Puppy that an Asse in the House would needs go the same Gamesom Way to Work to Curry favour for Himself too but he was quickly given to Understand with a Good Cudgel the Difference betwixt the One Play-Fellow and the Other The MORAL People that live by Example should do well to look very Narrowly into the Force and Authority of the President without Saying or Doing Things at a Venture for that may Become One Man which would be Absolutely Intolerable in Another under Differing Circumstances REFLEXION Under the Allegory of the Asse is Insinuated the License of a Buffoon There 's Mischief and Scandal in the very Sport and Humour of it There are some men that seem to have Brutal Minds wrapt up in Humane Shapes Their very Caresses are Rude and Importune and with Aesops Asse here their very Complements deserve a Correction rather than an Encouragement or a Reward All Creatures have somewhat in them peculiar to their Several Species and that Practice is still the Best which is most Consonant to the Nature of them by a Common Instinct The Fawnings of an Asse are as Unnatural as the Brayings would be of a Dog and a man would as soon Chuse him for his Bed fellow as for his Play fellow He that follows Nature is never out of his Way and that which is Best for every Man is Fittest for him too He does it with Ease and Success whereas all Imitation is Puti'd and Servile FAB XVI A Lion and a Mouse UPon the Roaring of a Beast in the Wood a Mouse ran presently out to see what News and what was it but a Lion Hamper'd in a Net This Accident brought to her mind how that she her self but some few Days before had fall'n under the Paw of a Certain Generous Lion that let her go again Upon a Strict Enquiry into the Matter she found This to be That very Lion and so set her self presently to Work upon the Couplings of the Net Gnaw'd the Threds to pieces and in Gratitude Deliver'd her Preserver The MORAL Without Good Nature and Gratitude Men had as good live in a Wilderness as in a Society There is no Subject so Inconsiderable but his Prince at some time or Other may have Occasion for him and it holds through the Whole Scale of the Creation that the Great and the Little have Need one of Another REFLEXION There is Nothing so Little but Greatness may come to Stand in need on 't and therefore Prudence and Discretion ought to have a place in Clemency as well as in Piety and Justice 'T is Doing as we would be done by and the Obligation is yet Stronger when there is Gratitude as well as Honour and Good Nature in the Case The Generosity of the Lion and the Gratitude of the Mouse The Power the Dignity and the Eminence of the One and the Meanness of the Other do all Concur to the making of this a very Instructive Fable Who would have thought that Providence should ever have lay'd the Life of a Lion at the Mercy of a Mouse But the Divine Wisdom that brings the Greatest Ends to pass by the most Despicable Means Orders the Reward of Virtue and the punishment of Vice by Ways only known to it self in token of an Approbation of the One and a Dislike of the Other Here 's a Recommendation of Clemency and Wisdom Both in One for the Lion in sparing the Life of the Mouse sav'd his Own and has left us in this Fable an Instance of a Grateful Beast that will stand upon Record to the Confusion of many an Ungrateful Man that is to say against those that in their Prosperity forget the Friends that to their Loss and Hazard stood by and succour'd them in their Adversity This is a Sin of so odious and Dangerous an Example that it puts even Piety and Gratitude it self out of Countenance And then the Tenderness on the other side is Matter of Interest and ordinary Prudence as well as of Virtue If this Lion had kill'd the Mouse what would the other Mice have said or Done afterward when they should have found the same Lion in the Toil Have a care Good People for this is He that killed our Sister and we cannot save His Life without Hazarding our Own If the Huntsmen Kill Him we are sure He 'll never Kill Us Beside that we shall have one Enemy the fewer for 't when he 's gone Now the Reason of Aesops Mouse here works quite Another way This Lion says he gave Me my Life when he had it at Mercy and it is now My Turn and Duty to do what I can to preserve His. No Flesh in fine can be so Great as not to tremble under the Force and Consequences of this President FAB XVII A Sick Kite and her Mother PRay Mother says a Sick Kite Give over these Idle Lamentations and let Me rather have your Prayers Alas my Child says the Dam which of the Gods shall I go to for a Wretch that has Robb'd All their Altars The MORAL Nothing but the Conscience of a Virtuous Life can make Death Easie to us Wherefore there 's No Trusting to the Distraction of an Agonizing and a Death-bed Repentance REFLEXION THE Kite's Death-bed Devotion and Repentance works like the Charity and Piety of a great many Penitents we meet with in the World that after the Robbing of Temples the prophaning of Altars and other Violences of Rapine and Oppression Build an Hospital perhaps or some Little Alms-House out of the Ruines of the Church and the spoils of Widows and Orphans put up a Bill for the Prayers of the Congregation Wipe their Mouths and All 's well again But 't is not for a Wicked Life to trust to the Hazzards of an Uncertain State and Disposition at the point of Death When Men come to that Last Extremity once by Languor Pain or Sickness and to lie Agonizing betwixt Heaven and Hell under the stroke either of a Divine Judgment or of Human Frailty They are not commonly so sensible of their Wickedness or so Effectually touch'd with the remorse of a true Repentance as they are Distracted with the terrors of Death and the Dark Visionary Apprehensions of what 's to come People in that Condition do but discharge themselves of Burdensom Reflexions as they do of the Cargo of a Ship at Sea that has sprung a Leak Every thing is done in a Hurry and men only part with their Sins in the one Case as they do with their Goods in the other to Fish them up again so soon as the storm is over Grace must be very strong in these Conflicts wholly to Vanquish the weaknesses of Distressed Nature That certainly is none of the time to make Choice of for the Great Work of reconciling our selves to Heaven when we are divided and confounded betwixt an Anguish of Body and of Mind And the Man is worse than Mad that Ventures his Salvation upon that Desperate Issue We have abundance of
Stork A Stork that was Present at the Song of a Dying Swan told her 't was contrary to Nature to Sing so much out of Season and Ask'd her the Reason of it Why says the Swan I am now Entering into a State where I shall be no longer in Danger of either Snares Guns or Hunger and who would not joy at such a deliverance The MORAL Death is but the Last Farewell to All the Difficulties Pains and Hazzards of Life REFLEXION 'T IS a Great Folly to Fear that which it is Impossible to Avoid and it is yet a Greater Folly to Fear the Remedy of All Evils For Death Cures All Diseases and Frees us from All Cares It is as Great a Folly again not to Prepare our selves and Provide for the Entertainment of an Inevitable fate We are as sure to go Out of the World as we are that ever we came In to 't and Nothing but the Conscience of a Good Life can Support us in That Last Extremity The Fiction of a Swan's Singing at her Death does in the Moral but Advise and Recommend it to us to make ready for the Chearful Entertainment of our Last Hour and to Consider with our Selves that if Death be so Welcome a Relief even to Animals barely as a Deliverance from the Cares Miseries and Dangers of a Troublesome Life how much a Greater Blessing ought All Good Men to Account it then that are not only Freed by it from the Snares Difficulties and Distractions of a Wicked World but put into Possession over and above of an Everlasting Peace and the Fruition of Joys that shall never have an End FAB CCLXVIII The Inconsolable Widow THere was a Poor Young Woman that had brought her self e'en to Death's door with Grief for her Sick Husband but the Good Man her Father did All he could to Comfort her Come Child says he We are all Mortal Pluck up a Good Heart my Girl for let the Worst come to the Worst I have a Better Husband in store for thee when This is gone Alas Sir says she what d' ye talk of Another Husband for why you had as good have Struck a Dagger to my Heart No No If ever I think of Another Husband may Without any more ado the Man dies and the Woman Immediately breaks out into such Transports of Tearing her Hair and Beating her Breast that Every body thought she 'd have run Stark-Mad upon 't But upon second Thoughts she Wipes her Eyes Lifts 'em up and cries Heaven's Will be done and then turns to her Father Pray Sir says she About T'other Husband you were speaking of Is he here in the House The MORAL This Fable gives us to Understand that a Widows Tears are quickly Dry'd up and that it is not Impossible for a Woman to Out-live the Death of her Husband And after All the Outrages of her Funeral Sorrow to Propose to her self many a Merry Hour in the Arms of a Second Spouse REFLEXION HERE 's the Figure of a Worldly Sorrow and of a Worldly Love drawn to the Life from the Heart and Humour of a Right Worldly Woman Hypocrisie Out-does the Truth in Grief as well as in Religion 'T is too Fierce and Noisie to be Natural but the Ostentation supplies the Place of the Duty If the Wives Transports had not been Counterfeit they would have been as Certain Death as the Husbands Disease For Flesh and Blood is not able to Bear up under so Intolerable a Weight It is in short only the Acting a Part not the Discharge of a Flowing Passion she takes the Hint Plays her Roll Cries out her Set-Time and when the Farce is over betakes herself from her Infirmity to her Philosophy not forgetting the Politique Part all this while of making her Mourning for One Husband Prologue to the Drawing-on of Another And This is not the Poor Woman's Case Alone but many a Poor Man's too for the Extravagance holds for a Sick Wife as well as for a Sick Husband 'T is Custom Practice and Good Manners in fine that in a Great Measure Rules This Affair People Proportion their Griefs to their Hopes and their Tears to their Legacies There is as much a Fashion in the Mourning Face as in the Mourning Dress and our very Looks must be in Mode as well as Our Cloaths This Hint Minds me of a Pleasant Droll of a Painter to an Honourable Lady of My Acquaintance that was sitting for her Picture Madam says he will your Ladyship be pleas'd to have your Lip drawn as they Wear 'em now It is a Notable Part of Good Breeding to know When and How and how Much and how Long to Cry and Every Thing must be done too as they do it Now. I speak This as to the Method of a Widows Lamentations But when the Husband 's Dead the Play is Done and then it comes to the Old Bear-Garden Case when the Bull had Toss'd a Poor Fellow that went to save his Dog There was a mighty Bussle about him with Brandy and Other Cordials to bring him to Himself again but when the College found there was no Good to be done on 't Well Go thy ways Iacques says a Jolly Member of That Society There 's the Best Backsword-Man in the Field gone Come Play Another Dog The Sick Husband here wanted for neither Slops nor Doctors and Every Thing was in a Hurry too in Both Places Alike The Man Dies and the Woman Bethinks her self Well says she There 's the Best Husband Gone that ever Woman had to do withal But Pray Sir is T'other Husband in the House that you were speaking of What is all This now but directly to the Tune of the Butcher's Backsword-Man and Playing Another Dog FAB CCLXIX A Wench Parting with her Sweet-heart A Common Wench was Wringing her Hands and Crying her self to death almost and what was the Bus'ness forsooth but she had Newly Parted with her Sweet-heart Away ye Fool you says One of her Neighbors to Torment your self out of your Life for such a Fellow as This Nay says the Lass I am not so much Troubled at Parting with the Man but he has Carry'd away his Coat too and truly when he had given me All he had in the World beside methinks I might e'en have had That too as well as All the Rest. The MORAL Here 's a Mercenary Prostitute Drawn to the very quick that lays her Profit more to Heart then her Love REFLEXION IT seldom falls out that a Common Mistress troubles her Head much with Particular Inclinations though there are some Mercenaries so Generous yet in the Way of their Profession that rather then not Trade at all they 'll Trade to Loss But This was not the Case of the Sorrowful Wight here in the Fable Her Trouble was the Loss of the Coat not the Loss of the Man 'T is the same Thing with Cheats and Sharpers that 't is with Whores and the same Humour in short that we find in All Humane Beasts
Recommendation from Croesus to the King there who according to Herodotus was a Friend and an Ally of Croesus's and his Name Labynetus not Lycerus as Planudes has Handed it down to us upon a Great Mistake But his Curiosity led him first to pass through Greece for the sake of the Seven VVise Men whose Reputation was at That Time Famous All over the World He had the Good Hap in his Travels to find them at Corinth together with Anacharsis and several of their Followers and Disciples Where they were All Treated by Periander at a Villa of his not far off the Towne This Encounter was to the Common Satisfaction of the Whole Company the Entertainment Philosophical and Agreeable and among other Discourses they had some Controversy upon the Subject of Government and which was the most Excellent Form Aesop being still for Monarchy and the Rest for a Common-wealth He Travell'd thence a while after into Asia and so to Babylon according to his first Intention CAP. XVI Aesop Adopts Ennus Ennus's Ingratitude and Falseness and Aesop's Good Nature IT was the Fashion in those Days for Princes to Exercise Tryalls of Skill in the Putting and Resolving of Riddles and Intricate Questions and He that was the Best at the Clearing or Untying of Knotty Difficulties carry'd the Prize Aesop's Faculty lay notably that way and render'd him so serviceable to the King that it brought him both Reputation and Reward It was his Unhappiness to have No Children for the Comfort and Support of his Old Age So that with the Kings Consent he Adopted a young Man who was Well Born and Ingenious enough but Poor His Name was Ennus Aesop took as much care of his Institution as if he had been his own Child and Train'd him up in those Principles of Vertue and Knowledge that might most probably render him Great and Happy But there 's no working upon a Flagitious and Perverse Nature by Kindness and Discipline and t is time lost to think of Mastering so Incurable an Evil So that Ennus after the Manner of other Wicked Men heaping One Villany upon another Counterfeits his Fathers Name and Hand to Certain Letters wherein he Promises his Assistance to the Neighbour Princes against Labynetus These Letters Ennus carry's to the King and Charges his Father with Treason though in Appearance with All the trouble and unwillingness that was possible Only a Sense of his Duty to his King and to his Country swallow'd up All other Respects of Reverence and Modesty that a Son ows to a Father The King took All These Calumnies for Instances of Ennus's Affections to him without the Least Suspition of any Fraud in the Matter So that without any further Enquiry he ordered Aesop to be put to Death The Persons to whom the Care of his Execution was Committed being well Assured of his Innocence and of the Kings Ungovernable Passions took him out of the way and Gave it out that he was Dead Some few Dayes after this there came Letters to Labynetus from Antasis the King of Aegypt wherein Labynetus was Desired by Amasis to send him a certain Architect that could raise a Tower that should Hang in the Aire and likewise Resolve All Questions Labynetus was at a Great Loss what answer to return And the Fierceness of his Displeasure against Aesop being by This time somewhat Abated he began to Enquire after him with Great Passion and would often Profess That if the Parting with One halfe of his Kingdom could bring him to Life again he would Give it Hermippus and Others that had kept him out of the Way told the King upon the Hearing of This That Aesop was yet Alive so They were commanded to bring him forth which they did in All the Beastlyness he had Contracted in the Prison He did no sooner Appear but he made his Innocence so manifest that Labynetus in Extreme Displeasure and Indignation commanded the False Accuser to be put to Death with most Exquisite Torments But Aesop after All this Interceded for him and Obtained his Pardon upon a Charitable Presumption that the Sence of so Great a Goodness and Obligation would yet work upon him Herodotus tells this Story of Cambyses the Son of Cyrus and Croesus and with what Joy Cambyses received Croesus again after he was supposed to be put to death by his own Order but Then it Varies in This that he Caused Those to be put to Death that were to have seen the Execution done for not Observing his Commands CAP. XVII Aesop's Letters of Morality to his Son Ennus UPON Aesop's coming again into Favour he had the King of Aegypt's Letter given him to Consider of and Advised Labynetus to send him for Answer That Early the next Spring he should have the Satisfaction he Desired Things being in this State Aesop took Ennus Home to him again and so order'd the Matter that he wanted neither Councells nor Instructions nor any other Helps or Lights that might Dispose him to the Leading of a Virtuous Life as will Appear by the Following Precepts My Son says he Worship God with Care and Reverence and with a Sincerity of Heart voyd of All Hypocrisie or Ostentation Not as if that Divine Name and Power were only an Invention to Frigh Women and Children but know That God is Omnipresent True and Allmighty Have a Care even of your Most Private Actions and Thoughts for God sees Thorough you and your Conscience will bear Witness against you It is according to Prudence as well as Nature to pay that Honour to your Parents that you Expect your Children should pay to you Do All the Good you can to All men but in the First Place to your Nearest Relations and do no Hurt however where you can do no Good Keep a Guard upon your Words as well as upon your Actions that there be no Impurity in Either Follow the Dictates of your Reason and you are Safe and have a Care of Impotent Affections Apply your selfe to Learn More so long as there 's any Thing Left that you do not know and Value Good Councell before Mony Our Minds must be Cultivated as well as our Plants The Improvement of our Reason makes us like Angells whereas the Neglect of it turns us into Beasts There 's no Permanent and Inviolable Good but Wisdom and Virtue though the Study of it signifies Little without the Practice Do not think it impossible to be a Wise Man without looking Sowre upon it Wisdom makes Men Severe but not Inhumane It is Virtue not to be Vicious Keep Faith with All Men. Have a Care of a Lye as you would of Sacriledge Great Bablers have No Regard either to Honesty or Truth Take Delight in and frequent the Company of Good Men for it will give you a Tincture of their Manners too Take heed of that Vulgar Error of thinking that there is any Good in Evil. It is a Mistake when Men talk of Profitable Knavery or of Starving Honesty for Virtue and
was had brought these Calamities upon Them The Oracle gave them this Answer That they were to Expiate for the Death of Aesop. In the Conscience of their Barbarity they Erected a Pyramid to his Honor and it is upon Tradition that a Great Many of the Most Eminent Men among the Greeks of that Season went afterwards to Delphos upon the News of the Tragical End of Aesop to Learn the Truth of the History and found upon Enquiry That the Principal of the Conspirators had layd Violent hands upon Themselves UTILE DULCI THE FABLES OF AESOP c. FABLE I. A Cock and a Diamond AS a Cock was turning up a Dunghill he spy'd a Diamond Well says he to himself this sparkling Foolery now to a Lapidary in my place would have been the Making of him but as to any Use or Purpose of mine a Barley-Corn had been worth Forty on 't The MORAL He that 's Industrious in an Honest Calling shall never fail of a Blessing 'T is the part of a Wise Man to Prefer Things Necessary before Matters of Curiosity Ornament or Pleasure REFLEXION THE Moralists will have Wisdom and Virtue to be meant by the Diamond the World and the Pleasures of it by the Dunghill and by the Cock a Voluptuous Man that Abandons himself to his Lusts without any regard either to the Study the Practice or the Excellency of Better Things Now with favour of the Ancients this Fable seems to me rather to hold forth an Emblem of Industry and Moderation The Cock lives by his honest Labor and maintains his Family out of it His Scraping upon the Dunghill is but Working in his Calling The precious Stone is only a gawdy Temptation that Fortune throws in his way to divert him from his Business and his Duty He would have been glad he says of a Barley-Corn instead on 't and so casts it aside as a thing not worth the heeding What is all this now but the passing of a true Estimate upon the matter in question in preferring 〈◊〉 which Providence has made and pronounc'd to be the Staff of Life before a glittering Gew-Gaw that has no other Value then what Vanity Pride and Luxury have set upon 't The Price of the Market to a Ieweller in his Trade is one thing but the intrinfick Worth of a thing to a Man of Sense and Iudgment is another Nay that very Lapidary himself with a coming Stomach and in the Cock's place would have made the Cock's Choice The Doctrin in short may be this That we are to prefer things necessary before things superfluous the Comforts and the Blessings of Providence before the dazling and the splendid Curiosities of Mode and Imagination And finally that we are not to govern our Lives by Fancy but by Reason FAB II. A Cat and a Cock. IT was the hard Fortune once of a Cock to fall into the Clutches of a Cat. Puss had a Months Mind to be upon the Bones of him but was not willing to pick a Quarrel however without some plausible Color for 't Sirrah says she what do you keep such a bawling and screaming a Nights for that no body can sleep near you Alas says the Cock I never wake any body but when 't is time for People to rise and go about their Business Nay says the Cat and then there never was such an incestuous Rascal Why you make no more Conscience of Lying with your own Mother and your Sisters In truth says the Cock again that 's only to provide Eggs for my Master and Mistress Come come says Puss without any more ado 't is time for me to go to Breakfast and Cats don't live upon Dialogues at which word she gave him a Pinch and so made an end both of the Cock and of the Story FAB III. A Wolf and a Lamb. AS a Wolf was lapping at the Head of a Fountain he spy'd a Lamb paddling at the same time a good way off down the Stream The Wolf had no sooner the Prey in his Eye but away he runs open-mouth to 't Villain says he how dare you lye muddling the Water that I 'm a drinking Indeed says the poor Lamb I did not think that my drinking there below could have foul'd your Water so far above Nay says t'other you 'll never leave your chopping of Logick till your Skin 's turn'd over your Ears as your Fathers was a matter of six Months ago for prating at this sawcy rate you remember it full well Sirrah If you ll believe me Sir quoth the innocent Lamb with fear and trembling I was not come into the World then Why thou Impudence cries the Wolf hast thou neither Shame nor Conscience But it runs in the Blood of your whole Race Sirrah to hate our Family and therefore since Fortune has brought us together so conveniently you shall e'en pay some of your Fore-Fathers Scores before you and I part and so without any more ado he leapt at the Throat of the miserable helpless Lamb and tore him immediately to pieces The MORAL of the Two Fables above 'T is an Easie Matter to find a Staff to Beat a Dog Innocence is no Protection against the Arbitrary Cruelty of a Tyrannical Power But Reason and Conscience are yet so Sacred that the Greatest Villanies are still Contenanc'd under that Cloak and Color REFLEXION PRIDE and Cruelty never want a Pretence to do Mischief The Plea of Not Guilty goes for Nothing against Power For Accusing is Proving where Malice and Force are Joyn'd in the Prosecution When Innocence is to be oppress'd by Might Arguments are foolish things nay the very Merits Virtues and good Offices of the Person accus'd are improv'd to his Condemnation As the Industry and Watchfulness of the Cock here in the calling of People out of their Beds to work when 't is time to rise is turn'd upon him as a Crime Nay such is the Confidence of a spightful Cruelty that People shall be charg'd rather than fail with things utterly impossible and wholly foreign to the Matter in question The Lamb it self shall be made malicious And what is this now but the lively Image of a perverse Reason of State set up in opposition to Truth and Justice but under the August Name and Pretence however of Both As Loyalty for the purpose shall be call'd Rebellion and the Exercise of the most Necessary Powers of Government shall pass for Tyranny and Oppression Decency of Religious Worship shall be made Superstition Tenderness of Conscience shall be call'd Phanaticism Singularity and Faction and the very Articles of the Christian Faith shall be condemn'd for Heresie Villanies have not the same Countenance when there are Great Interests Potent Mediations Presents Friends Advocates Plausible Colours and Flourishes of Wit and Rhetorique Interpos'd betwixt the Sight and the Object There are ways of Deceiving the Eyes as well as of Blinding them so that the Cause of the Innocent must be Remitted at last to that Great and Final Decision where there
in Body Liberty or Fortune How many do we see Daily Gaping and Struggling with Bones in their Throats that when they have gotten them drawn out have Attempted the Ruine of their Deliverers The World in short is full of Practices and Examples to Answer the Intent of this Fable and there are Thousands of Consciences that will be Touch'd with the Reading of it whose Names are not written in their Foreheads FAB IX A Countryman and a Snake A Countryman happen'd in a Hard Winter to spy a Snake under a Hedg that was half Frozen to Death The Man was Good Natur'd and Took it up and kept it in his Bosom till Warmth brought it to Life again and so soon as ever it was in Condition to do Mischief it bit the very Man that sav'd the Life on 't Ah thou Ungrateful Wretch Says he Is that Venomous Ill Nature of thine to be Satisfi'd with nothing less than the Ruine of thy Preserver The MORAL There are Some Men like Some Snakes 'T is Natural to them to be doing Mischief and the Greater the Benefit on the One side the More implacable is the Malice on the other REFLEXION HE that takes an Ungrateful Man into his Bosom is well nigh sure to be Betray'd and it is no longer Charity but Folly to think of Obliging the Common Enemies of Mankind But 't is no New Thing for good Natur'd Men to meet with Ungrateful Returns Wherefore Friendships Charities and Kindnesses should be well Weigh'd and Examin'd as to the Circumstances of Time Place Manner Person and Proportion before we Sign and Seal A Man had much better take a Tyger into his Grounds than a Snake into his Bosom How many Examples have we seen with our own Eyes of Men that have been pick'd up and Reliev'd out of Starving Necessities without either Spirit or Strength to do Mischief who in requital have afterwards conspir'd against the Life Honor and Fortune of their Patrons and Redeemers Did ever any of these Human Snakes lose their Venom for lying under some Temporary Incapacity of Using it Will they be ever the less Dangerous and Malicious when Warmth shall bring them to themselves again because they were once Frozen and Benumm'd with Cold The very Credulity Encourages an Abuse where the Will to do Mischief only waits for the Power and Opportunity of putting it in Execution Facility makes the Innocent a Prey to the Crafty Wherefore it is highly necessary for the One to know how far and to Whom he Trusts and for the Other to understand what he is to Trust to The Snake after his Recovery is the very same Snake still that he was at first How many People have we read of in Story that after a Pardon for One Rebellion have been taken in Another with That very Pardon in their Pockets and the Ink scarce Dry upon the Parchment Now all this is no more than the Proverb in a Fable Save a Thiefe from the Gallows and he 'll Cut your Throat FAB X. A Lion and an Asse AN Asse was so Hardy once as to fall a Mopping and Braying at a Lyon The Lyon began at first to shew his Teeth and to Stomack the Affront but upon Second Thoughts Well! says he Ieer on and be an Asse still Take notice only by the way that 't is the Baseness of your Character that has sav'd your Carcass The MORAL It is below the Dignity of a Great Mind to Entertain Contests with People that have neither Quality nor Courage Beside the Folly of Contending with a Miserable Wretch where the very Competition is a Scandal REFLEXION SCOUNDRELS are apt to be Insolent toward their Superiors but it does not yet become a man of Honor and Wisdom to Contest with Mean Rascals and to Answer Every Fool in his Folly One Indignity is not to be Reveng'd by Another The very Contest sets the Master and the Man upon the Same Level and the Lion was in the Right not to Cast away his Displeasure upon an Asse where there was only Reputation to be Lost and None to be Gotten The very Beasts of the Forrest will Rise up in Judgment against such men Contempt in such a Case as This is the only Honorable Revenge FAB XI A City Mouse and a Country Mouse THere goes an Old Story of a Country Mouse that Invited a City-Sister of hers to a Country Collation where she spar'd for Nothing that the Place afforded as Mouldy Crusts Cheese-Parings Musty Oatmeal Rusty Bacon and the like Now the City-Dame was so well bred as Seemingly to take All in Good Part But yet at last Sister says she after the Civilest Fashion why will you be Miserable when you may be Happy Why will you lie Pining and Pinching your self in such a Lonesome Starving Course of Life as This is when t is but going to Town along with Me to Enjoy all the Pleasures and Plenty that Your Heart can Wish This was a Temptation the Country Mouse was not able to Resist so that away they Trudg'd together and about Midnight got to their Journeys End The City Mouse shew'd her Friend the Larder the Pantry the Kitchin and Other Offices where she laid her Stores and after This carry'd her into the Parlour where they found yet upon the Table the Reliques of a Mighty Entertainment of That very Night The City-Mouse Carv'd her Companion of what she lik'd Best and so to 't they fell upon a Velvet Couch together The Poor Bumkin that had never seen nor heard of such Doings before Bless'd her self at the Change of her Condition when as ill luck would have it all on a Sudden the Doors flew open and in comes a Crew of Roaring Bullies with their Wenches their Dogs and their Bottles and put the Poor Mice to their Wits End how to save their Skins The Stranger Especially that had never been at This Sport before but she made a Shift however for the present to slink into a Corner where she lay Trembling and Panting 'till the Company went their Way So soon as ever the House was Quiet again Well My Court Sister says she If This be the Way of Your Town-Gamboles I 'll e'en back to my Cottage and my Mouldy Cheese again for I had much rather lie Knabbing of Crusts without either Fear or Danger in my Own Little Hole than be Mistress of the Whole World with Perpetual Cares and Alarums The MORAL The Difference betwixt a Court and a Country Life The Delights Innocence and Security of the One Compar'd with the Anxiety the Lewdness and the Hazards of the Other REFLEXION THE Design of This Fable is to set forth the Advantages of a Private Life above Those of a Publick which are certainly very Great if the Blessings of Innocence Security Meditation Good Air Health and sound Sleeps without the Rages of Wine and Lust or the Contagion of Idle Examples can make them so For Every Thing there is Natural and Gracious There 's the Diversion of All
of the Family happen'd to set his Foot upon 't The Snake bit him and he Di'd on 't The Father of the Child made a Blow at the Snake but Miss'd his Aim and only left a Mark behind him upon the Stone where he Struck The Countryman Offer'd the Snake some time after This to be Friends again No says the Snake so long as you have This Flaw upon the Stone in Your Eye and the Death of the Child in your Thought there 's No Trusting of ye The MORAL In Matter of Friendship and Trust we can never be too Tender but yet there 's a Great Difference betwixt Charity and Facility We may Hope Well in many Cases but let it be without Venturing Neck and All upon 't for New-Converts are Slippery REFLEXION 'T is Ill Trusting a Reconcil'd Enemy but 't is Worse yet to Proceed at One Step from Clemency and Tenderness to Confidence and Trust Especially where there are so many Memorials in Sight for Hatred and Revenge to work upon 'T is Generous however to Forgive an Enemy though Extremely Hazardous to Grace him in the doing of an Ill Thing with the Countenance of a Deference to his Merit Nay a Bare Easiness of Pardoning has but too often the Force of a Temptation to Offend again 'T is a Nice Business to Indulge on the Left Hand without Punishing on the Right for there must be No Sacrificing of a Faithful Friend to the Generosity of Obliging a Mortal Enemy But the Case is then most Deplorate when Reward goes over to the Wrong side and when Interest shall be made the Test and the Measure of Virtue Upon the whole Matter the Countryman was too Easie in Proposing a Reconciliation the Circumstances duly Consider'd And the Snake was much in the Right on the Other hand in not entertaining it from a man that had so many Remembrancers at Hand still to Provoke him to a Revenge 'T is a great Errour to take Facility for Good Nature Tenderness without Discretion is no better than a mere Pardonable Folly FAB XXXI A Fox and a Stork THere was a Great Friendship once betwixt a Fox and a Stork and the Former would needs Invite the Other to a Treat They had Several Soups serv'd up in Broad Dishes and Plates and so the Fox fell to Lapping Himself and bad his Guest Heartily Welcom to what was before him The Stork found he was Put upon but set so Good a Face however upon his Entertainment that his Friend by All means must take a Supper with Him That night in Revenge The Fox made Several Excuses upon the Matter of Trouble and Expence but the Stork in fine would not be said Nay So that at last he promis'd him to come The Collation was serv'd up in Glasses with Long Narrow Necks and the Best of Every thing that was to be had Come says the Stork to his Friend Pray be as Free as if you were at home and so fell to 't very Savourly Himself The Fox quickly found This to be a Trick though he could not but Allow of the Contrivance as well as the Justice of the Revenge For such a Glass of Sweet-Meats to the One was just as much to the Purpose as a Plate of Porridge to the Other The MORAL 'T is allowable in all the Liberties of Conversation to give a Man a Rowland for his Oliver and to pay him in his Own Coin as we say provided always that we keep within the Compass of Honour and Good Manners REFLEXION AESOP has here given us the Fiction of a Case wherein it may not be Amiss to repay an Abuse in its own Kind The Mockery of the Fox was a Reproach as it Hit the Stork on the Weak side but That which was Rudeness and Ill Nature in the Aggressor was only a Monitory Justice and a Discreet Sharpness in the Other But This is the Fate Commonly of Drolls and Buffoons that while they think to make Sport with Others they serve only in the conclusion for a Laughing Stock Themselves There 's Nothing looks Sillier than a Crafty Knave Out-witted and Beaten at his Own Play The Foxes Frolick went too far in regard it was both upon an Invitation and under his Own Roof Now the Return of the Stork was only a Quid pro Quo and a Warrantable Revenge even according to the Rules of Good Manners and Good Fellowship for the Fox's leading the Humour gave the Other not only a Provocation but a kind of a Right to Requite him in his Own Way Beside that it was the Cleverer Mockery of the Two This may serve to Reprove Those Liberties in Conversation that pass the Bounds of Good Nature Honour Honesty and Respect When they Exceed These Limits they Degenerate into Scurrility Scandal and Reproach for in All Cases an Eye must be had to the Due Circumstances of Measure Time Place Occasion and Person The Laws of Humanity and Hospitality must be kept Sacred upon any Terms for the Wounding of a Friend for the sake of a Jest is an Intemperance and an Immorality not to be Endur'd There was somewhat of This in the Fox's leading the Frolique FAB XXXII A Fox and a Carv'd Head AS a Fox was Rummidging among a Great many Carv'd Figures there was One very Extraordinary Piece among the Rest. He took it up and when he had Consider'd it a while Well says he What Pity 't is that so Exquisite an Outside of a Head should not have one Grain of Sense in 't The MORAL ' T is not the Barber or the Taylor that makes the Man and 't is No New Thing to see a Fine Wrought Head without so much as One Grain of Salt in 't REFLEXION MANY a Fool has a Fair Out-side and Many a Man of Fortune and 〈◊〉 has not so much as Common Sense We have a Whole World of Heads to Answer the Drift of This Emblem But there is No Judging however by the Senses of Matters that the Senses can take No Cognizance of as Virtue Wisdom and the Like The Excellency in fine of of the Soul is above the Beauty of the Body Not but that the Graces of the One and the Endowments of the Other may Encounter sometimes how rarely soever in One and the Same Person But Beauty and Judgment are so far yet from being Inseparable that they seem Effectually to Require More or Less a Diversity of Temperament Beside that More Care is taken to Cultivate the Advantages of the Body than those of the Mind To Wrap up all in a Word the World it self is but a Great Shop of Carv'd Heads and the Fox's Conceit will hold as well in the Life as in the Fiction FAB XXXIII A Daw and Borrow'd Feathers A Daw that had a mind to be Sparkish Trick'd himself up with all the Gay-Feathers he could Muster together And upon the Credit of these Stoll'n or Borrow'd Ornaments he Valu'd himself above All the Birds in the Air Beside The Pride of This
Death and an Old Man AN Old Man that had Travell'd a Great Way under a Huge Burden of Sticks found himself so Weary that he Cast it Down and call'd upon Death to Deliver him from a more Miserable Life Death came presently at his Call and Asked him his Bus'ness Pray Good Sir says he Do me but the favour to Help me up with my Burden again The MORAL Men call upon Death as they Do upon the Devil When he comes they 're affraid of him REFLEXION 'T IS Matter of Custom and in Passion rather then in Earnest that Men in Pain and Misery are so ready to call for Death For when he comes they are affraid of him It may be said to be the Motto of Humane Nature rather to Suffer then to Dye though 't is Good however to be always ready for That which Must come at Last The Doctrine is This That Skin and All that a man has will he give for his Life We are apt to Pick Quarrels with the World for Every Little Foolery Oh that I were e'en in in my Grave cryes my Lady My Pretty Pearl is Dead Never did any thing go so near my Heart I Praise the Lord for 't Pray Madam Bethink your self says a Good Woman to her upon a Condoling Visit. Why you have Out-liv'd the Loss of a most Excellent Husband Ay Madam says the sorrowful Widow But the Lord may send me such Another Husband I shall never have such Another Dog Every Trivial Cross makes us think we are Weary of the World but our Tongues run quite to Another Tune when we come once to parting with it in Earnest Then 't is Call the Doctor Pothecary Surgeon Purge Flux Launce Burn Saw I 'le Endure Any thing in This World if you can but keep Life and Soul together When it comes to That once 't is not Help me Off with my Burden but Help me Up with it FAB CXIV A Doctor and Patient with Sore Eyes A Physician Undertakes a Woman with Sore Eyes upon the the Terms of No Cure No Mony His Way was to Dawb 'em quite up with Oyntments and while she was in That Pickle to carry of a Spoon or a Porringer or somewhat or Other at the End of his Visit. The Womans Eyes Mended and still as she came More and More to her self again there was Every Day less and less left in the House to be seen The Doctor came to her at last and told her Mistress says he I have Discharg'd my 〈◊〉 Your Eyes are Perfectly Well again and pray let me be Payd now according to Our Agreement Alas Sir says she I 'm a Great deal Worse then I was the First Minute you Undertook me for I could see Plate Hangings Paintings and Other Goods of Value about my House 'till You had the Ordering of me but I am now brought to such a Pass that I can see nothing at all The MORAL There are Few Good Offices done for Other People which the Benefactor does not hope to be the Better for Himself REFLEXION THIS Fancy is Half Knavery Half Humour and the Doctors Part in 't is no more then according to the Common Practice of the World in Law as well as in Physick when People make the Remedy Worse then the Disease as when a Man spends the Fee Simple of an Estate in a Contest for the Title The Barber that Pick'd a Gentlemans Pocket while he was Washing of his Face Wrote after This Copy The Moral holds forth This Matter of Advice to us not to Contract any Obligations Rashly for Good Offices in course are rather Baits and Snares then Benefits and there are some Certain People that a Sober Man would not Venture the being Beholden to The Poor Woman here had her Jest for her Houshold-Stuff and the Vain Satisfaction of Paying her Physician with a Conceit for his Mony It Minds me of the Orator that was to Teach a Young Man Rhetorick on Condition of Double Pay upon the Perfecting of him in his Profession and not a Penny before The Master follow'd his Scholar Close and came to him at last for his Mony according to the Bargain The Young Fellow begg'd him over and over to Forbear it a while but could not Prevail He told him Then that there was nothing Due to him for if Rhetorick be as you say the Art or Power of Persuasion and if I cannot prevail with you to forbear Your Mony I am not Master of my Trade yet This was the Woman's Way of Reasoning with the Physician The Dr. would have his Mony for the Curing of her Eyes and the Woman shuffl'd it off that she was not Cur'd for she could see Nothing at all which was One Fallacy upon Another FAB CXV A Cat and Mice THere was a House Mightily troubled with Mice and a Notable Cat there was that Time after Time had Pick'd up so Many of 'em that they agreed among themselves to keep above in the Cieling for they found that upon the Plain Floor there was No Living for ' em This Spoil'd Pusses Sport unless she could find a way to Trepan them Down again So she Leapt up to a Pin that was driven into the Wall and there Hung like a Polcat in a Warren to Amuse them The Mice took Notice of it and One Wiser then the rest Stretched out his Neck to learn the Truth of the Matter and so soon as ever he found how ' t was Ah says he You may Hang there 'till Your Heart Akes for if you were but a Dish-Clout as you are a Counterfeiting-Devil of a Cat here 's not a Creature will come Near ye The MORAL Let no man lay himself at the Mercy of a known Enemy under any Shew or Pretence Whatsoever for he forfeits his Discretion even though he should happen to Save his Carcass and his Fortune REFLEXION WHAT we cannot Compass by Force must be Attempted by Invention and Address but then on the Other hand in All Cases of Hazzard Things would be well Weigh'd and Examin'd before we Trust. This Fable is the Fiction of a Case not Altogether Incredible 'T is a Common Thing for an Old Jade to Counterfeit Lame for fear of Hard Riding for a Duck to run Flapping and Fluttering away as if she were Maim'd to carry People from her Young as there 's a Story of a Fox that was Hard Hunted and Hung himself up by the Teeth in a Warren among the Vermin to put the Dogs to a Loss Without any more Words Twenty Instances might be given to shew how near That which we call Impulse or Instinct comes to Reason For the Cats Policy was no Other in truth then That we call Sleeping Dog-Sleep And there was the very same Fore-thought and Design in 't too which in a Construction of Law and Equity passes for Malice Prepense FAB CXVI An Ape and a Fox UPon the Decease of a Lyon of Late Famous Memory the Beasts Met in Councel to Chuse a King There were
against the Bad as the Dog did the Bits against the Knocks and then Ballance the Account FAB CCXCIV. Oxen and Timber WHY don't you Run and Make Hast cry'd the Timber in the Cart to the Oxen that Drew it The Burden is not so Heavy sure Well! said the Oxen if You did but know Your Own Fortune you 'd never be so Merry at Ours We shall be Discharg'd of our Load so soon as we come to our Journies End but You that are Design'd for Beams and Supporters shall be made to bear till your Hearts break This Hint brought the Timber to a Better Understanding of the Case The MORAL 'T is matter of Humanity Honour Prudence and Piety to be Tender One of Another for no Man Living knows his End and 't is the Evening Crowns the Day REFLEXION IT is both Base and Foolish to Insult over People in Distress for the Wheel of Fortune is Perpetually in Motion and He that 's Uppermost to day may be Under it to Morrow No Man knows what End he is Born to and it is Only Death that can Pronounce upon a Happy or a Miserable Life When the Timber made sport with the Oxen for the Drudgery they Labour'd under Little did they Dream of the Greater Oppression they were to Undergo Themselves FAB CCXCV. A Goldfinch and a Boy A Goldfinch gave his Master the slip out of the Cage and he did what he could to get him Back again but he would not come Well! says the Boy You 'll live to Repent it for you 'll never be so well Look'd to in any Other Place That may very Well be says the Bird but however I had rather be at my Own Keeping then at Yours The MORAL Never Well Full nor Fasting REFLEXION MEAT Drink and Ease can never make any Man Happy that wants his Liberty No nor any Man that Has it neither for we are never Well either with much or Little Whatever we Have we Want something else and so go on Wanting and Craving till Death takes us off in the Middle of our Longings He that 's a Pris'ner is Troubled that he cannot go whither he Would And He that 's at Large is as much Troubled that he does not know whether to Go. The One Stands still and the Other Loses his Way Now 't is not Necessity but Opinion that makes People Miserable and when we come once to be Fancy-Sick there 's No Cure for 't A Man may have his Heels at Liberty and yet be a Slave to Impotent Affections and Troubled Thoughts But This is not upon any Terms to Undervalue the Blessing of a Natural Freedom and the Goldfinch was Undoubtedly in the Right when he was once out of the Cage not to be Whistled back again if it had not been that he carry'd his Snare along with him FAB CCXCVI. A Droll and a Bishop THere was a Roguy Wag of a Droll that had a Mind once to put a Trick upon a Hard Close-Fisted Bishop so he went to him upon the First of Ianuary to Wish him a Merry New-Year on 't and begg'd a Five Guinea Piece of him for a New-Years-Gift Why the Man 's Mad says the Prelate and I believe he takes Me to be so too Dost think I have so Little Wit as to Part with such a Gob of Money for God-a-Mercy Nay my Lord says the Fellow if That be too much let it be but a Single George and I 'll be Thankful for 't But That would not do Neither He fell next Bout to a Copper Farthing and was Deny'd That too When the Fellow saw that there was no Money to be got Pray My Lord says he let me beg your Blessing then With all my Heart says the Bishop Down on your Knees and You shall have it No My Lord says T'other 't is My Turn now to Deny for if You Your self had thought That Blessing worth a Copper Farthing you 'd never have Parted with it The MORAL No Penny No Pater Noster does not hold in All Cases for the Penny and the Pater Noster do not go always together REFLEXION THERE 's No Corruption like Ecclesiastical Avarice No Cruelty so Merciless as That of a Debauch'd Church-man 'T is the Devil's Master-Piece to begin There for he knows very Well that the Scandalous Examples of a Perfidious and an Apostate Clergy are the Ready Way to bring the Holy Order of Priesthood it self into Odium and Disgrace Here 's Your Church they cry presently as if the very Function were Unhallow'd by the Mercenary Practices of some Backsliding Members of That Communion Let them Live as they Preach and Preach as they Ought and let there be No Moralizing in the Pulpit upon the Fable of the Man and the Satyr by Blowing Hot and Cold out of the same Mouth There are Symoniacal Contracts on the Buying-side as well as on the selling when People shall Preach One Doctrine to get Into a Living and the Contrary to Keep it What is This but the Selling of the Truth and of Souls for Money and the Prostituting of All that 's Sacred for the saving of their Skins and their Stakes Not but that Charity is Free and much at the Discretion of Him that is to Exercise it It is Free I say to All Intents and Purposes as to any Legal Coercion upon it though at the same time in Point of Conscience a Man may lye under the Obligation of an Indispensable Duty So that without forcing the Drift of this Fable the Bishop is not to Blame here the Matter simply Consider'd for the First Second or Third Denyal or for All together for such Circumstances may be Suppos'd with a regard to the Manner Time and Person as might not only Acquit him for the Refusal but have Reflected upon his Conduct and Prudence if he had Granted the Request So that with Veneration to the Divine Institution it self and to Those that Live up to 't we are to take This for the Figure of a Loose and a Covetous Prelate that Disgraces his Character by his Conversation and sets a Higher Rate upon a Copper Farthing then upon an Apostolical Benediction Now if This Bishop could have said Silver and Gold have I None the Author of This Fable would have Absolv'd him FAB CCXCVII. A Lapwing Preferr'd UPon a General Invitation to the Eagles Wedding there were several Birds of Quality among the Rest that took it in Heavy Dudgeon to see a Lapwing Plac'd at the Upper End of the Table 'T is true they cry'd he has a kind of a Coxcomb upon the Crown of him and a Few Tawdry Feathers but Alas he never Eat a Good Meals Meat in his Life till he came to This Preferment The MORAL 'T is a Scandal to a Government and there goes Envy along with it where Honours are Conferr'd upon Men for Address Beauty and External Advantages rather then for their Qualities and Vertues REFLEXION 'T IS a Necessary Caution in All Preferments that they be Plac'd upon
he had Wrongfully Taken He came as Unwillingly to the Point as a Bear to the Stake which gave Occasion to somebodie 's saying that it was with This Man and his Money as it is with Women and their Children He was well enough pleas'd in the Getting of it but it went to the very Heart of him when he Parted with it The MORAL Great Officers are but like Spunges they Suck till they are Full and when they come once to be Squez'd the very Hearts Blood of them comes away with their Money REFLEXION IF Men could but Separate the Profit and the Pleasure of their Sins from the Sin it self and keep the Former when they Renounce the Other what a Number of Penitents should we have in This Wicked World But the Doctrine of Satisfaction and Restitution lies so Cursedly hard upon the Gizzards of our Publicans that the Blood in their Veins is not Half so Dear to 'em as the Treasure they have in their Coffers The Man and the Money are in This Case as good as Incorporated and Fining him is little less then Flaying him But Justice however finds him Out And This in Few Words is the Sum of the Moral Avarice is as hard to Part with any thing as it was Eager to Get it When a Man is once in Possession of an Ill Gotten Estate De Facto he never Trouble his Head with the De Iure of the Question but looks upon the Propriety of what he has Gotten by Rapine to be Transferr'd to him by Providence The Money in short had Chang'd the Master and he 'd rather part with an Eye out of his Head then with a Penny out of his Coffers FAB CCCL An Old Man that was willing to put off Death THere goes a Story that Death call'd upon an Old Man and bad him come along with him The Man Excus'd himself that T'other World was a Great Journy to take upon so short a Warning and begg'd a Little time only to make his Will before he Dy'd Why says Death You have had Warning enough One would think to have made Ready before This. In truth says the Old Man This is the First Time that ever I saw ye in my whole Life That 's False says Death for you have had Daily Examples of Mortality before Your Eyes in People of All Sorts Ages and Degrees And is not the Frequent Spectacle of Other Peoples Deaths a Memento sufficient to make You think of Your Own Your Dim and Hollow Eyes methinks the Loss of your Hearing and the Faltering of the rest of your Senses should Mind ye without more ado that Death has laid hold of ye already And is This a time of day d' ye think to stand Shuffling it off still Your Peremptory Hour I tell ye is now come and there 's No Thought of a Reprieve in the Case of Fate The MORAL Want of Warning is No Excuse in the Case of Death For Every Moment of our Lives either Is or Ought to be a Time of Preparation for 't REFLEXION 'T IS the Great Bus'ness of Life to fit our selves for our End and no Man can Live Well that has not Death always in his Eye 'T is a Strange Mixture of Madness and Folly in One Solecism for People to Say or Imagine that ever any Man was Taken out of This World without time to Prepare himself for Death But the Delay of Fitting our selves is our Own Fault and we turn the very Sin into an Excuse Every Breath we draw is not only a Step towards Death but a Part of it It was Born with us It goes along with us It is the Only Constant Companion that we have in This World and yet we never think of it any more then if we knew Nothing on 't The Text is True to the very Letter that we Die Daily and yet we Feel it not Every thing under the Sun reads a Lecture of Mortality to us Our Neighbours our Friends our Relations that fall Every where round about us Admonish us of our Last Hour and yet here 's an Old Man on the Wrong-side of Fourscore perhaps Complaining that he is surpriz'd FAB CCCLI A Miser and his Bags A Covetous Rich Churle finding himself at the Point of Death caus'd his Coffers to be brought up and his Bags laid before him You and I says he must Part and I would willingly Beqùeath ye to Those that will take most Delight in ye Why then say the Bags you must devide us betwixt your Heirs and the Devils Your Heirs will have Drink and Whores for your Money and the Devils will be as well pleas'd on the Other hand that they are to have your Soul for 't The MORAL The Money of a Miser is the Last Friend he takes his leave of in This World REFLEXION 'T IS a Great deal of Pains that some People take to give Others Satisfaction and to Torment Themselves But This Verifies the Old Proverb Happy is the Son whose Father goes to the Devil for Ill Gotten Goods and Estates are commonly Squander'd away with as Little Conscience as they were Rak'd together There goes a Canker along with them when over and above the Iniquity of the Extortion and Oppression the Bloud of so many Widows and Orphans cries to Heaven for Vengeance Now a Less Generous Chuff then This in the Fable would have Hugg'd his Bags to the Last and have Envy'd That Satisfaction to his Heirs which he Himself could Enjoy no longer But it was his Care to Transmit to his Posterity a Curse with his Money and to Bequeath them the Sin in the Inordinate Love of Riches together with his Treasure THE FABLES OF POGGIUS FAB CCCLII. Industry and Sloth ONe was asking a Lazy Young Fellow what made him lye in Bed so long Why says he I am hearing of Causes every Morning that is to say I have Two Lasses at my Bed-side so soon as ever I wake Their Names are Industry and Sloth One bids me get up 'tother bids me lye still and so they give me Twenty Reasons why I should Rise and why I should not 'T is the part in the mean time of a Just Judge to hear what can be said on Both sides and before the Cause is over 't is time to go to dinner The MORAL We spend our Days in Deliberating what to do and we end them without coming to any Resolution REFLEXION THIS Fable does naturally enough set forth an Expostulation betwixt Reason and Appetite and the Danger of running out our Lives in Dilatory Deliberations when we should rather be Up and Doing In all these Cases 't is odds that the Paradox carries it against the true Reason of the Thing for we are as Partial to our Corruptions as if our Understanding were of Councel for our Frailties and manage Disputes of this kind as if we had a Mind to be overcome The Sluggard's Case in this Fable is the Case of Mankind in all the Duties of a Virtuous and a Well-Govern'd
Life where Judgment and Conscience calls us one Way and our Lusts hurry us another We spend All our Days upon Frivolus Preliminaries without ever coming to a Resolution upon the Main Points of our Business We will and we will not and then we will not again we will At this rate we run our Lives out in Adjournments from Time to Time out of a Fantastical Levity that holds us off and on betwixt Hawk and Buzzard as we say to keep us from bringing the Matter in question to a Final Issue And yet we know well enough what we ought to do and what not if we would but take the Light of Reasonable Nature for our Guide and hearken to the Councellor that every Man carries in his own Breast But Men in the General are either too Lazy to Search out the Truth or too Partial in favour of a Sensual Appetite to take notice of it when they have found it They had rather be Tasting the Ease and the Pleasures of Life than Reforming the Errors and the Vices of it Does not the Voluptuary understand in all the Liberties of a Loose and a Lewd Conversation that he runs the risque both of Body and Soul on the one Hand and Opposes all the Blessings that Attend the Duties of Virtue and Sobriety on the other Does not the Ambitious the Envious and the Revengeful Man know very well that the Thirst of Blood and the Affectation of Dominion by Violence and Oppression is a most Diabolical Outrage upon the Laws of God and Nature and upon the common Well-being of Mankind But these People are Hearing Causes too with our Slug-a bed in the Apologue that is to say Deliberating betwixt Passion and Conscience till in the End they are called away whether to Dinner or to Death it makes no Matter for the Moral is still the same FAB CCCLIII A Cock and a Fox A Fox spy'd a Cock at Roost with his Hens about him Why how now my Friend says Reynard What make you upon a Tree there Your Business lyes upon the Terra Firma and a Cock in the Air is out of his Element Methinks But you don't hear the News perhaps and it is certainly true there 's a general Peace concluded among all Living Creatures and not One of them to presume upon pain of Life and Limb Directly or Indirectly to Hurt another The Blessedest Tidings in the World says the Cock and at the same time he stretches out his Neck as if he were looking at somewhat a Great way off What are you Peering at says the Fox Nothing says 'tother but a Couple of Great Dogs yonder that are coming this Way Open-Mouth as hard as they can drive Why then says Reynard I fancy I 'd e'en best be Jogging No No says the Cock the General Peace will Secure you Ay quoth the Fox so it will but if these Roguy Currs should not have heard of the Proclamation my Coat may come to be Pink'd yet for all that And so away he Scamper'd The MORAL In all the Liberties of Sharping and Tricking One upon Another there must still a Regard be had to the Puntillos of Honour and Iustice. REFLEXION THIS is to tell us that in some Cases one Nail must be Driven out with another and the Deceiving of the Deceiver doubles the Pleasure 'T is a Hard Matter to make a False Man and a False Tale consist with themselves and when they come to Interfere the Reason and the Argument of the Case returns upon the Head of the Impostor So that it requires Great Care and Skill for a Man that has a Dark and a Double Design upon Another to keep Clear of Clashing with his own Reasonings Wherefore Paraâ—…ites and Lyers had need of Good Memories A General Peace would have Secured the Fox as well as the Cock But if the Fox would not stand the Dogs the Cock had no Reason to Venture himself with the Fox All People that are Perfidious either in their Conversation or in their Kind are Naturally to be Suspected in Reports that favour their Own Interest and when they can make nothing else on 't they find it the Best of their Play to put it off with a Jest. 'T is a common Thing for Captious People and Double-Dealers to be taken in their Own Snares as for the Purpose in the Matter of Power Policy the Fundamentals and the Maxims of Government c. How many are there that Limit Sovereignty in One Case to strain it in Another and so Handle the same Question Pro and Con at the same Time Government is to be Bounded when it may serve One Turn and Absolute when it may serve Another Insomuch that for want of Presence of Thought Men affirm what they Deny and Deny what they Affirm and run Counter to Themselves If Sovereign Power cannot Dispense 't is Ty'd up they cry and if it may be Ty'd up 't is no longer Sovereign Power for that which Tyes it up is Above it At this Rate One Doctrin Interferes with Another and the very Foundations of Reason and Government sink at last into a Paradox When the Fox brings Tydings of a peace and Preaches upon the Subject to the Poultry Beware the Geese Your Foxes Acts of Amnesty are no Other than the Old Stale Politicks I know not how many Years ago They Pardon all in General in the Beginning those that ought to be Hanged in the Middle and not one Honest Man in the Conclusion So that 't is Ten to One the Cock was Excepted in the Proclamation and that though the Dogs were not allowed so much as to lick their Lips at a Fox upon their Uttermost Peril Reynard had gotten a Proviso for Himself yet to carry on his Old Trade among the Lambs and the Poultry still This is the Method of all Popular Shams when the Multitude are to be led by the Noses into a Fool 's Paradise The State-Foxes tell 'em what Golden-Days are now a coming When Every Man shall sit under his own Vine and Eat the Fruit of his own Fig-Tree How Trade and Religion shall Flourish and the People in short keep Holy-day all the Year long These are Fine Words but the Foxes Business upon the Upshot is only the Cramming his own Gut without any respect to the Publick FAB CCCLIV. A Taylor and his Wife THere happen'd a Grievous Quarrel once betwixt a Taylor and his Wife The Woman in Contempt of his Trade called her Husband Pricklouse he gave her a Box o' the Ear for 't which serv'd only to make her more Outragious When this would do no good he set her up to the Chin in a Horse-Pond but so long as her Tongue was at Liberty there was not a Word to be got from her but the same Nick-Name in Derision over and over again Well says he to himself there 's no way I perceive to Quiet this Woman but by stopping of her Mouth and so he had her Duck'd next bout over Head and Ears
Mercury to the Eating of them that is to say to the Helping him off with ' em FAB CCCLXXVIII An Eagle and a Beetle A Hare that was hard put to 't by an Eagle took Sanctuary in a Ditch with a Beetle The Beetle Interceded for the Hare The Eagle Flapt off the former and Devoured the other The Beetle took this for an Affront to Hospitality as well as to her Self and so Meditated a Revenge watch'd the Eagle up to her Nest follow'd her and took her Time when the Eagle was Abroad and so made a shift to Roll out the Eggs and Destroy the Brood The Eagle upon this Disappointment Timber'd a great deal higher next Bout the Beetle watch'd her still and shew'd her the same Trick once again Whereupon the Eagle made her Appeal to Iupiter who gave her leave to lay her next Course of Eggs in his own Lap. But the Beetle found out a way to make Iupiter rise up from his Throne so that upon the Loosning of his Mantle the Eggs fell from him at Unawares and the Eagle was a Third time Defeated Iupiter stomach'd the Indignity but upon Hearing the Cause he found the Eagle to be the Aggressor and so Acquitted the Beetle The MORAL 'T is not for a Generous Prince to Countenance Oppression and Injustice even in his most Darling Favourites REFLEXION THE Rights and Priviledges of Hospitality are so Sacred that Iupiter himself would not Countenance the Violation of them even in his own Minion the Eagle Nor is there any thing so despicable as we see in the case of the Beetle but Access is open for the Cries of Distressed Innocence to Divine Justice Let no Man presume because he is Great and Powerful nor Despair because he is Low and Poor for the one may Rise and the other may Fall and the meanest Enemy may find a way to a Revenge Tyranny may prosper for a while 't is true and under the Countenance of a Divine Permission too as the Eagle got leave here to Deposite her Eggs or her Cause in Heaven But Iupiter's Lap it self we see is no Final Sanctuary for an Oppressor Though nothing is more common in the World then to mistake Providences and Judgments and to call the Wickedest and the worst of Men and of Things by Good Names FAB CCCLXXIX An Owl and Little Birds THere goes a Story of an Owl that was advised by the Little Birds to Build rather among the Boughs and Leaves as they did then in Walls and Hollow Trees and so they shew'd her a Young Tender Plant for her Purpose No No says the Owl those Twigs in time will come to be Lim'd and then your'e all Lost if you do but touch ' em The Birds gave little Heed to 't and so went on Playing and Chirping among the Leaves still and passing their Time there in Flocks as formerly till in the conclusion the Sprigs were all Daub'd with Lime and the Poor Wretches clamm'd and taken Their Repentance came now too Late but in Memory of this Notable Instance of the Owls Foresight the Birds never see an Owl to this very Day but they Flock about her and Follow her as if it were for a New Lesson But our Modern Owls have only the Eyes the Beak and the Plume of the Owls of Athens without the Wisdom The MORAL Good Counsel is lost upon those that have not the Grace to Hearken to 't or do not Understand it or will not Embrace and Follow it in the proper Season REFLEXION Wholesom Advice is worth nothing unless it be in Truth Given as well as taken in Season This Fable shews the Danger and the Mischief of either Rejecting not Heeding or not Entertaining it and likewise at the same time sets forth how hard a thing it is to fasten Profitable Advice upon Men that Indulge themselves in Ease and Pleasure They look upon it as so much time lost to employ the Present upon the thought of the Future and so by one Delay after another they spin out their whole Lives 'till there 's no more Future left before ' em This Dilatory Humour proceeds partly from a Sloathful Laziness of Temper as I knew a Man that would not be got out of his Bed when the House was afire over his Head Action is Death to some sort of People and they 'd as live Hang as Work It arises in a great measure too from an Habitual Heedless Inadvertency when Men are so intent upon the Present that they mind nothing else and Counsel is but cast away upon them Birds of Pleasure and Men of Pleasure are too Merry to be Wise and the case of this Fable is but the common case of the World Wholsom Advice comes in at one Ear and goes out at ' tother Men in short of Blood and Appetite have no Foresight 〈◊〉 and so Postpone Prudence as a Vertue of another Season FAB CCCLXXX A Gourd and a Pine THere was a Gourd Planted close by a Large Well-spread Pine The Season was Kindly and the Gourd shot it self up in a short time climbing by the Bows and twining about 'em 'till it topp'd and cover'd the Tree it self The Leaves were Large and the Flowers and the Fruit fair insomuch that the Gourd had the confidence to value it self above the Pine upon the comparison Why says the Gourd you have been more Years a Growing to this Stature then I have been Days Well says the Pine again but after so many Winters and Summers as I have endured after so many Blasting Colds and Parching Heats you see me the very same thing still that I was so long ago But when you come to the Proof once the First Blight or Frost shall most infallibly bring down that Stomach of yours and strip ye of all your Glory The MORAL Nothing so Insolent and Intolerable as a Proud Upstart that 's rais'd from a Dunghil he forgets both his Master and his Maker REFLEXION THE Gourd here is an Emblem of Vain Pride and Ingratitude and the Pine bids Princes and Great Men have a care what Favourites they prefer and what Friendships they Entertain and this for their own sakes as well as for the sake of the Publick He 's a Fool that takes himself to be Greater Richer Fairer or Better then he is or that reckons any thing his own which is either but Borrow'd or may be taken away next Moment He that lives barely upon Borrowing is effectually but a Beggar when his Debts are paid This Gourd in short is a Proud Upstart his Growth is quick but his Continuance short He values himself upon the Feather in his Cap and in a word upon those Fooleries that a Man of Honour and Substance would blush at And nothing else will serve him neither but to 〈◊〉 Excellencies with those that took him out of the Dirt nay and to elevate himself when a'lls done to the Dishonour of his Supporters And what 's the Issue at last of Encouraging these Minions but the
a Common Mistake of Matters at Home as well as Abroad for we keep Registers of our Neighbours Faults and none of their Good Deeds and no Memorials all this while of what we do Amiss our Selves But I am not as this Publican is the very Top of our Righteousness Thus goes the World and a Lew'd Practice it is for one Man to value himself upon the Wickedness of another But the Worst of all is yet behind that is to say to think our selves safe so long as we keep our Iniquities from the Knowledge of Men and out of our own View and Memory without any Awe of that Justice that never Sleeps and of that All-seeing Eye and Wisdom that Observes all our Mis-doings and has them perpetually in his Sight FAB CCCLXXXIX A King and a Rich Subject A Certain Prince that had a very Wealthy Over-grown Subject found it convenient to make a Traitor of him provided it could but Handsomly be brought about So the Man was taken into Custody and the Kings Evidence produced against him for Consults at this Place and at that against the Life of the King and the Peace of the Government and for Receiving Comforting and Abetting the Enemies of the Crown The Man had the Character of a very Loyal Person and People were almost at their Wits end to hear of so Horrid an Accusation against him But the Witnesses Swore Home and one of them Extream Positive that if his House at that very instant were but narrowly Search'd for Men and Arms they would find such a Provision that the Modern Discoveries at Tichbourn and Flixham were Nothing to 't The Pretended Criminal began now to Moralize upon the Story and so away goes he to his Majesty casts himself at his Feet and promises that if he might but have as Ample a Pardon as other Witnesses to Consults have had before him he would shew him the very Bottom of the Plot. I cannot deny says he but I have a great many of the Enemies of your Royal Crown and Dignity at this time Conceal'd in my House and if your Majesty shall be pleased to appoint any Person to make Seizure of them they shall be immediately Delivered up So the Prince Order'd a Squadron of his Guards and a Trusty Officer in the Head of 'em to go along with him The Gentleman led them very Frankly to his Coffers and shew'd them his Treasure These are the Traytors says he that you are to take care of and pray be pleas'd to see that they may be kept in safe Custody till they shall be Delivered by Due Course of Law The MORAL We may gather from hence that Riches are many times but a Snare to us and that Mony makes many a Man a Traytor But if a Body will Compound at last with his Estate to save his Life when he has nothing left him he may be at Rest. For a Certificate of Poverty is as good as a Protection REFLEXION THE Story of Ahab and Naboth comes directly to the Point of this Fable that is to say as to the King and Subject with the Iniquity of the Subornation and Practice Only the one was a Poor Subject and the other a Rich which does not one jot alter the Morality of the Case The Old Saying that Mony does all things is not much wide of the Truth for it gives and it takes away it makes Honest Men and Knaves Fools and Philosophers and so forward Mutatis Mutandis to the End of the Chapter There 's not any Corruption in Nature but Mony is at one end on 't The whole World is under the Dominion of it for all things under the Sun are Bought and Sold. But as it gives Men Reputation so it brings People into Snares and Dangers too It exposes them to Factions Robbers Cheats Knights of the Post and the like It fills their Heads and their Hearts with Cares and Disquiets And what at last are all the Baggs and Possessions that Rich Men take so much Pride and Pleasure in but Spunges Deposited in their own Hands 'till there shall be occasion to Squeeze them for the Publick Use FAB CCCXC A Merchant and a Seaman A Merchant at Sea was asking the Ships-Master what Death his Father Dy'd He told him that his Father his Grandfather and his Great Grandfather were all Drown'd Well says the Merchant and are not you your self afraid of being Drown'd too No not I says the Skipper But Pray says t'other again what Death did Your Father Grandfather and Great Grandfather Dye Why they Dy'd all in their Beds says the Merchant Very good says the Skipper and why should I be any more afraid of going to Sea then you are of going to Bed The MORAL He that troubles his Head with drawing Consequences from meer Contingencies shall never be at rest And this is further to mind us that in an Honest Course of Life we are not to fear Death REFLEXION 'T is much in our own Power how to Live but not at all when or how to Dye So that our part is only to Submit to Fate and to bid Death Welcom at what Time and in what Place or Manner soever it shall please God to send it The Reason and the Doctrin of this Fable is Clear Strong and Edifying We are either not to Fear Death at all or to Fear it every moment of our Lives nay and in all the Forms that ever it appear'd in which will put us to such a stand that we shall not dare even to Live for fear of Dying We must neither Eat nor Drink nor Breathe nor Sleep if we come once to Boggle at Presidents and at the doing of those things over again that ever any Man dy'd of before There is not one instant of Life in fine but may be our Last Beside that we Live not only in the daily Danger of Death but in a continual Certainty of it So that the Question is not how or of what this or that Man Dy'd but the Inevitable Fate and Mortality of Mankind One Man dies in his Bed another at Sea a Third in the Field this Man of one Accident or Distemper that of another And what is there more in all this now then so many several ways to the same Journeys End There is no such Preservative against the Fear of Death as the Conscience of a Good Life and if we would have it Easie we must make the Thought of it Familiar to us FAB CCCXCI Mice Cat and a Bell. THere was a Devillish Sly Cat it seems in a certain House and the Mice were so Plagu'd with her at every turn that they call'd a Court to Advise upon some way to prevent being surpriz'd If you 'll be Rul'd by me says a Member of the Board there 's nothing like Hanging a Bell about the Cats Neck to give Warning before-hand when Puss is a coming They all lookt upon 't as the best Contrivance that the Case would bear Well says another and now
Occasion But Mony is an Universal Mistress Men are always Watching Spying and Designing upon 't and all the Engines of Worldly Wisdom are perpetually at Work about it So that whosoever is Possess'd of and Sollicitous for that Interest shall never Close his Eyes so long as Craft Violence or Conspiracy shall be able to keep them Waking FAB CCCCIII The Eagle Cat and Sow THere was an Eagle a Cat and a Sow that bred in a Wood together The Eagle Timber'd upon the top of a High Oak the Cat Kitten'd in the Hollow Trunck of it and the Sow lay Pigging at the Bottom The Cat 's Heart was set upon Mischief and so she went with her Tale to the Eagle Your Majesty had best look to your self says Puss for there is most certainly a Plot upon ye and perchance upon Poor me too for yonder 's a Sow lies Grubbing Every Day at the Root of this Tree Shee 'll bring it down at last and then your Little Ones and mine are all at Mercy So soon as ever she had Hammer'd a Jealousie into the head of the Eagle away to the Sow she goes and Figs her in the Crown with another Story Little do you think what a Danger your Litter is in there 's an Eagle Watching constantly upon this Tree to make a Prey of your Pigs and so soon as ever you are but out of the way she will certainly Execute her Design The Cat upon this goes presently to her Kittens again keeping her self upon her Guard all Day as if she were afraid and steals out still at Night to Provide for her Family In one Word the Eagle durst not stir for fear of the Sow and the Sow durst not budge for fear of the Eagle So that they kept themselves upon their Guard till they were both Starv'd and left the Care of their Children to Puss and her Kittens The MORAL There can be no Peace in any State or Family where Whisperers and Tale-bearers are Encouraged REFLEXION Busie-Bodies and Intermedlers are a Dangerous sort of People to have to do withal for there 's no Mischief that may not be wrought by the Craft and Manage of a Double Tongue with a Foolish Credulity to work upon There 's hardly a Greater Pest to Government Conversation the Peace of Societies Relations and Families then Officious Tale-bearers and Bufie-Intermedlers These Pick-thanks are enough to set Mankind together by the Ears they live upon Calumny and Slander and cover themselves too under the Seal of Secresy and Friendship These are the People that set their Neighbours Houses afire to Roast their own Eggs. The Sin of Traducing is Diabolical according to the very Letter and if the Office be Artificially Manag'd 't is enough to put the whole World into a Flame and no body the Wiser which way it came The Mischief may be Promoted by Misrepresenting Misunderstanding or Misinterpreting our Neighbours Thoughts Words and Deeds and no Wound so Mortal as that where the Poison works under a Pretence of Kindness Nay there are ways of Commendation and Insinuations of Affection and Esteem that Kill a Man as sure as a Gun This Practice is the Bane of all Trust and Confidence and it is as frequent in the Intrigues of Courts and States as in the most Ordinary Accidents of Life 'T is enough to break the Neck of all Honest Purposes to Kill all Generous and Publick-Spirited Motions and to stifle all Honourable Inclinations in the very Conception But next to the Practice of these Lewd Offices Deliver all Honest Men from lying at the Mercy of those that Encourage and Entertain them FAB CCCCIV The Frogs and the Bulls THere happen'd a Desperate Duel betwixt a Couple of Bulls upon a Point of Honour for the Quarrel was about a Mistriss There was a Frog at the same time upon the Bank of a Lake looking on to see the Combat Ah says the Frog what will become of Us now Why prithee says one of his Companions what are the Bulls to the Frogs or the Lakes to the Meadows Very much I can assure ye says the Frog again for he that 's Worsted will be sure to take Sanctuary in the Fens and then are we to be trod to Pieces The MORAL Delirant Reges Plectuntur Achivi When Princes fall out the Commonalty Suffers and the Little go to Wreck for the Quarrels of the Great REFLEXION LET Ill Consequences be never so Remote 't is good however with the Frogs here in the Fable to have the Reason of Things at Hand The Design of many Actions looks one way and the Event works another as a Young Gamester's Couzen'd with a Bricole at Tennis But Mischiefs whether meant or not are to be Provided against and Prevented with as much Care and Industry as if they had been designed from the Beginning and the Application of Foresight in the one Case must supply the want of Foresight in the other 'T is the Fool that lives ex Tempore and from Hand to Mouth as we say without carrying his Thoughts into the Future But a Wise Man looks forward thorough the proper and natural Course and Connexion of Causes and Effects and in so doing he Fortifies Himself against the Worst that can Befall him The Frogs Case in some Respect is that of a Civil War where the People must expect to be Crush'd and Squeez'd in the Consequence toward the Charge and Burden on 't The Lords make Merry but 't is the Commons must pay the Piper FAB CCCCV. The Frogs and the Sun IN the Innocent Age of the World when there were no Children in Nature but those that were begot in Lawful Wedlock it was in every Bodies Mouth that the Sun was about to Marry The Frogs in General were ready to Leap out of their Skins for Joy at it 'till one Crafty Old Slut in the Company advis'd 'em to Consider a little Better on 't before they appointed a Day of Thanksgiving for the Blessing For says she if we are almost Scorch'd to Death already with One Sun what will become of us when that Sun shall have Children and the Heat Encrease upon us with the Family The MORAL We take many things at First Blush for Blessings that upon Second Thoughts we find would be most Pernicious to us REFLEXION IT requires Great Care and Circumspection that we Weigh and Ballance things before we pronounce them to be either Good or Evil For Men are Thankful many times for direct Maledictions and Mortify themselves upon the Mistake of Imaginary Blessings 'T was a Wise Frog that Advis'd her Fellows to think well on 't before they rung the Bells for the Sun's Wedding This Fancy looks toward the Case of a Republican Humour that has got a-head in a Monarchial State Now Empire is not to be shar'd in Consort and when Sovereignty Marries 't is no longer Single but Popular and still the Greater the Number of Governors the Heavier is the Height of the Government Now though the Order
would it make if the Names of all the People that are Pointed at under this Emblem of the Pilgrim-Wolf were written in their Foreheads FAB CCCCXXXVII The Asses Skin A Miserable Ass that was ready to sink under Blows and Burdens call'd upon Death to Deliver him from that Intolerable Oppression Death was within Hearing it seems and took him at his VVord but told him withal for his Comfort that whereas other Creatures end their Misfortunes and their Lives together You must not expect that it will be so with you for says Death they 'l make Drums of your Skin when your Carcass shall be Carrion and never leave Drubbing of ye so long as one Piece will hold to another The MORAL Some People are Miserable beyond the Relief even of Death it self That is to say there are Men that lead Restless Lives in this World under a Dreadful Apprehension at the same time of being more Wretched in the next REFLEXION THIS Moral does not lye so square as to bear any great weight upon 't 'T is true that our Fame and Memory shall outlive our Bodies and that in that Sense a Man may be said to be Miserable after his Death even in a Pagan way of Understanding it as well as with a Regard to the Immortality of the Soul in a Christian Application It holds forth to us the Pertinacy of Ill Fortune in Pursuing some People into their very Graves But they that are born to a Fatality of Endless Misfortunes must submit to go thorough with them FAB CCCCXXXVIII A Fool and a Hot Iron A Smith threw down a Horse-Shoe in his Shop that was but just come out of the Fire A Fool took it up it burnt his Fingers and he cast it down again Why ye Blockhead you says the Workman could not you have try'd whether 't was Hot or no before you Meddled with it How try says the Fool. Why a Hot Iron would have Hiss'd if you had but Spit upon 't The Fool carry'd this Philosophy away with him and took an Occasion afterward to Spit in his Porridge to try if they 'd Hiss They did not Hiss it seems and so he Guttled 'em up and Scalt his Chops Well says one that was by and could not you have stay'd 'till they were Cold VVhy I thought they had been Cold says the Fool. You might have known they were Hot says t'other by their Smoaking The Fool carried this in his Mind too and going a while after to a Spring-Head to quench his Thirst he fancy'd that the Fountain Smoak'd too and there he staid 'till he was almost Choak'd for fear of Burning his Chops once again The MORAL This very Innocent may serve to Teach Wise Men Caution that they Examine Matters before they pass a Iudgment upon them for otherwise we live at a kind of Hap Hazzard and without any Insight into Causes and Effects REFLEXION 'T IS a Great Folly not to Distinguish betwixt things Extreamly Differing in their Qualities and Nature 't is no wonder to find one Simplicity of this Kind follow'd with more for Weak Men will be still applying the last Rule to the next Case for want of Reasoning and Connecting upon the whole 'T is an Odd Thing now that a Mountebank should get Reputation by the same Error that makes an Idiot yet more Ridiculous that is to say by Prescribing the same Remedy to all Diseases There was just such another Innocent as this in my Fathers Family He did the Course Work in the Kitchin and was bid at his first Coming to take off the Range and let down the Cynders before he went to Bed The Poor Silly Wretch laid Hands of the Irons when they were next to Red Hot yet and they stuck to his Fingers A Vengeance on ye says he Y' are as Warm as Wool and so shook 'em off again Now this Innocent I dare Answer for him had never read Camerarius so that he did not Burn his Fingers by that Copy FAB CCCCXXXIX A Cock and Horses A Cock was got into a Stable and there was he Nestling in the Straw among the Horses and still as the Fit took 'em they 'd be Stamping and Flinging and laying about 'em with their Heels So the Cock very gravely Admonish'd them Pray my Good Friends let us have a Care says he that we don't Tread upon One Another The MORAL Unequal Conversations are Dangerous and Inconvenient to the Weaker Side in many Respects whether it be in Regard of Quality Fortune or the like where the weight of the One sinks the Other And no matter whether we Embark out of Vanity or Folly for 't is Hazzardous both ways REFLEXION So says many a Vain Fool in the World as this Cock does in the Like Case and Exposes himself to Scorn as well as Destruction 'T is a necessary Point of Wisdom for People to sort themselves with fit Company and to make a Right Judgment of their Conversation I do not mean in the matter of Morals only where Vicious and Ill Habits are Contagious but there should a Regard be had to the very Size Quality and Degree of the Men that we Frequent For where the Disproportion is very great a Man may be Ruin'd without Malice and Crush'd to Pieces by the Weight even of One that has a Kindness for him Now where we Misjudge the Matter a Miscarriage draws Pity after it but when we are Transported by Pride and Vanity into so Dangerous an Afâ—… our Ruin lies at our own Door FAB CCCCXL. A Gard'ner and a Mole A Gard'ner took a Mole in his Grounds and the Question was whether he should put her to Death or no. The Mole Pleaded that she was one of his Family and Digg'd his Garden for Nothing Nay she Insisted upon 't what Pity 't was to Destroy a Creature that had so smooth a Skin and Twenty other Little Pretences Come come says the Gard'ner I am not to be Fool'd with a Parcel of Fair VVords You have Nothing for Digging 't is True but pray who set you at VVork Is it for my Service d' ye think to have my Plants and my Herbs torn up by the Roots And what 's your bus'ness at last but by doing all you can for the filling of your own Belly to leave me nothing to Eat FAB CCCCXLI A Man and a Weazle THere was a Weazle taken in a Trapp and whether she should Dye or not was the Point The Master of the House Charg'd her with heavy Misdemeanors and the Poor Vermine stood much upon her Innocence and Merit Why says she I keep your House clear of Mice Well says the Man but you do 't for your Own sake not for Mine What work would they make in the Pantry and the Larder says she if it were not for me And in the mean time says the Master of the House You your Self devour the same things that they would have Eaten Mice and All But you would fain sham it upon me that you do me
Sir says the Poor Fellow 't is a great way but yet after a little Humming and Hawing upon 't he agreed to undertake the Jobb Do so then says the Rich Chuff and you shall have your Ninety Crowns down upon the Nail The poor Creature stuck a while upon the other Ten that he promis'd but at last came to his Price and for Ninety he was to go Well then says the Miserable Churl A Bargain 's a Bargain and Fourscore Crowns you shall certainly have At this Rate he went Chaffering on till by Bating Ten and Ten still upon every New Demand the Man was e'en fain to Content himself with Ten Crowns at last for the whole Journey And so away he goes to Fortune finds her out and delivers his Errand And says he since that Rich Man will have no more pray be so good as to give Me that am ready to Starve what you would otherwise have given to a Man that does not want it No says Fortune as for his Part I am Resolv'd to Plague him with thrice as much more as he has already in spite of his very Teeth and then for your part I 'll e'en keep ye in a Starving Condition as I found ye to the last Minute of your Life and make good the Old Saying to ye That he that 's Born under a Three-penny Plannet shall never be worth a Groat 'T is true y 'ave gotten Ten Crowns in Hand and you should never have had that neither if I had not been Fast Asleep when they were Deliver'd ye The MORAL Not One Man of a Thousand knows his own Mind Some Men shall be Rich in spite of their Teeth And then on the Other Hand All the Carking and Caring in the World shall not keep a Man above Water REFLEXION The Covetous Man is never well as we say either Full or Fasting Avarice has a great deal in 't of the Dog-Appetite It is Greedy Ravenous and Insatiable Raving Mad after what it has not and Sick of what it has for it Digests nothing and the very Success of the Wickedness is the Plague on 't Nay and the Two Extremes of Want and Abundance are so near a kin too that the Misery of both these Opposite States takes its Rise in a great Measure from the same Root Only Men are Sollicitous in the One Case how to Get that which they are as Sollicitous in the other Case how to Keep and the Pain of the Disappointment whether in Missing or in Losing is much the same For what 's the Difference betwixt having Nothing at all Originally and after such or such an Acquisition having Nothing at all Left 'T is but Nothing against Nothing both ways And the Case has much in it of what we find in an Extream Drought or a Nauseous Surfeit Men are ready to Choak for want of Drink and when they have Overcharg'd themselves with more then Nature will bear they are ready to Dye on that Hand too 'till they have it up again Now to carry on the Allusion here 's a Covetous Man Deliberating betwixt the Qualms of a Wambling Stomach and an Unsettled Mind Here is he Defying Fortune and all her Works he 'll have no more to do with her he says and so he Talks and does on at the rate of Almost Half a Christian. But he does not yet know his own Mind it seems for while he is Renouncing the World and the Devil on the One Hand he strikes a League with them on the other and in the same Breath Practises what he pretends to Disclaim and Couzens the Labourer of his Hire We are not therefore to value our Selves upon the Merit of Ejaculatory Repentances that take us by Fits and Starts and look liker Confessions upon the Torture then Acts of Piety and Conscience 'T is not for a Desultory Thought to attone for a Lewd Course of Life nor for any thing but the Super-inducing of a Virtuous Habit upon a Vicious One to qualify an Effectual Conversion We are to Distinguish betwixt this Miser's being Weary of the Anxious Condition he was in and his Repenting the Iniquity of his Oppression and Extortion But Fortune will have him Richer and Richer still in spite of his Heart That is to say for his Greater Condemnation and Punishment And the last Touch is to shew us in the Churlishness of Fortune what a Poor Honest Man has to Trust to in this World FAB CCCCXLV An Eagle sets up for a Beauty IT was once put to the Question among the Birds which of the whole Tribe or sort of 'em was the Greatest Beauty The Eagle gave her Voice for her self and Carry'd it Yes says a Peacock in a soft Voice by the by You are a great Beauty indeed but it lyes in your Beak and in your Talons that make it Death to Dispute it The MORAL The Veneration that is pay'd to Great and Powerful Men is but from the Teeth outward not from the Heart and more out of Fear then Love REFLEXION THIS Beauty in the Fable Extends in the Moral to all the Advantages in Human Nature that One Man can pretend to have over Another Let it be matter of Honour Title Justice Good Faith Conscience c. for the Longer Sword can do no Wrong and rather then fail the Laws of God and Man shall take up Arms against themselves in defence of the most Extravagant of Conquests Religion is a kind of a Two Edged-Sword in the Hands of a Man of Might that Cuts both ways alike and it is either Right or Wrong or Wrong or Right as Occasion serves Take it by One Light 't is an Angel by Another 't is a Devil And so 't is Pro Con at the same time The whole World and the Bus'ness of it is Manag'd by Flattery and Paradox the one sets up False Gods and the other Maintains them Power in short is Beauty Wit Courage and all Good Things in One where Slaves and Parasites are Judges FAB CCCCXLVI An Image Expos'd to Sale A Certain Carver that had a Mercury lay a great while upon his Hands bethought himself at last of Billing it about in Coffee-Houses that at such a place there was a God to be Sold a Merry Penn'orth and such a Deity as would make any Man Rich that Bought him Well says One And why d' ye Sell him then For he will make you Rich if you Keep him as well as he will make me Rich if I Buy him You say very Right says t'other but 't is Ready Mony that I want and the Purchaser will have only an Estate in Reversion The MORAL Ready Mony goes as far in Religion as in Trade People are willing to Keep what they Have and to get what they Can without Launching out into Lives and Uncertainties They are well enough Content to deal in the Sale of Reversions but they do not much care for Buying them REFLEXION THE Old Saying A Bird in the Hand is worth Two in the Bush
is no wonder now that Hercules should so Contemptuously turn his Back upon Pluto or the God of Mony when the One's Bus'ness is to Propagate and Encourage those Monsters which the other came into the World to Quell and to Subdue FAB CCCCLVI A Lion Boar and Uultures THere happen'd a Desperate Quarrel betwixt a Lion and a Boar they Fought upon 't and the Vultures came Hovering over the Combatants to make a Prey of him that should be left upon the Spot But it so fell out that there was no Death in the Case and the Vultures were not a little Troubled at the Disappointment The MORAL When Fools Fall Out it shall go Hard but Knaves will be the Better for 't REFLEXION THERE are several sorts of Men in the World that live upon the Sins and the Misfortunes of other People This Fable may be Moralliz'd in almost all the Controversies of Humane Life whether Publick or Private Plaintiff and Defendant finds Bus'ness for the Lawyers Questions of Religion for the Divines Disputes about Priviledges and Liberties Cut out Work for the Soldiers A General Peace in fine would be a General Disappointment for the wrangling of some is the Livelihood of others and wherever there are like to be Carcasses there will never fail to be Vultures FAB CCCCLVII A Man that would never Hear Ill News ONe came to a Country Grazier and ask'd him if he should tell him a piece of News Is' t Good or Bad says he Nay says t'other 't is not very Good Pray says the Grazier keep it to your self then and so he went his way The Grazier was telling the next day that the Wolves had Kill'd one of his Bullocks That 's like enough says the same Man for I saw him Wand'ring from the Herd and I was afraid on t I would you had told me this in time says the Grazier Why I came I know not how far Yesterday a-purpose to tell you the Story and you would not hear on 't The MORAL The Man is too Delicate to be Happy that makes it in his Bargain not to hear any thing that may give him a Present Trouble REFLEXION THIS way of Consulting a Bodies Ease makes a Man Accessory to his own Ruin There 's an Attempt design'd for the purpose upon the Person of a Man and he shuts his Ears against any Intelligence or Notice of it 'till the Dagger is at his Heart He that will not hear the worst of things Betimes must expect afterward to feel the Effect of the Bad News that he would not Hear First he loses the Means of Preventing Mischiefs by not suffering himself to be Inform'd whereabouts the Danger lies Secondly He lives in a continual Dread of all Accidents that may befall him in general though of Nothing in particular and leaves himself no Place for the Exercise of Prudence and Precaution This sort of People Jog on in the World for I cannot call it Living without any Thought for to Morrow Talk to them of Poverty Persecutions Torments Slavery Sickness nay of Death it self at a Distance they 'l put it off to the last Moment and venture the Surprisal when it comes indeed rather then abide but so much as the Hearing on 't Beforehand FAB CCCCLVIII A Miser and Rotten-Apples THere was a Stingy Narrow-hearted Fellow that had a Great deal of Choice Fruit in his Ground but had not the Heart to touch any of it 'till it began to be Rotten This Man's Son would every foot and anon be taking some of his Companions into the Orchard with him Look ye says he that 's an Excellent Apple and here 's a Delicate sort of Plums Gather and Eat what you will of these provided you don 't Meddle with any of the Rotten Ones For my Father you must know keeps them for his own Eating The MORAL This is to set forth the Wicked and the Scandalous Wretchedness of Avarice that rather then make use of the Bounties of Providence in their Seasons suffers them to lye by and Perish REFLEXION HOW Miserable are those Cormudgeons that spend their Lives in Carking and Pinching themselves for things they have not the Heart to make use of And in this Humour of Griping which they call Saving fall foul upon the very extream of Profusion another way They either Lose or Spoil every thing by Keeping it 'till 't is fit only to be thrown away and that 's their way of Spending it Their Mony lies as close in their Coffers as ever it did in the Mine whence it was drawn They'â—… rather venture the whole Stock then be at one Peny Charge for the Saving of the rest They pervert the very Intent as well as they destroy the Bounties of Providence Nay they Envy the common Enjoyment of those Blessings that were intended for the Relief Comfort and Satisfaction of Mankind FAB CCCCLIX The Devil Refus'd to Marry A Certain Devil had the hap to live for some time in a State of Wedlock with a Spiteful Vexatious Gipsy that in truth was too hard for him She Dy'd at last of the Pip and the Breath was no sooner out of her Body but he fell to blessing the Stars for his Deliverance and so bound himself by a Desperate Vow that he would never Marry again It fell out some time after that a Poor Man was Possess'd with this very Devil and that when an Exorcist had Try'd all the ways of Charm Prayer and Menace to Remove him and found him Proof against all manner of Exorcisms he Bawl'd it out once for all Either come forth or Marry The Devil immediately cry'd out for Mercy I go Father says he Any Hell but that of a Second Wife The MORAL Take this Droll by the Right Handle and it gives to understand that some Women may as well Fright the Devil out of a Man as others Conjure him up into one REFLEXION THIS Fable is only a High-Flown Hyperbole upon the Miseries of Marriage under the Judgment of a Wayward a Jealous and a Brawling Wife And the Moral of it is Directed to all the Poor Husbands that are Condemn'd to that purgatory FAB CCCCLX A Country man and Jupiter A Poor Plain Fellow was so Dazled and Transported with the Pomp the Splendor the Plenty State and Luxury that Great Men live in that it was the First Petition of his Daily Litany to Iupiter to make him a Lord. Iupiter found he could not be Quiet for him and bad Mercury carry him Two Curious Baskets with Honour and Mony in them They were both cover'd the one with Purple the other with Gold and Mercury was Order'd to let the Man Open and Examine them as strictly as he pleas'd but to bid him have a care not to meddle with them Rashly for fear of the worst The Country-man was so Charm'd with the Present at First Sight that he took it away with him by Content without Asking any Questions But when he came afterward to consider at leisure the Cares