Truth in Fiction Or, Morality in Masquerade. A Collection of Two hundred twenty five Select Fables of Aesop, and other Authors. Done into English Verse. By Edmund Arwaker |
I. |
II. |
III. |
IV. |
Truth in Fiction | ||
FABLE LXI. The Fox and Weesel:
Or, Much Wealth, much Woe.
A
Fox, with tedious fasting, lank and thin,
Found Pullets in a Coop, and soon crept in:
There, to excess, the Glutton fell to eat,
And, till too full, near thought of a retreat.
Pleas'd to return, when he cou'd stuff no more,
He found the Passage straiter than before:
He strove, he stretch'd, and shrunk himself, in vain;
But cou'd not Egress now, as Ingress, gain.
Found Pullets in a Coop, and soon crept in:
There, to excess, the Glutton fell to eat,
And, till too full, near thought of a retreat.
84
He found the Passage straiter than before:
He strove, he stretch'd, and shrunk himself, in vain;
But cou'd not Egress now, as Ingress, gain.
A Weesel that stood by, and hugg'd the Jest,
Cry'd, Sir, you take much Pains to be releas'd:
If to get out, as you got in, you mean,
Do Penance there, till you become as Lean.
Cry'd, Sir, you take much Pains to be releas'd:
If to get out, as you got in, you mean,
Do Penance there, till you become as Lean.
The MORAL.
‘Men who Contented in mean Fortunes live,‘Enjoy the mod'rate Blessings they receive:
‘But when too greedily they covet more,
‘And with pernicious haste improve their Store;
‘They find the Change injurious to their Peace;
‘For, as their Treasures, so their Cares encrease.
Truth in Fiction | ||