FABLE CLXXIV.
JUPITER AND THE TRAVELLER.
The gods our perils would make wealthy,If we our vows remembered, when once made.But, dangers passed, and we, all safe and healthy,Forget the promises on altars laid;We only think of what we owe to men.Jove, says the atheist, is a creditorWho never sends out bailiffs; if so, thenWhat is the thunder meant as warning for?A Passenger, in tempest tossed and rolled,To Jupiter a hundred oxen offered.He hadn't one; had he been only bold,A hundred elephants he would have proffered:They'd cost him not a single farthing more.Suddenly mounted unto great Jove's noseThe scent of beef bones burnt upon the shore."Accept my promised vow," the rascal crows;"'Tis ox you smell: the smoke is all for thee:Now we are quits." Jove smiled a bitter smile;But, some days after, sent a dream, to beThe recompense of that man's wicked guile.The dream informed him where a treasure lay:The man ran to it, like a moth to flame.Some robbers seized him. Having nought to pay,He promised them at once, if they but cameWhere he'd a hundred talents of good gold.The place, far off, pleased not the wary thieves;And one man said, "My comrade, I am toldYou mock us; and he dies, whoe'er deceives.Go and take Pluto, for an offering,Your hundred talents: they will please the king."
JUPITER AND THE TRAVELLER.
JUPITER AND THE TRAVELLER.
FABLE CLXXV.
THE APE AND THE LEOPARD.
An Ape and a Leopard one day repair—Money to gain—to a country fair,And setting up separate booths they vie,Each with each, in the arts of cajolery."Come, see me," cries Leopard, "come, gentlemen come,The price of admission's a very small sum;To the great in all places my fame is well known,And should death overtake me, the king on his throneWould be glad of a robe from my skin;For 'tis mottled and wattled,And stained and ingrainedWith spots and with lines, lines and spots thick and thin,That truly, though modest, I can but declare,'Tis by far the most wonderful thing in the fair."This bounce attained its end, and soThe gulls came hurrying to the show;But, the sight seen, and the cash spent,They went away in discontent.Meanwhile the Ape cries—"Come, and seeThe sum of versatility!Yon Leopard boasts, through thick and thin,A splendid show of outside skin;But many varied gifts I have(For which your kind applause I crave)All safely lodged my brain within.Your servant I, Monsieur Guffaw,The noble Bertrand's son-in-law,Chief monkey to his HolinessThe Pope. I now have come express,In three huge ships, to have with youThe honour of an interview:For speaking is my special forte,And I can dance, and hoops jump through,And other kinds of tumbling do,And magic feats perform of every sort;And for six blancos? no, I say, a sou;But if with the performance youAre discontented, at the doorTo each his money we'll restore."And right was the Ape:For the colour and shapeOf fine clothes can but please for awhile,Whilst the charms of a brainThat is witty, remain,And for ever can soothe and beguile.Ah! there's many a one,Lord and gentleman's son,Who holds high estate here below,Who to Leopards akinHas nought but fine skinAs the sum of his merits to show.
FABLE CLXXVI.
THE ACORN AND THE GOURD.
All that Jove does is wise and good,I need not travel far abroadTo make this maxim understood,But take example from a Gourd.Observing once a pumpkin,Of bulk so huge on stem so small,"What meant he," cried a bumpkin,"Great Jove, I mean, who made us all,By such an act capricious?If my advice were asked by Heaven,To yonder oaks the gourds were given,And 'twould have been judicious;For sure it is good taste to suitTo monstrous trees a monstrous fruit.And truly, Tony, had but heWhom the priests talk of asked of meAdvice on here and there a point,Things would not be so out of joint.For why, to take this plain example,Should not the Acorn here be hung—For it this tiny stem is ample—Whilst on the oak the pumpkin swung?The more I view this sad abortionOf all the laws of true proportion,The more I'm sure the Lord of ThunderHas made a very serious blunder."Teased by this matter, Tony cries,"One soon grows weary when one's wise;"Then dozing 'neath an oak he lies.Now, as he slept, an Acorn fellStraight on his nose, and made it swell.At once awake, he seeks to traceWith eager hand what hurt his face,And in his beard the Acorn caught,Discovers what the pain had wrought.And now, by injured nose induced,Our friend takes up a different tone—"I bleed, I bleed!" he makes his moan,"And all is by this thing produced:But, oh! if from the tree, instead,A full-grown Gourd had struck my head!Ah! Jove, most wise, has made decreeThat Acorns only deck the tree,And now I quite the reason see."Thus in a better frame of mindHomeward went our honest hind.
FABLE CLXXVII.
THE SCHOOL-BOY, THE PEDANT, AND THE NURSERY GARDENER.
A certain Boy, half-spoiled at school—Your Pedants spoil lads, as a rule;Ten times a fool, ten times a rogueThey'd made this mischievous young dog.—A neighbour's flowers and fruits he stole:A man who struggled, heart and soul,To raise Pomona's choicest treasure:In what was bad he had no pleasure.Each season did its tribute bring,And Flora's gifts were his in spring.One day he saw upon a treeThe boy climb up, and recklesslySpoil half the buds, the promise dearOf future plenty for the year;—He even broke the boughs. At lastThe Gardener to the school ran fast.The Master came, with all his trainOf lads. "Of what does he complain?"The orchard's full of dreadful boys,Worse than the first, in tricks and noise.The Pedant, though he meant not to,Made the first evil double grow.The Pedant was so eloquentAbout the sin and ill intent;It was a lesson not forgotBy the whole school, an ill-taught lot;He often cites the Mantuan bard;At rhetoric toils hot and hard.So long his speech, the wicked raceHad time enough to spoil the place.I hate your misplaced eloquence,Endless, ill-timed, and without sense;And no fool I detest so badAs an ill-taught and thievish lad,Except his Master; yet the bestOf these is a bad neighbour, 'tis confessed.
FABLE CLXXVIII.
THE CAT AND THE FOX.
The Fox and Cat, two saints indeed,To make a pilgrimage agreed:Two artful hypocrites they were,—Soft-footed, sly, and smooth, and fair.Full many a fowl, and many a cheese,Made up for loss of time and ease.The road was long, and weary too:To shorten it, to talk they flew.For argument drives sleep away,And helps a journey on, they say.The Fox to the Cat says, "My friend,
THE CAT AND THE FOX.
THE CAT AND THE FOX.
To be so clever you pretend;Say what am I? I've in this sackA hundred tricks." "Well, on my back,"The other, very timid, said,"I've only one, I'm quite afraid;But that, I hold, is worth a dozen,My enemies to cheat and cozen."Then the dispute began anew,With "So say I!" and "I tell you!"Till, suddenly, some hounds in sightSilenced them soon, as it well might.The Cat cries, "Search your bag, my friend,Or you are lost, you may depend:Choose out your choicest stratagem!"Puss climbed a tree, and baffled them.The Fox a hundred burrows sought:Turned, dodged, and doubled, as he thought,To put the terriers at fault,And shun their rough and rude assault.In every place he tried for shelter,But begged it vainly; helter skelter,The hounds were on the treacherous scent,That still betrayed, where'er he went.At last, as from a hole he started,Two swift dogs on poor Reynard darted;Then came up all the yelping crew,And at his throat at once they flew.Too many schemes spoil everything,We lose our time in settling.Have only one, as wise man should:But let that one be sound and good.
FABLE CLXXIX.
THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF JUPITER.
A Block of marble shone so white,A Sculptor bought it, and, that night,Said, "Now, my chisel, let's decree:God, tank, or table, shall it be?"We 'll have a god—the dream I clasp;His hand a thunderbolt shall grasp.Tremble, ye monarchs, ere it's hurled!Behold the master of the world!"So well the patient workman wroughtIn stone the vision of his thought,The people cried at last, "BeseechThe gods to grant it power of speech!"Some even dared the crowd to tellThat, when the chisel's last blow fell,The Sculptor was the first with dreadTo turn away his trembling head.The ancient poet's not to blame,For weak man's terror, fear, and shameThe gods invented in each age,Abhorring human hate and rage.The sculptor was a child; confess,His mind, like children's in distress,Tormented by this ceaseless sorrow,His doll might angry be to-morrow.The heart obeys its guide, the mind:And from this source there flows, we find,This Pagan error, which we seeWiden to all infinity.We all embrace some favourite dream,And follow it down flood and stream.Pygmalion was in love, 'tis said,With Venus that himself had made.Each turns his dream into a truth,And tries to fancy it all sooth.Ice to the facts before his face,But burning falsehood to embrace.
FABLE CLXXX.
THE MOUSE METAMORPHOSED INTO A GIRL.
A Mouse from the beak of an owl fell down,A Brahmin lifted it up, half dead:Tenderly nursed it, and tamed it, and fed.I could not have done such an act, I own;But every land has its own conceit:With a Mouse I'd rather not sit at meat.But Brahmins regard a flea as a friend,For they think that the soul of a king may descendTo some beast, or insect, or dog, or mite,—Pythagoras taught them this law erudite.Thus believing, the Brahmin a sorcerer prayedThat the Mouse might resume some more elegant dress.The wise man consented, and, truth to confess,Performed his task well, for the Mouse became Maid,—Ah! a Maid of fifteen—such an elegant creature,Of a form so genteel, of such exquisite feature,That if Paris had met her, that amorous boyWould have risked, to possess her, full many a Troy.Surprised at the sight of a being so fair,The Brahmin said, "Darling, you've but to declareWhom you'll have for a husband, for none will refuseSuch a beautiful bride;—you have only to choose."Then the Maiden replied, "I confess that I longFor a husband that's valiant, and noble, and strong."Then the Brahmin knelt down, and addressing the Sun,Cried, "Noblest of living things, you are the one!"But the Lord of the Daylight replied, "'Tis not trueThat I am so strong; for the Cloud you see yonder,Piled high with the rain, and the hail, and the thunder,Could hide me at once, if he chose, from your view."To the Cloud, then, appealing, the Brahmin declaredThat with him, Lord of Storms, his child's fate shouldbe shared."No, No!" said the dark Cloud; "it never can be,For at each breath of wind I am driven to flee.If you'd have for a son-in-law somebody strong,Your Maid to the North Wind should fairly belong."Disgusted with constant refusals like these,The Brahmin appealed to the wild, roving Breeze;And the Breeze was quite willing to wed the fair Maid,But a Mountain Top huge his love's pilgrimage stayed.The ball, at this game of "a lover to find,"Now passed to the Hill, but he quickly declined;"For," said he, "with the Rat I'm not friends, and, I know,If I took the fair Maid, he would gnaw at me so."At the mention of Rat, the fair Maiden, with glee,Cried, "'Tis Rat, and Rat only, my husband shall be!"See a Girl for a Rat now Apollo forsaking!It was one of those strokes which Love glories in making.And, 'twixt you and me, such strange instances are,'Mongst girls that we know of, more frequent than rare.With men and with beasts it is ever the same:They still show the trace of the place whence they came;And this fable may aid us to prove it; but yet,On a nearer inspection, some sophistry's metIn its traits; for, to trust to this fanciful story,Any spouse were more good than the Sun in his glory.But, what! shall I say that a giant is lessThan a flea, because fleas can a giant distress?The Rat, if this rule must be strictly obeyed,Of his wife to the Cat would a present have made:And the Cat to the Dog, and the Dog to the Bear;Till, at length, by a sort of a high-winding stair,The story had brought us where first 'twas begun,And the beautiful Maid would have married the Sun.But let us return to the MetempsychosisThe truth of which, firstly, this fable supposes.It seems to me plain that the fable itselfThe system decidedly puts on the shelf.According to Brahmin law, animals allThat inhabit the earth, be they mighty or small,—Be they men, mice, or wolves, or e'en creatures more coarse,—Their souls have derived from one general source;And vary, in physical actions, just soAs the form of their organs may force them to do.And if this be the case, then, how came it that oneOf so fine-formed a frame did not wed with the Sun?Whereas, as we know, to a Rat she devotedThe charms on which many a king would have doated.All things considered, I'll declareThat girl and mouse souls different are.We must our destiny fulfil,As ordered by the sovereign will.Appeal to magic,—it is all in vain;The soul, once born, will still the same remain.
THE MONKEY AND THE CAT.
THE MONKEY AND THE CAT.
FABLE CLXXXI.
THE MONKEY AND THE CAT.
Bertrand and Raton—a Monkey and Cat—Were messmates in mischief, with roguery fat;There was nothing they feared, there was nothing they spared,And whatever they plundered they usually shared.If anything close by was stealable, theyWould never go foraging out of their way.Bertrand stole everything Raton to please,And Raton cared less for the mice than the cheese.One day at the fire, when all clear was the coast,The pair were both spying some chesnuts at roast:To steal a good meal is its pleasure to double;Besides, it would bring the cook's man into trouble.Says Bertrand to Raton, "My brother, you see,Fate's given a moment of glory to thee;Get those chesnuts, and quickly, my brave one, I pray,The gods have vouchsafed us a dinner to-day."And so to snatch chesnuts poor Raton agreed,And at once set to work on the dangerous deed.With gingerly touch he the cinders withdrew,And snatched the hot prizes, first one, and then two.He has pilfered quite half, but has not eaten one;The eating his comrade, Bertrand, has done.A scullion comes—there's adieu to the theft—And Raton is empty and querulous left.Your nobles are much in a similar case,Who as flatterers dangerous service embrace;And to gratify kings, fingers often will burn,Then homeward, though wiser, still poorer return.
FABLE CLXXXII.
THE WOLF AND THE STARVED DOG.
Once on a time, a little Carp to manPreached all in vain; they put him in the pan.And I repeat, 'tis foolish to let slipThe glass that's full, and half way to the lip,In hopes of better wine. The fish was wrong;The fisherman was right, his reason strong.One speaks out boldly when a life's to save;It needs some eloquence King Death to waive;But still I hold I'm right, and don't demur,If from my former text I do not stir.A Wolf, less wise than our good fisherman,Meeting a Dog outside the village, ranTo bear him off. The poor Dog pleaded hardThat he was thin, and not worth his regard."My lord, I shall not please you, that is pat;Wait till the marriage, I shall then grow fatAnd quite myself—when master's daughter's wed."The Wolf believed all that the terrier said.The day expired; he came with faith to seeIf good had come from this festivity.To Wolf without the Dog spoke through the gate:"Friend, I am coming, if you'll only wait;The porter of our lodge is coming, too,We'll soon be ready, sir, to wait on you."The porter was a mastiff, you must know,Ready to crunch up wolves, and at one blow.The caller paused: "Your servant I remain,"He said, and ran and sought the wood again;Swift, but not clever: the remark was made,"This Wolf was not a master of his trade."
FABLE CLXXXIII.
THE WAX CANDLE.
From heaven the Bees came down, they say,And on Hymettus' top, one day,Settled, and from sweet Zephyr's flowersStole all the treasures and strange powers;And when th' ambrosia from each field,Long in their store-rooms close concealed,Was, to speak simple French, all taken,And the mere empty comb forsaken,Many Wax Tapers, from it made,Were sold by those to whom that tradeBelongs. One of these Candles, long and thick,Seeing clay hardened into brickBy fire, made to endure for aye,Like an Empedocles, to die,Resolved to perish in the flame.A foolish martyr, seeking fame,He leaped in headlong. Reasoning vain:Small wisdom in his empty brain.No human being's like another:One cannot argue from one's brother.Empedocles burnt up like paper;Yet wasn't madder than this Taper.
FABLE CLXXXIV.
"NOT TOO MUCH."
I Find in no one race or nationOf men what I call moderation;Both animals and plants do errIn this respect, I must aver.Nature's great Master wished that weShould guard the golden mean, you see;But do we?—No; and once more, No!Whether to good or ill we go.The corn that Ceres from her handSpreads lavish o'er the fertile land,Too richly grows, and drains the ground,Luxuriant, and without a bound;So that from rank and crowded grainAll nourishment the deep roots drain;The trees spread likewise heedlesslyTo check the corn. God graciouslyGives us the sheep to check ill growth;Amid the corn they, nothing loath,Plunge headlong, and so, ruthless, spoilThe slow result of peasants' toil.Then Heaven sends the wolf to thinThe sheep—they gobble kith and kin—If they spare one 'tis not their fault,They're but too ready to assault;Then man the speedy punishmentUnto the cruel wolves is sent.Next man—far worst of all abuses—The power Divine he rashly uses.Man, of all animals yet known,Is more disposed to this, I own;Little or great, unto excessWe carry all things, I confess;No soul that lives but errs, I see,In this respect continually,The good text, "Not too much," is metOften, but never practised yet.
FABLE CLXXXV.
THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG.
TO MADAME DE LA SABLIÈRE.
Iris, it were easy, quite,Verses in your praise to write,Were't not that, scornful, you refuseThe plaintive homage of my muse,In that unlike your sisters fair,Who any weight of praise can bear:Most women doat on flattery's lies,Nor are they, on this point, unwise;For, if it be a crime, 'tis oneThat gods and monarchs fail to shun.That nectar which, the poets say,Is quaffed by him who holds the swayO'er thunders, and which kings on earthGet drunk on, from their earliest birth,Is flattery, Iris, flattery—suchAs you 'll not even deign to touch.No, Iris! you have rich resourcesIn genuine wit, and wise discourses,—Sometimes half earnest, sometimes gay;The world believes it not, they say:Let the poor world think what it may.In conversation, I maintainThat truth and jokes are equal gain.Pure science well may be the stayOf friendly converse; but the rayOf mirth should, ever and anon,Electric, light friends' union.Discourse, when rightly comprehended,Is with a thousand graces blended,And much resembles gardens sweet,Where Flora's various beauties meet;And where the bees search every bloom,And from each bush bring honey home.Allowing this to be so, letSome theories in my tales be met:Theories philosophic, new,Engaging, subtle; have not youHeard speak of them? Their holders sayThat animals are mere machines,And move but by mechanic means;That, move or gambol as they may,They move but blindly, have no soul,No feeling heart, no self-control;But are like watches, which, set going,Work on, without their object knowing.If we should open one of these,What is't the eye within them sees?A score of tiny wheels we find;The first is moved, then, close behind,A second follows, then a third,And so on, till the hour is heard.To hark to these philosophers,The heart is such; some object stirsA certain nerve, and straight, again,A fellow-nerve endures the strain;And so on, till the sense it reaches,And some deep vital lesson teaches."But how's it done?" These theorists cry,'Tis done by pure necessity;That neither will nor even passionAssist in it, in any fashion.That, moved by some inherent force,The beast is sent to run the courseOf love and grief, joy, pain, and hate,Or any other varied state.A watch may be a watch, and go,Compelled by springs; but 'tis not soWith us;—and here 'twere wise to askDescartes to aid us in our task,—Descartes, who, in the times of eld,Had for a deity been held;And who, between mere men and spirits,Holds such a place, by special merits,As 'twixt man and oyster hasThat patient animal, the ass.He reasons thus, and boldly says,"Of all the animals that dwellOn this round world, I know, full well,My brain alone has reason's rays."Now, Iris, you will recollect,'Twas taught us by that older science,On which we used to have reliance,That when beasts think, they don't reflect.Descartes goes farther, and maintainsThat beasts are quite devoid of brains.This you believe with ease, and soCan I, until to woods I go,Just when, perchance, some motley crew,With dogs and horns, a stag pursue.In vain it doubles, and confounds.With many a devious turn, the hounds.At length this ancient stag of ten,Discovering all its efforts vain,And almost wholly worn and spent,Drives by main force, from covert near,Athwart the dogs, some younger deer,To tempt them off, by fresher scent.What reasoning here the beast displays!Its backward tracks on beaten ways,Its numerous schemes its scent to smother,And skill, at length, to thrust another
THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG.
THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG.
On danger almost at its feet,For some great party chief were meet;And worthy of some better fateThan death from dogs insatiate.'Tis thus the red-legged partridge, sprungBy pointer, strives to save her young,As yet unfledged. With piteous cries,And lagging wing, she feigns to rise,Runs on, then halts, then hurries on again,And dog and hunter tempts across the plain;But when her nest is far enough behind,She laughs at both, and skims along the wind.'Tis said that beings have been found,In distant lands, in northern climes,Who still in ignorance profoundAre steeped, as in primeval times.But only of the men I speak,For there four-footed creatures breakThe force of streams by dams and ridges,And join opposing banks by bridges:Beams morticed well with beams, their toilResists the stream's attempt to spoil;Each labourer with the other vies,And old ones guide young energies;Chief engineers the whole survey,And point out aught that goes astray.Pluto's well-ordered state could neverHave vied with these amphibians clever.In snows they build their houses high,And pass o'er pools on bridges dry:Such is their prudence, art, and skill;Whilst men like us around them, still,If they, perchance, should have the whimA distant shore to reach, must swim.Now, spite of all, this evidenceConvinces me of beavers' sense.But still, my point to make more clear,I will a story here relate,Which but lately met my earFrom lips of one who rules in state:A king, I mean, and one whose glorySoars high on wings of victory—The Polish prince, whose name aloneSpreads terror round the Turkish throne.That kings can lie not is well known:He says, then, that his frontiers wideAre edged by wilds where beasts reside,Who warfare wage inveterate,And to their sons transmit their hate."These beasts are fox-like," says the king,And to their wars such arts they bring,That neither this nor any ageHas seen men with like skill engage.All pickets, sentinels, and spies,With ambuscades and treacheries,That she who from Styx's entrails came,And unto heroes gives their fame,Invented has, for man's perdition,These beasts employ, with erudition.To sing their battles we should haveHomer restored us, from the grave;And, oh! that he who EpicurusRivals once more could re-assure usThat, whatever beasts may do,Is to mechanic means but due;That all their minds corporeal are;That building houses, making war,They are but agents, weak and blind,Of some mere watchspring in the mind.The object which their sense attacks,Returning, fills its former tracks,And straightway, in their bestial pates,The image seen before creates,Without that thought, or sense, or soulHave o'er the thing the least control.But men a different station fill,And, scorning instinct, use their will.I speak, I walk, and feel withinSomething to God-like power akin.Distinct from all my flesh and bone,It lives a life that's all its own,Yet o'er my flesh it rules alone.But how can soul be understoodBy what is merely flesh and blood?There lies the point. The tool by hand is guided;Who guides the hand has not yet been decided.Ah! what is that strange power which wingsThe planets on their heavenly way?Doth each some angel lord obey?And are my spirit's secret springsMoved and controlled the selfsame way?My soul obeys some influence;I know not what it is, nor whence.That secret must for ever lieHid by God's awful majesty.Descartes knew just as much as I:In other things he may supplantAll men; he's here as ignorant.But, Iris, this, at least, I know,—That no such lofty souls endowThe beasts of whom I've made example:—Of soul, man only is the temple.Yet must we to the beasts accordSome sense the plant-world can't afford;And even plants have humble lives.But let me add one story still;And let me know how much your skillOf moral from its facts derives.Two Rats, seeking something to eat, found an Egg:For such folks, to have something to eat is sufficient;And seldom or never you'll find that they begOf the gods turtle soup, or a French cook proficient.Full of appetite, nimbly they sat down to eat,And soon from the shell would have drawn out the meat,When a Fox in the distance appeared, to molest them,And a question arose, which most greatly distress'd them,—No other, as you may suppose, but the wayThe Egg from Sir Reynard's keen snout to convey.To drag it behind them, or roll it on floor,To pack it behind them, or shove it before,Were the plans tried in turn, but were all tried in vain.When at length the old mother of arts[1]made it plainThat, if one on his back held the Egg in his paw,The other from danger could readily draw.The plan was successful, in spite of some jolting;And we leave the two sages their pleasant meal bolting.Who shall, after this, declareThat beasts devoid of reason are?For my part, I'll to beasts allowThe sense that dwells in childhood's brow.Reason, from childhood's earliest years,In all its acts and ways appears;And so it seems to me quite plainThat without soul there may be brain.I give to beasts a sort of mind,Compared to ours, a league behind.Some matter I would subtilise,Some matter hard to analyse,Some atoms essence, light's extract;Fire, subtlest of all things; in fact,The flames that out of wood ariseEnable us to form some thoughtOf what the soul is. Silver liesInvolved in lead. Beasts' brains are wroughtSo that they think and judge;—no more.They judge imperfectly. 'Tis sureNo ape could ever argue. ThenAbove all beasts I'll place us men;For to us men a double treasureBelongs—that sense which, in some measure,To all things living here below,The wise and foolish, high and low,Is common; and that holier spiritWhich men, with seraphim, inherit.And, oh! this loftier soul can flyThrough all the wondrous realms of sky:On smallest point can lie at ease;And though commenced shall never cease.Things strange, but true. In infancyThis soul must dim and feeble be;But ripening years its frame develop,And then it bursts the gross envelopeWhich still in fetters always binds,In men and beasts, the lower minds.
[1]Necessity, the mother of invention.
[1]Necessity, the mother of invention.
FABLE CLXXXVI.
THE CORMORANT AND THE FISHES.
Through all the country far and wide,In pools and rivers incessantly diving,A Cormorant greedy his table supplied,On their finny inhabitants so daintily thriving.But at length there came a dayWhen his strength gave way,And the Cormorant, having to fish for himself,Unskilled to use nets which we mortals employ,The fish for our own selfish use to decoy,Began soon to starve; with no crumb on the shelf,What could he do now?—Necessity, mother,Who teaches us more than we learn when at school,Advised the poor bird to go down to a pool,And addressing a Cray-fish, to say to him—"Brother,Go tell your friends a tale of coming sorrow:Your master drains this pool a week to-morrow!"The Cray-fish hurried off without delay,And soon the pool was quivering with dismay:Much trouble, much debate. At length was sentA deputation to the Cormorant."Most lordly web-foot! are you sure th' eventWill be as you have stated? If so, grantYour kind advice in this our present need!"The sly bird answered—"Change your home with speed.""But how do that?" "Oh! that shall be my care;For one by one I'll take you to my home,A most impenetrable, secret lair,Where never foe of finny tribe has come;A deep, wide pool, of nature's best,In which your race may safely rest."The fish believed this friendly speech,And soon were borne, each after each,Down to a little shallow, cribbed, confined,In which the greedy bird could choose them to his mind.
THE CORMORANT AND THE FISHES.
THE CORMORANT AND THE FISHES.
And there they learnt, although too late,To trust no bills insatiate.But, after all, it don't much matter—A Cormorant's throat or human platter—Whether a wolf or man digest me,Doesn't seem really to molest me;And whether one's eaten to-day or to-morrowShould scarcely be any occasion for sorrow.