re is an ape in Paris,
To which was given a wife:
Like many a one that marries,
This ape, in brutal strife,
Soon beat her out of life.
Their infant cries,--perhaps not fed,--
But cries, I ween, in vain;
The father laughs: his wife is dead,
And he has other loves again,
Which he will also beat, I think,--
Return'd from tavern drown'd in drink.

_For aught that's good, you need not look_
_Among the imitative tribe;_
_A monkey be it, or what makes a book--_
_The worse, I deem--the aping scribe._

[Illustration: THE APE.]

The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog.

A fox, old, subtle, vigilant, and sly,--
By hunters wounded, fallen in the mud,--
Attracted by the traces of his blood,
That buzzing parasite, the fly.
He blamed the gods, and wonder'd why
The Fates so cruelly should wish
To feast the fly on such a costly dish.
"What! light on me! make me its food!
Me, me, the nimblest of the wood!
How long has fox-meat been so good?
What serves my tail? Is it a useless weight?
Go,--Heaven confound thee, greedy reprobate!--
And suck thy fill from some more vulgar veins!"
A hedgehog, witnessing his pains,
(This fretful personage
Here graces first my page,)
Desired to set him free
From such cupidity.
"My neighbour fox," said he,
"My quills these rascals shall empale,
And ease thy torments without fail."
"Not for the world, my friend!" the fox replied.
"Pray let them finish their repast.
These flies are full. Should they be set aside,
New hungrier swarms would finish me at last."

_Consumers are too common here below,_
_In court and camp, in church and state, we know._
_Old Aristotle's penetration_
_Remark'd our fable's application;_
_It might more clearly in our nation._
_The fuller certain men are fed,_
_The less the public will be bled._

[Illustration: THE FOX THE FLIES & THE HEDGEHOG.]

The Eagle and the Magpie.

The eagle, through the air a queen,
And one far different, I ween,
In temper, language, thought, and mien,--
The magpie,--once a prairie cross'd.
The by-path where they met was drear,
And Madge gave up herself for lost;
But havi