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 |
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 | Truth in Fiction |  |
A gen'rous Man, by Heav'n with Riches bless'd,
Observ'd his Friends still, with his Wealth, encreas'd;
Daily he treated them with sumptuous Feasts,
And often wanted Room, but never Guests:
At last, (to try what Spring their Friendship mov'd,
If most his Fortune, or himself, they lov'd;
If they, who were Partakers of his Fare,
Wou'd, with like Constancy, his Dangers share)
He did his usual Company invite
(Not, as before, to revel, but) to Fight:
Told them, He of Invasion was afraid,
And, to repel the Force, desir'd their Aid.
Observ'd his Friends still, with his Wealth, encreas'd;
Daily he treated them with sumptuous Feasts,
And often wanted Room, but never Guests:
At last, (to try what Spring their Friendship mov'd,
If most his Fortune, or himself, they lov'd;
If they, who were Partakers of his Fare,
Wou'd, with like Constancy, his Dangers share)
He did his usual Company invite
(Not, as before, to revel, but) to Fight:
Told them, He of Invasion was afraid,
And, to repel the Force, desir'd their Aid.
But they, whose Stomachs were not half so great
To fight his Battels, as devour his Meat,
Hung back, and feign'd Pretence to be Excus'd:
('Twas the first Invitation they refus'd)
So when he was to March against his Foe,
His Num'rous Friends were dwindled down to Two:
Their steady Friendship highly he approv'd,
And them, as they deserv'd, Caress'd and Lov'd:
The rest, unworthy of his Meat and Wine,
He vow'd, for him, shou'd with Duke Humphrey Dine.
To fight his Battels, as devour his Meat,
Hung back, and feign'd Pretence to be Excus'd:
('Twas the first Invitation they refus'd)
So when he was to March against his Foe,
His Num'rous Friends were dwindled down to Two:
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And them, as they deserv'd, Caress'd and Lov'd:
The rest, unworthy of his Meat and Wine,
He vow'd, for him, shou'd with Duke Humphrey Dine.
| Truth in Fiction | |