hair,
Clasp'd his hands in despair
And cried he was ruined and poor.

A man passing by,
His grief chanced to spy;
And told him, "'tis useless to mourn.
You can look at the hole,
To solace your soul,
Although all the money is gone."

[Illustration]

THE JACKDAW AND THE PEACOCKS.

Thus Esop has the folly shown,
To build on merits not your own.

A jackdaw, empty, pert and vain,
Who held his equals in disdain,
One day some beauteous feathers found,
Left by a peacock on the ground.
When in the gaudy plumage dress'd,
The shallow thing his fortune bless'd;
With stately gesture strode along,
And boldly join'd the peacock throng;
Who, his impertinence to pay,
First stripp'd him, and then chas'd away.
The crest-fall'n coxcomb homeward sneaks,
And his forsaken comrades seeks;
Where'er he comes, with scorn they leave him,
And not a jackdaw will receive him.
Says one he had disdain'd, at last,
"Such as thou art, thou mightst have pass'd,
And hadst not now been cast behind,
The scorn and scandal of thy kind."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE SPARROW AND THE HARE.

Who dares another's ills deride,
Had best against his own provide.
An eagle pouncing on a hare,
With piercing cries puss rends the air;
When a pert sparrow from a tree,
Insulted thus her misery:
"Ho, ho! poor puss, thy boasted speed
Has failed thee, then, in time of need!"
Scarce had she spoke, when, like an arrow,
A vulture darted on the sparrow.
Ere the poor hare resign'd her breath,
"This sight," she cried, "consoles in death
--That thou, who hast my woes derided,
My last of miseries hast divided!"

[Illustration]

THE ASS AND THE LION.

Vain boasters credit may surprise,
Till known; who knows them will despise.

A lion once a hunting took
An ass, and hid him in a nook.
To drive the forest made him bray,
That he might seize the passing prey.
Long-ears set up such horrid cries,
That every creature trembling flies;
The lion, practised in his trade,
Had soon abundant carnage made;
Satiate with spoil, the ass he calls,
And bid him cease his hideous brawls.
The king he found with slaughter weary,
Surrounded by his noble quarry,
And, puffed with self-importance, said:
"Sir, to some purpose I have bray'd!"
"No ass more famously could do,"
The lion says, "but thee I knew,
Or I might have been frightened too."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE STAG AND THE FOUNTAIN.

That good fr