The Fables of Florian. Jean Pierre Claris de Florian

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СКАЧАТЬ not others sometimes vain,

       And aim at rank they can't attain?

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      The patient ox with humble mien,

       Describ'd what worker he had been;

       How great his strength;

       And then at length

       Dwelt on his great docility.

       The courser boasted of his worth,

       His noble carriage and his birth;

       The ass of his utility.

       "Let's leave the question to three men;

       For here they come," exclaimed the horse;

       "If two decide for one, why then

       We'll yield the palm to him of course."

       The ox, who bore an honest face,

       Was charged to plainly state the case,

       And ask for judgment thereupon.

       One of the men a jockey was,

       And therefore plead the horse's cause,

       Because the horse could run.

       "Nay, nay, my friend, it is not so,"

       One of the men—a cartman—said,

       "The horse is only fit for show;

       I put the useful ass ahead."

       "Oh, what great folly!" said the third,

       "Whoever falser notions heard?

       'Tis plain to farmers of good sense,

       The ox should have the preference."

       "What!" said the courser in a huff,

       "Judgment like this is merest stuff!

       'Tis interest that rules with you."

       "Pooh!" said the jockey, "that is true;

       But is it something strange or new?"

      The Two Travelers

       Table of Contents

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      FABLE IV.

      THE TWO TRAVELERS.

      Two friendly comrades, Tom and Bill,

       Were on their way to Thionville,

       When Thomas found

       A purse of gold upon the ground.

       "What a wind-fall for us!" said Bill.

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      "No, not for us," Tom quick replies;

       "To me, alone, belongs the prize."

       Bill answered not. But soon their way

       Led them where ambush'd robbers lay.

       Tom, trembling, would have taken flight,

       But rivetted by his affright,

       Exclaimed, "Alas! we are undone!"

       "Not we," says Bill, "but you alone."

       And saying so he nimbly flies,

       And through a hedge securely hies.

       But Tom is captur'd, gagg'd, and bound,

       And robb'd of all the gold he'd found.

       Who, like our hero, is inclined

       To keep good luck for his own ends,

       Must soon or late be doom'd to find,

       When ill luck comes he'll have no friends.

      The Inquisitive Cat

       Table of Contents

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      FABLE V.

      THE INQUISITIVE CAT.

      Ye bold philosophers who strain

       Th' inexplicable to explain,

       Deign but to listen while I tell

       What once a curious cat befell.

       This tabby one day chanced to pass

       Before her master's toilette glass;

       And made an effort to come at

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      What seemed to her a stranger cat.

       Failing in front the cat to find,

       She slyly then stole round behind.

       Not meeting there the cat she sought,

       And almost to her wit's end brought,

       Yet bent the mystery to explore,

       She mounted on the glass astride,

       One paw behind and one before

       And in that way to catch it tried.

       Now, bending down, an ear she spies,

       And then another, which she eyes;

       Then with spry movements, quick and deft,

       Working her paws from right to left,

       She strives to grab the fleeting shade.

       The shadows still her grasp evade,

       Till, losing balance, down she went—

       Down from the table to the floor—

       Resolv'd to hunt for shades no more,

       But with plain sense to be content.

       Turning away from things so nice,

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