Favourite Fables in Prose and Verse Part 9

"To-morrow, good dame, Give my children the same, And then you, with justice, may grat.i.tude claim."

MORAL.

He merits no praise To the end of his days, Who to those who surround him no service conveys.

FABLE XLVII.

THE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE CITY MOUSE.

An honest, plain, sensible country Mouse is said to have entertained at his hole one day a fine Mouse of the town. Having formerly been playfellows together, they were old acquaintances, which served as an apology for the visit. However, as master of the house, he thought himself obliged to do the honours of it, in all respects, and to make as great a stranger of his guest as he possibly could. In order to this, he set before him a reserve of delicate grey pease and bacon, a dish of fine oatmeal, some parings of new cheese, and, to crown all with a dessert, a remnant of a charming mellow apple.

In good manners, he forebore to eat any of it himself, lest the stranger should not have enough; but, that he might seem to bear the other company, sat and nibbled a piece of wheaten straw very busily. At last, says the spark of the town, "Old croney, give me leave to be a little free with you. How can you bear to live in this nasty, dirty, melancholy hole here, with nothing but woods and meadows, mountains and rivulets about you? Do you not prefer the busy world to the chirping of birds, and the splendour of a court to the rude aspect of an uncultivated desert? Come, take my word for it, you will find it a change for the better. Stand not considering, but away this moment. Remember, we are not immortal, and therefore have no time to lose. Make sure of to-day, and spend it as agreeably as you can; you know not what may happen to-morrow."

In short, these and such like arguments prevailed, and his country friend was resolved to go to town that night. So they both set out upon their journey, proposing to sneak in after the close of the evening. They did so, and about midnight made their entry into a certain great house, where there had been an extraordinary entertainment the day before, and several t.i.t-bits, which some of the servants had purloined, were hid under a seat of a window. The country guest was immediately placed in the midst of a rich Persian carpet; and now it was the courtier's turn to entertain, who, indeed, acquitted himself in that capacity with the utmost readiness and address, changing the courses as elegantly, and tasting everything first as judiciously, as any clerk of the kitchen. The other sat and enjoyed himself like a delighted epicure, tickled to the last degree with this new turn of his affairs; when, on a sudden, a noise of somebody opening the door made them start from their seats and scuttle in confusion about the dining-room. Our country friend, in particular, was ready to die with fear at the barking of a huge Mastiff or two, which opened their throats just about the same time, and made the whole house echo.

At last, recovering himself, "Well," says he, "if this be your town life, much good may you do with it; give me my poor, quiet hole again, with my homely but comfortable grey pease."

MORAL.

Poverty and safety are preferable to luxury and danger.

FABLE XLVIII.

THE CAT AND THE MICE.

A CERTAIN house was much infested with Mice; but at last they got a Cat, who caught and ate every day some of them. The Mice, finding their numbers grow thin, consulted what was best to be done for the preservation of the public from the jaws of the devouring Cat. They debated and came to this resolution, that no one should go down below the upper shelf.

The Cat, observing the Mice no longer came down as usual, hungry and disappointed of her prey, had recourse to this stratagem:--She hung by her hind legs on a peg which stuck in the wall, and made as if she had been dead, hoping by this lure to entice the Mice to come down. She had not been in this posture long before a cunning old Mouse peeped over the edge of the shelf, and spoke thus:--"Ha! ha!

my good friend, are you there? There you may be! I would not trust myself with you, though your skin were stuffed with straw."

MORAL.

They that are wise will never trust those a second time who have deceived them once.

FABLE XLIX.

THE KID AND THE WOLF.

A KID, being mounted upon the roof of a lofty shed, and seeing a Wolf below, loaded him with all manner of reproaches. Upon which, the Wolf, looking up, replied, "Do not vaunt yourself, vain creature, and think you mortify me; for I look upon this ill language as not coming from you, but from the place that protects you."

MORAL.

To rail or give bad language is wrong at all times; but when a man is protected by circ.u.mstances, it is cowardly, as well as wrong. The man who then uses it becomes a fit object of contempt to him that he reviles.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE KID AND THE WOLF.]

FABLE L.

THE COUNCIL OF HORSES.

UPON a time, a neighing Steed, Who grazed among a numerous breed, With mutiny had fired the train, And spread dissension through the plain.

On matters that concerned the state The council met in grand debate.

A Colt, whose eye-b.a.l.l.s flamed with ire, Elate with strength and youthful fire, In haste stepped forth before the rest, And thus the listening throng addressed:--

"Good G.o.ds! how abject is our race!

Condemned to slavery and disgrace!

Shall we our servitude retain, Because our sires have borne the chain?

Consider, friends, your strength and might; 'Tis conquest to a.s.sert your right.

How c.u.mberous is the gilded coach!

The pride of man is our reproach.

Were we designed for daily toil, To drag the ploughshare through the soil; To sweat in harness through the road; To groan beneath the carrier's load?

How feeble are the two-legged kind!

What force is in our nerves combined!

Shall, then, our n.o.bler jaws submit To foam and champ the galling bit?

Shall haughty men my back bestride?

Shall the sharp spur provoke my side?

Forbid it, heavens! reject the rein, Your shame, your infamy disdain.

Let him the Lion first control, And still the Tiger's famished growl!

Let us, like them, our freedom claim; And make him tremble at our name."

A general nod approved the cause, And all the circle neighed applause; When, lo! with grave and solemn pace, A Steed advanced before the race, With age and long experience wise; Around he casts his thoughtful eyes, And, to the murmurs of the train, Thus spoke the Nestor of the plain:--

"When I had health and strength, like you, The toils of servitude I knew.

Now, grateful man rewards my pains, And gives me all these wide domains.

At will I crop the year's increase; My latter life is rest and peace.

I grant, to man we lend our pains, And aid him to correct the plains.

But doth not he divide the care, Through all the labours of the year?

How many thousand structures rise, To fence us from inclement skies!