Wootton inuenit

B. Baron. fcul.

FABLE

XLVI.

The CUR, the HORSE, and the SHEPHERD'S DOG.

T

HE lad, of all-fufficient merit,

With modesty ne'er damps his fpirit,

Prefuming on his own deferts,

On all alike his tongue exerts;

His noify jokes at random throws,

And pertly fpatters friends and foes;

In wit and war the bully race
Contribute to their own difgrace:

Too late the forward youth fhall find
That jokes are fometimes paid in kind;
Or if they canker in the breast,
He makes a foe who makes a jest.

A village-cur, of fnappish race,
The perteft puppy of the place,
Imagin'd that his treble throat

Was bleft with mufick's fweetest note;
In the mid road he basking lay,

The yelping nufance of the way;

For not a creature paft along

But had a fample of his fong.

Soon as the trotting steed he hears, He ftarts, he cocks his dapper ears,

A.

Away he fcowers, affaults his hoof,

Now near him fnarles, now barks aloof;

With fhrill impertinence attends,

Nor leaves him 'till the village ends.

It chanc'd, upon his evil day,

A Pad came pacing down the

way;

The Cur, with never-ceafing tongue,
Upon the paffing trav'ler fprung,

The horse, from fcorn provok'd to ire,
Flung backward; rolling in the mire,
The puppy howl'd, and bleeding lay;
The Pad in peace purfu'd his way.
A fhepherd's Dog, who faw the deed,
Detefting the vexatious breed,

Bespoke him thus. When Coxcombs prato,
They kindle wrath, contempt, or hate.

Thy teazing tongue had judgment ty'd,

Thou hadst not, like a puppy, dy'd.

D

FABLE XLVII,

The COURT of DEATH.

EATH, on a folemn night of state,

In all his pomp of terrors fate: Th' attendants of his gloomy reign,

Diseases dire, a ghastly train,

Croud

Croud the vaft court. With hollow tone
A voice thus thunder'd from the throne.

This night our minifter we name,

Let ev'ry fervant speak his claim;

Merit shall bear this eban wand.

All, at the word, ftretch'd forth their hand,
Fever, with burning heat poffeft,

Advanc'd, and for the wand addrest.
I to the weekly bills appeal,

Let thofe exprefs my fervent zeal,
On ev'ry flight occasion near,

With violence I perfevere,

Next Gout appears with limping pace, Pleads how he shifts from place to place,

From head to foot how swift he flies,

And ev'ry joint and finew plys,

Still working when he seems fuppreft,
A moft tenacious ftubborn guest.

A