The Weasel in the Storeroom
The Weasel in the Storeroom
(La Fontaine, Fables, III., 17)
(La Fontaine, Fables, III., 17)
(La Fontaine, Fables, III., 17)
Edward Marsh
Edward Marsh
Edward Marsh
Edward Marsh
Into a storeroom once Miss Weasel came,Through a small hole squeezing her lank lean frame:From illness she had grown so slender.Once in, she made complete surrenderTo her capacious appetite,Nibbling and guzzling day and night.The life she led, Lord only knew,Or the amount of bacon she got through—Small wonder she grew chubby, plump, and sleek!After this diet for a week,She heard some noise which made her wish to egress.Where was the hole? She scuttled to and fro.Surely ’twas this one? No—then this? Still less.“Well, bless my soul!” she said, “’twas here, I know,I wriggled through, hardly a week ago.”A rat perceived how she was troubled.“Since you’ve been here,” said he, “your paunch has doubled.Thin you came in, and thin you must go out.”This has been said to others, I’ve no doubt;But Reader, be it far from you or meTo press the delicate analogy.[2]
Into a storeroom once Miss Weasel came,Through a small hole squeezing her lank lean frame:From illness she had grown so slender.Once in, she made complete surrenderTo her capacious appetite,Nibbling and guzzling day and night.The life she led, Lord only knew,Or the amount of bacon she got through—Small wonder she grew chubby, plump, and sleek!After this diet for a week,She heard some noise which made her wish to egress.Where was the hole? She scuttled to and fro.Surely ’twas this one? No—then this? Still less.“Well, bless my soul!” she said, “’twas here, I know,I wriggled through, hardly a week ago.”A rat perceived how she was troubled.“Since you’ve been here,” said he, “your paunch has doubled.Thin you came in, and thin you must go out.”This has been said to others, I’ve no doubt;But Reader, be it far from you or meTo press the delicate analogy.[2]
Into a storeroom once Miss Weasel came,Through a small hole squeezing her lank lean frame:From illness she had grown so slender.Once in, she made complete surrenderTo her capacious appetite,Nibbling and guzzling day and night.The life she led, Lord only knew,Or the amount of bacon she got through—Small wonder she grew chubby, plump, and sleek!After this diet for a week,She heard some noise which made her wish to egress.Where was the hole? She scuttled to and fro.Surely ’twas this one? No—then this? Still less.“Well, bless my soul!” she said, “’twas here, I know,I wriggled through, hardly a week ago.”A rat perceived how she was troubled.“Since you’ve been here,” said he, “your paunch has doubled.Thin you came in, and thin you must go out.”
Into a storeroom once Miss Weasel came,
Through a small hole squeezing her lank lean frame:
From illness she had grown so slender.
Once in, she made complete surrender
To her capacious appetite,
Nibbling and guzzling day and night.
The life she led, Lord only knew,
Or the amount of bacon she got through—
Small wonder she grew chubby, plump, and sleek!
After this diet for a week,
She heard some noise which made her wish to egress.
Where was the hole? She scuttled to and fro.
Surely ’twas this one? No—then this? Still less.
“Well, bless my soul!” she said, “’twas here, I know,
I wriggled through, hardly a week ago.”
A rat perceived how she was troubled.
“Since you’ve been here,” said he, “your paunch has doubled.
Thin you came in, and thin you must go out.”
This has been said to others, I’ve no doubt;But Reader, be it far from you or meTo press the delicate analogy.[2]
This has been said to others, I’ve no doubt;
But Reader, be it far from you or me
To press the delicate analogy.[2]
2. The allusion is to the tribunal set up by Colbert to enquire into the peculations of the Financiers.
2. The allusion is to the tribunal set up by Colbert to enquire into the peculations of the Financiers.