Fables of La Fontaine Part 28

Unsatisfied while here below Our present lot is aye the worst.

Our foolish prayers the skies infest.

Were Jove to grant all we request, The din renew'd, his head would burst.

[15] Aesop.

XII.--THE SUN AND THE FROGS.[16]

Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day, The people drown'd their care in drink; While from the general joy did Aesop shrink, And show'd its folly in this way.

'The sun,' said he, 'once took it in his head To have a partner for his bed.

From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs, Up rose the wailings of the frogs.

"What shall we do, should he have progeny?"

Said they to Destiny; "One sun we scarcely can endure, And half-a-dozen, we are sure, Will dry the very sea.

Adieu to marsh and fen!

Our race will perish then, Or be obliged to fix Their dwelling in the Styx!"

For such an humble animal, The frog, I take it, reason'd well.'

[16] There is another fable with this t.i.tle, viz., Fable XXIV., Book XII.

This fable in its earlier form will be found in Phaedrus, I.6.

XIII.--THE COUNTRYMAN AND THE SERPENT.[17]

A countryman, as Aesop certifies, A charitable man, but not so wise, One day in winter found, Stretch'd on the snowy ground, A chill'd or frozen snake, As torpid as a stake, And, if alive, devoid of sense.

He took him up, and bore him home, And, thinking not what recompense For such a charity would come, Before the fire stretch'd him, And back to being fetch'd him.

The snake scarce felt the genial heat Before his heart with native malice beat.

He raised his head, thrust out his forked tongue, Coil'd up, and at his benefactor sprung.

'Ungrateful wretch!' said he, 'is this the way My care and kindness you repay?

Now you shall die.' With that his axe he takes, And with two blows three serpents makes.

Trunk, head, and tail were separate snakes; And, leaping up with all their might, They vainly sought to reunite.

'Tis good and lovely to be kind; But charity should not be blind; For as to wretchedness ingrate, You cannot raise it from its wretched state.

[17] Aesop; also Phaedrus, IV.18.

XIV.--THE SICK LION AND THE FOX.[18]

Sick in his den, we understand, The king of beasts sent out command That of his va.s.sals every sort Should send some deputies to court-- With promise well to treat Each deputy and suite; On faith of lion, duly written, None should be scratch'd, much less be bitten.

The royal will was executed, And some from every tribe deputed; The foxes, only, would not come.

One thus explain'd their choice of home:-- 'Of those who seek the court, we learn, The tracks upon the sand Have one direction, and Not one betokens a return.

This fact begetting some distrust, His majesty at present must Excuse us from his great levee.

His plighted word is good, no doubt; But while how beasts get in we see, We do not see how they get out.'

[18] Aesop.

XV.--THE FOWLER, THE HAWK, AND THE LARK.[19]

From wrongs of wicked men we draw Excuses for our own:-- Such is the universal law.

Would you have mercy shown, Let yours be clearly known.

A fowler's mirror served to snare The little tenants of the air.

A lark there saw her pretty face, And was approaching to the place.

A hawk, that sailed on high Like vapour in the sky, Came down, as still as infant's breath, On her who sang so near her death.

She thus escaped the fowler's steel, The hawk's malignant claws to feel.

While in his cruel way, The pirate pluck'd his prey, Upon himself the net was sprung.

'O fowler,' pray'd he in the hawkish tongue, 'Release me in thy clemency!

I never did a wrong to thee.'

The man replied, ''Tis true; And did the lark to you?'

[19] Abstemius, 3.

XVI.--THE HORSE AND THE a.s.s.[20]

In such a world, all men, of every grade, Should each the other kindly aid; For, if beneath misfortune's goad A neighbour falls, on you will fall his load.

There jogg'd in company an a.s.s and horse; Nought but his harness did the last endorse; The other bore a load that crush'd him down, And begg'd the horse a little help to give, Or otherwise he could not reach the town.

'This prayer,' said he, 'is civil, I believe; One half this burden you would scarcely feel.'

The horse refused, flung up a scornful heel, And saw his comrade die beneath the weight:-- And saw his wrong too late; For on his own proud back They put the a.s.s's pack, And over that, beside, They put the a.s.s's hide.

[20] Aesop.

XVII.--THE DOG THAT DROPPED THE SUBSTANCE FOR THE SHADOW.[21]

This world is full of shadow-chasers, Most easily deceived.

Should I enumerate these racers, I should not be believed.

I send them all to Aesop's dog, Which, crossing water on a log, Espied the meat he bore, below; To seize its image, let it go; Plunged in; to reach the sh.o.r.e was glad, With neither what he hoped, nor what he'd had.

[21] Aesop; also Phaedrus, I. 4.

XVIII.--THE CARTER IN THE MIRE.[22]