eneath the dreadful shower.

At last, said one, "You silly folks, I say,
Do fling your stones another way;
Though _sport_ to _you_, to throw them thus,
Remember, pray, 'tis _death_ to us!"

MORAL.

From hence this moral may be learn'd:
Let play _be play_ to _all concern'd_.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE COCK AND THE JEWEL.

A cock there was: a sage was he
(If Esop we may trust,)
Who wish'd to make a meal, you see,
As other sages must.

With this intent, as heretofore,
When on the hunt for grain;
Our hero scratch'd the litter o'er
With all his might and main.

But scarce a minute had he scratch'd,
When, to his great surprise,
A gem, with golden chain attach'd,
He saw with both his eyes.

"Alack!" quoth he, "what have we here?
A diamond, I protest!
Which lords and ladies buy so dear,
And hold in such request.

"But one good barley-corn to me
Has more intrinsic worth
Than all the pearls now in the sea,
Or gold now in the earth."

MORAL.

The moral here, in Esop's mind,
Was this, there's not a doubt:
Things have _most_ value, which we find
We _cannot_ do without.

[Illustration]

THE MAN AND THE LION.

A man and a lion once had a dispute,
Which was reckon'd the greatest, the man or the brute;
The lion discoursed on his side at some length,
And greatly enlarged on his courage and strength.

The man, one would think, had enough to reply
On _his_ side the question, which none could deny;
But like many others who make a pretence,
He talk'd perfect nonsense, and thought it good sense.

"So," says he, "don't be prating,--look yonder, I pray,
At that sculpture of marble, now what will you say?
The lion is vanquished; but as for the man
He is striding upon him; deny it who can."

"But pray," said the lion, "who sculptured that stone?"
"One of _us_," said the man, "I must candidly own."
"But when _we_ are sculptors," the other replied,
"You will then on the man see the _lion_ astride."

MORAL.

The man might have added, if he had been wise,
"But a beast _cannot_ sculpture a stone, _if he tries_."
_That_ sufficiently shows where the difference lies.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE FOX AND THE CRANE.

"I certainly think," said a fox to a crane,
"That face, ma'am of yours is remarkably plain;
That beak that you wear is so frightful a feature,
It makes you appear a most singular creature."
The crane, much offended at wh