elf is treasure.

[Illustration: THE PLOUGHMAN AND HIS SONS.]

The Ass Dressed in the Lion's Skin.

Clad in a lion's shaggy hide,
An ass spread terror far and wide,
And, though himself a coward brute,
Put all the world to scampering rout:
But, by a piece of evil luck,
A portion of an ear outstuck,
Which soon reveal'd the error
Of all the panic terror.
Old Martin did his office quick.
Surprised were all who did not know the trick,
To see that Martin, at his will,
Was driving lions to the mill!

_In France, the men are not a few_
_Of whom this fable proves too true;_
_Whose valour chiefly doth reside_
_In coat they wear and horse they ride._

[Illustration: THE ASS DRESSED IN THE LION'S SKIN.]

The Woods and the Woodman.

A certain wood-chopper lost or broke
From his axe's eye a bit of oak.
The forest must needs be somewhat spared
While such a loss was being repair'd.
Came the man at last, and humbly pray'd
That the woods would kindly lend to him--
A moderate loan--a single limb,
Whereof might another helve be made,
And his axe should elsewhere drive its trade.
O, the oaks and firs that then might stand,
A pride and a joy throughout the land,
For their ancientness and glorious charms!
The innocent Forest lent him arms;
But bitter indeed was her regret;
For the wretch, his axe new-helved and whet,
Did nought but his benefactress spoil
Of the finest trees that graced her soil;
And ceaselessly was she made to groan,
Doing penance for that fatal loan.

_Behold the world-stage and its actors,_
_Where benefits hurt benefactors!--_
_A weary theme, and full of pain;_
_For where's the shade so cool and sweet,_
_Protecting strangers from the heat,_
_But might of such a wrong complain?_
_Alas! I vex myself in vain;_
_Ingratitude, do what I will,_
_Is sure to be the fashion still._

[Illustration: THE WOODS AND THE WOODMAN.]

The Fox, the Wolf, and the horse.

A fox, though young, by no means raw,
Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw:
"Ho! neighbour wolf," said he to one quite green,
"A creature in our meadow I have seen,--
Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet,--
The finest beast I ever met."