Beneath a great cabbage the hare was in bed, Was started, and shot at, and hastily fled. Off went the wild chase, with a terrible screech, And not through a hole, but a horrible breach, Which some one had made, at the beck of the lord, Wide through the poor hedge! 'Twould have been quite absurd Should lordship not freely from garden go out, On horseback, attended by rabble and rout. Scarce suffer'd the gard'ner his patience to wince, Consoling himself--'Twas the sport of a prince; While bipeds and quadrupeds served to devour, And trample, and waste, in the space of an hour, Far more than a nation of foraging hares Could possibly do in a hundred of years.
Small princes, this story is true, When told in relation to you. In settling your quarrels with kings for your tools, You prove yourselves losers and eminent fools.
One's native talent from its course Cannot be turned aside by force; But poorly apes the country clown The polish'd manners of the town. Their Maker chooses but a few With power of pleasing to imbue; Where wisely leave it we, the mass, Unlike a certain fabled ass, That thought to gain his master's blessing By jumping on him and caressing. 'What!' said the donkey in his heart; 'Ought it to be that puppy's part To lead his useless life In full companionship With master and his wife, While I must bear the whip? What doth the cur a kiss to draw? Forsooth, he only gives his paw! If that is all there needs to please, I'll do the thing myself, with ease.' Possess'd with this bright notion,-- His master sitting on his chair, At leisure in the open air,-- He ambled up, with awkward motion, And put his talents to the proof; Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof, And, with an amiable mien, His master patted on the chin, The action gracing with a word-- The fondest bray that e'er was heard! O, such caressing was there ever? Or melody with such a quaver? 'Ho! Martin![6] here! a club, a club bring!' Out cried the master, sore offended. So Martin gave the ass a drubbing,-- And so the comedy was ended.
[5] Aesop. [6] _Martin_.--La Fontaine has "Martin-bâton," a name for a groom or ostler armed with his cudgel of office, taken from Rabelais.
VI.--THE BATTLE OF THE RATS AND THE WEASELS.[7]