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her hold, dropped into the midst of them; and very few had the fortune to make good their retreat. This artifice having fucceeded fo well, he was encouraged to try the event of a fecond. Accordingly, he whitened his coat all over, by rolling himself in a heap of flour, and in this difguife lay concealed in the bottom of a meal tub. This ftratagem was executed in general with the fame effect as the former: But an old experienced Rat, altogether as cunning as her adverfary, was not so easily enfnared., I do not much like, said fhe, that white heap yonder; fomething whispers me, there is mischief concealed under it. It is true, it may be meal; but it may likewife be fomething that I fhall not relish quite fo well. There can be no harm, at leaft, in keeping at a diftance: For caution, I am fure, is the parent of fecurity.

TW

LXVII. The Two SPRINGS.

AWO Springs, which iffued from the fame fountain, began their courfe together: One of them took her way in a filent and gentle ftream, while the other rufhed along with a founding and rapid current. Sifter, faid the latter, at the rate you move, you will probably be dried up before you advance much farther; whereas, for myself, I will venture a wager, that within two or three hundred furlongs I fhall become navigable; and after diftributing commerce and wealth wherever I flow, I fhall majeftically proceed to pay my tribute to the ocean: So farewell, dear Sifter, patiently fubmit to your fate. Her Sifter made no reply; but calmly defcending to the meadows below, increased her ftream by numberlefs little rills, which the collected in her progrefs, till at length fhe was enabled to 1ife into a confiderable river: Whilft the proud ftream, who had the vanity to depend folely upon her own fufficiency, continued a fhallow brook, and was glad at laft to be helped forward, by throwing herself into the arms of her defpifed Sifter.-Self-fufliciency often proves

our ruin.

LXVIII. The

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LXVIII. The Difcontented Ass.

N the depth of winter a poor Afs prayed heartily for the fpring, that he might exchange a cold lodging, and a heartlefs trufs of ftraw, for a little warm weather, and a mouthful of fresh grafs. In a fhort time, according to his with, the warm weather and the fresh came on; but brought with them fo much toil and bufinefs, that he was foon as weary of the fpring as before of the winter; and he now be- . came impatient for the approach of winter. Summer arrives; but the heat, the harvest-work, and other drudgeries and inconveniences of the feafon, fet him as far from happiness as before; which he now flattered himself would be found in the plenty of autumn. But here now he is disappointed; for, what with the carrying of apples, roots, fuel for the winter, and other provifions, he was in autumn more fatigued than ever. Having thus trod round the circle of the year, in a courfe of reftlefs labour, uneafinefs, and difappointment; and found no feafon, nor ftation of life, without its business and its trouble; he was forced at laft to acquiefce in the cold comfort of winter, where his complaint began; convinced that in this world there is no true happiness.

I

LXIX. The ATHEIST and the ACORN.

T was the Fool who faid in his heart, There is no God: Into the breast of a wife man fuch a thought could never have entered. One of those refined reafoners, commonly called minute philofophers, was fitting at his ease, beneath the shade of a large Oak, while at his fide the weak branches of a Pumpion were trailed upon the ground. This put our Logician into his old train of reasoning against Providence. Is it confiftent with common fenfe, faid he, that infinite wifdom should create fo large and ftately a tree, with

branches

branches of fuch a prodigious ftrength, to bear fo fmall and infignificant a fruit as an Acorn? Or that fo weak a ftem, as that of a Pumpion, should be loaded with fo difproportioned a weight? A child may fee the abfurdity of it. In the midft of this curious fpeculation, down dropt an Acorn from one of the higheft branches of the Oak, full upon his head. How fmall a trifle may overturn the fystems of fallible men! Struck with the accident, he could not help crying out, "How providential it is that this was not a Pumpion !"

LXX. The SPIDER and the SILKWORM.

TH

HOSE Arts are most valuable which are of the greateft ufe.A Spider bufied in spreading his web from one fide of the room to the other, was afked by an induftrious Silkworm, to what end he fpent fo much labour, in making fuch a number of lines and circles? The Spider angrily replied, Do not disturb me, thou ignorant thing: I tranfmit my ingenuity to pofterity, and fame is the object of my wifhes. Juft as he had fpoken, Sufan the chambermaid, coming into the room to feed her Silkworms, faw the Spider at his work, and with one ftroke of her broom, fweeps him away, and deftroys at once his labours and his hopes of fame.

A

LXXI. The BEE and the FLY.

Bee obferving a Fly frifk about her hive, asked him, in a very paffionate tone, What he did there? Is it for fuch fcoundrels as you, faid fhe, to intrude into the company of the Queens of the Air? You have great reafon, truly, replied the Fly, to be out of humour; I am fure they must be mad, who would have any concern with fo quarrelfome a nation. And why fo? thou faucy malapert, returned the enraged Bee; we have the beft laws, and are governed by the

beft

47

best policy in the world: We feed upon the most fragrant flowers, and all our bufinefs is to make honey Honey, which equals nectar, thou unfavoury wretch, who liveft upon nothing but putrefaction and excrement. We live as we can, rejoined the Fly: Poverty, I hope, is no crime; but paffion is, I am fure: The honey you make, is fweet, I grant you; but your heart is all bitterness: For, to be revenged on an enemy, you will destroy your own life; and are fo inconfiderate in your rage, as to do more mischief to yourself than to your adverfary. Take my word for it, one had better have lefs confiderable talents, and use them with more difcretion.

LXXII. The LYNX and the MOLE.

UNDI

NDER the covert of a thick wood, at the foot of a tree, as a Lynx lay whetting his teeth, and waiting for his prey; he efpied a Mole, concealed under a hillock of her own railing. Alas, poor creature, faid the Lynx, how much I pity thee! Surely Jupiter has been very unkind, to debar thee from the light of the day, which rejoices the whole creation. Thou art certainly not above half alive; and it would be doing thee a fervice to put an end to fo inanimated a being. I thank you for your kindnefs, replied the Mole; but I think I have full as much vivacity as my ftate and circumstances require : For the reft, I am perfectly well contented with the faculties which Jupiter has allotted me, who, I am fure, wants not our direction in diftributing his gifts with propriety. I have not, it is true, your piercing eyes; but I have cars which answer all my purposes Hark! for example, I am warned by a noife which I hear behind you, to fly from danger. So faying, he flunk into the earth, while a javelin from the arm of a hunter, pierced the quick-fighted Lynx to the heart.-Nature fits the fenfes for felfprefervation. LXXIII. The

as well.

A

LXXIII. The ROSE and the BUTTERFLY.

Fine powdered Butterfly fell in love with a Rofe, who expanded her charms in a neighbouring parterre, Matters were foon adjusted between them, and they mutually avowed eternal fidelity. The Butterfly, perfectly fatisfied with the fuccefs of his amour, took a tender leave of his mistress, and did not return till noon. What! faid the Rofe, when fhe faw him approaching, is the ardent paffion you vowed fo foon extinguifhed? It is an age fince you paid me a visit: But no wonder, for I oblerved you courting by turns every flower in the garden. You little coquet, replied the Butterfly, it well becomes you truly to reproach me with my gallantries, when in fact I only copy the example which you yourfelf have fet me: For, not to mention the fatisfaction with which you admitted the kiffes of a fragrant Zephyr, did I not fee you difplaying your charms to the Bee, the Fly, the Wafp, and, in fhort, encouraging and receiving the addreffes of every buzzing infect that fluttered within your view? If you will be a coquet, you must expect to find me inconftant.

LXXIV. The Fox and the BRAMBLE.

A purfued a pack of Dogs, took

fhelter under the covert of a Bramble: He rejoiced in this afylum, and for a while was very happy; but foon found, that if he attempted to ftir, he was wounded by thorns and prickles on every fide: However, making a virtue of neceflity, he forebore to complain; and comforted himself with reflecting, that no blifs is perfect; that good and evil are eyer mixed, and flow from the fame fountain. Thefe briars, indeed, faid he, will tear my fkin a little, yet they keep off the Dogs. For the fake of the good then, let me bear the evil with patience; each bitter has its fweet, and thefe Brambles, though they wound my flesh, preferve my life from danger.

LXXV. 1e

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