XVIII. THE FOX AND THE TURKEYS.

AGAINST a robber fox, a tree

Some turkeys served as citadel.
That villain, much provoked to see
Each standing there as sentinel,
Cried out, ‘Such witless birds

At me stretch out their necks, and gobble!
No, by the powers! I'll give them trouble.'
He verified his words.

The moon, that shined full on the oak,
Seem'd then to help the turkey folk.
But fox, in arts of siege well versed,
Ransack'd his bag of tricks accursed.
He feign'd himself about to climb;
Walk'd on his hinder legs sublime;
Then death most aptly counterfeited,
And seem'd anon resuscitated.

A practiser of wizard arts

Could not have fill'd so many parts.
In moonlight he contrived to raise
His tail, and make it seem a blaze:
And countless other tricks like that.
Meanwhile, no turkey slept or sat.
Their constant vigilance at length,
As hoped the fox, wore out their strength.
Bewilder'd by the rigs he run,
They lost their balance one by one.
As Renard slew, he laid aside,

Till nearly half of them had died;
Then proudly to his larder bore,
And laid them up, an ample store.

A foe, by being over-heeded,
Has often in his plan succeeded.

XIX. THE APE.

THERE is an ape in Paris,

To which was given a wife:
Like many a one that marries,
This ape, in brutal strife,
Soon beat her out of life.
Their infant cries,-perhaps not fed,—
But cries, I ween, in vain;
The father laughs: his wife is dead,
And he has other loves again,
Which he will also beat, I think,-
Return'd from tavern drown'd in drink.

For aught that's good, you need not look
Among the imitative tribe;

A monkey be it, or what makes a book—
The worse, I deem-the aping scribe.

XX. THE SCYTHIAN PHILOSOPHER.

A SCYTHIAN philosopher austere,

Resolved his rigid life somewhat to cheer,
Perform'd the tour of Greece, saw many things,
But, best, a sage,—one such as Virgil sings,-
A simple, rustic man, that equal'd kings;
From whom the gods would hardly bear the palm;
Like them unawed, content, and calm.

His fortune was a little nook of land;

And there the Scythian found him, hook in hand,
His fruit-trees pruning. Here he cropp'd
A barren branch, there slash'd and lopp'd,
Correcting Nature everywhere,

Who paid with usury his care.
'Pray, why this wasteful havoc, sir ?'-
So spoke the wondering traveller;
'Can it, I ask, in reason's name,

Be wise these harmless trees to maim ?

Fling down that instrument of crime,
And leave them to the scythe of Time.
Full soon, unhasten'd, they will go
To deck the banks of streams below.'
Replied the tranquil gardener,
'I humbly crave your pardon, sir;
Excess is all my hook removes,

By which the rest more fruitful proves.'
The philosophic traveller,—

Once more within his country cold,-
Himself of pruning-hook laid hold,
And made a use most free and bold;
Prescribed to friends, and counsel'd neighbours
To imitate his pruning labours.

The finest limbs he did not spare,
But pruned his orchard past all reason,
Regarding neither time nor season,
Nor taking of the moon a care.
All wither'd, droop'd, and died.

This Scythian I set beside
The indiscriminating Stoic.
The latter, with a blade heroic,
Retrenches, from his spirit sad,
Desires and passions, good and bad,
Not sparing e'en a harmless wish.
Against a tribe so Vandalish

With earnestness I here protest.

They maim our hearts, they stupefy Their strongest springs, if not their best; They make us cease to live before we die.

XXI.—THE ELEPHANT AND THE APE OF

JUPITER.

'TWIXT elephant and beast of horned nose
About precedence a dispute arose,

Which they determined to decide by blows.
The day was fix'd, when came a messenger

To say the ape of Jupiter
Was swiftly earthward seen to bear
His bright caduceus through the air.
This monkey, named in history Gill,
The elephant at once believed
A high commission had received
To witness, by his sovereign's will,
The aforesaid battle fought.
Uplifted by the glorious thought,

The beast was prompt on Monsieur Gill to wait,
But found him slow, in usual forms of state,
His high credentials to present.
The ape, however, ere he went,
Bestow'd a passing salutation.
His excellency would have heard
The subject matter of legation:
But not a word!

His fight, so far from stirring heaven,—
The news was not received there, even!
What difference sees the impartial sky
Between an elephant and fly?
Our monarch, doting on his object,
Was forced himself to break the subject.
'My cousin Jupiter,' said he,

'Will shortly, from his throne supreme,
A most important combat see,

For all his court a thrilling theme.' 'What combat?' said the ape, with serious face. 'Is't possible you should not know the case ?-' The elephant exclaim'd—'not know, dear sir, That Lord Rhinoceros disputes

With me precedence of the brutes ?
That Elephantis is at war

With savage hosts of Rhinocer?

You know these realms, not void of fame?' 'I joy to learn them now by name,'

Return'd Sir Gill, for, first or last,

No lisp of them has ever pass'd

Throughout our dome so blue and vast.'

Abash'd, the elephant replied,

'What came you, then, to do ?—'

'Between two emmets to divide

A spire of grass in two.

We take of all a care;

And, as to your affair,

Before the gods, who view with equal eyes
The small and great, it hath not chanced to rise.'

XXII. THE FOOL AND THE SAGE.'

A FOOL pursued, with club and stone,
A sage, who said, 'My friend, well done!
Receive this guinea for your pains;
They well deserve far higher gains.
The workman 's worthy of his hire,
'Tis said. There comes a wealthy squire,
Who hath wherewith thy works to pay;
To him direct thy gifts, and they
Shall gain their proper recompense.'
Urged by the hope of gain,

Upon the wealthy citizen
The fool repeated the offence.
His pay this time was not in gold.
Upon the witless man

A score of ready footmen ran,
And on his back, in full, his wages told.
In courts, such fools afflict the wise;
They raise the laugh at your expense.
To check their babble, were it sense
Their folly meetly to chastise?
Perhaps 'twill take a stronger man.
Then make them worry one who can.

Phædrus, III., 4; also Æsop.