To make the whole a sacrifice I could not well award the prize Between the monkey's and the miser's pleasure With some, Don Bertrand, would the honour gain, Or noble, of the English rose, The same short road to sea; And not a single coin but had been pitch'd Now, God preserve full many a financier IV. THE TWO GOATS.' SINCE goats have browsed, by freedom fired, To pasturage they're wont to roam 1 This and several others of the fables in the XIIth Book are taken from the "Thèmes" of the Duke de Bourgogne, afterwards published in Robert's "Fables Inédites." These " Thèmes," were the joint composition of Fénélon, his pupil the infant Duke de Bourgogne, and La Fontaine, and were first used in the education of the Duke. Fénélon suggested the story, the pupil put it into prose, and La Fontaine versified it. La Fontaine is eulogistic of the young Duke's "wit " in putting these "Thèmes" into prose in Fable IX., Book XII. Or cliff, or pendent precipice, Once quit the lowly meadows, sated, As bridge a narrow plank was set, To the Isle of Conference,2 That lies 'twixt Spain and France, The one, a goat of peerless rank, 3 1 Louis Grand.-Louis XIV. See note to Epilogue of Book XI. 2 The Isle of Conference.-The Pheasants' Isle in the river Bidassoa, which separates France and Spain. It is called the Isle of Conference on account of several of the Conferences, leading to Treaties, &c., between the two countries, having been held there. 3 The Cyclop gave to Galataa.-Polyphemus and Galatæa: vide Theocritus, Idyl XI. 4 Amalthea.-Another story is that Amalthea was not a goat, but a nymph of Crete, who fed the infant Jupiter with goat's milk. The goat that suckled Jupiter, For want of giving back, in troth, V. THE OLD CAT AND THE YOUNG MOUSE. TO MONSEIGNEUR THE DUKE DE BOURGOGNE; WHO HAD REQUESTED To please a youthful prince, whom Fame Shall I in verse the fair present, With softest look but hard intent, Who serves the hearts her charms entice Or make my subject Fortune's sport? As treats the cat the silly mice. Shall I for theme a king select 1 In the original the last lines differ from those in the version of La Fontaine's "Euvres Posthumes," published in 1696, the year after the poet's death. Indeed, variations of text are common to most of the fables of the XIIth Book, on making the same comparison, viz., of the first edition, 1694, and the edition in the "Euvres Posthumes." Can with the strongest play As doth the cat with mice! Insensibly, while casting thus about, Quite anxious for my subject's sake, A theme I meet, and, if I don't mistake, Shall spoil it, too, by spinning out. The prince will treat my muse, for that, As mice are treated by the cat. A YOUNG and inexperienced mouse And scourge of vermin through the house,— 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 A grain of wheat will make my meal; I'm lean at present; please to wait, Who ply the thread and shears, The story is from Abstemius. He ceased. The moral's plain. Youth always hopes its ends to gain, Old age is not to mercy prone. VI. THE SICK STAG.1 A STAG, where stags abounded, Or see, their friend, at least, 'Ah, sirs!' the sick was fain to cry, As others do, in solitude. Pray, let your kind attentions cease, 1 "The Gazelle" in Lokman's Fables. |