak full oft provoked the cat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who play'd in turn, but with a gentle pat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His wee friend sparing with a merry laugh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not punishing his faults by half.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In short, he scrupled much the harm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Should he with points his ferule arm.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The Sparrow, less discreet than he,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With dagger beak made very free.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sir Cat, a person wise and staid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Excused the warmth with which he play'd:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For 'tis full half of friendship's art<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To take no joke in serious part.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Familiar since they saw the light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Mere habit kept their friendship good;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Fair play had never turn'd to fight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Till, of their neighbourhood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Another sparrow came to greet<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Old Ratto grave and Saucy Pete.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Between the birds a quarrel rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And Ratto took his side.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"A pretty stranger, with such blows<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To beat our friend!" he cried.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"A neighbour's sparrow eating ours!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Not so, by all the feline powers."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And quick the stranger he devours.<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Now, truly," saith Sir Cat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"I know how sparrows taste by that.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Exquisite, tender, delicate!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">This thought soon seal'd the other's fate.&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But hence what moral can I bring?<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For, lacking that important thing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A fable lacks its finishing:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I seem to see of one some trace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But still its shadow mocks my chase.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i078.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE CAT and the two sparrows." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Two Goats.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Two goats, who self-emancipated,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The white that on their feet they wore<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Look'd back to noble blood of yore,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Once quit the lowly meadows, sated,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sought the hills, as it would seem:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In search of luck, by luck they met<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each other at a mountain stream.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As bridge a narrow plank was set,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On which, if truth must be confest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Two weasels scarce could go abreast.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And then the torrent, foaming white,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As down it tumbled from the height,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Might well those Amazons affright.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But maugre such a fearful rapid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both took the bridge, the goats intrepid!<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I seem to see our Louis Grand<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And Philip IV. advance<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To the Isle of Conference,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That lies 'twixt Spain and France,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Each sturdy for his glorious land.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thus each of our adventurers goes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till foot to foot, and nose to nose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Somewhere about the midst they meet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And neither will an inch retreat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For why? they both enjoy'd the glory<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of ancestors in ancient story.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The one, a goat of peerless rank,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which, browsing on Sicilian bank,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The Cyclop gave to Galat&aelig;a;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The other famous Amalth&aelig;a,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The goat that suckled Jupiter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As some historians aver.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For want of giving back, in troth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A common fall involved them both.&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A common accident, no doubt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">On Fortune's changeful route.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i079.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE TWO GOATS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Old Cat and the Young Mouse.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A young and inexperienced mouse<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Had faith to try a veteran cat,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Raminagrobis, death to rat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And scourge of vermin through the house,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Appealing to his clemency<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With reasons sound and fair.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Pray let me live; a mouse like me<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">It were not much to spare.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Am I, in such a family,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A burden? Would my largest wish<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Our wealthy host impoverish?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A grain of wheat will make my meal;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A nut will fat me like a seal.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'm lean at present; please to wait,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And for your heirs reserve my fate."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The captive mouse thus spake.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Replied the captor, "You mistake;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To me shall such a thing be said?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Address the deaf! address the dead!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A cat to pardon!&mdash;old one too!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Why, such a thing I never knew.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thou victim of my paw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By well-establish'd law,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Die as a mousling should,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And beg the sisterhood<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Who ply the thread and shears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To lend thy speech their ears.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Some other like repast<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">My heirs may find, or fast."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">He ceased. The moral's plain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Youth always hopes its ends to gain,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Believes all spirits like its own:</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Old age is not to mercy prone.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i080.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE OLD CAT AND THE YOUNG MOUSE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Sick Stag</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A stag, where stags abounded,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Fell sick and was surrounded<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Forthwith by comrades kind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">All pressing to assist,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or see, their friend, at least,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And ease his anxious mind&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">An irksome multitude.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Ah, sirs!" the sick was fain to cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Pray leave me here to die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">As others do, in solitude.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pray, let your kind attentions cease,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till death my spirit shall release."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But comforters are not so sent:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On duty sad full long intent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When Heaven pleased, they went:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But not without a friendly glass;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That is to say, they cropp'd the grass<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And leaves which in that quarter grew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From which the sick his pittance drew.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By kindness thus compell'd to fast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He died for want of food at last.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>The men take off no trifling dole</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Who heal the body, or the soul.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Alas the times! do what we will,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>They have their payment, cure or kill.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;">
+<img src="images/i081.jpg" width="347" height="500" alt="THE SICK STAG." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Quarrel of the Dogs and Cats.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">In mansion deck'd with frieze and column,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">Dwelt dogs and cats in multitudes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Decrees, promulged in manner solemn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had pacified their ancient feuds.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their lord had so arranged their meals and labours,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And threaten'd quarrels with the whip,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That, living in sweet cousinship,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They edified their wondering neighbours.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">At last, some dainty plate to lick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or profitable bone to pick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Bestow'd by some partiality,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Broke up the smooth equality.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The side neglected were indignant<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">At such a slight malignant.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">From words to blows the altercation<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Soon grew a perfect conflagration.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In hall and kitchen, dog and cat<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Took sides with zeal for this or that.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">New rules upon the cat side falling<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Produced tremendous caterwauling.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their advocate, against such rules as these,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Advised recurrence to the old decrees.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They search'd in vain, for, hidden in a nook,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The thievish mice had eaten up the book.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Another quarrel, in a trice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Made many sufferers with the mice;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For many a veteran whisker'd-face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With craft and cunning richly stored,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And grudges old against the race,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now watch'd to put them to the sword;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Nor mourn'd for this that mansion's lord.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Look wheresoever we will, we see</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>No creature from opponents free.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>'Tis nature's law for earth and sky;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>'Twere vain to ask the reason why:</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>God's works are good,&mdash;I cannot doubt it,&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>And that is all I know about it.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i082.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE QUARREL OF THE DOGS AND CATS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Wolf and the Fox.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">"Dear wolf," complain'd a hungry fox,<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">"A lean chick's meat, or veteran cock's,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is all I get by toil or trick:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of such a living I am sick.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With far less risk, you've better cheer;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A house you need not venture near,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But I must do it, spite of fear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Pray, make me master of your trade.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And let me by that means be made<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The first of all my race that took<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Fat mutton to his larder's hook:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Your kindness shall not be repented."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The wolf quite readily consented.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I have a brother, lately dead:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Go fit his skin to yours," he said.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Twas done; and then the wolf proceeded:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Now mark you well what must be done,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The dogs that guard the flock to shun."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fox the lessons strictly heeded.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At first he boggled in his dress;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But awkwardness grew less and less,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till perseverance gave success.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His education scarce complete,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A flock, his scholarship to greet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Came rambling out that way.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The new-made wolf his work began,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Amidst the heedless nibblers ran,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And spread a sore dismay.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bleating host now surely thought<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That fifty wolves were on the spot:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Dog, shepherd, sheep, all homeward fled,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And left a single sheep in pawn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which Renard seized when they were gone.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But, ere upon his prize he fed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">There crow'd a cock near by, and down<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The scholar threw his prey and gown,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That he might run that way the faster&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Forgetting lessons, prize and master.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>Reality, in every station,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Will burst out on the first occasion.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i083.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE WOLF AND THE FOX." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lobster and her Daughter.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">The wise, sometimes, as lobsters do,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To gain their ends back foremost go.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">It is the rower's art; and those<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Commanders who mislead their foes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Do often seem to aim their sight<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Just where they don't intend to smite.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">My theme, so low, may yet apply<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To one whose fame is very high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Who finds it not the hardest matter<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A hundred-headed league to scatter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What he will do, what leave undone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Are secrets with unbroken seals,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Till victory the truth reveals.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whatever he would have unknown<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is sought in vain. Decrees of Fate<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Forbid to check, at first, the course<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which sweeps at last the torrent force.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">One Jove, as ancient fables state,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Exceeds a hundred gods in weight.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So Fate and Louis would seem able<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The universe to draw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Bound captive to their law.&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But come we to our fable.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A mother lobster did her daughter chide:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"For shame, my daughter! can't you go ahead?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"And how go you yourself?" the child replied;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Can I be but by your example led?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Head foremost should I, singularly, wend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">While all my race pursue the other end."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She spoke with sense: for better or for worse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Example has a universal force.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To some it opens wisdom's door,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But leads to folly many more.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Yet, as for backing to one's aim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">When properly pursued<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The art is doubtless good,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">At least in grim Bellona's game.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i084.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE LOBSTER AND HER DAUGHTER." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ploughman and his Sons.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>The farmer's patient care and toil</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Are oftener wanting than the soil.</i><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A wealthy ploughman drawing near his end,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Call'd in his sons apart from every friend,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And said, "When of your sire bereft,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The heritage our fathers left<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Guard well, nor sell a single field.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A treasure in it is conceal'd:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The place, precisely, I don't know,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But industry will serve to show.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The harvest past, Time's forelock take,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And search with plough, and spade, and rake;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Turn over every inch of sod,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Nor leave unsearch'd a single clod."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The father died. The sons&mdash;and not in vain&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Turn'd o'er the soil, and o'er again;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That year their acres bore<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">More grain than e'er before.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Though hidden money found they none,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Yet had their father wisely done,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To show by such a measure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That toil itself is treasure.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;">
+<img src="images/i085.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt="THE PLOUGHMAN AND HIS SONS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">Clad in a lion's shaggy hide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">An ass spread terror far and wide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, though himself a coward brute,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Put all the world to scampering rout:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But, by a piece of evil luck,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A portion of an ear outstuck,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which soon reveal'd the error<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of all the panic terror.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Old Martin did his office quick.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Surprised were all who did not know the trick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To see that Martin, at his will,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Was driving lions to the mill!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>In France, the men are not a few</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Of whom this fable proves too true;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Whose valour chiefly doth reside</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>In coat they wear and horse they ride.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i086.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE ASS DRESSED IN THE LION&#39;S SKIN." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Woods and the Woodman.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A certain wood-chopper lost or broke<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From his axe's eye a bit of oak.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The forest must needs be somewhat spared<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While such a loss was being repair'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Came the man at last, and humbly pray'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That the woods would kindly lend to him&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A moderate loan&mdash;a single limb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whereof might another helve be made,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And his axe should elsewhere drive its trade.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O, the oaks and firs that then might stand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A pride and a joy throughout the land,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For their ancientness and glorious charms!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The innocent Forest lent him arms;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But bitter indeed was her regret;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the wretch, his axe new-helved and whet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Did nought but his benefactress spoil<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of the finest trees that graced her soil;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And ceaselessly was she made to groan,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Doing penance for that fatal loan.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Behold the world-stage and its actors,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Where benefits hurt benefactors!&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>A weary theme, and full of pain;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>For where's the shade so cool and sweet,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Protecting strangers from the heat,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>But might of such a wrong complain?</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Alas! I vex myself in vain;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Ingratitude, do what I will,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>Is sure to be the fashion still.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 353px;">
+<img src="images/i087.jpg" width="353" height="500" alt="THE WOODS AND THE WOODMAN." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Fox, the Wolf, and the horse.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A fox, though young, by no means raw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Ho! neighbour wolf," said he to one quite green,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"A creature in our meadow I have seen,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The finest beast I ever met."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Is he a stouter one than we?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The wolf demanded, eagerly;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Some picture of him let me see."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"If I could paint," said fox, "I should delight<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">T' anticipate your pleasure at the sight;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But come; who knows? perhaps it is a prey<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">By fortune offer'd in our way."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They went. The horse, turn'd loose to graze,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Not liking much their looks and ways,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Was just about to gallop off.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Sir," said the fox, "your humble servants, we<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Make bold to ask you what your name may be."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The horse, an animal with brains enough,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Replied, "Sirs, you yourselves may read my name;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My shoer round my heel hath writ the same."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Me, sir, my parents did not educate,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So poor, a hole was their entire estate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My friend, the wolf, however, taught at college,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Could read it were it even Greek."<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">The wolf, to flattery weak,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Approach'd to verify the boast;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">For which four teeth he lost.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The high raised hoof came down with such a blow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As laid him bleeding on the ground full low.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"My brother," said the fox, "this shows how just<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What once was taught me by a fox of wit,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'All unknown things the wise mistrust.'"<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i088.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE FOX THE WOLF AND THE HORSE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Fox and the Turkeys.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Against a robber fox, a tree<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Some turkeys served as citadel.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That villain, much provoked to see<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Each standing there as sentinel,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">Cried out, "Such witless birds<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At me stretch out their necks, and gobble!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No, by the powers! I'll give them trouble."<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">He verified his words.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The moon, that shined full on the oak,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Seem'd then to help the turkey folk.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But fox, in arts of siege well versed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Ransack'd his bag of tricks accursed.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He feign'd himself about to climb;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Walk'd on his hinder legs sublime;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then death most aptly counterfeited,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And seem'd anon resuscitated.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A practiser of wizard arts<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Could not have fill'd so many parts.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In moonlight he contrived to raise<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His tail, and make it seem a blaze:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And countless other tricks like that.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Meanwhile, no turkey slept or sat.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Their constant vigilance at length,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As hoped the fox, wore out their strength.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Bewilder'd by the rigs he run,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They lost their balance one by one.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As Renard slew, he laid aside,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till nearly half of them had died;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Then proudly to his larder bore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And laid them up, an ample store.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8"><i>A foe, by being over-heeded,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i8"><i>Has often in his plan succeeded.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i089.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE FOX AND THE TURKEYS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Wallet.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">From heaven, one day, did Jupiter proclaim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Let all that live before my throne appear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there if any one hath aught to blame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In matter, form, or texture of his frame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He may bring forth his grievance without fear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Redress shall instantly be given to each.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come, monkey, now, first let us have your speech.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">You see these quadrupeds, your brothers;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Comparing, then, yourself with others,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Are you well satisfied?" "And wherefore not?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Says Jock. "Haven't I four trotters with the rest?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is not my visage comely as the best?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But this my brother Bruin, is a blot<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">On thy creation fair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And sooner than be painted I'd be shot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Were I, great sire, a bear."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bear approaching, doth he make complaint?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not he;&mdash;himself he lauds without restraint.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The elephant he needs must criticise;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To crop his ears and stretch his tail were wise;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A creature he of huge, misshapen size.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The elephant, though famed as beast judicious,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While on his own account he had no wishes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pronounced dame whale too big to suit his taste;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of flesh and fat she was a perfect waste.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The little ant, again, pronounced the gnat too wee;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To such a speck, a vast colossus she.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each censured by the rest, himself content,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Back to their homes all living things were sent.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Such folly liveth yet with human fools.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>For others lynxes, for ourselves but moles.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Great blemishes in other men we spy,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Which in ourselves we pass most kindly by.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>As in this world we're but way-farers,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Kind Heaven has made us wallet-bearers.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>The pouch behind our own defects must store,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>The faults of others lodge in that before.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i090.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE WALLET." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Woodman and Mercury.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A man that labour'd in the wood<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Had lost his honest livelihood;<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">That is to say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His axe was gone astray.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He had no tools to spare;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This wholly earn'd his fare.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Without a hope beside,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He sat him down and cried,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Alas, my axe! where can it be?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O Jove! but send it back to me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And it shall strike good blows for thee."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His prayer in high Olympus heard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Swift Mercury started at the word.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Your axe must not be lost," said he:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Now, will you know it when you see?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An axe I found upon the road."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With that an axe of gold he show'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Is't this?" The woodman answer'd, "Nay."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An axe of silver, bright and gay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Refused the honest woodman too.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At last the finder brought to view<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An axe of iron, steel, and wood.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"That's mine," he said, in joyful mood;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"With that I'll quite contented be."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The god replied, "I give the three,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As due reward of honesty."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This luck when neighbouring choppers knew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They lost their axes, not a few,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sent their prayers to Jupiter<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So fast, he knew not which to hear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His winged son, however, sent<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With gold and silver axes, went.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each would have thought himself a fool<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not to have own'd the richest tool.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But Mercury promptly gave, instead<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of it, a blow upon the head.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4"><i>With simple truth to be contented,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Is surest not to be repented;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>But still there are who would</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>With evil trap the good,&mdash;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>Whose cunning is but stupid,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>For Jove is never dup&eacute;d.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 352px;">
+<img src="images/i091.jpg" width="352" height="500" alt="THE WOODMAN AND MERCURY." title="" />
+<span class="caption">THE WOODMAN AND MERCURY.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lion and the Monkey.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">The lion, for his kingdom's sake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In morals would some lessons take,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And therefore call'd, one summer's day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The monkey, master of the arts,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">An animal of brilliant parts,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To hear what he could say.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Great king," the monkey thus began,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"To reign upon the wisest plan<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Requires a prince to set his zeal,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And passion for the public weal,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Distinctly and quite high above<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A certain feeling call'd self-love,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The parent of all vices,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">In creatures of all sizes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To will this feeling from one's breast away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is not the easy labour of a day;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By that your majesty august,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Will execute your royal trust,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From folly free and aught unjust."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Give me," replied the king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Example of each thing."<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"Each species," said the sage,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i8">"And I begin with ours,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Exalts its own peculiar powers<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Above sound reason's gauge.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Meanwhile, all other kinds and tribes<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As fools and blockheads it describes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With other compliments as cheap.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, on the other hand, the same<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Self-love inspires a beast to heap<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The highest pyramid of fame<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For every one that bears his name;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Because he justly deems such praise<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The easiest way himself to raise.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Tis my conclusion in the case,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That many a talent here below<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is but cabal, or sheer grimace,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The art of seeming things to know&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">An art in which perfection lies<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">More with the ignorant than wise."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;">
+<img src="images/i092.jpg" width="354" height="500" alt="THE LION AND THE MONKEY" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Shepherd and the Lion.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Fable &AElig;sop tells is nearly this:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A shepherd from his flock began to miss,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And long'd to catch the stealer of, his sheep.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Before a cavern, dark and deep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Where wolves retired by day to sleep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which he suspected as the thieves,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He set his trap among the leaves;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And, ere he left the place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He thus invoked celestial grace:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"O king of all the powers divine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Against the rogue but grant me this delight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That this my trap may catch him in my sight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And I, from twenty calves of mine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Will make the fattest thine."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But while the words were on his tongue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Forth came a lion great and strong.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Down crouch'd the man of sheep, and said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With shivering fright half dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Alas! that man should never be aware<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of what may be the meaning of his prayer!<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To catch the robber of my flocks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">O king of gods, I pledged a calf to thee:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">If from his clutches thou wilt rescue me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I'll raise my offering to an ox."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;">
+<img src="images/i093.jpg" width="356" height="500" alt="THE SHEPHERD AND THE LION." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Horse and the Wolf.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">A wolf who, fall'n on needy days,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">In sharp look-out for means and ways,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Espied a horse turn'd out to graze.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">His joy the reader may opine.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Once got," said he, "this game were fine;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But if a sheep, 'twere sooner mine.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I can't proceed my usual way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Some trick must now be put in play."<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">This said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He came with measured tread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And told the horse, with learned verbs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He knew the power of roots and herbs,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Whatever grew about those borders,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He soon could cure of all disorders.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">If he, Sir Horse, would not conceal<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The symptoms of his case,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">He, Doctor Wolf, would gratis heal;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">For that to feed in such a place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">And run about untied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Was proof itself of some disease,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">As all the books decide.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"I have, good Doctor, if you please,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Replied the horse, "as I presume,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Beneath my foot, an aposthume."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"My son," replied the learned leech,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"That part, as all our authors teach,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Is strikingly susceptible<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Of ills which make acceptable<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">What you may also have from me&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The aid of skilful surgery."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The fellow, with this talk sublime,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Watch'd for a snap the fitting time.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Meanwhile, suspicious of some trick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">The weary patient nearer draws,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And gives his doctor such a kick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">As makes a chowder of his jaws.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Exclaim'd the Wolf, in sorry plight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">"I own those heels have served me right.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I err'd to quit my trade, as I will not in future;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Me Nature surely made for nothing but a butcher."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 344px;">
+<img src="images/i094.jpg" width="344" height="500" alt="THE HORSE AND THE WOLF." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Eagle and the Owl.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The eagle and the owl, resolved to cease<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Their war, embraced in pledge of peace.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On faith of king, on faith of owl, they swore<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That they would eat each other's chicks no more.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"But know you mine?" said Wisdom's bird.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Not I, indeed," the eagle cried.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"The worse for that," the owl replied:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I fear your oath's a useless word;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I fear that you, as king, will not<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Consider duly who or what:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Adieu, my young, if you should meet them!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"Describe them, then, and I'll not eat them,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The eagle said. The owl replied:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"My little ones, I say with pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For grace of form cannot be match'd,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The prettiest birds that e'er were hatch'd;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By this you cannot fail to know them;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Tis needless, therefore, that I show them."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At length God gives the owl a set of heirs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And while at early eve abroad he fares,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In quest of birds and mice for food,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Our eagle haply spies the brood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">As on some craggy rock they sprawl,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or nestle in some ruined wall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">(But which it matters not at all,)<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And thinks them ugly little frights,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Grim, sad, with voice like shrieking sprites.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"These chicks," says he, "with looks almost infernal,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Can't be the darlings of our friend nocturnal.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll sup of them." And so he did, not slightly:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He never sups, if he can help it, lightly.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The owl return'd; and, sad, he found<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Nought left but claws upon the ground.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He pray'd the gods above and gods below<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To smite the brigand who had caused his woe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Quoth one, "On you alone the blame must fall;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thinking your like the loveliest of all<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You told the eagle of your young ones' graces;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">You gave the picture of their faces:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Had it of likeness any traces?"<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 358px;">
+<img src="images/i095.jpg" width="358" height="500" alt="THE EAGLE AND THE OWL." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Miser and the Monkey.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A Man amass'd. The thing, we know,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Doth often to a frenzy grow.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No thought had he but of his minted gold&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stuff void of worth when unemploy'd, I hold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now, that this treasure might the safer be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Our miser's dwelling had the sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As guard on every side from every thief.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With pleasure, very small in my belief,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But very great in his, he there<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upon his hoard bestow'd his care.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">No respite came of everlasting<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Recounting, calculating, casting;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For some mistake would always come<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To mar and spoil the total sum.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A monkey there, of goodly size,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And than his lord, I think, more wise,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Some doubloons from the window threw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And render'd thus the count untrue.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The padlock'd room permitted<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Its owner, when he quitted,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To leave his money on the table.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">One day, bethought this monkey wise<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To make the whole a sacrifice<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To Neptune on his throne unstable.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">I could not well award the prize<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Between the monkey's and the miser's pleasure<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Derived from that devoted treasure.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">One day, then, left alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That animal, to mischief prone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Coin after coin detach'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">A gold jacobus snatch'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or Portuguese doubloon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Or silver ducatoon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Or noble, of the English rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And flung with all his might<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Those discs, which oft excite<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The strongest wishes mortal ever knows.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Had he not heard, at last,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The turning of his master's key,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The money all had pass'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The same short road to sea;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And not a single coin but had been pitch'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Into the gulf by many a wreck enrich'd.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Now, God preserve full many a financier</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Whose use of wealth may find its likeness here!</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 355px;">
+<img src="images/i096.jpg" width="355" height="500" alt="THE MISER AND THE MONKEY." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Vultures and the Pigeons.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Mars once made havoc in the air:<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Some cause aroused a quarrel there<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Among the birds;&mdash;not those that sing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The courtiers of the merry Spring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But naughty hawk and vulture folks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of hooked beak and talons keen.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The carcass of a dog, 'tis said,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Had to this civil carnage led.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Blood rain'd upon the swarded green,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And valiant deeds were done, I ween.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Suffice to say, that chiefs were slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And heroes strow'd the sanguine plain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Twas sport to see the battle rage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And valiant hawk with hawk engage;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Twas pitiful to see them fall,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Torn, bleeding, weltering, gasping, all.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Force, courage, cunning, all were plied;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Intrepid troops on either side<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No effort spared to populate<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The dusky realms of hungry Fate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This woful strife awoke compassion<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Within another feather'd nation,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of iris neck and tender heart.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They tried their hand at mediation&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To reconcile the foes, or part.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The pigeon people duly chose<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Ambassadors, who work'd so well<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As soon the murderous rage to quell,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And stanch the source of countless woes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A truce took place, and peace ensued.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Alas! the people dearly paid<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Who such pacification made!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Those cursed hawks at once pursued<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The harmless pigeons, slew and ate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till towns and fields were desolate.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>The safety of the rest requires</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>The bad should flesh each other's spears:</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Whoever peace with them desires</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Had better set them by the ears.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;">
+<img src="images/i097.jpg" width="347" height="500" alt="THE VULTURES AND THE PIGEONS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Stag and the Vine.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A stag, by favour of a vine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Which grew where suns most genial shine,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And form'd a thick and matted bower<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which might have turn'd a summer shower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was saved from ruinous assault.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The hunters thought their dogs at fault,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And call'd them off. In danger now no more<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The stag, a thankless wretch and vile,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Began to browse his benefactress o'er.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The hunters, listening the while,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The rustling heard, came back,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">With all their yelping pack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And seized him in that very place.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"This is," said he, "but justice, in my case.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Let every black ingrate<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Henceforward profit by my fate."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The dogs fell to&mdash;'twere wasting breath<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To pray those hunters at the death.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They left, and we will not revile 'em<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A warning for profaners of asylum.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 349px;">
+<img src="images/i098.jpg" width="349" height="500" alt="THE STAG AND THE VINE." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">An iron pot proposed<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">To an earthen pot a journey.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The latter was opposed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Expressing the concern he<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Had felt about the danger<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of going out a ranger.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He thought the kitchen hearth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The safest place on earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For one so very brittle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"For thee, who art a kettle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hast a tougher skin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There's nought to keep thee in."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I'll be thy body-guard,"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Replied the iron pot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"If anything that's hard<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Should threaten thee a jot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Between you I will go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And save thee from the blow."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This offer him persuaded.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The iron pot paraded<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Himself as guard and guide<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Close at his cousin's side.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Now, in their tripod way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They hobble as they may;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And eke together bolt<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">At every little jolt,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which gives the crockery pain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">But presently his comrade hits<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">So hard, he dashes him to bits,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before he can complain.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Take care that you associate</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>With equals only, lest your fate</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Between these pots should find its mate.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 345px;">
+<img src="images/i099.jpg" width="345" height="500" alt="THE EARTHEN POT AND THE IRON POT." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Bear and the Two Companions.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Two fellows, needing funds, and bold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">A bearskin to a furrier sold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of which the bear was living still,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But which they presently would kill&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">At least they said they would,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And vow'd their word was good.<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The bargain struck upon the skin,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Two days at most must bring it in.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Forth went the two. More easy found than got,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bear came growling at them on the trot.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Behold our dealers both confounded,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As if by thunderbolt astounded!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their bargain vanish'd suddenly in air;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For who could plead his interest with a bear?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">One of the friends sprung up a tree;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The other, cold as ice could be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Fell on his face, feign'd death,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And closely held his breath,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He having somewhere heard it said<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The bear ne'er preys upon the dead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sir Bear, sad blockhead, was deceived&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The prostrate man a corpse believed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, half suspecting some deceit,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He feels and snuffs from head to feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And in the nostrils blows.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The body's surely dead, he thinks.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"I'll leave it," says he, "for it stinks;"<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And off into the woods he goes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The other dealer, from his tree<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Descending cautiously, to see<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His comrade lying in the dirt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Consoling, says, "It is a wonder<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">That, by the monster forced asunder,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">We're, after all, more scared than hurt.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But," addeth he, "what of the creature's skin?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He held his muzzle very near;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What did he whisper in your ear?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"He gave this caution,&mdash;'Never dare<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Again to sell the skin of bear<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Its owner has not ceased to wear.'"<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 348px;">
+<img src="images/i100.jpg" width="348" height="500" alt="THE BEAR AND THE TWO COMPANIONS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">A Lion, old, and impotent with gout,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Would have some cure for age found out.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This king, from every species,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Call'd to his aid the leeches.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They came, from quacks without degree<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To doctors of the highest fee.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Advised, prescribed, talk'd learnedly;<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">But with the rest<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Came not Sir Cunning Fox, M.D.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sir Wolf the royal couch attended,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And his suspicions there express'd.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Forthwith his majesty, offended,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Resolved Sir Cunning Fox should come,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And sent to smoke him from his home.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He came, was duly usher'd in,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, knowing where Sir Wolf had been,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Said, "Sire, abused your royal ear<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Has been by rumours insincere;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To wit, that I've been self-exempt<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From coming here, through sheer contempt.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, sire, your royal health to aid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I vow'd to make a pilgrimage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, on my way, met doctors sage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In skill the wonder of the age,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Whom carefully I did consult<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">About that great debility<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Term'd in the books senility,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of which you fear, with reason, the result.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">You lack, they say, the vital heat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By age extreme become effete.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Drawn from a living wolf, the hide<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Should warm and smoking be applied.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sir Wolf, here, won't refuse to give<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His hide to cure you, as I live."<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The king was pleased with this advice.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Flay'd, jointed, served up in a trice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Sir Wolf first wrapped the monarch up,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Then furnish'd him whereon to sup.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Beware, ye courtiers, lest ye gain,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>By slander's arts, less power than pain.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 343px;">
+<img src="images/i101.jpg" width="343" height="500" alt="THE LION THE WOLF AND THE FOX." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Battle of the Rats and Weasels.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The weasels live, no more than cats,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On terms of friendship with the rats;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And, were it not that these<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Through doors contrive to squeeze<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Too narrow for their foes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">The animals long-snouted<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Would long ago have routed,<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">And from the planet scouted<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Their race, as I suppose.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One year it did betide,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When they were multiplied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An army took the field<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of rats, with spear and shield,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whose crowded ranks led on<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A king named Ratapon.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The weasels, too, their banner<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Unfurl'd in warlike manner.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As Fame her trumpet sounds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The victory balanced well;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Enrich'd were fallow grounds<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where slaughter'd legions fell;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But by said trollop's tattle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The loss of life in battle<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thinn'd most the rattish race<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In almost every place;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">And finally their rout<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Was total, spite of stout<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Artarpax and Psicarpax,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And valiant Meridarpax,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who, cover'd o'er with dust,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Long time sustain'd their host<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Down sinking on the plain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their efforts were in vain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fate ruled that final hour,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(Inexorable power!)<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And so the captains fled<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As well as those they led;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The princes perish'd all.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The undistinguish'd small<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In certain holes found shelter;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In crowding, helter-skelter;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But the nobility<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Could not go in so free,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who proudly had assumed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each one a helmet plumed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We know not, truly, whether<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For honour's sake the feather,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or foes to strike with terror;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But, truly, 'twas their error.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor hole, nor crack, nor crevice<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Will let their head-gear in;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While meaner rats in bevies<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">An easy passage win;&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So that the shafts of fate<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Do chiefly hit the great.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>A feather in the cap</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Is oft a great mishap.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>An equipage too grand</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Comes often to a stand</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Within a narrow place.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>The small, whate'er the case,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>With ease slip through a strait,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Where larger folks must wait.</i><br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+<img src="images/i102.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="THE BATTLE OF THE RATS AND THE WEASELS." title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p>
+<h2>The Animals Sick of the Plague.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">The sorest ill that Heaven hath<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Sent on this lower world in wrath,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The plague (to call it by its name,)<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">One single day of which<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">Would Pluto's ferryman enrich,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Waged war on beasts, both wild and tame.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">They died not all, but all were sick:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No hunting now, by force or trick,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To save what might so soon expire.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No food excited their desire;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Nor wolf nor fox now watch'd to slay<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The innocent and tender prey.<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">The turtles fled;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">So love and therefore joy were dead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The lion council held, and said:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"My friends, I do believe<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">This awful scourge, for which we grieve,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is for our sins a punishment<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Most righteously by Heaven sent.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Let us our guiltiest beast resign,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A sacrifice to wrath divine.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Perhaps this offering, truly small,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">May gain the life and health of all.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By history we find it noted<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That lives have been just so devoted.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Then let us all turn eyes within,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And ferret out the hidden sin.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Himself let no one spare nor flatter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But make clean conscience in the matter.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For me, my appetite has play'd the glutton<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Too much and often upon mutton.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What harm had e'er my victims done?<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">I answer, truly, None.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Perhaps, sometimes, by hunger press'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I've eat the shepherd with the rest.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I yield myself, if need there be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And yet I think, in equity,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each should confess his sins with me;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For laws of right and justice cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The guiltiest alone should die."<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">"Sire," said the fox, "your majesty<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is humbler than a king should be,<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 356px;">
+<img src="images/i103.jpg" width="356" height="500" alt="THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE." title="" />
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And over-squeamish in the case.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What! eating stupid sheep a crime?<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">No, never, sire, at any time.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It rather was an act of grace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A mark of honour to their race.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And as to shepherds, one may swear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The fate your majesty describes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is recompense less full than fair<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For such usurpers o'er our tribes."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Thus Renard glibly spoke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And loud applause from flatterers broke.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of neither tiger, boar, nor bear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Did any keen inquirer dare<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To ask for crimes of high degree;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The fighters, biters, scratchers, all<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From every mortal sin were free;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The very dogs, both great and small,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Were saints, as far as dogs could be.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">The ass, confessing in his turn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thus spoke in tones of deep concern:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I happen'd through a mead to pass;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The monks, its owners, were at mass;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Keen hunger, leisure, tender grass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And add to these the devil too,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">All tempted me the deed to do.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I browsed the bigness of my tongue;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Since truth must out, I own it wrong."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">On this, a hue and cry arose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As if the beasts were all his foes:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A wolf, haranguing lawyer-wise.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Denounced the ass for sacrifice&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bald-pate, scabby, ragged lout,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By whom the plague had come, no doubt.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His fault was judged a hanging crime.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">"What? eat another's grass? O shame!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The noose of rope and death sublime,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For that offence, were all too tame!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And soon poor Grizzle felt the same.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>Thus human courts acquit the strong,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>And doom the weak, as therefore wrong.</i><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, by 
+Jean de La Fontaine
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+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg's A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, by Jean de La Fontaine
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine
+
+Author: Jean de La Fontaine
+
+Illustrator: Percy J. Billinghurst
+
+Release Date: May 6, 2008 [EBook #25357]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Josephine Paolucci and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE
+
+WITH PICTURES BY PERCY J. BILLINGHURST]
+
+
+
+
+A HUNDRED FABLES OF
+
+LA FONTAINE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+A HUNDRED FABLES
+
+OF
+
+LA FONTAINE
+
+WITH PICTURES BY PERCY J. BILLINGHURST
+
+    LONDON
+    JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
+    NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY
+
+
+_SECOND EDITION_
+
+    Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
+    At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+A
+
+                                            _Page_
+_The Acorn and the Pumpkin_                    128
+_The Animals Sick of the Plague_               200
+_The Ape_                                       90
+_The Ass and his Masters_                       34
+_The Ass and the Dog_                          120
+_The Ass and the Little Dog_                    18
+_The Ass Carrying Relics_                       26
+_The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin_           166
+_The Ass Loaded with Sponges_                   72
+
+B
+
+_The Bat and the Two Weasels_                   66
+_The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels_       198
+_The Bear and the Two Companions_              194
+_The Bird Wounded by an Arrow_                  68
+
+C
+
+_The Camel and the Floating Sticks_             82
+_The Carter in the Mire_                       104
+_The Cat and the Fox_                          138
+_The Cat and the Two Sparrows_                 150
+_The Cock and the Fox_                          76
+_The Council held by the Rats_                  62
+_The Countryman and the Serpent_               102
+_The Cunning Fox_                               88
+
+D
+
+_Death and the Woodman_                         56
+_The Dog and his Master's Dinner_              110
+_The Dog whose Ears were Cropped_              144
+_The Dove and the Ant_                          74
+_The Dragon with many Heads_                    54
+
+E
+
+_The Eagle and the Magpie_                      94
+_The Eagle and the Owl_                        184
+_The Ears of the Hare_                          22
+_The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot_             192
+_Education_                                    122
+
+F
+
+_The Fool who Sold Wisdom_                     130
+_The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog_          92
+_The Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals_          98
+_The Fox and the Turkeys_                      172
+_The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse_             170
+
+G
+
+_The Grasshopper and the Ant_                    2
+
+H
+
+_The Hare and the Partridge_                    28
+_The Head and the Tail of the Serpent_         108
+_The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep_           48
+_The Heron_                                    106
+_The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep_             116
+_The Hornets and the Bees_                      58
+_The Horse and the Wolf_                       182
+
+J
+
+_The Joker and the Fishes_                     112
+
+L
+
+_The Lion and the Ass Hunting_                   8
+_The Lion and the Hunter_                       96
+_The Lion and the Gnat_                         70
+_The Lion and the Monkey_                      178
+_The Lion beaten by the Man_                    78
+_The Lioness and the Bear_                     146
+_The Lion Going to War_                         30
+_The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox_              196
+_The Lobster and her Daughter_                 162
+
+M
+
+_The Man and his Image_                         52
+_The Man and the Wooden God_                    20
+_The Man and the Owl_                          148
+_The Miser and the Monkey_                     186
+_The Monkey and the Cat_                       140
+_The Monkey and the Leopard_                   126
+
+N
+
+_Nothing too Much_                             136
+
+O
+
+_The Oak and the Reed_                          60
+_The Old Cat and the Young Mouse_              154
+_The Old Man and the Ass_                       32
+_The Old Woman and her Servants_                24
+_The Oyster and the Litigants_                 132
+
+P
+
+_Philomet and Progne_                           80
+_The Ploughman and his Sons_                   164
+
+Q
+
+_The Quarrel of the Dogs and Cats_             158
+
+R
+
+_The Rat and the Elephant_                     118
+_The Rat and the Oyster_                       114
+_The Rat Retired from the World_                86
+
+S
+
+_The Shepherd and his Dog_                      44
+_The Shepherd and his Flock_                    38
+_The Shepherd and the Lion_                    180
+_The Shepherd and the Sea_                      16
+_The Sick Stag_                                156
+_The Spider and the Swallow_                   142
+_The Stag and the Vine_                        190
+_The Sun and the Frogs_                        100
+_The Swan and the Cook_                         12
+
+T
+
+_The Thieves and the Ass_                        4
+_The Tortoise and the Two Ducks_                40
+_The Two Asses_                                 42
+_The Two Bulls and the Frog_                    64
+_The Two Dogs and the Dead Ass_                124
+_The Two Goats_                                152
+_The Two Mules_                                 46
+_The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg_            50
+
+V
+
+_The Vultures and the Pigeons_                 188
+
+W
+
+_The Wallet_                                   174
+_The Wax-Candle_                                36
+_The Weasel in the Granary_                     14
+_The Wolf Accusing the Fox_                      6
+_The Wolf and the Fox_                         160
+_The Wolf and the Lean Dog_                    134
+_The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid_               84
+_The Wolf turned Shepherd_                      10
+_The Woodman and Mercury_                      176
+_The Woods and the Woodman_                    168
+
+
+
+
+A HUNDRED FABLES OF LA FONTAINE
+
+
+
+
+The Grasshopper and the Ant.
+
+
+    A grasshopper gay
+      Sang the summer away,
+    And found herself poor
+    By the winter's first roar.
+    Of meat or of bread,
+    Not a morsel she had!
+    So a-begging she went,
+    To her neighbour the ant,
+      For the loan of some wheat,
+      Which would serve her to eat,
+    Till the season came round.
+      "I will pay you," she saith,
+      "On an animal's faith,
+    Double weight in the pound
+    Ere the harvest be bound."
+      The ant is a friend
+      (And here she might mend)
+      Little given to lend.
+    "How spent you the summer?"
+      Quoth she, looking shame
+      At the borrowing dame.
+    "Night and day to each comer
+      I sang, if you please."
+      "You sang! I'm at ease;
+    For 'tis plain at a glance,
+    Now, ma'am, you must dance."
+
+[Illustration: THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Thieves and the Ass.
+
+
+    Two thieves, pursuing their profession,
+          Had of a donkey got possession,
+        Whereon a strife arose,
+        Which went from words to blows.
+    The question was, to sell, or not to sell;
+    But while our sturdy champions fought it well,
+        Another thief, who chanced to pass,
+        With ready wit rode off the ass.
+
+        _This ass is, by interpretation,_
+        _Some province poor, or prostrate nation._
+        _The thieves are princes this and that,_
+        _On spoils and plunder prone to fat,--_
+        _As those of Austria, Turkey, Hungary._
+        _(Instead of two, I've quoted three--_
+        _Enough of such commodity.)_
+        _These powers engaged in war all,_
+        _Some fourth thief stops the quarrel,_
+            _According all to one key,_
+            _By riding off the donkey_
+
+[Illustration: THE THIEVES AND THE ASS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf Accusing the Fox.
+
+
+        A wolf, affirming his belief
+            That he had suffer'd by a thief,
+          Brought up his neighbour fox--
+        Of whom it was by all confess'd,
+        His character was not the best--
+          To fill the prisoner's box.
+        As judge between these vermin,
+        A monkey graced the ermine;
+        And truly other gifts of Themis
+          Did scarcely seem his;
+        For while each party plead his cause,
+        Appealing boldly to the laws,
+        And much the question vex'd,
+        Our monkey sat perplex'd.
+          Their words and wrath expended,
+        Their strife at length was ended;
+        When, by their malice taught,
+        The judge this judgment brought:
+    "Your characters, my friends, I long have known,
+        As on this trial clearly shown;
+    And hence I fine you both--the grounds at large
+        To state would little profit--
+    You wolf, in short, as bringing groundless charge,
+        You fox, as guilty of it."
+
+    _Come at it right or wrong, the judge opined_
+    _No other than a villain could be fined_
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF ACCUSING THE FOX BEFORE THE MONKEY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Ass Hunting.
+
+
+    The king of animals, with royal grace,
+          Would celebrate his birthday in the chase.
+        'Twas not with bow and arrows,
+        To slay some wretched sparrows;
+      The lion hunts the wild boar of the wood,
+      The antlered deer and stags, the fat and good.
+        This time, the king, t' insure success,
+        Took for his aide-de-camp an ass,
+        A creature of stentorian voice,
+        That felt much honour'd by the choice.
+      The lion hid him in a proper station,
+      And order'd him to bray, for his vocation,
+        Assured that his tempestuous cry
+        The boldest beasts would terrify,
+        And cause them from their lairs to fly.
+    And, sooth, the horrid noise the creature made
+    Did strike the tenants of the wood with dread;
+        And, as they headlong fled,
+      All fell within the lion's ambuscade.
+        "Has not my service glorious
+        Made both of us victorious?"
+        Cried out the much-elated ass.
+      "Yes," said the lion; "bravely bray'd!
+        Had I not known yourself and race,
+      I should have been myself afraid!"
+        The donkey, had he dared,
+        With anger would have flared
+      At this retort, though justly made;
+        For who could suffer boasts to pass
+        So ill-befitting to an ass?
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE ASS HUNTING.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf turned Shepherd.
+
+
+    A wolf, whose gettings from the flocks
+          Began to be but few,
+    Bethought himself to play the fox
+      In character quite new.
+    A shepherd's hat and coat he took,
+        A cudgel for a crook,
+        Nor e'en the pipe forgot:
+    And more to seem what he was not,
+    Himself upon his hat he wrote,
+    "I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep."
+      His person thus complete,
+      His crook in upraised feet,
+    The impostor Willie stole upon the keep.
+    The real Willie, on the grass asleep,
+      Slept there, indeed, profoundly,
+    His dog and pipe slept, also soundly;
+      His drowsy sheep around lay.
+      As for the greatest number,
+    Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber,
+    And hoped to drive away the flock,
+    Could he the shepherd's voice but mock.
+      He thought undoubtedly he could.
+    He tried: the tone in which he spoke,
+      Loud echoing from the wood,
+      The plot and slumber broke;
+      Sheep, dog, and man awoke.
+      The wolf, in sorry plight,
+      In hampering coat bedight,
+      Could neither run nor fight.
+
+    _There's always leakage of deceit_
+    _Which makes it never safe to cheat._
+      _Whoever is a wolf had better_
+      _Keep clear of hypocritic fetter._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF TURNED SHEPHERD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Swan and the Cook.
+
+
+    The pleasures of a poultry yard
+          Were by a swan and gosling shared.
+    The swan was kept there for his looks,
+    The thrifty gosling for the cooks;
+    The first the garden's pride, the latter
+    A greater favourite on the platter.
+    They swam the ditches, side by side,
+    And oft in sports aquatic vied,
+    Plunging, splashing far and wide,
+    With rivalry ne'er satisfied.
+      One day the cook, named Thirsty John,
+      Sent for the gosling, took the swan
+          In haste his throat to cut,
+          And put him in the pot.
+      The bird's complaint resounded
+          In glorious melody;
+      Whereat the cook, astounded
+          His sad mistake to see,
+      Cried, "What! make soup of a musician!
+      Please God, I'll never set such dish on.
+      No, no; I'll never cut a throat
+      That sings so sweet a note."
+
+      _'Tis thus, whatever peril may alarm us,_
+      _Sweet words will never harm us._
+
+[Illustration: THE SWAN AND THE COOK.]
+
+
+
+
+The Weasel in the Granary.
+
+
+    A weasel through a hole contrived to squeeze,
+          (She was recovering from disease,)
+          Which led her to a farmer's hoard.
+    There lodged, her wasted form she cherish'd;
+      Heaven knows the lard and victuals stored
+        That by her gnawing perish'd!
+        Of which the consequence
+        Was sudden corpulence.
+        A week or so was past,
+      When having fully broken fast,
+        A noise she heard, and hurried
+      To find the hole by which she came,
+      And seem'd to find it not the same;
+        So round she ran, most sadly flurried;
+      And, coming back, thrust out her head,
+      Which, sticking there, she said,
+      "This is the hole, there can't be blunder:
+      What makes it now so small, I wonder,
+    Where, but the other day, I pass'd with ease?"
+          A rat her trouble sees,
+      And cries, "But with an emptier belly;
+      You enter'd lean, and lean must sally."
+
+[Illustration: THE WEASEL IN THE GRANARY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and the Sea.
+
+
+        A shepherd, neighbour to the sea,
+              Lived with his flock contentedly.
+          His fortune, though but small,
+          Was safe within his call.
+        At last some stranded kegs of gold
+        Him tempted, and his flock he sold,
+        Turn'd merchant, and the ocean's waves
+        Bore all his treasure--to its caves.
+        Brought back to keeping sheep once more,
+        But not chief shepherd, as before,
+        When sheep were his that grazed the shore,
+        He who, as Corydon or Thyrsis,
+        Might once have shone in pastoral verses,
+        Bedeck'd with rhyme and metre,
+        Was nothing now but Peter.
+        But time and toil redeem'd in full
+        Those harmless creatures rich in wool;
+        And as the lulling winds, one day,
+    The vessels wafted with a gentle motion,
+    "Want you," he cried, "more money, Madam Ocean?
+      Address yourself to some one else, I pray;
+          You shall not get it out of me!
+          I know too well your treachery."
+
+            _This tale's no fiction, but a fact,_
+            _Which, by experience back'd,_
+            _Proves that a single penny,_
+              _At present held, and certain,_
+            _Is worth five times as many,_
+              _Of Hope's, beyond the curtain;_
+
+        _That one should be content with his condition,_
+        _And shut his ears to counsels of ambition,_
+        _More faithless than the wreck-strown sea, and which_
+        _Doth thousands beggar where it makes one rich,--_
+        _Inspires the hope of wealth, in glorious forms,_
+        _And blasts the same with piracy and storms._
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass and the Little Dog.
+
+
+    One's native talent from its course
+          Cannot be turned aside by force;
+    But poorly apes the country clown
+    The polish'd manners of the town.
+      Their Maker chooses but a few
+      With power of pleasing to imbue;
+      Where wisely leave it we, the mass,
+      Unlike a certain fabled ass,
+    That thought to gain his master's blessing
+    By jumping on him and caressing.
+      "What!" said the donkey in his heart;
+      "Ought it to be that puppy's part
+        To lead his useless life
+          In full companionship
+        With master and his wife,
+          While I must bear the whip?
+      What doth the cur a kiss to draw?
+      Forsooth, he only gives his paw!
+      If that is all there needs to please,
+      I'll do the thing myself, with ease."
+        Possess'd with this bright notion,--
+      His master sitting on his chair,
+      At leisure in the open air,--
+        He ambled up, with awkward motion,
+      And put his talents to the proof;
+      Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof,
+      And, with an amiable mien,
+      His master patted on the chin,
+      The action gracing with a word--
+      The fondest bray that e'er was heard!
+      O, such caressing was there ever?
+      Or melody with such a quaver?
+    "Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!"
+      Out cried the master, sore offended.
+    So Martin gave the ass a drubbing,--
+      And so the comedy was ended.
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS AND THE LITTLE DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Man and the Wooden God.
+
+
+    A pagan kept a god of wood,--
+          A sort that never hears,
+          Though furnish'd well with ears,--
+    From which he hoped for wondrous good.
+    The idol cost the board of three;
+      So much enrich'd was he
+      With vows and offerings vain,
+    With bullocks garlanded and slain:
+      No idol ever had, as that,
+      A kitchen quite so full and fat.
+    But all this worship at his shrine
+    Brought not from this same block divine
+    Inheritance, or hidden mine,
+      Or luck at play, or any favour.
+      Nay, more, if any storm whatever
+    Brew'd trouble here or there,
+    The man was sure to have his share,
+      And suffer in his purse,
+    Although the god fared none the worse.
+    At last, by sheer impatience bold,
+        The man a crowbar seizes,
+        His idol breaks in pieces,
+    And finds it richly stuff'd with gold.
+    "How's this? Have I devoutly treated,"
+    Says he, "your godship, to be cheated?
+    Now leave my house, and go your way,
+    And search for altars where you may."
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN AND THE WOODEN GOD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ears of the Hare.
+
+
+      Some beast with horns did gore
+          The lion; and that sovereign dread,
+      Resolved to suffer so no more,
+        Straight banish'd from his realm, 'tis said,
+      All sorts of beasts with horns--
+      Rams, bulls, goats, stags, and unicorns.
+        Such brutes all promptly fled.
+    A hare, the shadow of his ears perceiving,
+        Could hardly help believing
+    That some vile spy for horns would take them,
+    And food for accusation make them.
+        "Adieu," said he, "my neighbour cricket;
+        I take my foreign ticket.
+          My ears, should I stay here,
+          Will turn to horns, I fear;
+        And were they shorter than a bird's,
+        I fear the effect of words."
+      "These horns!" the cricket answer'd; "why,
+      God made them ears who can deny?"
+      "Yes," said the coward, "still they'll make them horns,
+      And horns, perhaps, of unicorns!
+        In vain shall I protest,
+      With all the learning of the schools:
+        My reasons they will send to rest
+            In th' Hospital of Fools."
+
+[Illustration: THE EARS OF THE HARE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Old Woman and Her Servants.
+
+
+      A beldam kept two spinning maids,
+        Who plied so handily their trades,
+      Those spinning sisters down below
+    Were bunglers when compared with these.
+      No care did this old woman know
+    But giving tasks as she might please.
+      No sooner did the god of day
+        His glorious locks enkindle,
+      Than both the wheels began to play,
+        And from each whirling spindle
+      Forth danced the thread right merrily,
+      And back was coil'd unceasingly.
+    Soon as the dawn, I say, its tresses show'd,
+      A graceless cock most punctual crow'd.
+      The beldam roused, more graceless yet,
+        In greasy petticoat bedight,
+        Struck up her farthing light,
+      And then forthwith the bed beset,
+      Where deeply, blessedly did snore
+      Those two maid-servants tired and poor.
+      One oped an eye, an arm one stretch'd,
+      And both their breath most sadly fetch'd,
+      This threat concealing in the sigh--
+      "That cursed cock shall surely die!"
+      And so he did:--they cut his throat,
+      And put to sleep his rousing note.
+      And yet this murder mended not
+      The cruel hardship of their lot;
+      For now the twain were scarce in bed
+      Before they heard the summons dread.
+      The beldam, full of apprehension
+      Lest oversleep should cause detention,
+      Ran like a goblin through her mansion.
+
+          _Thus often, when one thinks_
+          _To clear himself from ill,_
+          _His effort only sinks_
+          _Him in the deeper still._
+          _The beldam acting for the cock,_
+          _Was Scylla for Charybdis' rock._
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD WOMAN AND HER TWO SERVANTS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass Carrying Relics.
+
+
+    An ass, with relics for his load,
+      Supposed the worship on the road
+    Meant for himself alone,
+      And took on lofty airs,
+    Receiving as his own
+      The incense and the prayers.
+    Some one, who saw his great mistake,
+    Cried, "Master Donkey, do not make
+      Yourself so big a fool.
+    Not you they worship, but your pack;
+    They praise the idols on your back,
+      And count yourself a paltry tool."
+
+      _'Tis thus a brainless magistrate_
+      _Is honour'd for his robe of state._
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS CARRYING RELICS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Hare and the Partridge.
+
+
+      A field in common share
+            A partridge and a hare,
+      And live in peaceful state,
+      Till, woeful to relate!
+      The hunters' mingled cry
+      Compels the hare to fly.
+      He hurries to his fort,
+      And spoils almost the sport
+      By faulting every hound
+      That yelps upon the ground.
+      At last his reeking heat
+      Betrays his snug retreat.
+    Old Tray, with philosophic nose,
+    Snuffs carefully, and grows
+      So certain, that he cries,
+        "The hare is here; bow wow!"
+        And veteran Ranger now,--
+      The dog that never lies,--
+      "The hare is gone," replies.
+      Alas! poor, wretched hare,
+      Back comes he to his lair,
+      To meet destruction there!
+      The partridge, void of fear,
+      Begins her friend to jeer:--
+      "You bragg'd of being fleet;
+      How serve you, now, your feet?"
+      Scarce has she ceased to speak,--
+      The laugh yet in her beak,--
+      When comes her turn to die,
+      From which she could not fly.
+      She thought her wings, indeed,
+      Enough for every need;
+      But in her laugh and talk,
+      Forgot the cruel hawk!
+
+[Illustration: THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion Going to War.
+
+
+    The lion had an enterprise in hand;
+          Held a war-council, sent his provost-marshal,
+      And gave the animals a call impartial--
+    Each, in his way, to serve his high command.
+    The elephant should carry on his back
+    The tools of war, the mighty public pack,
+    And fight in elephantine way and form;
+    The bear should hold himself prepared to storm;
+    The fox all secret stratagems should fix;
+    The monkey should amuse the foe by tricks.
+    "Dismiss," said one, "the blockhead asses,
+      And hares, too cowardly and fleet."
+    "No," said the king; "I use all classes;
+      Without their aid my force were incomplete.
+    The ass shall be our trumpeter, to scare
+    Our enemy. And then the nimble hare
+    Our royal bulletins shall homeward bear."
+
+      _A monarch provident and wise_
+    _Will hold his subjects all of consequence,_
+      _And know in each what talent lies._
+    _There's nothing useless to a man of sense._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION GOING TO WAR.]
+
+
+
+
+The Old Man and the Ass.
+
+
+    An old man, riding on his ass,
+        Had found a spot of thrifty grass,
+    And there turn'd loose his weary beast.
+    Old Grizzle, pleased with such a feast,
+    Flung up his heels, and caper'd round,
+    Then roll'd and rubb'd upon the ground,
+    And frisk'd and browsed and bray'd,
+    And many a clean spot made.
+    Arm'd men came on them as he fed:
+    "Let's fly," in haste the old man said.
+    "And wherefore so?" the ass replied;
+    "With heavier burdens will they ride?"
+      "No," said the man, already started.
+      "Then," cried the ass, as he departed
+      "I'll stay, and be--no matter whose;
+      Save you yourself, and leave me loose
+      But let me tell you, ere you go,
+      (I speak plain English, as you know,)
+      My master is my only foe."
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD MAN AND THE ASS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass and his Masters.
+
+
+    A gardener's ass complain'd to Destiny
+        Of being made to rise before the dawn.
+    "The cocks their matins have not sung," said he,
+        "Ere I am up and gone.
+    And all for what? To market herbs, it seems.
+    Fine cause, indeed, to interrupt my dreams!"
+      Fate, moved by such a prayer,
+      Sent him a currier's load to bear,
+    Whose hides so heavy and ill-scented were,
+      They almost choked the foolish beast.
+    "I wish me with my former lord," he said:
+    "For then, whene'er he turn'd his head,
+          If on the watch, I caught
+      A cabbage-leaf, which cost me nought.
+      But, in this horrid place, I find
+      No chance or windfall of the kind;--
+          Or if, indeed, I do,
+          The cruel blows I rue."
+          Anon it came to pass
+          He was a collier's ass.
+    Still more complaint. "What now?" said Fate,
+            Quite out of patience.
+        "If on this jackass I must wait,
+      What will become of kings and nations?
+      Has none but he aught here to tease him?
+      Have I no business but to please him?"
+        And Fate had cause;--for all are so
+        Unsatisfied while here below.
+      Our present lot is aye the worst.
+        Our foolish prayers the skies infest.
+        Were Jove to grant all we request,
+      The din renew'd, his head would burst.
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS AND HIS MASTERS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wax-Candle.
+
+
+    From bowers of gods the bees came down to man.
+        On Mount Hymettus, first, they say,
+        They made their home, and stored away
+        The treasures which the zephyrs fan.
+    When men had robb'd these daughters of the sky,
+    And left their palaces of nectar dry,--
+        Or, in English as the thing's explain'd,
+        When hives were of their honey drain'd--
+      The spoilers 'gan the wax to handle,
+      And fashion'd from it many a candle.
+    Of these, one, seeing clay, made brick by fire,
+    Remain uninjured by the teeth of time,
+      Was kindled into great desire
+        For immortality sublime.
+      And so this new Empedocles
+      Upon the blazing pile one sees,
+      Self-doom'd by purest folly
+      To fate so melancholy.
+      The candle lack'd philosophy:
+      All things are made diverse to be.
+      To wander from our destined tracks--
+        There cannot be a vainer wish;
+      But this Empedocles of wax,
+        That melted in chafing-dish
+      Was truly not a greater fool
+      Than he of whom we read at school.
+
+[Illustration: THE WAX-CANDLE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and his Flock.
+
+
+          "What! shall I lose them one by one,
+              This stupid coward throng?
+      And never shall the wolf have done?
+        They were at least a thousand strong,
+      But still they've let poor Robin fall a prey!
+              Ah, woe's the day!
+        Poor Robin Wether lying dead!
+        He follow'd for a bit of bread
+      His master through the crowded city,
+        And would have follow'd, had he led,
+      Around the world. Oh! what a pity!
+        My pipe, and even step, he knew;
+        To meet me when I came, he flew;
+    In hedge-row shade we napp'd together;
+        Alas, alas, my Robin Wether!"
+      When Willy thus had duly said
+      His eulogy upon the dead,
+      And unto everlasting fame
+      Consign'd poor Robin Wether's name,
+      He then harangued the flock at large,
+        From proud old chieftain rams
+        Down to the smallest lambs,
+      Addressing them this weighty charge,--
+      Against the wolf, as one, to stand,
+      In firm, united, fearless band,
+    By which they might expel him from their land.
+      Upon their faith, they would not flinch,
+      They promised him, a single inch.
+    "We'll choke," said they, "the murderous glutton
+    Who robb'd us of our Robin Mutton."
+      Their lives they pledged against the beast,
+      And Willy gave them all a feast.
+      But evil Fate, than Phoebus faster,
+      Ere night had brought a new disaster:
+      A wolf there came. By nature's law,
+        The total flock were prompt to run;
+      And yet 'twas not the wolf they saw,
+    But shadow of him from the setting sun.
+
+    _Harangue a craven soldiery,_
+    _What heroes they will seem to be!_
+    _But let them snuff the smoke of battle,_
+    _Or even hear the ramrods rattle,_
+    _Adieu to all their boast and mettle:_
+    _Your own example will be vain,_
+    _And exhortations, to retain_
+        _The timid cattle._
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK.]
+
+
+
+
+The Tortoise and the Two Ducks.
+
+
+      A light-brain'd tortoise, anciently,
+        Tired of her hole, the world would see.
+    Prone are all such, self-banish'd, to roam--
+    Prone are all cripples to abhor their home.
+      Two ducks, to whom the gossip told
+      The secret of her purpose bold,
+        Profess'd to have the means whereby
+        They could her wishes gratify.
+       "Our boundless road," said they, "behold!
+          It is the open air;
+          And through it we will bear
+        You safe o'er land and ocean.
+      Republics, kingdoms, you will view,
+      And famous cities, old and new;
+        And get of customs, laws, a notion,--
+    Of various wisdom, various pieces,
+    As did, indeed, the sage Ulysses."
+      The eager tortoise waited not
+      To question what Ulysses got,
+      But closed the bargain on the spot.
+      A nice machine the birds devise
+      To bear their pilgrim through the skies.
+      Athwart her mouth a stick they throw:
+      "Now bite it hard, and don't let go,"
+      They say, and seize each duck an end,
+      And, swiftly flying, upward tend.
+      It made the people gape and stare
+        Beyond the expressive power of words,
+      To see a tortoise cut the air,
+        Exactly poised between two birds.
+        "A miracle," they cried, "is seen!
+      There goes the flying tortoise queen!"
+      "The queen!" ('twas thus the tortoise spoke;)
+      "I'm truly that, without a joke."
+      Much better had she held her tongue,
+      For, opening that whereby she clung,
+      Before the gazing crowd she fell,
+      And dash'd to bits her brittle shell.
+
+    _Imprudence, vanity, and babble,_
+        _And idle curiosity,_
+    _An ever-undivided rabble,_
+        _Have all the same paternity._
+
+[Illustration: THE TORTOISE AND THE TWO DUCKS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Asses.
+
+
+      Two asses tracking, t'other day,
+          Of which each in his turn,
+        Did incense to the other burn,
+          Quite in the usual way,--
+      I heard one to his comrade say,
+          "My lord, do you not find
+        The prince of knaves and fools
+      To be this man, who boasts of mind
+        Instructed in his schools?
+        With wit unseemly and profane,
+          He mocks our venerable race--
+        On each of his who lacketh brain
+          Bestows our ancient surname, ass!
+      And, with abusive tongue portraying,
+      Describes our laugh and talk as braying!
+      These bipeds of their folly tell us,
+      While thus pretending to excel us."
+      "No, 'tis for you to speak, my friend,
+        And let their orators attend.
+    The braying is their own, but let them be:
+    We understand each other, and agree,
+      And that's enough. As for your song,
+      Such wonders to its notes belong,
+      The nightingale is put to shame,
+      The Sirens lose one half their fame."
+      "My lord," the other ass replied,
+      "Such talents in yourself reside,
+      Of asses all, the joy and pride."
+      These donkeys, not quite satisfied
+      With scratching thus each other's hide,
+        Must needs the cities visit,
+        Their fortunes there to raise,
+        By sounding forth the praise,
+      Each, of the other's skill exquisite.
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO ASSES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and his Dog.
+
+
+    A shepherd, with a single dog,
+    Was ask'd the reason why
+    He kept a dog, whose least supply
+    Amounted to a loaf of bread
+    For every day. The people said
+    He'd better give the animal
+    To guard the village seignior's hall;
+    For him, a shepherd, it would be
+    A thriftier economy
+    To keep small curs, say two or three,
+    That would not cost him half the food,
+    And yet for watching be as good.
+    The fools, perhaps, forgot to tell
+    If they would fight the wolf as well.
+    The silly shepherd, giving heed,
+    Cast off his dog of mastiff breed,
+    And took three dogs to watch his cattle,
+    Which ate far less, but fled in battle.
+
+    _Not vain our tale, if it convinces_
+      _Small states that 'tis a wiser thing_
+      _To trust a single powerful king,_
+    _Than half a dozen petty princes._
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND HIS DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Mules.
+
+
+      Two mules were bearing on their backs,
+          One, oats; the other, silver of the tax.
+        The latter glorying in his load,
+        March'd proudly forward on the road;
+      And, from the jingle of his bell,
+      'Twas plain he liked his burden well.
+          But in a wild-wood glen
+          A band of robber men
+      Rush'd forth upon the twain.
+          Well with the silver pleased,
+          They by the bridle seized
+      The treasure mule so vain.
+      Poor mule! in struggling to repel
+      His ruthless foes, he fell
+    Stabb'd through; and with a bitter sighing,
+      He cried, "Is this the lot they promised me?
+      My humble friend from danger free,
+    While, weltering in my gore, I'm dying?"
+      "My friend," his fellow-mule replied,
+    "It is not well to have one's work too high.
+    If thou hadst been a miller's drudge, as I,
+      Thou wouldst not thus have died."
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO MULES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep.
+
+
+    The heifer, the goat, and their sister the sheep,
+         Compacted their earnings in common to keep,
+    'Tis said, in time past, with a lion, who sway'd
+    Full lordship o'er neighbours, of whatever grade.
+    The goat, as it happen'd, a stag having snared,
+    Sent off to the rest, that the beast might be shared.
+    All gather'd; the lion first counts on his claws,
+    And says, "We'll proceed to divide with our paws
+    The stag into pieces, as fix'd by our laws."
+       This done, he announces part first as his own;
+       "'Tis mine," he says, "truly, as lion alone."
+       To such a decision there's nought to be said,
+      As he who has made it is doubtless the head.
+    "Well, also, the second to me should belong;
+    'Tis mine, be it known, by the right of the strong.
+    Again, as the bravest, the third must be mine.
+    To touch but the fourth whoso maketh a sign,
+          I'll choke him to death
+          In the space of a breath!"
+
+[Illustration: THE HEIFER, THE GOAT, & THE SHEEP.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg.
+
+
+      Two rats in foraging fell on an egg,--
+            For gentry such as they
+        A genteel dinner every way;
+      They needed not to find an ox's leg.
+        Brimful of joy and appetite,
+          They were about to sack the box,
+          So tight without the aid of locks,
+        When suddenly there came in sight
+          A personage--Sir Pullet Fox.
+        Sure, luck was never more untoward
+        Since Fortune was a vixen froward!
+      How should they save their egg--and bacon?
+        Their plunder couldn't then be bagg'd;
+      Should it in forward paws be taken,
+        Or roll'd along, or dragg'd?
+        Each method seem'd impossible,
+        And each was then of danger full.
+      Necessity, ingenious mother,
+    Brought forth what help'd them from their pother.
+    As still there was a chance to save their prey,--
+    The sponger yet some hundred yards away,--
+    One seized the egg, and turn'd upon his back,
+    And then, in spite of many a thump and thwack,
+    That would have torn, perhaps, a coat of mail,
+        The other dragg'd him by the tail.
+        Who dares the inference to blink,
+        That beasts possess wherewith to think?
+
+          _Were I commission'd to bestow_
+          _This power on creatures here below,_
+          _The beasts should have as much of mind_
+          _As infants of the human kind._
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO RATS THE FOX AND THE EGG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Man and his Image.
+
+
+    A man, who had no rivals in the love
+        Which to himself he bore,
+    Esteem'd his own dear beauty far above
+        What earth had seen before.
+        More than contented in his error,
+        He lived the foe of every mirror.
+        Officious fate, resolved our lover
+        From such an illness should recover,
+        Presented always to his eyes
+        The mute advisers which the ladies prize;--
+        Mirrors in parlours, inns, and shops,--
+        Mirrors the pocket furniture of fops,--
+        Mirrors on every lady's zone,
+        From which his face reflected shone.
+        What could our dear Narcissus do?
+        From haunts of men he now withdrew,
+        On purpose that his precious shape
+        From every mirror might escape.
+          But in his forest glen alone,
+            Apart from human trace,
+            A watercourse,
+            Of purest source,
+        While with unconscious gaze
+        He pierced its waveless face,
+        Reflected back his own.
+        Incensed with mingled rage and fright,
+        He seeks to shun the odious sight;
+        But yet that mirror sheet, so clear and still,
+        He cannot leave, do what he will.
+
+        _Ere this, my story's drift you plainly see._
+        _From such mistake there is no mortal free._
+            _That obstinate self-lover_
+            _The human soul doth cover;_
+        _The mirrors' follies are of others,_
+        _In which, as all are genuine brothers,_
+        _Each soul may see to life depicted_
+        _Itself with just such faults afflicted;_
+        _And by that charming placid brook,_
+        _Needless to say, I mean your Maxim Book._
+
+[Illustration: THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE]
+
+
+
+
+The Dragon with Many Heads.
+
+
+        An envoy of the Porte Sublime,
+            As history says, once on a time,
+        Before th' imperial German court
+        Did rather boastfully report,
+    The troops commanded by his master's firman,
+    As being a stronger army than the German:
+        To which replied a Dutch attendant,
+        "Our prince has more than one dependant
+        Who keeps an army at his own expense."
+          The Turk, a man of sense,
+          Rejoin'd, "I am aware
+        What power your emperor's servants share.
+    It brings to mind a tale both strange and true,
+    A thing which once, myself, I chanced to view.
+        I saw come darting through a hedge,
+        Which fortified a rocky ledge,
+        A hydra's hundred heads; and in a trice
+          My blood was turning into ice.
+          But less the harm than terror,--
+          The body came no nearer;
+          Nor could, unless it had been sunder'd,
+          To parts at least a hundred.
+          While musing deeply on this sight,
+          Another dragon came to light,
+          Whose single head avails
+          To lead a hundred tails:
+        And, seized with juster fright,
+          I saw him pass the hedge,--
+          Head, body, tails,--a wedge
+        Of living and resistless powers.--
+    The other was your emperor's force; this ours."
+
+[Illustration: THE DRAGON WITH MANY HEADS.]
+
+
+
+
+Death and the Woodman
+
+
+    A poor wood-chopper, with his fagot load,
+    Whom weight of years, as well as load, oppress'd,
+    Sore groaning in his smoky hut to rest,
+    Trudged wearily along his homeward road.
+    At last his wood upon the ground he throws,
+    And sits him down to think o'er all his woes.
+    To joy a stranger, since his hapless birth,
+    What poorer wretch upon this rolling earth?
+    No bread sometimes, and ne'er a moment's rest;
+    Wife, children, soldiers, landlords, public tax,
+    All wait the swinging of his old, worn axe,
+    And paint the veriest picture of a man unblest.
+    On Death he calls. Forthwith that monarch grim
+    Appears, and asks what he should do for him.
+    "Not much, indeed; a little help I lack--
+    To put these fagots on my back."
+
+        _Death ready stands all ills to cure;_
+          _But let us not his cure invite._
+        _Than die, 'tis better to endure,--_
+          _Is both a manly maxim and a right._
+
+[Illustration: DEATH AND THE WOODMAN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Hornets and the Bees.
+
+
+    "The artist by his work is known."
+          A piece of honey-comb, one day,
+      Discover'd as a waif and stray,
+      The hornets treated as their own.
+      Their title did the bees dispute,
+      And brought before a wasp the suit.
+      The judge was puzzled to decide,
+      For nothing could be testified
+      Save that around this honey-comb
+      There had been seen, as if at home,
+      Some longish, brownish, buzzing creatures,
+      Much like the bees in wings and features.
+      But what of that? for marks the same,
+      The hornets, too, could truly claim.
+      Between assertion, and denial,
+      The wasp, in doubt, proclaim'd new trial;
+      And, hearing what an ant-hill swore,
+      Could see no clearer than before.
+      "What use, I pray, of this expense?"
+      At last exclaim'd a bee of sense.
+        "We've labour'd months in this affair,
+        And now are only where we were.
+          Meanwhile the honey runs to waste:
+    'Tis time the judge should show some haste.
+    The parties, sure, have had sufficient bleeding,
+    Without more fuss of scrawls and pleading.
+    Let's set ourselves at work, these drones and we
+    And then all eyes the truth may plainly see,
+      Whose art it is that can produce
+      The magic cells, the nectar juice."
+        The hornets, flinching on their part,
+        Show that the work transcends their art.
+        The wasp at length their title sees,
+        And gives the honey to the bees.
+
+          _Would God that suits at law with us_
+          _Might all be managed thus!_
+
+[Illustration: THE HORNETS AND THE BEES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Oak and the Reed.
+
+
+      The oak one day address'd the reed:--
+          "To you ungenerous indeed
+      Has nature been, my humble friend,
+      With weakness aye obliged to bend.
+      The smallest bird that flits in air
+      Is quite too much for you to bear;
+      The slightest wind that wreathes the lake
+      Your ever-trembling head doth shake.
+        The while, my towering form
+        Dares with the mountain top
+        The solar blaze to stop,
+        And wrestle with the storm.
+      What seems to you the blast of death,
+      To me is but a zephyr's breath.
+    Beneath my branches had you grown,
+    Less suffering would your life have known,
+      Unhappily you oftenest show
+        In open air your slender form,
+      Along the marshes wet and low,
+        That fringe the kingdom of the storm.
+        To you, declare I must,
+        Dame Nature seems unjust."
+      Then modestly replied the reed:
+      "Your pity, sir, is kind indeed,
+      But wholly needless for my sake.
+      The wildest wind that ever blew
+      Is safe to me compared with you.
+      I bend, indeed, but never break.
+      Thus far, I own, the hurricane
+      Has beat your sturdy back in vain;
+      But wait the end." Just at the word,
+      The tempest's hollow voice was heard.
+      The North sent forth her fiercest child,
+      Dark, jagged, pitiless, and wild.
+      The oak, erect, endured the blow;
+      The reed bow'd gracefully and low.
+      But, gathering up its strength once more,
+      In greater fury than before,
+          The savage blast
+          O'erthrew, at last,
+      That proud, old, sky-encircled head,
+      Whose feet entwined the empire of the dead!
+
+[Illustration: THE OAK AND THE REED.]
+
+
+
+
+The Council held by the Rats.
+
+
+      Old Rodilard, a certain cat,
+        Such havoc of the rats had made,
+      'Twas difficult to find a rat
+        With nature's debt unpaid.
+      The few that did remain,
+        To leave their holes afraid,
+      From usual food abstain,
+        Not eating half their fill.
+        And wonder no one will
+    That one who made of rats his revel,
+    With rats pass'd not for cat, but devil.
+    Now, on a day, this dread rat-eater,
+    Who had a wife, went out to meet her;
+    And while he held his caterwauling,
+    The unkill'd rats, their chapter calling,
+    Discuss'd the point, in grave debate,
+    How they might shun impending fate.
+        Their dean, a prudent rat,
+    Thought best, and better soon than late,
+        To bell the fatal cat;
+    That, when he took his hunting round,
+    The rats, well caution'd by the sound,
+    Might hide in safety under ground;
+      Indeed he knew no other means.
+          And all the rest
+          At once confess'd
+      Their minds were with the dean's.
+    No better plan, they all believed,
+    Could possibly have been conceived.
+    No doubt the thing would work right well,
+    If any one would hang the bell.
+      But, one by one, said every rat,
+      "I'm not so big a fool as that."
+    The plan knock'd up in this respect,
+    The council closed without effect.
+
+    And many a council I have seen,
+    Or reverend chapter with its dean,
+      That, thus resolving wisely,
+      Fell through like this precisely.
+
+        _To argue or refute_
+          _Wise counsellors abound;_
+        _The man to execute_
+          _Is harder to be found._
+
+[Illustration: THE COUNCIL HELD BY THE RATS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Bulls and the Frog.
+
+
+    Two bulls engaged in shocking battle,
+      Both for a certain heifer's sake,
+    And lordship over certain cattle,
+      A frog began to groan and quake.
+        "But what is this to you?"
+    Inquired another of the croaking crew.
+        "Why, sister, don't you see,
+        The end of this will be,
+    That one of these big brutes will yield,
+    And then be exiled from the field?
+    No more permitted on the grass to feed,
+    He'll forage through our marsh, on rush and reed;
+        And while he eats or chews the cud,
+        Will trample on us in the mud.
+        Alas! to think how frogs must suffer
+        By means of this proud lady heifer!"
+    This fear was not without good sense.
+    One bull was beat, and much to their expense;
+    For, quick retreating to their reedy bower,
+    He trod on twenty of them in an hour.
+
+        _Of little folks it oft has been the fate_
+        _To suffer for the follies of the great._
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO BULLS AND THE FROG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Bat and the Two Weasels.
+
+
+      A blundering bat once stuck her head
+          Into a wakeful weasel's bed;
+      Whereat the mistress of the house,
+        A deadly foe of rats and mice,
+        Was making ready in a trice
+      To eat the stranger as a mouse.
+        "What! do you dare," she said, "to creep in
+      The very bed I sometimes sleep in,
+      Now, after all the provocation
+      I've suffered from your thievish nation?
+      Are you not really a mouse,
+      That gnawing pest of every house,
+      Your special aim to do the cheese ill?
+      Ay, that you are, or I'm no weasel."
+        "I beg your pardon," said the bat;
+      "My kind is very far from that.
+    What! I a mouse! Who told you such a lie?
+          Why, ma'am, I am a bird;
+          And, if you doubt my word,
+      Just see the wings with which I fly.
+      Long live the mice that cleave the sky!"
+        These reasons had so fair a show,
+        The weasel let the creature go.
+
+          By some strange fancy led,
+          The same wise blunderhead,
+        But two or three days later,
+          Had chosen for her rest
+          Another weasel's nest,
+      This last, of birds a special hater.
+        New peril brought this step absurd:
+      Without a moment's thought or puzzle,
+      Dame weasel opened her peaked muzzle
+        To eat th' intruder as a bird.
+      "Hold! do not wrong me," cried the bat;
+      "I'm truly no such thing as that.
+    Your eyesight strange conclusions gathers.
+    What makes a bird, I pray? Its feathers.
+        I'm cousin of the mice and rats.
+        Great Jupiter confound the cats!"
+      The bat, by such adroit replying,
+      Twice saved herself from dying.
+
+        _And many a human stranger_
+        _Thus turns his coat in danger;_
+        _And sings, as suits, where'er he goes,_
+        _"God save the king!"--or "save his foes!"_
+
+[Illustration: THE BAT AND THE TWO WEASELS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Bird wounded by an Arrow.
+
+
+      A bird, with plumed arrow shot,
+          In dying case deplored her lot:
+    "Alas!" she cried, "the anguish of the thought!
+    This ruin partly by myself was brought!
+        Hard-hearted men! from us to borrow
+        What wings to us the fatal arrow!
+        But mock us not, ye cruel race,
+        For you must often take our place."
+
+        _The work of half the human brothers_
+        _Is making arms against the others._
+
+[Illustration: THE BIRD WOUNDED BY AN ARROW.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Gnat.
+
+
+      "Go, paltry insect, nature's meanest brat!"
+            Thus said the royal lion to the gnat.
+      The gnat declared immediate war.
+        "Think you," said he, "your royal name
+            To me worth caring for?
+      Think you I tremble at your power or fame?
+        The ox is bigger far than you;
+        Yet him I drive, and all his crew."
+        This said, as one that did no fear owe,
+          Himself he blew the battle charge,
+        Himself both trumpeter and hero.
+          At first he play'd about at large,
+    Then on the lion's neck, at leisure, settled,
+    And there the royal beast full sorely nettled.
+        With foaming mouth, and flashing eye,
+        He roars. All creatures hide or fly,--
+            Such mortal terror at
+            The work of one poor gnat!
+      With constant change of his attack,
+      The snout now stinging, now the back,
+      And now the chambers of the nose;
+      The pigmy fly no mercy shows.
+        The lion's rage was at its height;
+        His viewless foe now laugh'd outright,
+        When on his battle-ground he saw,
+        That every savage tooth and claw
+            Had got its proper beauty
+            By doing bloody duty;
+        Himself, the hapless lion, tore his hide,
+        And lash'd with sounding tail from side to side.
+          Ah! bootless blow, and bite, and curse!
+          He beat the harmless air, and worse;
+            For, though so fierce and stout,
+            By effort wearied out,
+          He fainted, fell, gave up the quarrel;
+          The gnat retires with verdant laurel.
+
+            _We often have the most to fear_
+              _From those we most despise;_
+            _Again, great risks a man may clear,_
+              _Who by the smallest dies._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE GNAT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass Loaded with Sponges.
+
+
+    A man, whom I shall call an ass-eteer,
+        His sceptre like some Roman emperor bearing,
+      Drove on two coursers of protracted ear,
+    The one, with sponges laden, briskly faring;
+            The other lifting legs
+            As if he trod on eggs,
+          With constant need of goading,
+          And bags of salt for loading.
+    O'er hill and dale our merry pilgrims pass'd,
+    Till, coming to a river's ford at last,
+    They stopp'd quite puzzled on the shore.
+    Our asseteer had cross'd the stream before;
+      So, on the lighter beast astride,
+        He drives the other, spite of dread,
+        Which, loath indeed to go ahead,
+      Into a deep hole turns aside,
+          And, facing right about,
+          Where he went in, comes out;
+          For duckings, two or three
+            Had power the salt to melt,
+            So that the creature felt
+          His burden'd shoulders free.
+          The sponger, like a sequent sheep,
+          Pursuing through the water deep,
+            Into the same hole plunges
+          Himself, his rider, and the sponges.
+      All three drank deeply: asseteer and ass
+      For boon companions of their load might pass;
+        Which last became so sore a weight,
+              The ass fell down,
+              Belike to drown
+          His rider risking equal fate.
+          A helper came, no matter who.
+
+          _The moral needs no more ado--_
+            _That all can't act alike,--_
+            _The point I wish'd to strike._
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS LOADED WITH SPONGES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Dove and the Ant.
+
+
+    A dove came to a brook to drink,
+    When, leaning o'er its crumbling brink,
+    An ant fell in, and vainly tried,
+    In this, to her, an ocean tide,
+    To reach the land; whereat the dove,
+    With every living thing in love,
+    Was prompt a spire of grass to throw her,
+    By which the ant regain'd the shore.
+
+    A barefoot scamp, both mean and sly,
+    Soon after chanced this dove to spy;
+    And, being arm'd with bow and arrow,
+      The hungry codger doubted not
+      The bird of Venus, in his pot,
+    Would make a soup before the morrow.
+      Just as his deadly bow he drew,
+          Our ant just bit his heel.
+          Roused by the villain's squeal,
+      The dove took timely hint, and flew
+           Far from the rascal's coop;--
+           And with her flew his soup.
+
+[Illustration: THE DOVE AND THE ANT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cock and the Fox.
+
+
+    Upon a tree there mounted guard
+             A veteran cock, adroit and cunning;
+        When to the roots a fox up running,
+    Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard:--
+        "Our quarrel, brother, 's at an end;
+        Henceforth I hope to live your friend;
+              For peace now reigns
+          Throughout the animal domains.
+        I bear the news:--come down, I pray,
+             And give me the embrace fraternal;
+        And please, my brother, don't delay.
+             So much the tidings do concern all,
+        That I must spread them far to-day.
+        Now you and yours can take your walks
+        Without a fear or thought of hawks.
+    And should you clash with them or others,
+    In us you'll find the best of brothers;--
+    For which you may, this joyful night,
+        Your merry bonfires light.
+              But, first, let's seal the bliss
+              With one fraternal kiss."
+        "Good friend," the cock replied, "upon my word,
+         A better thing I never heard;
+                 And doubly I rejoice
+                 To hear it from your voice;
+         And, really there must be something in it,
+    For yonder come two greyhounds, which I flatter
+    Myself are couriers on this very matter.
+         They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute.
+    I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessing
+         With general kissing and caressing."
+         "Adieu," said fox; "my errand's pressing;
+                  I'll hurry on my way,
+                  And we'll rejoice some other day."
+    So off the fellow scamper'd, quick and light,
+    To gain the fox-holes of a neighbouring height,
+    Less happy in his stratagem than flight.
+          The cock laugh'd sweetly in his sleeve;--
+          'Tis doubly sweet deceiver to deceive.
+
+[Illustration: THE COCK AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion beaten by the Man.
+
+
+        A picture once was shown,
+            In which one man, alone,
+        Upon the ground had thrown
+        A lion fully grown.
+      Much gloried at the sight the rabble.
+      A lion thus rebuked their babble:--
+          "That you have got the victory there,
+        There is no contradiction.
+      But, gentles, possibly you are
+        The dupes of easy fiction:
+    Had we the art of making pictures,
+    Perhaps our champion had beat yours!"
+
+[Illustration: THE LION BEATEN BY THE MAN.]
+
+
+
+
+Philomel and Progne.
+
+
+    From home and city spires, one day,
+          The swallow Progne flew away,
+        And sought the bosky dell
+        Where sang poor Philomel.
+    "My sister," Progne said, "how do you do?
+    'Tis now a thousand years since you
+    Have been conceal'd from human view;
+    I'm sure I have not seen your face
+      Once since the times of Thrace.
+    Pray, will you never quit this dull retreat?"
+    "Where could I find," said Philomel, "so sweet?"
+      "What! sweet?" cried Progne--"sweet to waste
+      Such tones on beasts devoid of taste
+      Or on some rustic, at the most!
+      Should you by deserts be engross'd?
+      Come, be the city's pride and boast.
+      Besides, the woods remind of harms
+      That Tereus in them did your charms."
+      "Alas!" replied the bird of song,
+      "The thought of that so cruel wrong
+        Makes me, from age to age,
+        Prefer this hermitage;
+      For nothing like the sight of men
+      Can call up what I suffer'd then."
+
+[Illustration: PHILOMEL AND PROGNE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Camel and the Floating Sticks.
+
+
+    The first who saw the humpback'd camel
+        Fled off for life; the next approach'd with care;
+      The third with tyrant rope did boldly dare
+    The desert wanderer to trammel.
+        Such is the power of use to change
+        The face of objects new and strange;
+        Which grow, by looking at, so tame,
+        They do not even seem the same.
+      And since this theme is up for our attention,
+        A certain watchman I will mention,
+          Who, seeing something far
+            Away upon the ocean,
+            Could not but speak his notion
+          That 'twas a ship of war.
+        Some minutes more had past,--
+          A bomb-ketch 'twas without a sail,
+          And then a boat, and then a bale,
+        And floating sticks of wood at last!
+
+          _Full many things on earth, I wot,_
+        _Will claim this tale,--and well they may;_
+        _They're something dreadful far away,_
+          _But near at hand--they're not._
+
+[Illustration: THE CAMEL AND THE FLOATING STICKS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid.
+
+
+    As went a goat of grass to take her fill,
+          And browse the herbage of a distant hill,
+        She latch'd her door, and bid,
+        With matron care, her kid;
+        "My daughter, as you live,
+          This portal don't undo
+          To any creature who
+        This watchword does not give:
+      'Deuce take the wolf and all his race!'"
+      The wolf was passing near the place
+    By chance, and heard the words with pleasure,
+        And laid them up as useful treasure;
+      And hardly need we mention,
+      Escaped the goat's attention.
+        No sooner did he see
+        The matron off, than he,
+      With hypocritic tone and face,
+      Cried out before the place,
+      "Deuce take the wolf and all his race!"
+        Not doubting thus to gain admission.
+        The kid, not void of all suspicion,
+        Peer'd through a crack, and cried,
+          "Show me white paw before
+          You ask me to undo the door."
+        The wolf could not, if he had died,
+          For wolves have no connection
+          With pains of that complexion.
+        So, much surprised, our gourmandiser
+        Retired to fast till he was wiser.
+
+        _How would the kid have been undone_
+          _Had she but trusted to the word?_
+          _The wolf by chance had overheard!_
+        _Two sureties better are than one;_
+          _And caution's worth its cost,_
+          _Though sometimes seeming lost._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF, THE GOAT, AND THE KID.]
+
+
+
+
+The Rat Retired from the World.
+
+
+    The sage Levantines have a tale
+        About a rat that weary grew
+      Of all the cares which life assail,
+    And to a Holland cheese withdrew.
+    His solitude was there profound,
+    Extending through his world so round.
+    Our hermit lived on that within;
+    And soon his industry had been
+    With claws and teeth so good,
+      That in his novel hermitage,
+      He had in store, for wants of age,
+    Both house and livelihood.
+    One day this personage devout,
+    Whose kindness none might doubt,
+    Was ask'd, by certain delegates
+    That came from Rat-United-States,
+    For some small aid, for they
+    To foreign parts were on their way,
+    For succour in the great cat-war.
+    Ratopolis beleaguer'd sore,
+      Their whole republic drain'd and poor,
+    No morsel in their scrips they bore.
+      Slight boon they craved, of succour sure
+    In days at utmost three or four.
+    "My friends," the hermit said,
+    "To worldly things I'm dead.
+    How can a poor recluse
+    To such a mission be of use?
+    What can he do but pray
+    That God will aid it on its way?
+    And so, my friends, it is my prayer
+    That God will have you in his care."
+    His well-fed saintship said no more,
+    But in their faces shut the door.
+
+    _What think you, reader, is the service_
+      _For which I use this niggard rat?_
+    _To paint a monk? No, but a dervise._
+      _A monk, I think, however fat,_
+      _Must be more bountiful than that._
+
+[Illustration: THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cunning Fox.
+
+
+    A fox once practised, 'tis believed,
+        A stratagem right well conceived.
+    The wretch, when in the utmost strait
+    By dogs of nose so delicate,
+    Approach'd a gallows, where,
+    A lesson to like passengers,
+    Or clothed in feathers or in furs,
+    Some badgers, owls, and foxes, pendent were.
+    Their comrade, in his pressing need,
+    Arranged himself among the dead.
+    I seem to see old Hannibal
+    Outwit some Roman general,
+    And sit securely in his tent,
+    The legions on some other scent.
+    But certain dogs, kept back
+    To tell the errors of the pack,
+    Arriving where the traitor hung,
+    A fault in fullest chorus sung.
+    Though by their bark the welkin rung,
+    Their master made them hold the tongue.
+    Suspecting not a trick so odd,
+    Said he, "The rogue's beneath the sod.
+    My dogs, that never saw such jokes,
+    Won't bark beyond these honest folks."
+
+    The rogue would try the trick again.
+    He did so to his cost and pain.
+    Again with dogs the welkin rings;
+    Again our fox from gallows swings;
+    But though he hangs with greater faith
+    This time, he does it to his death.
+
+      _So uniformly is it true,_
+        _A stratagem is best when new._
+
+[Illustration: THE CUNNING FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ape.
+
+
+      There is an ape in Paris,
+          To which was given a wife:
+      Like many a one that marries,
+        This ape, in brutal strife,
+        Soon beat her out of life.
+    Their infant cries,--perhaps not fed,--
+        But cries, I ween, in vain;
+    The father laughs: his wife is dead,
+      And he has other loves again,
+    Which he will also beat, I think,--
+    Return'd from tavern drown'd in drink.
+
+    _For aught that's good, you need not look_
+      _Among the imitative tribe;_
+    _A monkey be it, or what makes a book--_
+      _The worse, I deem--the aping scribe._
+
+[Illustration: THE APE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog.
+
+
+    A fox, old, subtle, vigilant, and sly,--
+          By hunters wounded, fallen in the mud,--
+      Attracted by the traces of his blood,
+        That buzzing parasite, the fly.
+        He blamed the gods, and wonder'd why
+        The Fates so cruelly should wish
+        To feast the fly on such a costly dish.
+        "What! light on me! make me its food!
+        Me, me, the nimblest of the wood!
+        How long has fox-meat been so good?
+    What serves my tail? Is it a useless weight?
+    Go,--Heaven confound thee, greedy reprobate!--
+    And suck thy fill from some more vulgar veins!"
+        A hedgehog, witnessing his pains,
+            (This fretful personage
+            Here graces first my page,)
+            Desired to set him free
+            From such cupidity.
+            "My neighbour fox," said he,
+        "My quills these rascals shall empale,
+        And ease thy torments without fail."
+    "Not for the world, my friend!" the fox replied.
+      "Pray let them finish their repast.
+    These flies are full. Should they be set aside,
+      New hungrier swarms would finish me at last."
+
+    _Consumers are too common here below,_
+    _In court and camp, in church and state, we know._
+        _Old Aristotle's penetration_
+        _Remark'd our fable's application;_
+        _It might more clearly in our nation._
+        _The fuller certain men are fed,_
+        _The less the public will be bled._
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX THE FLIES & THE HEDGEHOG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Eagle and the Magpie.
+
+
+    The eagle, through the air a queen,
+        And one far different, I ween,
+    In temper, language, thought, and mien,--
+    The magpie,--once a prairie cross'd.
+      The by-path where they met was drear,
+    And Madge gave up herself for lost;
+      But having dined on ample cheer,
+      The eagle bade her, "Never fear;
+    You're welcome to my company;
+    For if the king of gods can be
+      Full oft in need of recreation,--
+    Who rules the world,--right well may I,
+      Who serve him in that high relation:
+    Amuse me, then, before you fly."
+    Our cackler, pleased, at quickest rate
+    Of this and that began to prate.
+      No fool, or babbler for that matter,
+      Could more incontinently chatter.
+    At last she offer'd to make known--
+    A better spy had never flown--
+    All things, whatever she might see,
+    In travelling from tree to tree.
+    But, with her offer little pleased--
+    Nay, gathering wrath at being teased,--
+    For such a purpose, never rove,--
+    Replied th' impatient bird of Jove.
+      "Adieu, my cackling friend, adieu;
+    My court is not the place for you:
+    Heaven keep it free from such a bore!"
+    Madge flapp'd her wings, and said no more.
+
+        _'Tis far less easy than it seems_
+          _An entrance to the great to gain._
+        _The honour oft hath cost extremes_
+            _Of mortal pain._
+        _The craft of spies, the tattling art,_
+        _And looks more gracious than the heart,_
+            _Are odious there;_
+        _But still, if one would meet success,_
+        _Of different parishes the dress_
+          _He, like the pie, must wear._
+
+[Illustration: THE EAGLE AND THE MAGPIE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Hunter.
+
+
+      A braggart, lover of the chase,
+          Had lost a dog of valued race,
+      And thought him in a lion's maw.
+      He ask'd a shepherd whom he saw,
+      "Pray show me, man, the robber's place,
+      And I'll have justice in the case."
+          "'Tis on this mountain side,"
+          The shepherd man replied.
+      "The tribute of a sheep I pay,
+    Each month, and where I please I stray."
+      Out leap'd the lion as he spake,
+        And came that way with agile feet.
+      The braggart, prompt his flight to take,
+        Cried, "Jove, O grant a safe retreat!"
+
+          _A danger close at hand_
+            _Of courage is the test._
+          _It shows us who will stand--_
+            _Whose legs will run their best._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE HUNTER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals
+
+
+      Left kingless by the lion's death,
+          The beasts once met, our story saith,
+      Some fit successor to install.
+    Forth from a dragon-guarded, moated place,
+    The crown was brought, and, taken from its case,
+      And being tried by turns on all,
+      The heads of most were found too small;
+      Some horned were, and some too big;
+        Not one would fit the regal gear.
+      For ever ripe for such a rig,
+      The monkey, looking very queer,
+      Approach'd with antics and grimaces,
+      And, after scores of monkey faces,
+    With what would seem a gracious stoop,
+    Pass'd through the crown as through a hoop.
+      The beasts, diverted with the thing,
+      Did homage to him as their king.
+      The fox alone the vote regretted,
+      But yet in public never fretted.
+      When he his compliments had paid
+      To royalty, thus newly made,
+      "Great sire, I know a place," said he,
+        "Where lies conceal'd a treasure,
+      Which, by the right of royalty,
+        Should bide your royal pleasure."
+      The king lack'd not an appetite
+        For such financial pelf,
+      And, not to lose his royal right,
+        Ran straight to see it for himself.
+      It was a trap, and he was caught.
+      Said Renard, "Would you have it thought,
+      You ape, that you can fill a throne,
+      And guard the rights of all, alone,
+      Not knowing how to guard your own?"
+
+      _The beasts all gather'd from the farce,_
+      _That stuff for kings is very scarce._
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX, THE MONKEY, AND THE ANIMALS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Sun and the Frogs.
+
+
+    Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day,
+        The people drown'd their care in drink;
+    While from the general joy did AEsop shrink,
+      And show'd its folly in this way.
+    "The sun," said he, "once took it in his head
+      To have a partner: so he wed.
+    From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs,
+    Up rose the wailings of the frogs.
+    "What shall we do, should he have progeny?"
+        Said they to Destiny;
+      'One sun we scarcely can endure,
+      And half-a-dozen, we are sure,
+        Will dry the very sea.
+        Adieu to marsh and fen!
+        Our race will perish then,
+        Or be obliged to fix
+        Their dwelling in the Styx!'
+      For such an humble animal,
+      The frog, I take it, reason'd well."
+
+[Illustration: THE SUN AND THE FROGS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Countryman and the Serpent.
+
+
+    A countryman, as AEsop certifies,
+          A charitable man, but not so wise,
+      One day in winter found,
+      Stretch'd on the snowy ground,
+      A chill'd or frozen snake,
+      As torpid as a stake,
+      And, if alive, devoid of sense.
+    He took him up, and bore him home,
+      And, thinking not what recompense
+    For such a charity would come,
+          Before the fire stretch'd him,
+          And back to being fetch'd him.
+        The snake scarce felt the genial heat
+      Before his heart with native malice beat.
+    He raised his head, thrust out his forked tongue,
+    Coil'd up, and at his benefactor sprung.
+    "Ungrateful wretch!" said he, "is this the way
+        My care and kindness you repay?
+    Now you shall die." With that his axe he takes,
+    And with two blows three serpents makes.
+    Trunk, head, and tail were separate snakes;
+      And, leaping up with all their might,
+      They vainly sought to reunite.
+
+      _'Tis good and lovely to be kind;_
+      _But charity should not be blind;_
+      _For as to wretchedness ingrate,_
+    _You cannot raise it from its wretched state._
+
+[Illustration: THE COUNTRYMAN AND THE SERPENT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Carter in the Mire.
+
+
+          The Phaeton who drove a load of hay
+             Once found his cart bemired.
+          Poor man! the spot was far away
+             From human help--retired,
+          In some rude country place,
+          In Brittany, as near as I can trace,
+              Near Quimper Corentan,--
+              A town that poet never sang,--
+       Which Fate, they say, puts in the traveller's path,
+       When she would rouse the man to special wrath.
+           May Heaven preserve us from that route!
+           But to our carter, hale and stout:--
+           Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst,
+             And, fill'd with rage extreme,
+           The mud-holes now he cursed,
+               And now he cursed his team,
+           And now his cart and load,--
+           Anon, the like upon himself bestow'd.
+           Upon the god he call'd at length,
+           Most famous through the world for strength.
+    "O, help me, Hercules!" cried he; "for if thy back of yore
+    This burly planet bore, thy arm can set me free."
+       This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there broke
+       A voice which thus in godlike accents spoke:--
+           "The suppliant must himself bestir,
+           Ere Hercules will aid confer.
+           Look wisely in the proper quarter,
+               To see what hindrance can be found;
+            Remove the execrable mud and mortar,
+        Which, axle-deep, beset thy wheels around.
+           Thy sledge and crowbar take,
+           And pry me up that stone, or break;
+           Now fill that rut upon the other side.
+           Hast done it?" "Yes," the man replied.
+           "Well," said the voice, "I'll aid thee now;
+           Take up thy whip." "I have ... but, how?
+               My cart glides on with ease!
+                I thank thee, Hercules."
+        "Thy team," rejoin'd the voice, "has light ado;
+         So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too."
+
+[Illustration: THE CARTER IN THE MIRE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Heron.
+
+
+          One day,--no matter when or where,--
+             A long-legg'd heron chanced to fare
+          By a certain river's brink,
+          With his long, sharp beak
+           Helved on his slender neck;
+        'Twas a fish-spear, you might think.
+        The water was clear and still,
+        The carp and the pike there at will
+          Pursued their silent fun,
+          Turning up, ever and anon,
+          A golden side to the sun.
+       With ease might the heron have made
+       Great profits in his fishing trade.
+       So near came the scaly fry,
+       They might be caught by the passer-by.
+       But he thought he better might
+       Wait for a better appetite--
+       For he lived by rule, and could not eat,
+       Except at his hours, the best of meat.
+       Anon his appetite return'd once more;
+       So, approaching again the shore,
+       He saw some tench taking their leaps,
+       Now and then, from their lowest deeps.
+       With as dainty a taste as Horace's rat,
+       He turn'd away from such food as that.
+       "What, tench for a heron! poh!
+       I scorn the thought, and let them go."
+    The tench refused, there came a gudgeon;
+    "For all that," said the bird, "I budge on.
+    I'll ne'er open my beak, if the gods please,
+    For such mean little fishes as these."
+    He did it for less; | For it came to pass,
+       That not another fish could he see;
+       And, at last, so hungry was he,
+       That he thought it of some avail
+       To find on the bank a single snail.
+
+    _Such is the sure result_
+    _Of being too difficult._
+
+    _Would you be strong and great_
+    _Learn to accommodate._
+
+[Illustration: THE HERON.]
+
+
+
+
+The Head and the Tail of the Serpent.
+
+
+       Two parts the serpent has--
+             Of men the enemies--
+       The head and tail: the same
+       Have won a mighty fame,
+           Next to the cruel Fates;--
+       So that, indeed, hence
+             They once had great debates
+          About precedence.
+       The first had always gone ahead;
+       The tail had been for ever led;
+       And now to Heaven it pray'd,
+             And said,
+       "O, many and many a league,
+          Dragg'd on in sore fatigue,
+          Behind his back I go.
+       Shall he for ever use me so?
+       Am I his humble servant?
+       No. Thanks to God most fervent!
+          His brother I was born,
+          And not his slave forlorn.
+          The self-same blood in both,
+          I'm just as good as he:
+          A poison dwells in me
+       As virulent as doth
+       In him. In mercy, heed,
+          And grant me this decree,
+       That I, in turn, may lead--
+          My brother, follow me.
+       My course shall be so wise,
+       That no complaint shall rise."
+    With cruel kindness Heaven granted
+       The very thing he blindly wanted:
+             At once this novel guide,
+       That saw no more in broad daylight
+       Than in the murk of darkest night,
+             His powers of leading tried,
+    Struck trees, and men, and stones, and bricks,
+       And led his brother straight to Styx.
+          And to the same unlovely home,
+          Some states by such an error come.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEAD & THE TAIL OF THE SERPENT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Dog And His Master's Dinner.
+
+
+    Our eyes are not made proof against the fair,
+          Nor hands against the touch of gold.
+             Fidelity is sadly rare,
+       And has been from the days of old.
+       Well taught his appetite to check,
+          And do full many a handy trick,
+          A dog was trotting, light and quick,
+       His master's dinner on his neck.
+    A temperate, self-denying dog was he,
+    More than, with such a load, he liked to be.
+    But still he was, while many such as we
+    Would not have scrupled to make free.
+    Strange that to dogs a virtue you may teach,
+    Which, do your best, to men you vainly preach!
+    This dog of ours, thus richly fitted out,
+    A mastiff met, who wish'd the meat, no doubt.
+    To get it was less easy than he thought:
+          The porter laid it down and fought.
+          Meantime some other dogs arrive:
+          Such dogs are always thick enough,
+          And, fearing neither kick nor cuff,
+             Upon the public thrive.
+          Our hero, thus o'ermatch'd and press'd,--
+          The meat in danger manifest,--
+          Is fain to share it with the rest;
+          And, looking very calm and wise,
+          "No anger, gentlemen," he cries:
+          "My morsel will myself suffice;
+          The rest shall be your welcome prize."
+          With this, the first his charge to violate,
+          He snaps a mouthful from his freight.
+          Then follow mastiff, cur, and pup,
+          Till all is cleanly eaten up.
+          Not sparingly the party feasted,
+          And not a dog of all but tasted.
+
+                _In some such manner men abuse_
+                _Of towns and states the revenues._
+                _The sheriffs, aldermen, and mayor,_
+                _Come in for each a liberal share._
+
+[Illustration: THE DOG AND HIS MASTER'S DINNER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Joker and the Fishes.
+
+
+       A joker at a banker's table,
+             Most amply spread to satisfy
+          The height of epicurean wishes,
+           Had nothing near but little fishes.
+       So, taking several of the fry,
+       He whisper'd to them very nigh,
+       And seem'd to listen for reply.
+       The guests much wonder'd what it meant,
+       And stared upon him all intent.
+       The joker, then, with sober face,
+       Politely thus explain'd the case:
+       "A friend of mine, to India bound,
+             Has been, I fear,
+             Within a year,
+       By rocks or tempests wreck'd and drown'd.
+       I ask'd these strangers from the sea
+       To tell me where my friend might be.
+          But all replied they were too young
+       To know the least of such a matter--
+       The older fish could tell me better.
+          Pray, may I hear some older tongue?"
+       What relish had the gentlefolks
+       For such a sample of his jokes,
+       Is more than I can now relate.
+       They put, I'm sure, upon his plate,
+       A monster of so old a date,
+       He must have known the names and fate
+       Of all the daring voyagers,
+       Who, following the moon and stars,
+       Have, by mischances, sunk their bones
+       Within the realms of Davy Jones;
+       And who, for centuries, had seen,
+    Far down, within the fathomless,
+    Where whales themselves are sceptreless,
+       The ancients in their halls of green.
+
+[Illustration: THE JOKER AND THE FISHES.]
+
+
+
+
+The Rat and the Oyster.
+
+
+    A country rat, of little brains,
+          Grown weary of inglorious rest,
+    Left home with all its straws and grains,
+      Resolved to know beyond his nest.
+    When peeping through the nearest fence,
+    "How big the world is, how immense!"
+    He cried; "there rise the Alps, and that
+    Is doubtless famous Ararat."
+    His mountains were the works of moles,
+    Or dirt thrown up in digging holes!
+    Some days of travel brought him where
+    The tide had left the oysters bare.
+    Since here our traveller saw the sea,
+    He thought these shells the ships must be.
+    "My father was, in truth," said he,
+      "A coward, and an ignoramus;
+    He dared not travel: as for me,
+      I've seen the ships and ocean famous;
+    Have cross'd the deserts without drinking,
+    And many dangerous streams unshrinking."
+    Among the shut-up shell-fish, one
+    Was gaping widely at the sun;
+    It breathed, and drank the air's perfume,
+    Expanding, like a flower in bloom.
+      Both white and fat, its meat
+      Appear'd a dainty treat.
+    Our rat, when he this shell espied,
+    Thought for his stomach to provide.
+    "If not mistaken in the matter,"
+    Said he, "no meat was ever fatter,
+    Or in its flavour half so fine,
+    As that on which to-day I dine."
+    Thus full of hope, the foolish chap
+      Thrust in his head to taste,
+    And felt the pinching of a trap--
+      The oyster closed in haste.
+
+    _Now those to whom the world is new_
+    _Are wonder-struck at every view;_
+    _And the marauder finds his match,_
+    _When he is caught who thinks to catch._
+
+[Illustration: THE RAT AND THE OYSTER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep.
+
+
+      A goat, a sheep, and porker fat,
+            All to the market rode together.
+      Their own amusement was not that
+        Which caused their journey thither.
+    Their coachman did not mean to "set them down"
+    To see the shows and wonders of the town.
+        The porker cried, in piercing squeals,
+        As if with butchers at his heels.
+        The other beasts, of milder mood,
+        The cause by no means understood.
+        They saw no harm, and wonder'd why
+        At such a rate the hog should cry.
+        "Hush there, old piggy!" said the man,
+        "And keep as quiet as you can.
+        What wrong have you to squeal about,
+        And raise this dev'lish, deaf'ning shout?
+        These stiller persons at your side
+        Have manners much more dignified.
+              Pray, have you heard
+              A single word
+        Come from that gentleman in wool?
+        That proves him wise." "That proves him fool!"
+            The testy hog replied;
+              "For did he know
+              To what we go,
+        He'd cry almost to split his throat;
+        So would her ladyship the goat.
+        They only think to lose with ease,
+        The goat her milk, the sheep his fleece:
+        They're, maybe, right; but as for me
+        This ride is quite another matter.
+        Of service only on the platter,
+        My death is quite a certainty.
+        Adieu, my dear old piggery!"
+        The porker's logic proved at once
+        Himself a prophet and a dunce.
+
+        _Hope ever gives a present ease,_
+        _But fear beforehand kills:_
+        _The wisest he who least foresees_
+        _Inevitable ills._
+
+[Illustration: THE HOG THE GOAT AND THE SHEEP.]
+
+
+
+
+The Rat and the Elephant.
+
+
+      A rat, of quite the smallest size,
+          Fix'd on an elephant his eyes,
+      And jeer'd the beast of high descent
+      Because his feet so slowly went.
+      Upon his back, three stories high,
+      There sat, beneath a canopy,
+      A certain sultan of renown,
+        His dog, and cat, and wife sublime,
+        His parrot, servant, and his wine,
+      All pilgrims to a distant town.
+      The rat profess'd to be amazed
+      That all the people stood and gazed
+      With wonder, as he pass'd the road,
+      Both at the creature and his load.
+      "As if," said he, "to occupy
+      A little more of land or sky
+    Made one, in view of common sense,
+      Of greater worth and consequence!
+      What see ye, men, in this parade,
+      That food for wonder need be made?
+      The bulk which makes a child afraid?
+      In truth, I take myself to be,
+      In all aspects, as good as he."
+      And further might have gone his vaunt;
+        But, darting down, the cat
+        Convinced him that a rat
+      Is smaller than an elephant.
+
+[Illustration: THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass and the Dog.
+
+
+    Along the road an ass and dog
+          One master following, did jog.
+    Their master slept: meanwhile, the ass
+    Applied his nippers to the grass,
+    Much pleased in such a place to stop,
+    Though there no thistle he could crop.
+    He would not be too delicate,
+    Nor spoil a dinner for a plate,
+    Which, but for that, his favourite dish,
+    Were all that any ass could wish.
+      "My dear companion," Towser said,--
+    "'Tis as a starving dog I ask it,--
+    Pray lower down your loaded basket,
+      And let me get a piece of bread."
+    No answer--not a word!--indeed,
+    The truth was, our Arcadian steed
+    Fear'd lest, for every moment's flight,
+    His nimble teeth should lose a bite.
+    At last, "I counsel you," said he, "to wait
+      Till master is himself awake,
+      Who then, unless I much mistake,
+    Will give his dog the usual bait."
+    Meanwhile, there issued from the wood
+    A creature of the wolfish brood,
+    Himself by famine sorely pinch'd.
+    At sight of him the donkey flinch'd,
+    And begg'd the dog to give him aid.
+    The dog budged not, but answer made,--
+    "I counsel thee, my friend, to run,
+    Till master's nap is fairly done;
+    There can, indeed, be no mistake,
+    That he will very soon awake;
+    Till then, scud off with all your might;
+    And should he snap you in your flight,
+    This ugly wolf,--why, let him feel
+    The greeting of your well-shod heel.
+    I do not doubt, at all, but that
+    Will be enough to lay him flat."
+      But ere he ceased it was too late;
+      The ass had met his cruel fate.
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS AND THE DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+Education.
+
+
+    Lapluck and Caesar brothers were, descended
+          From dogs by Fame the most commended,
+        Who falling, in their puppyhood,
+          To different masters anciently,
+    One dwelt and hunted in the boundless wood;
+      From thieves the other kept a kitchen free.
+        At first, each had another name;
+        But, by their bringing up, it came,
+      While one improved upon his nature,
+      The other grew a sordid creature,
+        Till, by some scullion called Lapluck,
+        The name ungracious ever stuck.
+          To high exploits his brother grew,
+        Put many a stag at bay, and tore
+        Full many a trophy from the boar;
+          In short, him first, of all his crew,
+            The world as Caesar knew;
+      And care was had, lest, by a baser mate,
+      His noble blood should e'er degenerate.
+      Not so with him of lower station,
+      Whose race became a countless nation--
+      The common turnspits throughout France--
+      Where danger is, they don't advance--
+      Precisely the Antipodes
+      Of what we call the Caesars, these!
+
+    _Oft falls the son below his sire's estate:_
+    _Through want of care all things degenerate._
+    _For lack of nursing Nature and her gifts,_
+    _What crowds from gods become mere kitchen-thrifts!_
+
+[Illustration: EDUCATION.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Dogs and the Dead Ass.
+
+
+      Two lean and hungry mastiffs once espied
+        A dead ass floating on a water wide.
+      The distance growing more and more,
+      Because the wind the carcass bore,--
+      "My friend," said one, "your eyes are best;
+      Pray let them on the water rest:
+      What thing is that I seem to see?
+      An ox, or horse? what can it be?"
+      "Hey!" cried his mate; "what matter which,
+      Provided we could get a flitch?
+      It doubtless is our lawful prey:
+      The puzzle is to find some way
+      To get the prize; for wide the space
+      To swim, with wind against your face.
+      Let's drink the flood; our thirsty throats
+      Will gain the end as well as boats.
+      The water swallow'd, by and by
+      We'll have the carcass, high and dry--
+      Enough to last a week, at least."
+      Both drank as some do at a feast;
+    Their breath was quench'd before their thirst,
+      And presently the creatures burst!
+
+      _And such is man. Whatever he_
+      _May set his soul to do or be,_
+      _To him is possibility._
+        _How many vows he makes!_
+        _How many steps he takes!_
+      _How does he strive, and pant, and strain,_
+      _Fortune's or Glory's prize to gain!_
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO DOGS AND THE DEAD ASS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Monkey and the Leopard.
+
+
+      A monkey and a leopard were
+          The rivals at a country fair.
+      Each advertised his own attractions.
+        Said one, "Good sirs, the highest place
+        My merit knows; for, of his grace,
+        The king hath seen me face to face;
+      And, judging by his looks and actions,
+      I gave the best of satisfactions.
+      When I am dead, 'tis plain enough,
+      My skin will make his royal muff.
+      So richly is it streak'd and spotted,
+      So delicately waved and dotted,
+      Its various beauty cannot fail to please."
+      And, thus invited, everybody sees;
+      But soon they see, and soon depart.
+      The monkey's show-bill to the mart
+      His merits thus sets forth the while,
+      All in his own peculiar style:--
+      "Come, gentlemen, I pray you, come;
+      In magic arts I am at home.
+      The whole variety in which
+      My neighbour boasts himself so rich,
+      Is to his simple skin confined,
+      While mine is living in the mind.
+      For I can speak, you understand;
+      Can dance, and practise sleight-of-hand;
+    Can jump through hoops, and balance sticks;
+    In short, can do a thousand tricks;
+      One penny is my charge to you,
+      And, if you think the price won't do,
+      When you have seen, then I'll restore
+      Each man his money at the door."
+
+      _The ape was not to reason blind;_
+      _For who in wealth of dress can find_
+      _Such charms as dwell in wealth of mind?_
+      _One meets our ever-new desires,_
+      _The other in a moment tires._
+      _Alas! how many lords there are,_
+        _Of mighty sway and lofty mien,_
+      _Who, like this leopard at the fair,_
+        _Show all their talents on the skin!_
+
+[Illustration: THE MONKEY AND THE LEOPARD.]
+
+
+
+
+The Acorn and the Pumpkin.
+
+
+      God's works are good. This truth to prove
+          Around the world I need not move;
+        I do it by the nearest pumpkin.
+      "This fruit so large, on vine so small,"
+        Surveying once, exclaim'd a bumpkin--
+      "What could He mean who made us all?
+      He's left this pumpkin out of place.
+      If I had order'd in the case,
+      Upon that oak it should have hung--
+      A noble fruit as ever swung
+      To grace a tree so firm and strong.
+      Indeed, it was a great mistake,
+          As this discovery teaches,
+      That I myself did not partake
+      His counsels whom my curate preaches.
+      All things had then in order come;
+        This acorn, for example,
+          Not bigger than my thumb,
+      Had not disgraced a tree so ample.
+      The more I think, the more I wonder
+      To see outraged proportion's laws,
+      And that without the slightest cause;
+    God surely made an awkward blunder."
+      With such reflections proudly fraught,
+      Our sage grew tired of mighty thought,
+      And threw himself on Nature's lap,
+      Beneath an oak, to take his nap.
+      Plump on his nose, by lucky hap,
+      An acorn fell: he waked, and in
+      The scarf he wore beneath his chin,
+      He found the cause of such a bruise
+      As made him different language use.
+      "O! O!" he cried; "I bleed! I bleed!
+      And this is what has done the deed!
+      But, truly, what had been my fate,
+      Had this had half a pumpkin's weight!
+      I see that God had reasons good,
+      And all His works were understood."
+      Thus home he went in humbler mood.
+
+[Illustration: THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fool who Sold Wisdom.
+
+
+    A fool, in town, did wisdom cry;
+          The people, eager, flock'd to buy.
+      Each for his money got,
+      Paid promptly on the spot,
+      Besides a box upon the head,
+      Two fathoms' length of thread.
+    The most were vex'd--but quite in vain,
+    The public only mock'd their pain.
+    The wiser they who nothing said,
+    But pocketed the box and thread.
+    To search the meaning of the thing
+    Would only laughs and hisses bring.
+    Hath reason ever guaranteed
+    The wit of fools in speech or deed?
+    'Tis said of brainless heads in France,
+    The cause of what they do is chance.
+    One dupe, however, needs must know
+    What meant the thread, and what the blow
+    So ask'd a sage, to make it sure.
+    "They're both hieroglyphics pure,"
+    The sage replied without delay;
+    "All people well advised will stay
+    From fools this fibre's length away,
+    Or get--I hold it sure as fate--
+    The other symbol on the pate.
+    So far from cheating you of gold,
+    The fool this wisdom fairly sold."
+
+[Illustration: THE FOOL WHO SOLD WISDOM.]
+
+
+
+
+The Oyster and the Litigants.
+
+
+        Two pilgrims on the sand espied
+            An oyster thrown up by the tide.
+        In hope, both swallow'd ocean's fruit;
+        But ere the fact there came dispute.
+        While one stoop'd down to take the prey,
+        The other push'd him quite away.
+          Said he, "'Twere rather meet
+          To settle which shall eat.
+        Why, he who first the oyster saw
+        Should be its eater by the law;
+        The other should but see him do it."
+        Replied his mate, "If thus you view it,
+        Thank God the lucky eye is mine."
+        "But I've an eye not worse than thine,"
+        The other cried, "and will be cursed,
+        If, too, I didn't see it first."
+        "You saw it, did you? Grant it true,
+        I saw it then, and felt it too."
+            Amidst this sweet affair,
+          Arrived a person very big,
+          Ycleped Sir Nincom Periwig.
+    They made him judge,--to set the matter square.
+        Sir Nincom, with a solemn face,
+        Took up the oyster and the case:
+        In opening both, the first he swallow'd,
+        And, in due time, his judgment follow'd.
+    "Attend: the court awards you each a shell
+    Cost free; depart in peace, and use them well."
+
+        _Foot up the cost of suits at law,_
+        _The leavings reckon and awards,_
+        _The cash you'll see Sir Nincom draw,_
+        _And leave the parties--purse and cards._
+
+[Illustration: THE OYSTER AND THE LITIGANTS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf and the Lean Dog.
+
+
+        A Troutling, some time since,
+            Endeavour'd vainly to convince
+          A hungry fisherman
+      Of his unfitness for the frying-pan.
+        The fisherman had reason good--
+        The troutling did the best he could--
+          Both argued for their lives.
+        Now, if my present purpose thrives,
+      I'll prop my former proposition
+      By building on a small addition.
+        A certain wolf, in point of wit
+        The prudent fisher's opposite,
+        A dog once finding far astray,
+        Prepared to take him as his prey.
+          The dog his leanness pled;
+          "Your lordship, sure," he said,
+          "Cannot be very eager
+          To eat a dog so meagre.
+        To wait a little do not grudge:
+    The wedding of my master's only daughter
+    Will cause of fatted calves and fowls a slaughter;
+        And then, as you yourself can judge,
+        I cannot help becoming fatter."
+        The wolf, believing, waived the matter,
+        And so, some days therefrom,
+          Return'd with sole design to see
+          If fat enough his dog might be.
+        The rogue was now at home:
+        He saw the hunter through the fence.
+          "My friend," said he, "please wait;
+        I'll be with you a moment hence,
+          And fetch our porter of the gate."
+        This porter was a dog immense,
+        That left to wolves no future tense.
+          Suspicion gave our wolf a jog,--
+          It might not be so safely tamper'd.
+            "My service to your porter dog,"
+          Was his reply, as off he scamper'd.
+          His legs proved better than his head,
+          And saved him life to learn his trade.
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF AND THE LEAN DOG.]
+
+
+
+
+Nothing too Much.
+
+
+    Look where we will throughout creation,
+        We look in vain for moderation.
+
+    The grain, best gift of Ceres fair,
+    Green waving in the genial air,
+    By overgrowth exhausts the soil;
+      By superfluity of leaves
+      Defrauds the treasure of its sheaves,
+    And mocks the busy farmer's toil.
+    Not less redundant is the tree,
+    So sweet a thing is luxury.
+    The grain within due bounds to keep,
+    Their Maker licenses the sheep
+    The leaves excessive to retrench.
+      In troops they spread across the plain,
+      And, nibbling down the hapless grain,
+    Contrive to spoil it, root and branch.
+      So, then, with licence from on high,
+    The wolves are sent on sheep to prey;
+    The whole the greedy gluttons slay;
+      Or, if they don't, they try.
+
+    Next, men are sent on wolves to take
+      The vengeance now condign:
+    In turn the same abuse they make
+      Of this behest divine.
+
+    Of animals, the human kind
+    Are to excess the most inclined.
+    On low and high we make the charge,--
+    Indeed, upon the race at large.
+    There liveth not the soul select
+    That sinneth not in this respect.
+    Of "Nought too much," the fact is,
+    All preach the truth,--none practise.
+
+[Illustration: NOTHING TOO MUCH.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cat and the Fox.
+
+
+    The cat and fox, when saints were all the rage
+      Together went upon pilgrimage.
+    Our pilgrims, as a thing of course,
+    Disputed till their throats were hoarse.
+      Then, dropping to a lower tone,
+    They talk'd of this, and talk'd of that,
+    Till Renard whisper'd to the cat,
+      "You think yourself a knowing one:
+    How many cunning tricks have you?
+    For I've a hundred, old and new,
+    All ready in my haversack."
+    The cat replied, "I do not lack,
+      Though with but one provided;
+    And, truth to honour, for that matter,
+    I hold it than a thousand better."
+      In fresh dispute they sided;
+    And loudly were they at it, when
+    Approach'd a mob of dogs and men.
+    "Now," said the cat, "your tricks ransack,
+    And put your cunning brains to rack,
+    One life to save; I'll show you mine--
+    A trick, you see, for saving nine."
+    With that, she climb'd a lofty pine.
+    The fox his hundred ruses tried,
+      And yet no safety found.
+    A hundred times he falsified
+      The nose of every hound.--
+    Was here, and there, and everywhere,
+      Above, and under ground;
+    But yet to stop he did not dare,
+    Pent in a hole, it was no joke,
+    To meet the terriers or the smoke.
+    So, leaping into upper air,
+    He met two dogs, that choked him there.
+
+        _Expedients may be too many,_
+      _Consuming time to choose and try._
+        _On one, but that as good as any,_
+      _'Tis best in danger to rely._
+
+[Illustration: THE CAT AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Monkey and the Cat.
+
+
+    Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat,
+        (The one was a monkey, the other a cat,)
+        Co-servants and lodgers:
+        More mischievous codgers
+    Ne'er mess'd from a platter, since platters were flat.
+    Was anything wrong in the house or about it,
+    The neighbours were blameless,--no mortal could doubt it;
+    For Bertrand was thievish, and Ratto so nice,
+    More attentive to cheese than he was to the mice.
+    One day the two plunderers sat by the fire,
+    Where chestnuts were roasting, with looks of desire.
+    To steal them would be a right noble affair.
+    A double inducement our heroes drew there--
+    'Twould benefit them, could they swallow their fill,
+    And then 'twould occasion to somebody ill.
+    Said Bertrand to Ratto, "My brother, to-day
+    Exhibit your powers in a masterly way,
+        And take me these chestnuts, I pray.
+        Which were I but otherwise fitted
+        (As I am ingeniously witted)
+        For pulling things out of the flame,
+        Would stand but a pitiful game."
+    "'Tis done," replied Ratto, all prompt to obey;
+    And thrust out his paw in a delicate way.
+        First giving the ashes a scratch,
+        He open'd the coveted batch;
+        Then lightly and quickly impinging,
+        He drew out, in spite of the singeing,
+    One after another, the chestnuts at last,--
+    While Bertrand contrived to devour them as fast.
+        A servant girl enters. Adieu to the fun.
+        Our Ratto was hardly contented, says one.--
+
+        _No more are the princes, by flattery paid_
+        _For furnishing help in a different trade,_
+          _And burning their fingers to bring_
+          _More power to some mightier king._
+
+[Illustration: THE MONKEY AND THE CAT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Spider and the Swallow.
+
+
+        "O Jupiter, whose fruitful brain,
+              By odd obstetrics freed from pain,
+        Bore Pallas, erst my mortal foe,
+        Pray listen to my tale of woe.
+        This Progne takes my lawful prey.
+        As through the air she cuts her way,
+        My flies she catches from my door,--
+          Yes, _mine_--I emphasize the word,--
+        And, but for this accursed bird,
+        My net would hold an ample store:
+        For I have woven it of stuff
+        To hold the strongest strong enough."
+        'Twas thus, in terms of insolence,
+        Complain'd the fretful spider, once
+          Of palace-tapestry a weaver,
+        But then a spinster and deceiver,
+        That hoped within her toils to bring
+        Of insects all that ply the wing.
+        The sister swift of Philomel,
+        Intent on business, prosper'd well;
+        In spite of the complaining pest,
+        The insects carried to her nest--
+        Nest pitiless to suffering flies--
+        Mouths gaping aye, to gormandize,
+          Of young ones clamouring,
+            And stammering,
+        With unintelligible cries.
+        The spider, with but head and feet,
+          And powerless to compete
+          With wings so fleet,
+          Soon saw herself a prey.
+        The swallow, passing swiftly by,
+          Bore web and all away,
+        The spinster dangling in the sky!
+
+        _Two tables hath our Maker set_
+        _For all that in this world are met._
+          _To seats around the first_
+    _The skilful, vigilant, and strong are beckon'd:_
+          _Their hunger and their thirst_
+    _The rest must quell with leavings at the second._
+
+[Illustration: THE SPIDER AND THE SWALLOW.]
+
+
+
+
+The Dog whose Ears were Cropped.
+
+
+    "What have I done, I'd like to know,
+            To make my master maim me so?
+        A pretty figure I shall cut!
+    From other dogs I'll keep, in kennel shut.
+    Ye kings of beasts, or rather tyrants, ho!
+      Would any beast have served you so?"
+      Thus Growler cried, a mastiff young;--
+      The man, whom pity never stung,
+        Went on to prune him of his ears.
+    Though Growler whined about his losses,
+        He found, before the lapse of years,
+    Himself a gainer by the process;
+      For, being by his nature prone
+      To fight his brethren for a bone,
+      He'd oft come back from sad reverse
+      With those appendages the worse.
+        All snarling dogs have ragged ears.
+
+      The less of hold for teeth of foe,
+      The better will the battle go.
+        When, in a certain place, one fears
+      The chance of being hurt or beat,
+      He fortifies it from defeat.
+        Besides the shortness of his ears,
+      See Growler arm'd against his likes
+      With gorget full of ugly spikes.
+      A wolf would find it quite a puzzle
+      To get a hold about his muzzle.
+
+[Illustration: THE DOG WHOSE EARS WERE CROPPED.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lioness and the Bear.
+
+
+      The lioness had lost her young;
+          A hunter stole it from the vale;
+      The forests and the mountains rung
+        Responsive to her hideous wail.
+      Nor night, nor charms of sweet repose,
+      Could still the loud lament that rose
+          From that grim forest queen.
+        No animal, as you might think,
+        With such a noise could sleep a wink.
+          A bear presumed to intervene.
+            "One word, sweet friend," quoth she,
+            "And that is all, from me.
+      The young that through your teeth have pass'd,
+        In file unbroken by a fast,
+            Had they nor dam nor sire?"
+            "They had them both." "Then I desire,
+    Since all their deaths caused no such grievous riot,
+    While mothers died of grief beneath your fiat,
+    To know why you yourself cannot be quiet?"
+        "I quiet!--I!--a wretch bereaved!
+        My only son!--such anguish be relieved!
+        No, never! All for me below
+        Is but a life of tears and woe!"--
+        "But say, why doom yourself to sorrow so?"--
+        "Alas! 'tis Destiny that is my foe."
+
+        _Such language, since the mortal fall,_
+        _Has fallen from the lips of all._
+        _Ye human wretches, give your heed;_
+        _For your complaints there's little need._
+      _Let him who thinks his own the hardest case,_
+        _Some widowed, childless Hecuba behold,_
+        _Herself to toil and shame of slavery sold,_
+      _And he will own the wealth of heavenly grace._
+
+[Illustration: THE LIONESS AND THE BEAR.]
+
+
+
+
+The Mice and the Owl.
+
+
+      A pine was by a woodman fell'd,
+          Which ancient, huge, and hollow tree
+      An owl had for his palace held--
+        A bird the Fates had kept in fee,
+        Interpreter to such as we.
+      Within the caverns of the pine,
+      With other tenants of that mine,
+      Were found full many footless mice,
+      But well provision'd, fat, and nice.
+      The bird had bit off all their feet,
+      And fed them there with heaps of wheat.
+      That this owl reason'd, who can doubt?
+      When to the chase he first went out,
+      And home alive the vermin brought,
+      Which in his talons he had caught,
+      The nimble creatures ran away.
+      Next time, resolved to make them stay,
+    He cropp'd their legs, and found, with pleasure,
+    That he could eat them at his leisure;
+      It were impossible to eat
+      Them all at once, did health permit.
+      His foresight, equal to our own,
+      In furnishing their food was shown.
+      Now, let Cartesians, if they can,
+        Pronounce this owl a mere machine.
+      Could springs originate the plan
+        Of maiming mice when taken lean,
+        To fatten for his soup-tureen?
+      If reason did no service there,
+      I do not know it anywhere.
+        Observe the course of argument:
+    These vermin are no sooner caught than gone:
+      They must be used as soon, 'tis evident;
+        But this to all cannot be done.
+          Hence, while their ribs I lard,
+        I must from their elopement guard.
+          But how?--A plan complete!--
+          I'll clip them of their feet!
+      Now, find me, in your human schools,
+      A better use of logic's tools!
+
+[Illustration: THE MICE AND THE OWL.]
+
+
+
+
+The Cat and the Two Sparrows.
+
+
+        Contemporary with a sparrow tame
+              There lived a cat; from tenderest age,
+      Of both, the basket and the cage
+          Had household gods the same.
+    The bird's sharp beak full oft provoked the cat,
+    Who play'd in turn, but with a gentle pat,
+    His wee friend sparing with a merry laugh,
+    Not punishing his faults by half.
+      In short, he scrupled much the harm,
+      Should he with points his ferule arm.
+      The Sparrow, less discreet than he,
+      With dagger beak made very free.
+      Sir Cat, a person wise and staid,
+      Excused the warmth with which he play'd:
+        For 'tis full half of friendship's art
+        To take no joke in serious part.
+        Familiar since they saw the light,
+          Mere habit kept their friendship good;
+        Fair play had never turn'd to fight,
+          Till, of their neighbourhood,
+        Another sparrow came to greet
+        Old Ratto grave and Saucy Pete.
+        Between the birds a quarrel rose,
+          And Ratto took his side.
+        "A pretty stranger, with such blows
+          To beat our friend!" he cried.
+        "A neighbour's sparrow eating ours!
+        Not so, by all the feline powers."
+        And quick the stranger he devours.
+          "Now, truly," saith Sir Cat,
+        "I know how sparrows taste by that.
+        Exquisite, tender, delicate!"
+        This thought soon seal'd the other's fate.--
+        But hence what moral can I bring?
+        For, lacking that important thing,
+        A fable lacks its finishing:
+        I seem to see of one some trace,
+        But still its shadow mocks my chase.
+
+[Illustration: THE CAT AND THE TWO SPARROWS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Two Goats.
+
+
+      Two goats, who self-emancipated,--
+          The white that on their feet they wore
+    Look'd back to noble blood of yore,--
+      Once quit the lowly meadows, sated,
+    And sought the hills, as it would seem:
+      In search of luck, by luck they met
+    Each other at a mountain stream.
+      As bridge a narrow plank was set,
+    On which, if truth must be confest,
+    Two weasels scarce could go abreast.
+    And then the torrent, foaming white,
+    As down it tumbled from the height,
+    Might well those Amazons affright.
+    But maugre such a fearful rapid,
+    Both took the bridge, the goats intrepid!
+      I seem to see our Louis Grand
+        And Philip IV. advance
+        To the Isle of Conference,
+        That lies 'twixt Spain and France,
+      Each sturdy for his glorious land.
+      Thus each of our adventurers goes,
+      Till foot to foot, and nose to nose,
+      Somewhere about the midst they meet,
+      And neither will an inch retreat.
+    For why? they both enjoy'd the glory
+    Of ancestors in ancient story.
+      The one, a goat of peerless rank,
+      Which, browsing on Sicilian bank,
+      The Cyclop gave to Galataea;
+      The other famous Amalthaea,
+      The goat that suckled Jupiter,
+      As some historians aver.
+      For want of giving back, in troth,
+      A common fall involved them both.--
+      A common accident, no doubt,
+      On Fortune's changeful route.
+
+[Illustration: THE TWO GOATS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Old Cat and the Young Mouse.
+
+
+    A young and inexperienced mouse
+        Had faith to try a veteran cat,--
+      Raminagrobis, death to rat,
+    And scourge of vermin through the house,--
+    Appealing to his clemency
+      With reasons sound and fair.
+    "Pray let me live; a mouse like me
+      It were not much to spare.
+    Am I, in such a family,
+    A burden? Would my largest wish
+    Our wealthy host impoverish?
+    A grain of wheat will make my meal;
+    A nut will fat me like a seal.
+    I'm lean at present; please to wait,
+    And for your heirs reserve my fate."
+      The captive mouse thus spake.
+    Replied the captor, "You mistake;
+    To me shall such a thing be said?
+    Address the deaf! address the dead!
+    A cat to pardon!--old one too!
+    Why, such a thing I never knew.
+      Thou victim of my paw,
+      By well-establish'd law,
+      Die as a mousling should,
+      And beg the sisterhood
+      Who ply the thread and shears,
+      To lend thy speech their ears.
+      Some other like repast
+      My heirs may find, or fast."
+
+      He ceased. The moral's plain.
+      _Youth always hopes its ends to gain,_
+      _Believes all spirits like its own:_
+      _Old age is not to mercy prone._
+
+[Illustration: THE OLD CAT AND THE YOUNG MOUSE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Sick Stag
+
+
+      A stag, where stags abounded,
+          Fell sick and was surrounded
+      Forthwith by comrades kind,
+        All pressing to assist,
+        Or see, their friend, at least,
+      And ease his anxious mind--
+        An irksome multitude.
+    "Ah, sirs!" the sick was fain to cry,
+    "Pray leave me here to die,
+        As others do, in solitude.
+    Pray, let your kind attentions cease,
+    Till death my spirit shall release."
+    But comforters are not so sent:
+    On duty sad full long intent,
+    When Heaven pleased, they went:
+    But not without a friendly glass;
+    That is to say, they cropp'd the grass
+    And leaves which in that quarter grew,
+    From which the sick his pittance drew.
+    By kindness thus compell'd to fast,
+    He died for want of food at last.
+
+      _The men take off no trifling dole_
+      _Who heal the body, or the soul._
+      _Alas the times! do what we will,_
+      _They have their payment, cure or kill._
+
+[Illustration: THE SICK STAG.]
+
+
+
+
+The Quarrel of the Dogs and Cats.
+
+
+        In mansion deck'd with frieze and column,
+            Dwelt dogs and cats in multitudes;
+        Decrees, promulged in manner solemn,
+          Had pacified their ancient feuds.
+    Their lord had so arranged their meals and labours,
+        And threaten'd quarrels with the whip,
+        That, living in sweet cousinship,
+      They edified their wondering neighbours.
+        At last, some dainty plate to lick,
+        Or profitable bone to pick,
+        Bestow'd by some partiality,
+        Broke up the smooth equality.
+        The side neglected were indignant
+        At such a slight malignant.
+        From words to blows the altercation
+        Soon grew a perfect conflagration.
+      In hall and kitchen, dog and cat
+        Took sides with zeal for this or that.
+        New rules upon the cat side falling
+        Produced tremendous caterwauling.
+      Their advocate, against such rules as these,
+      Advised recurrence to the old decrees.
+    They search'd in vain, for, hidden in a nook,
+    The thievish mice had eaten up the book.
+        Another quarrel, in a trice,
+        Made many sufferers with the mice;
+        For many a veteran whisker'd-face,
+      With craft and cunning richly stored,
+        And grudges old against the race,
+      Now watch'd to put them to the sword;
+      Nor mourn'd for this that mansion's lord.
+
+      _Look wheresoever we will, we see_
+      _No creature from opponents free._
+      _'Tis nature's law for earth and sky;_
+      _'Twere vain to ask the reason why:_
+    _God's works are good,--I cannot doubt it,--_
+    _And that is all I know about it._
+
+[Illustration: THE QUARREL OF THE DOGS AND CATS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wolf and the Fox.
+
+
+      "Dear wolf," complain'd a hungry fox,
+            "A lean chick's meat, or veteran cock's,
+      Is all I get by toil or trick:
+      Of such a living I am sick.
+      With far less risk, you've better cheer;
+      A house you need not venture near,
+      But I must do it, spite of fear.
+      Pray, make me master of your trade.
+      And let me by that means be made
+      The first of all my race that took
+      Fat mutton to his larder's hook:
+      Your kindness shall not be repented."
+      The wolf quite readily consented.
+      "I have a brother, lately dead:
+      Go fit his skin to yours," he said.
+    'Twas done; and then the wolf proceeded:
+      "Now mark you well what must be done,
+      The dogs that guard the flock to shun."
+    The fox the lessons strictly heeded.
+      At first he boggled in his dress;
+      But awkwardness grew less and less,
+      Till perseverance gave success.
+      His education scarce complete,
+      A flock, his scholarship to greet,
+        Came rambling out that way.
+      The new-made wolf his work began,
+      Amidst the heedless nibblers ran,
+        And spread a sore dismay.
+      The bleating host now surely thought
+      That fifty wolves were on the spot:
+        Dog, shepherd, sheep, all homeward fled,
+      And left a single sheep in pawn,
+      Which Renard seized when they were gone.
+        But, ere upon his prize he fed,
+      There crow'd a cock near by, and down
+      The scholar threw his prey and gown,
+    That he might run that way the faster--
+    Forgetting lessons, prize and master.
+
+        _Reality, in every station,_
+        _Will burst out on the first occasion._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOLF AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lobster and her Daughter.
+
+
+      The wise, sometimes, as lobsters do,
+      To gain their ends back foremost go.
+      It is the rower's art; and those
+      Commanders who mislead their foes,
+      Do often seem to aim their sight
+      Just where they don't intend to smite.
+      My theme, so low, may yet apply
+      To one whose fame is very high,
+        Who finds it not the hardest matter
+        A hundred-headed league to scatter.
+      What he will do, what leave undone,
+        Are secrets with unbroken seals,
+        Till victory the truth reveals.
+      Whatever he would have unknown
+      Is sought in vain. Decrees of Fate
+    Forbid to check, at first, the course
+    Which sweeps at last the torrent force.
+      One Jove, as ancient fables state,
+      Exceeds a hundred gods in weight.
+      So Fate and Louis would seem able
+        The universe to draw,
+        Bound captive to their law.--
+      But come we to our fable.
+    A mother lobster did her daughter chide:
+    "For shame, my daughter! can't you go ahead?"
+      "And how go you yourself?" the child replied;
+    "Can I be but by your example led?
+      Head foremost should I, singularly, wend,
+      While all my race pursue the other end."
+    She spoke with sense: for better or for worse,
+      Example has a universal force.
+        To some it opens wisdom's door,
+        But leads to folly many more.
+        Yet, as for backing to one's aim,
+          When properly pursued
+          The art is doubtless good,
+        At least in grim Bellona's game.
+
+[Illustration: THE LOBSTER AND HER DAUGHTER.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ploughman and his Sons.
+
+    _The farmer's patient care and toil
+    Are oftener wanting than the soil._
+
+
+      A wealthy ploughman drawing near his end,
+      Call'd in his sons apart from every friend,
+      And said, "When of your sire bereft,
+      The heritage our fathers left
+      Guard well, nor sell a single field.
+      A treasure in it is conceal'd:
+      The place, precisely, I don't know,
+      But industry will serve to show.
+      The harvest past, Time's forelock take,
+      And search with plough, and spade, and rake;
+      Turn over every inch of sod,
+      Nor leave unsearch'd a single clod."
+    The father died. The sons--and not in vain--
+      Turn'd o'er the soil, and o'er again;
+      That year their acres bore
+      More grain than e'er before.
+      Though hidden money found they none,
+      Yet had their father wisely done,
+        To show by such a measure,
+        That toil itself is treasure.
+
+[Illustration: THE PLOUGHMAN AND HIS SONS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin.
+
+
+        Clad in a lion's shaggy hide,
+        An ass spread terror far and wide,
+      And, though himself a coward brute,
+      Put all the world to scampering rout:
+        But, by a piece of evil luck,
+        A portion of an ear outstuck,
+        Which soon reveal'd the error
+        Of all the panic terror.
+      Old Martin did his office quick.
+    Surprised were all who did not know the trick,
+        To see that Martin, at his will,
+        Was driving lions to the mill!
+
+    _In France, the men are not a few_
+    _Of whom this fable proves too true;_
+    _Whose valour chiefly doth reside_
+    _In coat they wear and horse they ride._
+
+[Illustration: THE ASS DRESSED IN THE LION'S SKIN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Woods and the Woodman.
+
+
+    A certain wood-chopper lost or broke
+       From his axe's eye a bit of oak.
+    The forest must needs be somewhat spared
+    While such a loss was being repair'd.
+    Came the man at last, and humbly pray'd
+       That the woods would kindly lend to him--
+       A moderate loan--a single limb,
+    Whereof might another helve be made,
+    And his axe should elsewhere drive its trade.
+    O, the oaks and firs that then might stand,
+    A pride and a joy throughout the land,
+    For their ancientness and glorious charms!
+    The innocent Forest lent him arms;
+    But bitter indeed was her regret;
+    For the wretch, his axe new-helved and whet,
+    Did nought but his benefactress spoil
+    Of the finest trees that graced her soil;
+    And ceaselessly was she made to groan,
+    Doing penance for that fatal loan.
+
+    _Behold the world-stage and its actors,_
+    _Where benefits hurt benefactors!--_
+       _A weary theme, and full of pain;_
+    _For where's the shade so cool and sweet,_
+    _Protecting strangers from the heat,_
+       _But might of such a wrong complain?_
+          _Alas! I vex myself in vain;_
+          _Ingratitude, do what I will,_
+          _Is sure to be the fashion still._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOODS AND THE WOODMAN.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox, the Wolf, and the horse.
+
+
+    A fox, though young, by no means raw,
+          Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw:
+    "Ho! neighbour wolf," said he to one quite green,
+    "A creature in our meadow I have seen,--
+          Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet,--
+          The finest beast I ever met."
+          "Is he a stouter one than we?"
+          The wolf demanded, eagerly;
+          "Some picture of him let me see."
+    "If I could paint," said fox, "I should delight
+    T' anticipate your pleasure at the sight;
+    But come; who knows? perhaps it is a prey
+         By fortune offer'd in our way."
+       They went. The horse, turn'd loose to graze,
+       Not liking much their looks and ways,
+          Was just about to gallop off.
+    "Sir," said the fox, "your humble servants, we
+    Make bold to ask you what your name may be."
+       The horse, an animal with brains enough,
+    Replied, "Sirs, you yourselves may read my name;
+    My shoer round my heel hath writ the same."
+    The fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge:
+       "Me, sir, my parents did not educate,--
+       So poor, a hole was their entire estate.
+    My friend, the wolf, however, taught at college,
+          Could read it were it even Greek."
+             The wolf, to flattery weak,
+          Approach'd to verify the boast;
+          For which four teeth he lost.
+    The high raised hoof came down with such a blow,
+    As laid him bleeding on the ground full low.
+    "My brother," said the fox, "this shows how just
+       What once was taught me by a fox of wit,--
+       Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ,--
+    'All unknown things the wise mistrust.'"
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX THE WOLF AND THE HORSE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Fox and the Turkeys.
+
+
+       Against a robber fox, a tree
+           Some turkeys served as citadel.
+       That villain, much provoked to see
+           Each standing there as sentinel,
+              Cried out, "Such witless birds
+    At me stretch out their necks, and gobble!
+    No, by the powers! I'll give them trouble."
+               He verified his words.
+       The moon, that shined full on the oak,
+       Seem'd then to help the turkey folk.
+       But fox, in arts of siege well versed,
+       Ransack'd his bag of tricks accursed.
+       He feign'd himself about to climb;
+       Walk'd on his hinder legs sublime;
+    Then death most aptly counterfeited,
+    And seem'd anon resuscitated.
+       A practiser of wizard arts
+       Could not have fill'd so many parts.
+       In moonlight he contrived to raise
+       His tail, and make it seem a blaze:
+       And countless other tricks like that.
+       Meanwhile, no turkey slept or sat.
+       Their constant vigilance at length,
+       As hoped the fox, wore out their strength.
+       Bewilder'd by the rigs he run,
+       They lost their balance one by one.
+       As Renard slew, he laid aside,
+       Till nearly half of them had died;
+       Then proudly to his larder bore,
+       And laid them up, an ample store.
+
+             _A foe, by being over-heeded,_
+             _Has often in his plan succeeded._
+
+[Illustration: THE FOX AND THE TURKEYS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Wallet.
+
+
+    From heaven, one day, did Jupiter proclaim,
+        "Let all that live before my throne appear,
+    And there if any one hath aught to blame,
+    In matter, form, or texture of his frame,
+      He may bring forth his grievance without fear.
+    Redress shall instantly be given to each.
+    Come, monkey, now, first let us have your speech.
+        You see these quadrupeds, your brothers;
+        Comparing, then, yourself with others,
+      Are you well satisfied?" "And wherefore not?"
+    Says Jock. "Haven't I four trotters with the rest?
+    Is not my visage comely as the best?
+      But this my brother Bruin, is a blot
+        On thy creation fair;
+      And sooner than be painted I'd be shot,
+        Were I, great sire, a bear."
+    The bear approaching, doth he make complaint?
+    Not he;--himself he lauds without restraint.
+      The elephant he needs must criticise;
+      To crop his ears and stretch his tail were wise;
+      A creature he of huge, misshapen size.
+    The elephant, though famed as beast judicious,
+    While on his own account he had no wishes,
+    Pronounced dame whale too big to suit his taste;
+    Of flesh and fat she was a perfect waste.
+    The little ant, again, pronounced the gnat too wee;
+    To such a speck, a vast colossus she.
+    Each censured by the rest, himself content,
+    Back to their homes all living things were sent.
+
+      _Such folly liveth yet with human fools._
+      _For others lynxes, for ourselves but moles._
+      _Great blemishes in other men we spy,_
+      _Which in ourselves we pass most kindly by._
+      _As in this world we're but way-farers,_
+      _Kind Heaven has made us wallet-bearers._
+      _The pouch behind our own defects must store,_
+      _The faults of others lodge in that before._
+
+[Illustration: THE WALLET.]
+
+
+
+
+The Woodman and Mercury.
+
+
+    A man that labour'd in the wood
+          Had lost his honest livelihood;
+              That is to say,
+      His axe was gone astray.
+      He had no tools to spare;
+      This wholly earn'd his fare.
+      Without a hope beside,
+      He sat him down and cried,
+    "Alas, my axe! where can it be?
+    O Jove! but send it back to me,
+    And it shall strike good blows for thee."
+    His prayer in high Olympus heard,
+    Swift Mercury started at the word.
+    "Your axe must not be lost," said he:
+    "Now, will you know it when you see?
+    An axe I found upon the road."
+    With that an axe of gold he show'd.
+    "Is't this?" The woodman answer'd, "Nay."
+    An axe of silver, bright and gay,
+    Refused the honest woodman too.
+    At last the finder brought to view
+    An axe of iron, steel, and wood.
+    "That's mine," he said, in joyful mood;
+    "With that I'll quite contented be."
+    The god replied, "I give the three,
+    As due reward of honesty."
+    This luck when neighbouring choppers knew,
+    They lost their axes, not a few,
+    And sent their prayers to Jupiter
+    So fast, he knew not which to hear.
+    His winged son, however, sent
+    With gold and silver axes, went.
+    Each would have thought himself a fool
+    Not to have own'd the richest tool.
+    But Mercury promptly gave, instead
+    Of it, a blow upon the head.
+
+        _With simple truth to be contented,_
+        _Is surest not to be repented;_
+        _But still there are who would_
+        _With evil trap the good,--_
+        _Whose cunning is but stupid,_
+        _For Jove is never duped._
+
+[Illustration: THE WOODMAN AND MERCURY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion and the Monkey.
+
+
+      The lion, for his kingdom's sake,
+          In morals would some lessons take,
+      And therefore call'd, one summer's day,
+      The monkey, master of the arts,
+      An animal of brilliant parts,
+        To hear what he could say.
+      "Great king," the monkey thus began,
+      "To reign upon the wisest plan
+      Requires a prince to set his zeal,
+      And passion for the public weal,
+      Distinctly and quite high above
+      A certain feeling call'd self-love,
+          The parent of all vices,
+          In creatures of all sizes.
+    To will this feeling from one's breast away,
+    Is not the easy labour of a day;
+      By that your majesty august,
+      Will execute your royal trust,
+      From folly free and aught unjust."
+          "Give me," replied the king,
+          "Example of each thing."
+          "Each species," said the sage,--
+            "And I begin with ours,--
+        Exalts its own peculiar powers
+          Above sound reason's gauge.
+      Meanwhile, all other kinds and tribes
+      As fools and blockheads it describes,
+        With other compliments as cheap.
+      But, on the other hand, the same
+        Self-love inspires a beast to heap
+      The highest pyramid of fame
+      For every one that bears his name;
+      Because he justly deems such praise
+      The easiest way himself to raise.
+      'Tis my conclusion in the case,
+        That many a talent here below
+      Is but cabal, or sheer grimace,--
+        The art of seeming things to know--
+      An art in which perfection lies
+      More with the ignorant than wise."
+
+[Illustration: THE LION AND THE MONKEY]
+
+
+
+
+The Shepherd and the Lion.
+
+
+    The Fable AEsop tells is nearly this:--
+        A shepherd from his flock began to miss,
+    And long'd to catch the stealer of, his sheep.
+        Before a cavern, dark and deep,
+        Where wolves retired by day to sleep,
+        Which he suspected as the thieves,
+        He set his trap among the leaves;
+        And, ere he left the place,
+        He thus invoked celestial grace:--
+        "O king of all the powers divine,
+    Against the rogue but grant me this delight,
+    That this my trap may catch him in my sight,
+      And I, from twenty calves of mine,
+        Will make the fattest thine."
+      But while the words were on his tongue,
+      Forth came a lion great and strong.
+      Down crouch'd the man of sheep, and said,
+        With shivering fright half dead,
+    "Alas! that man should never be aware
+    Of what may be the meaning of his prayer!
+        To catch the robber of my flocks,
+      O king of gods, I pledged a calf to thee:
+      If from his clutches thou wilt rescue me,
+        I'll raise my offering to an ox."
+
+[Illustration: THE SHEPHERD AND THE LION.]
+
+
+
+
+The Horse and the Wolf.
+
+
+        A wolf who, fall'n on needy days,
+              In sharp look-out for means and ways,
+        Espied a horse turn'd out to graze.
+        His joy the reader may opine.
+        "Once got," said he, "this game were fine;
+        But if a sheep, 'twere sooner mine.
+        I can't proceed my usual way;
+        Some trick must now be put in play."
+              This said,
+        He came with measured tread,
+        And told the horse, with learned verbs,
+        He knew the power of roots and herbs,--
+        Whatever grew about those borders,--
+        He soon could cure of all disorders.
+        If he, Sir Horse, would not conceal
+          The symptoms of his case,
+        He, Doctor Wolf, would gratis heal;
+        For that to feed in such a place,
+          And run about untied,
+        Was proof itself of some disease,
+          As all the books decide.
+        "I have, good Doctor, if you please,"
+        Replied the horse, "as I presume,
+        Beneath my foot, an aposthume."
+        "My son," replied the learned leech,
+        "That part, as all our authors teach,
+        Is strikingly susceptible
+        Of ills which make acceptable
+        What you may also have from me--
+        The aid of skilful surgery."
+        The fellow, with this talk sublime,
+        Watch'd for a snap the fitting time.
+        Meanwhile, suspicious of some trick,
+          The weary patient nearer draws,
+        And gives his doctor such a kick,
+          As makes a chowder of his jaws.
+        Exclaim'd the Wolf, in sorry plight,
+          "I own those heels have served me right.
+    I err'd to quit my trade, as I will not in future;
+    Me Nature surely made for nothing but a butcher."
+
+[Illustration: THE HORSE AND THE WOLF.]
+
+
+
+
+The Eagle and the Owl.
+
+
+    The eagle and the owl, resolved to cease
+        Their war, embraced in pledge of peace.
+    On faith of king, on faith of owl, they swore
+    That they would eat each other's chicks no more.
+      "But know you mine?" said Wisdom's bird.
+        "Not I, indeed," the eagle cried.
+        "The worse for that," the owl replied:
+      "I fear your oath's a useless word;
+        I fear that you, as king, will not
+        Consider duly who or what:
+      Adieu, my young, if you should meet them!"
+      "Describe them, then, and I'll not eat them,"
+      The eagle said. The owl replied:
+      "My little ones, I say with pride,
+      For grace of form cannot be match'd,--
+      The prettiest birds that e'er were hatch'd;
+      By this you cannot fail to know them;
+      'Tis needless, therefore, that I show them."
+      At length God gives the owl a set of heirs,
+      And while at early eve abroad he fares,
+        In quest of birds and mice for food,
+        Our eagle haply spies the brood,
+        As on some craggy rock they sprawl,
+        Or nestle in some ruined wall,
+        (But which it matters not at all,)
+        And thinks them ugly little frights,
+        Grim, sad, with voice like shrieking sprites.
+    "These chicks," says he, "with looks almost infernal,
+    Can't be the darlings of our friend nocturnal.
+    I'll sup of them." And so he did, not slightly:--
+    He never sups, if he can help it, lightly.
+        The owl return'd; and, sad, he found
+        Nought left but claws upon the ground.
+    He pray'd the gods above and gods below
+    To smite the brigand who had caused his woe.
+    Quoth one, "On you alone the blame must fall;
+    Thinking your like the loveliest of all
+    You told the eagle of your young ones' graces;
+        You gave the picture of their faces:--
+        Had it of likeness any traces?"
+
+[Illustration: THE EAGLE AND THE OWL.]
+
+
+
+
+The Miser and the Monkey.
+
+
+      A Man amass'd. The thing, we know,
+          Doth often to a frenzy grow.
+    No thought had he but of his minted gold--
+    Stuff void of worth when unemploy'd, I hold.
+    Now, that this treasure might the safer be,
+        Our miser's dwelling had the sea
+    As guard on every side from every thief.
+    With pleasure, very small in my belief,
+      But very great in his, he there
+      Upon his hoard bestow'd his care.
+        No respite came of everlasting
+        Recounting, calculating, casting;
+      For some mistake would always come
+      To mar and spoil the total sum.
+      A monkey there, of goodly size,--
+      And than his lord, I think, more wise,--
+      Some doubloons from the window threw,
+      And render'd thus the count untrue.
+        The padlock'd room permitted
+        Its owner, when he quitted,
+      To leave his money on the table.
+        One day, bethought this monkey wise
+        To make the whole a sacrifice
+      To Neptune on his throne unstable.
+        I could not well award the prize
+    Between the monkey's and the miser's pleasure
+      Derived from that devoted treasure.
+        One day, then, left alone,
+      That animal, to mischief prone,
+        Coin after coin detach'd,
+        A gold jacobus snatch'd,
+        Or Portuguese doubloon,
+          Or silver ducatoon,
+        Or noble, of the English rose,
+        And flung with all his might
+        Those discs, which oft excite
+    The strongest wishes mortal ever knows.
+        Had he not heard, at last,
+      The turning of his master's key,
+        The money all had pass'd
+      The same short road to sea;
+    And not a single coin but had been pitch'd
+    Into the gulf by many a wreck enrich'd.
+
+    _Now, God preserve full many a financier_
+    _Whose use of wealth may find its likeness here!_
+
+[Illustration: THE MISER AND THE MONKEY.]
+
+
+
+
+The Vultures and the Pigeons.
+
+
+    Mars once made havoc in the air:
+        Some cause aroused a quarrel there
+    Among the birds;--not those that sing,
+    The courtiers of the merry Spring,
+    But naughty hawk and vulture folks,
+    Of hooked beak and talons keen.
+      The carcass of a dog, 'tis said,
+      Had to this civil carnage led.
+    Blood rain'd upon the swarded green,
+    And valiant deeds were done, I ween.
+    Suffice to say, that chiefs were slain,
+    And heroes strow'd the sanguine plain.
+    'Twas sport to see the battle rage,
+    And valiant hawk with hawk engage;
+    'Twas pitiful to see them fall,--
+    Torn, bleeding, weltering, gasping, all.
+    Force, courage, cunning, all were plied;
+    Intrepid troops on either side
+    No effort spared to populate
+    The dusky realms of hungry Fate.
+    This woful strife awoke compassion
+    Within another feather'd nation,
+      Of iris neck and tender heart.
+    They tried their hand at mediation--
+      To reconcile the foes, or part.
+    The pigeon people duly chose
+      Ambassadors, who work'd so well
+      As soon the murderous rage to quell,
+    And stanch the source of countless woes.
+    A truce took place, and peace ensued.
+      Alas! the people dearly paid
+      Who such pacification made!
+    Those cursed hawks at once pursued
+    The harmless pigeons, slew and ate,
+    Till towns and fields were desolate.
+
+      _The safety of the rest requires_
+    _The bad should flesh each other's spears:_
+      _Whoever peace with them desires_
+    _Had better set them by the ears._
+
+[Illustration: THE VULTURES AND THE PIGEONS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Stag and the Vine.
+
+
+    A stag, by favour of a vine,
+        Which grew where suns most genial shine,
+    And form'd a thick and matted bower
+    Which might have turn'd a summer shower,
+    Was saved from ruinous assault.
+    The hunters thought their dogs at fault,
+    And call'd them off. In danger now no more
+      The stag, a thankless wretch and vile,
+    Began to browse his benefactress o'er.
+      The hunters, listening the while,
+        The rustling heard, came back,
+        With all their yelping pack,
+      And seized him in that very place.
+      "This is," said he, "but justice, in my case.
+        Let every black ingrate
+        Henceforward profit by my fate."
+      The dogs fell to--'twere wasting breath
+      To pray those hunters at the death.
+      They left, and we will not revile 'em
+      A warning for profaners of asylum.
+
+[Illustration: THE STAG AND THE VINE.]
+
+
+
+
+The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot.
+
+
+    An iron pot proposed
+        To an earthen pot a journey.
+    The latter was opposed,
+      Expressing the concern he
+    Had felt about the danger
+    Of going out a ranger.
+    He thought the kitchen hearth
+    The safest place on earth
+    For one so very brittle.
+    "For thee, who art a kettle,
+    And hast a tougher skin,
+    There's nought to keep thee in."
+    "I'll be thy body-guard,"
+      Replied the iron pot;
+    "If anything that's hard
+      Should threaten thee a jot,
+    Between you I will go,
+    And save thee from the blow."
+      This offer him persuaded.
+      The iron pot paraded
+      Himself as guard and guide
+      Close at his cousin's side.
+      Now, in their tripod way,
+      They hobble as they may;
+      And eke together bolt
+      At every little jolt,--
+      Which gives the crockery pain;
+        But presently his comrade hits
+        So hard, he dashes him to bits,
+      Before he can complain.
+
+    _Take care that you associate_
+    _With equals only, lest your fate_
+    _Between these pots should find its mate._
+
+[Illustration: THE EARTHEN POT AND THE IRON POT.]
+
+
+
+
+The Bear and the Two Companions.
+
+
+      Two fellows, needing funds, and bold,
+          A bearskin to a furrier sold,
+      Of which the bear was living still,
+      But which they presently would kill--
+        At least they said they would,
+        And vow'd their word was good.
+        The bargain struck upon the skin,
+        Two days at most must bring it in.
+    Forth went the two. More easy found than got,
+      The bear came growling at them on the trot.
+      Behold our dealers both confounded,
+      As if by thunderbolt astounded!
+    Their bargain vanish'd suddenly in air;
+    For who could plead his interest with a bear?
+      One of the friends sprung up a tree;
+      The other, cold as ice could be,
+        Fell on his face, feign'd death,
+        And closely held his breath,--
+      He having somewhere heard it said
+      The bear ne'er preys upon the dead.
+      Sir Bear, sad blockhead, was deceived--
+      The prostrate man a corpse believed;
+      But, half suspecting some deceit,
+      He feels and snuffs from head to feet,
+        And in the nostrils blows.
+      The body's surely dead, he thinks.
+      "I'll leave it," says he, "for it stinks;"
+        And off into the woods he goes.
+      The other dealer, from his tree
+      Descending cautiously, to see
+      His comrade lying in the dirt,
+        Consoling, says, "It is a wonder
+        That, by the monster forced asunder,
+      We're, after all, more scared than hurt.
+      But," addeth he, "what of the creature's skin?
+      He held his muzzle very near;
+      What did he whisper in your ear?"
+      "He gave this caution,--'Never dare
+      Again to sell the skin of bear
+      Its owner has not ceased to wear.'"
+
+[Illustration: THE BEAR AND THE TWO COMPANIONS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox
+
+
+      A Lion, old, and impotent with gout,
+          Would have some cure for age found out.
+      This king, from every species,--
+      Call'd to his aid the leeches.
+      They came, from quacks without degree
+      To doctors of the highest fee.
+      Advised, prescribed, talk'd learnedly;
+          But with the rest
+      Came not Sir Cunning Fox, M.D.
+      Sir Wolf the royal couch attended,
+        And his suspicions there express'd.
+      Forthwith his majesty, offended,
+      Resolved Sir Cunning Fox should come,
+      And sent to smoke him from his home.
+      He came, was duly usher'd in,
+      And, knowing where Sir Wolf had been,
+        Said, "Sire, abused your royal ear
+        Has been by rumours insincere;
+      To wit, that I've been self-exempt
+      From coming here, through sheer contempt.
+      But, sire, your royal health to aid,
+      I vow'd to make a pilgrimage,
+      And, on my way, met doctors sage,
+      In skill the wonder of the age,
+        Whom carefully I did consult
+        About that great debility
+        Term'd in the books senility,
+    Of which you fear, with reason, the result.
+      You lack, they say, the vital heat,
+      By age extreme become effete.
+      Drawn from a living wolf, the hide
+      Should warm and smoking be applied.
+      Sir Wolf, here, won't refuse to give
+      His hide to cure you, as I live."
+      The king was pleased with this advice.
+      Flay'd, jointed, served up in a trice,
+      Sir Wolf first wrapped the monarch up,
+      Then furnish'd him whereon to sup.
+
+      _Beware, ye courtiers, lest ye gain,_
+      _By slander's arts, less power than pain._
+
+[Illustration: THE LION THE WOLF AND THE FOX.]
+
+
+
+
+The Battle of the Rats and Weasels.
+
+
+    The weasels live, no more than cats,
+    On terms of friendship with the rats;
+      And, were it not that these
+      Through doors contrive to squeeze
+          Too narrow for their foes,
+        The animals long-snouted
+        Would long ago have routed,
+        And from the planet scouted
+          Their race, as I suppose.
+
+    One year it did betide,
+    When they were multiplied,
+    An army took the field
+    Of rats, with spear and shield,
+    Whose crowded ranks led on
+    A king named Ratapon.
+      The weasels, too, their banner
+      Unfurl'd in warlike manner.
+    As Fame her trumpet sounds,
+      The victory balanced well;
+    Enrich'd were fallow grounds
+      Where slaughter'd legions fell;
+    But by said trollop's tattle,
+    The loss of life in battle
+    Thinn'd most the rattish race
+    In almost every place;
+
+      And finally their rout
+      Was total, spite of stout
+      Artarpax and Psicarpax,
+    And valiant Meridarpax,
+    Who, cover'd o'er with dust,
+    Long time sustain'd their host
+    Down sinking on the plain.
+    Their efforts were in vain;
+    Fate ruled that final hour,
+    (Inexorable power!)
+    And so the captains fled
+    As well as those they led;
+    The princes perish'd all.
+    The undistinguish'd small
+    In certain holes found shelter;
+    In crowding, helter-skelter;
+    But the nobility
+    Could not go in so free,
+    Who proudly had assumed
+    Each one a helmet plumed;
+    We know not, truly, whether
+    For honour's sake the feather,
+    Or foes to strike with terror;
+    But, truly, 'twas their error.
+    Nor hole, nor crack, nor crevice
+      Will let their head-gear in;
+    While meaner rats in bevies
+      An easy passage win;--
+    So that the shafts of fate
+    Do chiefly hit the great.
+
+    _A feather in the cap_
+    _Is oft a great mishap._
+    _An equipage too grand_
+    _Comes often to a stand_
+    _Within a narrow place._
+    _The small, whate'er the case,_
+    _With ease slip through a strait,_
+    _Where larger folks must wait._
+
+[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF THE RATS AND THE WEASELS.]
+
+
+
+
+The Animals Sick of the Plague.
+
+
+      The sorest ill that Heaven hath
+          Sent on this lower world in wrath,--
+      The plague (to call it by its name,)
+          One single day of which
+        Would Pluto's ferryman enrich,--
+      Waged war on beasts, both wild and tame.
+      They died not all, but all were sick:
+      No hunting now, by force or trick,
+      To save what might so soon expire.
+      No food excited their desire;
+      Nor wolf nor fox now watch'd to slay
+      The innocent and tender prey.
+              The turtles fled;
+      So love and therefore joy were dead.
+      The lion council held, and said:
+      "My friends, I do believe
+      This awful scourge, for which we grieve,
+      Is for our sins a punishment
+      Most righteously by Heaven sent.
+      Let us our guiltiest beast resign,
+      A sacrifice to wrath divine.
+      Perhaps this offering, truly small,
+      May gain the life and health of all.
+      By history we find it noted
+      That lives have been just so devoted.
+      Then let us all turn eyes within,
+      And ferret out the hidden sin.
+      Himself let no one spare nor flatter,
+      But make clean conscience in the matter.
+    For me, my appetite has play'd the glutton
+      Too much and often upon mutton.
+      What harm had e'er my victims done?
+          I answer, truly, None.
+      Perhaps, sometimes, by hunger press'd,
+      I've eat the shepherd with the rest.
+      I yield myself, if need there be;
+      And yet I think, in equity,
+    Each should confess his sins with me;
+      For laws of right and justice cry,
+      The guiltiest alone should die."
+        "Sire," said the fox, "your majesty
+      Is humbler than a king should be,
+
+[Illustration: THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE.]
+
+    And over-squeamish in the case.
+      What! eating stupid sheep a crime?
+      No, never, sire, at any time.
+    It rather was an act of grace,
+    A mark of honour to their race.
+    And as to shepherds, one may swear,
+      The fate your majesty describes,
+    Is recompense less full than fair
+      For such usurpers o'er our tribes."
+
+      Thus Renard glibly spoke,
+    And loud applause from flatterers broke.
+    Of neither tiger, boar, nor bear,
+    Did any keen inquirer dare
+    To ask for crimes of high degree;
+      The fighters, biters, scratchers, all
+    From every mortal sin were free;
+      The very dogs, both great and small,
+    Were saints, as far as dogs could be.
+
+      The ass, confessing in his turn,
+    Thus spoke in tones of deep concern:--
+    "I happen'd through a mead to pass;
+    The monks, its owners, were at mass;
+    Keen hunger, leisure, tender grass,
+      And add to these the devil too,
+      All tempted me the deed to do.
+    I browsed the bigness of my tongue;
+    Since truth must out, I own it wrong."
+
+    On this, a hue and cry arose,
+    As if the beasts were all his foes:
+    A wolf, haranguing lawyer-wise.
+    Denounced the ass for sacrifice--
+    The bald-pate, scabby, ragged lout,
+    By whom the plague had come, no doubt.
+    His fault was judged a hanging crime.
+      "What? eat another's grass? O shame!
+    The noose of rope and death sublime,
+      For that offence, were all too tame!"
+      And soon poor Grizzle felt the same.
+
+    _Thus human courts acquit the strong,_
+    _And doom the weak, as therefore wrong._
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, by
+Jean de La Fontaine
+
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