Aesop, in Rhyme Part 22

A rat who fed exceeding well, Was by a frog invited out to dine; "The voyage," said froggy, "will be quickly made, If you will tie your foot to mine."

Frog vaunted the delight of bathing, Praised the varieties they'd met upon the way, And when the rat consented to be tied, Attempted to bear him away.

The rat half drowned resisted all he could.

The frog, imaged the dinner he would make; Suddenly, flying from a neighboring wood, A hawk appeared, and quickly did he take Both of the combatants up in his bill, Before they e'en had time to make their will; And quite delighted did the greedy sinner Make off of fish and flesh a hearty dinner.

For in the hawk's dominions, fast days Are never kept.

Now if the frog had acted as he ought, And had not tried to dine off the poor rat, They would not both have perished, To make fat, A pampered hawk; And master rat, Had he not been so curious about Aquatic government, Had from the sc.r.a.pe got safely out.

MORAL.

A scheme or a conspiracy, Be it all plotted well As safe, 'twould seem as it could be, And sure of all success, May, none the less, Entirely fail, And grand conspirators, And all bewail, The day that set them scheming.

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THE LION AND THE FLY.

A lion by a gad-fly worried, Half maddened by his sting, Exclaimed, "Be off, vile fly-- Mean, pitiful, base thing!"

After the fly had ended his repast, Fully exhausted feels the beast at last, And roared so that he shook the earth, While the victorious fly Met in the spider's web his destiny.

MORAL.

Two morals draw I from this tale: First, We should fear the smallest enemy; And second, We may escape great perils, And from a trifling cause may die.

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THE TWO MULES.

Two mules went travelling on their way, One with a sack of corn; The other with gold and bells so gay, Most gaily tripped along.

Proud of so rich a load, He kept the bells a ringing-- And was so proud, had he known how He would have commenced singing.

Soon some robbers rude appeared, Who stopped this mule upon his road, And very soon they had him cleared Of all his weight of precious gold.

Falling beneath their blows, "I die,"

The expiring trotter cried, "Had you been," said the other, "Low as I, you would not thus have died."

Be moderate when you are high, Nor glory o'er the pa.s.sers by.

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JUPITER AND THE FARMER.

Jupiter had a farm to let, Mercury advertised it, and people came, Made offers, listened, all the same, Made some objection.

One declared the land Was rough and dry, And full of sand.

One had this reason, one had that, Until at last a man appeared, Who said he'd try to farm it, agreed that He might have any weather that he chose.

Behold! as soon as he but yawns, it blows Or rains, or is quite clear.

His neighbors, even the most near, Are not affected by these changes.

In usual route, their weather ranges; They have good crops, But he had none.

At last when tired, he began Complaining unto Jupiter.

The next year the same thing, Changes of weather he can bring-- And the neighbors no more Than the Americans, Are troubled by the farming Of his lands.

At last tired out, with all his strife in vain, He yields his power to the G.o.d of rain; Acknowledging, that all along The G.o.d did right, And he did wrong.

MORAL.

Let us conclude that Providence For man ordains much better than we can.

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THE c.o.c.k, THE CAT, AND THE LITTLE MOUSE.

A young mouse, who had nothing seen, Was nearly caught; You shall hear how He told his mother the adventure-- He said, "Pray, listen, now: I started out to frolic at a venture, When two fine animals appeared Before my eyes, And filled me with surprise.

One was soft, benign, and sweet, The other, turbulent, and full of inquietude, Had a loud voice, piercing and rude, And on his head a piece of flesh.

A sort of arm raised him up in the air, As though to fly out of a mesh-- His tail was spread out like a fan."

Now it was a c.o.c.k of which our little mouse, Made to his mother this fine picture, Describing him like an enthusiast.

"He beat," said he, "his flanks, With his two arms, Making such a noise and such a din, That, frightened half to death, I hurried in.

Although I pique myself upon my courage And heartily I cursed him in my heart, For but for him, I'd taken part, In conversation with the gentle creature, Who my advances would encourage.

She is velvety, like us, with a long tail, A modest look, and sparkling eyes, And is much like a rat. She spies The objects round her. I turned pale On hearing the other creature's din, Or else I should have asked her in."

"My child," said the mother, "this last was a cat, An enemy of every mouse and rat.

The other a c.o.c.k, whom do not fear, Perhaps we may dine on him here."

Take care, whatever they may seem, Of judging people by their mien.

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