by Aesop
FABLE LXVII.
THE FOX AND THE CROW.]
A Crow having taken a piece of cheese out of a cottage window, flew upinto a high tree with it, in order to eat it; which a Fox observing,came and sat underneath, and began to compliment the Crow upon thesubject of her beauty. 'I protest,' says he, 'I never observed itbefore, but your feathers are of a more delicate white than any thatever I saw in my life! Ah; what a fine shape and graceful turn of bodyis there! And I make no question but you have a tolerable voice. If itis but as fine as your complexion, I do not know a bird that can pretendto stand in competition with you.' The Crow, tickled with this verycivil language, nestled and riggled about, and hardly knew where shewas; but thinking the Fox a little dubious as to the particular of hervoice, and having a mind to set him right in that matter, began to sing,and in the same instant let the cheese drop out of her mouth. This beingwhat the Fox wanted, he chopped it up in a moment, and trotted away,laughing to himself at the easy credulity of the Crow.
APPLICATION.
They that love flattery (as it is to be feared too many do) are in afair way to repent of their foible in the long run. And yet how few arethere among the whole race of mankind who may be said to be full proofagainst its attacks! The gross way by which it is managed by some sillypractitioners, is enough to alarm the dullest apprehension, and make itto value itself upon the quickness of its insight into the little plotsof this nature: but let the ambuscade be disposed with due judgment, andit will scarce fail of seizing the most guarded heart. How many aretickled to the last degree with the pleasure of flattery, even whilethey are applauded for their honest detestation of it! There is no wayto baffle the force of this engine but by every one's examining,impartially for himself, the true estimate of his own qualities: if hedeals sincerely in the matter, nobody can tell so well as himself whatdegree of esteem ought to attend any of his actions, and therefore heshould be entirely easy as to the opinion men are like to have of themin the world. If they attribute more to him than is his due, they areeither designing or mistaken: if they allow him less, they are envious,or, possibly, still mistaken; and, in either case, are to be despised ordisregarded. For he that flatters, without designing to take advantageof it, is a fool; and whoever encourages that flattery which he hassense enough to see through, is a vain coxcomb.
FABLE LXVIII.
THE HAWK AND THE FARMER.]
A Hawk, pursuing a Pigeon over a corn-field with great eagerness andforce, threw himself into a net which a husbandman had planted there totake the Crows; who being employed not far off, and seeing the Hawkfluttering in the net, came and took him: but, just as he was going tokill him, the Hawk besought him to let him go, assuring him that he wasonly following a Pigeon, and neither intended nor had done any harm tohim. To whom the Farmer replied--'And what harm had the poor Pigeon doneto you?' Upon which he wrung his head off immediately.
APPLICATION.
Passion, prejudice, or power, may so far blind a man as not to sufferhim justly to distinguish whether he is not acting injuriously at thesame time that he fancies he is only doing his duty. Now the best wayof being convinced, whether what we do is reasonable and fit, is to putourselves in the place of the persons with whom we are concerned, andthen consult our conscience about the rectitude of our behaviour. Forthis we may be assured of, that we are acting wrong whenever we aredoing any thing to another which we should think unjust if it was doneto us. Nothing but an habitual inadvertency, as to this particular, canbe the occasion that so many ingenious noble spirits are often engagedin courses so opposite to virtue and honour. He that would startle, if alittle attorney should tamper with him to forswear himself, to bring offsome small offender, some ordinary trespasser, will, without scruple,infringe the constitution of his country for the precarious prospect ofa place or a pension. Which is most corrupt, he that lies, like a knightof the post, for half-a-crown and a dinner, or he that does it for themore substantial consideration of a thousand pounds a year? Which wouldbe doing most service to the public, giving true testimony in a causebetween two private men, and against one little common thief who hasstolen a gold watch; or voting honestly and courageously against a rogueof state, who has gagged and bound the laws, and stripped the nation?Let those who intend to act justly, but view things in this light, andall would be well. There would be no danger of their oppressing others,or fear of being oppressed themselves.
FABLE LXIX.
THE NURSE AND THE WOLF.]
A nurse, who was endeavouring to quiet a froward bawling child, amongother attempts, threatened to throw it out of doors to the Wolf, if itdid not leave off crying. A Wolf, who chanced to be prowling near thedoor, just at that time, heard the expression, and believing the womanto be in earnest, waited a long while about the house, in expectation ofseeing her words made good. But at last the child, wearied with its ownimportunities, fell asleep, and the poor Wolf was forced to return backto the woods empty and supperless. The Fox meeting him, and surprised tosee him going home so thin and disconsolate, asked him what the matterwas, and how he came to speed no better that night?--'Ah! do not askme,' says he; 'I was so silly as to believe what the Nurse said, andhave been disappointed.'
APPLICATION.
All the moralists have agreed to interpret this fable as a caution to usnever to trust a woman. What reasons they could have for giving so roughand uncourtly a precept, is not easy to be imagined: for, however fickleand unstable some women may be, it is well known there are several whohave a greater regard for truth, in what they assert or promise, thanmost men. There is not room, in so short a compass, to express a dueconcern for the honour of the ladies upon this occasion, nor to show howmuch one is disposed to vindicate them: and, though there is nothing badwhich can be said to them but may with equal justice be averred of theother sex, yet one would not venture to give them quite so absolute aprecaution as the old mythologists have affixed to this fable; but onlyto advise them to consider well and thoroughly of the matter before theytrust any man living.
FABLE LXX.
THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE.]
A Hare insulted a tortoise upon account of his slowness, and vainlyboasted of her own great speed in running.--'Let us make a match,'replied the Tortoise; 'I will run with you five miles for five pounds,and the Fox yonder shall be the umpire of the race.' The Hare agreed;and away they both started together. But the Hare, by reason of herexceeding swiftness, outran the Tortoise to such a degree, that she madea jest of the matter; and, finding herself a little tired, squatted in atuft of fern that grew by the way, and took a nap; thinking that, if theTortoise went by, she could at any time fetch him up with all the easeimaginable. In the meanwhile the Tortoise came jogging on with slow butcontinued motion; and the Hare, out of a too great security andconfidence of victory, oversleeping herself, the Tortoise arrived at theend of the race first.
APPLICATION.
Industry and application to business makes amends for the want of aquick and ready wit. Hence it is, that the victory is not always to thestrong, nor the race to the swift. Men of fine parts are apt to despisethe drudgery of business; but, by affecting to show the superiority oftheir genius, upon many occasions, they run into too great an extremethe other way; and the administration of their affairs is ruined throughidleness and neglect. What advantage has a man from the fertility of hisinvention, and the vivacity of his imagination, unless his resolutionsare executed with a suitable and uninterrupted rapidity? In short, yourmen of wit and fire, as they are called, are oftentimes sots, slovens,and lazy fellows: they are generally proud and conceited to the lastdegree; and, in the main, not the fittest persons for eitherconversation or business. Such is their vanity, they think thesprightliness of their humour inconsistent with a plain sober way ofthinking and speaking, and able to atone for all the little neglects oftheir business and persons. But the world will not be thus imposed upon;the man who would gain the esteem of others, and make his own fortune,must be one that carries his point effectually, and finishes his
coursewithout swerving or loitering. Men of dull parts, and a slowapprehension, assisted by a continued diligence, are more likely toattain this than your brisk retailers of wit, with their affected spleenand indolence. And if business be but well done, no matter whether it bedone by the sallies of a refined wit, or the considering head of a plainplodding man.
FABLE LXXI.
THE YOUNG MAN AND HIS CAT.]
A certain Young Man used to play with a Cat, of which he grew so fond,that at last he fell in love with it, and to such a degree, that hecould rest neither night nor day for the excess of his passion. At lasthe prayed to Venus, the goddess of beauty, to pity him, and relieve hispain. The good-natured goddess was propitious, and heard his prayers:before he rose up from kneeling, the Cat, which he held in his arms, wastransformed into a beautiful girl. The Youth was transported with joy,and married her that very day. At night they went to bed, and as the newbride lay encircled in the embraces of her amorous husband, sheunfortunately heard a Mouse behind the hangings, and sprung from hisarms to pursue it. Venus, offended to see her sacred rites profaned bysuch an indecent behaviour, and perceiving that her new convert, thougha woman in outward appearance, was a Cat in her heart, she made herreturn to her old form again, that her manners and person might beagreeable to each other.
APPLICATION.
People, as to their manners and behaviour, take a strong bias fromcustom and education, but a much stronger from Nature. Her laws are sostrong, that it is in vain for us to go to oppose them; we may refineand improve, but can never totally alter her works. Upon this account itis that we oftentimes see silly awkward blockheads displaying theiridiotism and folly through all their ensigns of dignity; for somenatures are so coarse and rustic, that all the embroidery of a courtcannot conceal them. Doubtless such people were intended by Nature fornothing above driving Hogs to a fair, and laughing at the jokes of acountry Merry Andrew. Fortune has found them worthy of her favours, andgiven them a lift out of the mire: but yet they do not fail to givefrequent indications of their true composition, by a thousand littledirty actions. A fine equipage, and a great estate, may raise a man toan exalted station, and procure a respect to his outward person;notwithstanding which it may so happen, that every time he speaks andacts he cannot help playing the fool for the blood of him.
FABLE LXXII.
THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN.]
An Ass finding the skin of a Lion, put it on; and, going into the woodsand pastures, threw all the flocks and herds into a terribleconsternation. At last, meeting his owner, he would have frightened himalso; but the good man, seeing his long ears slick out, presently knewhim, and with a good cudgel made him sensible that, notwithstanding hisbeing dressed in a Lion's Skin, he was really no more than an Ass.
APPLICATION.
As all affectation is wrong, and tends to expose and make a manridiculous, so the more distant he is from the thing which he affects toappear, the stronger will the ridicule be which he excites, and thegreater the inconveniences into which he runs himself thereby. Howstrangely absurd it is for a timorous person to procure a military postin order to keep himself out of danger! and to fancy a red coat thesurest protection for cowardice! yet there have been those who havepurchased a commission to avoid being insulted; and have been so sillyas to think courage was interwoven with a sash, or tied up in a cockade.But it would not be amiss for such gentlemen to consider, that it is notin the power of scarlet cloth to alter nature; and that, as it isexpected a soldier should show himself a man of courage and intrepidityupon all proper occasions, they may, by this means, meet the disgracethey intended to avoid, and appear greater asses than they need to havedone. However, it is not in point of fortitude only that people areliable to expose themselves, by assuming a character to which they arenot equal; but he who puts on a show of learning, of religion, of asuperior capacity in any respect, or, in short, of any virtue orknowledge to which he has no proper claim, is, and will always be foundto be, "An Ass in a Lion's Skin."
FABLE LXXIII.
THE MOUNTAINS IN LABOUR.]
The Mountains were said to be in labour, and uttered most dreadfulgroans. People came together far and near to see what birth would beproduced; and, after they wailed a considerable time in expectation, outcrept a Mouse.
APPLICATION.
Great cry and little wool is the English proverb; the sense of whichbears an exact proportion to this fable; by which are exposed all thosewho promise something exceeding great, but come off with a productionridiculously little. Projectors of all kinds, who endeavour byartificial rumours to raise the expectations of mankind, and then bytheir mean performances defeat and disappoint them, have, time out ofmind, been lashed with the recital of this fable. How agreeablysurprising is it to see an unpromising favourite, whom the caprice offortune has placed at the helm of state, serving the commonwealth withjustice and integrity, instead of smothering and embezzling the publictreasure to his own private and wicked ends! and, on the contrary, howmelancholy, how dreadful, or rather, how exasperating and provoking asight is it to behold one, whose constant declarations for liberty andthe public good have raised people's expectations of him to the highestpitch, as soon as he is got into power exerting his whole art andcunning to ruin and enslave his country! The sanguine hopes of all thosethat wished well to virtue, and flattered themselves with a reformationof every thing that opposed the well-being of the community, vanish awayin smoke, and are lost in a dark, gloomy, uncomfortable prospect.
FABLE LXXIV.
THE SATYR AND THE TRAVELLER.]
A Satyr, as he was ranging the forest in an exceeding cold snowy season,met with a Traveller, half-starved with the extremity of the weather. Hetook compassion on him, and kindly invited him home to a warmcomfortable cave he had in the hollow of a rock. As soon as they hadentered and sat down, notwithstanding there was a good fire in theplace, the chilly Traveller could not forbear blowing his fingers' ends.Upon the Satyr's asking him why he did so, he answered, that he did itto warm his hands. The honest sylvan having seen little of the world,admired a man who was master of so valuable a quality as that of blowingheat, and therefore was resolved to entertain him in the best manner hecould. He spread the table before him with dried fruits of severalsorts; and produced a remnant of cold cordial wine, which, as the rigourof the season made very proper, he mulled with some warm spices, infusedover the fire, and presented to his shivering guest. But this theTraveller thought fit to blow likewise; and, upon the Satyr's demandinga reason why he blowed again, he replied, to cool his dish. This secondanswer provoked the Satyr's indignation as much as the first had kindledhis surprise: so, taking the man by the shoulder, he thrust him out ofdoors, saying, he would have nothing to do with a wretch who had so vilea quality as to blow hot and cold with the same mouth.
APPLICATION.
Though the poor Traveller in the fable was not guilty of any real crimein what he did, yet one cannot help approving the honest simplicity ofthe Satyr, who could not be reconciled to such double dealing. In themoral sense of the fable, nothing can be more offensive to one of asincere heart, than he that blows with a different breath from the samemouth; who flatters a man to his face, and reviles him behind his back.Some again, just like this man, to serve a present view, will blownothing but what is warm, benevolent, and cherishing; and, when theyhave raised the expectations of a dependent to a degree which they thinkmay prove troublesome, can, with putting on a cold air, easily chill andblast all his blooming hopes. But such a temper, whether it proceedsfrom a designed or natural levity, is detestable, and has been the causeof much trouble and mortification to many a brave deserving man. Unlessthe tenor of a man's life be always true and consistent with itself, theless one has to do with him the better.
FABLE LXXV.
THE SICK KITE.]
A Kite had been sick a long time, and finding there were no hopes ofrecovery, begged of his mother to go to all the churches and religioushouses in the country, to try what prayers and promises would eff
ect inhis behalf. The old Kite replied--'Indeed, dear son, I would willinglyundertake any thing to save your life, but I have great reason todespair of doing you any service in the way you propose: for, with whatface can I ask any thing of the gods in favour of one whose whole lifehas been a continual scene of rapine and injustice, and who has notscrupled, upon occasion, to rob the very altars themselves?'
APPLICATION.
The rehearsal of this fable almost unavoidably draws our attention tothat very serious and important point, the consideration of a death-bedrepentance. And, to expose the absurdity of relying upon such a weakfoundation, we need only ask the same question with the Kite in thefable: how can he that has offended the gods all his life-time, by doingacts of dishonour and injustice, expect that they should be pleased withhim at last, for no other reason but because he fears he shall not beable to offend them any longer? when, in truth, such a repentance cansignify nothing but a confirmation of his former impudence and folly:for sure no stupidity can exceed that of the man who expects a futurejudgment, and yet can bear to commit any piece of injustice with a senseand deliberation of the fact.