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FABLE III

THE ATHEIST AND THE ACORN.

By Anne Finch, Countess of Winchelsea.

'Methinks this world is oddly made,
And every thing amiss:'

A dull presuming Atheist said,
As stretch'd he lay beneath the shade,
And instanced in this:

Behold,' quoth he, 'that mighty thing, 'A Pumpkin, large and round, Is held but by a little string,

Which upwards cannot make it spring, Or bear it from the ground:

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'While on this oak, an Acorn small
So disproportion'd grows:
'That whosoe'er surveys this áll,
This universal causal ball,

Its ill contrivance knows.

'My better judgment would have hung The Pumpkin on the tree;

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And left the Acorn slightly strung

'Mong things that on the surface sprung, 'And small and feeble be."

No more the Caviller could say,
No farther faults descry;
For upwards gazing as he lay,
An Acorn, loosen'd from the spray,
Fell down upon his eye.

The wounded part with tears ran o'er,
As punish'd for the sin:

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Fool! had that bough a Pumpkin bore,

Thy whimsies must have work'd no more,

'Nor skull have kept them in.'

FABLE IV.

THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE.

Imitated from Horace by Swift and Pope.

ONCE on a time (so runs the Fable)
A Country-Mouse, right hospitable,
Receiv'd a Town-Mouse at his board,
Just as a Farmer might a Lord;
A frugal Mouse, upon the whole,
Yet lov'd his friend, and had a Soul,
Knew what was handsome, and would do it,
On just occasion, and be mute.

He brought him bacon, nothing lean,
Pudding that might have pleas'd a dean;

Cheese, such as men in Suffolk make,
Yet wish'd it Stilton for his sake;
Yet, to his guest tho' no way sparing,
He eat himself the rind and paring.
Our courtier scarce could touch a bit,
But shew'd his breeding and his wit;
He did his best to seem to eat,

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And cried, Indeed you're mighty neat.
'But change, my friend, this savage scene!
'Leave it, and come and live with men:
'Consider, mice, like men, must die,
'Both small and great, both you and I:
'Then spend your life in joy and sport,
'(This doctrine, friend, I learn'd at court.)'
The veriest hermit in the nation

May yield, we know, to strong temptation.
Away they come, thro' thick and thin,
To a tall house near Lincoln's Inn:
('Twas on the night of a debate,
When all their Lordships had sat late.)
Behold the place, where, if a poet
Shin'd in description he might shew it;
Tell how the moon-beam trembling falls,
And tips with silver all the walls;
Palladian walls, Venetian doors,
Grotesco roofs, and stucco floors:
But let it, in a word, be said,
The moon was up, and men a-bed,
The napkins white, the carpet red,

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The guests withdrawn, the vacant seat
Had left the mice to share the treat.

Our courtier walks from dish to dish,
Tastes for his friend of fowl and fish,
Descants on every thing he saw,
Tells all their names, lays down the law,
'That jelly's rich, this malmsey healing,
Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in.'
Was ever such a happy swain!

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He stuffs, and swills, and stuffs again. 'I'm quite asham'd-'tis mighty rude

To eat so much-but all's so good; 'I have a thousand thanks to giveMy Lord above knows how to live.' No sooner said, but from the hall, Rush servants, butler, dogs and all: A rat, a rat! clap to the door'

The cat comes bouncing on the floor.

'An't please your honour, 'quoth the peasant,

'This same desert is not so pleasant:

'Give me again my hollow tree,

'A crust of bread, and liberty!'

FABLE V.

THE WOLF AND THE DOG.

By William Somerville.

A PROWLING Wolf, that scour'd the plains,
To ease his hunger's griping pains,
Ragged as courtier in disgrace,
Hide-bound, and lean, and out of case,
By chance a well-fed Dog espied,
And being kin, and near allied,
He civilly salutes the cur;

'How do you, coz?' Your servant, Sir!
O happy friend! how gay thy mien!

'How plump thy sides, how sleek thy skin! While I, alas! decay'd and old,

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'With hunger pin'd, and stiff with cold,
'With many a howl, and hideous groan,
'Tell the relentless woods

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my moan.

Pr'ythee, my happy friend! impart Thy wond'rous, cunning, thriving art.' 'Why, I will tell thee as a friend; But, first, thy surly manners mend; • Be complaisant, obliging, kind, And leave the Wolf for once behind.'

The Wolf, whose mouth began to water, With joy and rapture gallop'd after,

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