Moral and political fables ancient and modern. Done into Measurd Prose intermixd with Ryme. By Dr. Walter Pope |
Moral and political fables | ||
Fab. LXV. The Father and Sons.
A Father, near to death, calld up his Sons
To his Bed-side, and told them he had hid.
Great quantities of Gold i'th' Vineyard,
Bidding them dig it up, when he was dead;
This said, he died, and left them ignorant
In what part of the Vineyard the Gold lay.
No sooner were the Funeral Rites performd,
But they began to work, and delve the Ground,
They cleard the roots o'th' Vines, they broke the Clods,
And scourd the Ditches, but they found no Gold,
But yet, their Labour was not ill bestowd,
For the next Year the Cultivated Vines
Enrichd the Owners with a plenteous Crop,
Which when the Eldest of the Sons perceivd,
He said, This is the Gold our Father hid.
To his Bed-side, and told them he had hid.
Great quantities of Gold i'th' Vineyard,
Bidding them dig it up, when he was dead;
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In what part of the Vineyard the Gold lay.
No sooner were the Funeral Rites performd,
But they began to work, and delve the Ground,
They cleard the roots o'th' Vines, they broke the Clods,
And scourd the Ditches, but they found no Gold,
But yet, their Labour was not ill bestowd,
For the next Year the Cultivated Vines
Enrichd the Owners with a plenteous Crop,
Which when the Eldest of the Sons perceivd,
He said, This is the Gold our Father hid.
The Moral.
Labour and Industry are surest Riches. Moral and political fables | ||