Comic Tales and Lyrical Fancies including The Chessiad, a Mock-Heroic, in Five Cantos; and The Wreath of Love, in Four Cantos. By C. Dibdin, the Younger |
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THE FOX THAT LOST HIS TAIL.
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 | Comic Tales and Lyrical Fancies |  |
103
THE FOX THAT LOST HIS TAIL.
A FABLE.
A fox lost his tail in a trap;
“I' faith, I look silly,” quoth he;
“But spite of this awkward mishap,
Best made of bad bargain must be:
The foxes to jeer me won't fail;
So, with envy and rage though I burn,
On the brush I'll affect to turn tail,
Who haven't a tail to turn.”
“I' faith, I look silly,” quoth he;
“But spite of this awkward mishap,
Best made of bad bargain must be:
The foxes to jeer me won't fail;
So, with envy and rage though I burn,
On the brush I'll affect to turn tail,
Who haven't a tail to turn.”
The fox, bent to brazen it out,
“Joy wish me, good brothers,” said he
To the foxes assembled about,
“My brush I have dock'd, as you see:
Its weight in the chase made me fail;
Now, like lightning, I fly o'er the fern;
Besides, I can never turn tail
Who haven't a tail to turn.”
“Joy wish me, good brothers,” said he
To the foxes assembled about,
“My brush I have dock'd, as you see:
Its weight in the chase made me fail;
Now, like lightning, I fly o'er the fern;
Besides, I can never turn tail
Who haven't a tail to turn.”
104
The fox advised all to be dock'd—
“Hold! hold!” a sly reynard said he,
“Old friend, in some trap you've been lock'd,
And ‘thereby hangs a tale’ I can see.
We know your sly tricks: when you rail,
‘Sour grapes’ is the moral we learn;
And you're wise on the brush to turn tail
Who haven't a tail to turn.”
“Hold! hold!” a sly reynard said he,
“Old friend, in some trap you've been lock'd,
And ‘thereby hangs a tale’ I can see.
We know your sly tricks: when you rail,
‘Sour grapes’ is the moral we learn;
And you're wise on the brush to turn tail
Who haven't a tail to turn.”
| Comic Tales and Lyrical Fancies | |