Aesop, in Rhyme | Page 6

me so much, I did but touch it ever so gently." "That
was just it," said his mother, "which caused it to sting you. The next
time you touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will be soft as silk to
your hand, and not in the least hurt you."
Whatever you do, do with all your might.

The Trumpeter taken Prisoner.

[Illustration]
A Trumpeter, bravely leading on the soldiers, was captured by the
enemy. He cried out to his captors: "Pray spare me, and do not take my
life without cause or without injury. I have not slain a single man of
your troop. I have no arms, and carry nothing but this one brass
trumpet." "That is the very reason for which you should be put to
death," they said, "for while you do not fight yourself, your loud
trumpet stirs up all the other soldiers to battle."
He who incites strife is as guilty as they who strive.

The Fatal Marriage.
The Lion, touched with gratitude by the noble procedure of a Mouse,
and resolving not to be outdone in generosity by any wild beast
whatsoever, desired his little deliverer to name his own terms, for that
he might depend upon his complying with any proposal he should
make. The Mouse, fired with ambition at this gracious offer, did not so
much consider what was proper for him to ask, as what was in the
powers of his prince to grant; and so demanded his princely daughter,
the young lioness, in marriage. The Lion consented; but, when he
would have given the royal virgin into his possession, she, like a giddy
thing as she was, not minding how she walked, by chance set her paw
upon her spouse, who was coming to meet her, and crushed him to
pieces.
Beware of unequal matches. Alliances prompted by ambition often
prove fatal.

The Ass and the Charger.
[Illustration]
An Ass congratulated a Horse on being so ungrudgingly and carefully

provided for, while he himself had scarcely enough to eat, nor even that
without hard work. But when war broke out, the heavy armed soldier
mounted the Horse, and rushed into the very midst of the enemy, and
the Horse, being wounded, fell dead on the battle-field. Then the Ass,
seeing all these things, changed his mind, and commiserated the Horse,
saying: "How much more fortunate am I than a charger. I can remain at
home in safety while he is exposed to all the perils of war."
Be not hasty to envy the condition of others.

The Vain Jackdaw.
[Illustration]
Jupiter determined, it is said, to create a sovereign over the birds, and
made proclamation that, on a certain day, they should all present
themselves before him, when he would himself choose the most
beautiful among them to be king. The Jackdaw, knowing his own
ugliness, searched through the woods and fields, and collected the
feathers which had fallen from the wings of his companions, and stuck
them in all parts of his body. When the appointed day arrived, and the
birds had assembled before Jupiter, the Jackdaw also made his
appearance in his many-feathered finery. On Jupiter proposing to make
him king, on account of the beauty of his plumage, the birds
indignantly protested, and each plucking from him his own feathers, the
Jackdaw was again nothing but a Jackdaw.
Hope not to succeed in borrowed plumes.

The Milkmaid and her Pot of Milk.
[Illustration]
A Maid was carrying her pail of milk to the farm-house, when she fell
a-musing. "The money for which this milk will be sold will buy at least

three hundred eggs. The eggs, allowing for all mishaps, will produce
two hundred and fifty chickens. The chickens will become ready for
market when poultry will fetch the highest price; so that by the end of
the year I shall have money enough to buy a new gown. In this dress I
will go to the Christmas junketings, when all the young fellows will
propose to me, but I will toss my head, and refuse them every one." At
this moment she tossed her head in unison with her thoughts, when
down fell the Milk-pot to the ground, and broke into a hundred pieces,
and all her fine schemes perished in a moment.
Count not your chickens before they are hatched.
[Illustration]

The Playful Ass.
An Ass climbed up to the roof of a building, and, frisking about there,
broke in the tiling. The owner went up after him, and quickly drove
him down, beating him severely with a thick wooden cudgel. The Ass
said: "Why, I saw the Monkey do this very thing yesterday, and you all
laughed heartily, as if it afforded you very great amusement."
Those who do