ong are those, how weak am I!
Should I presume to bear you hence,
Those friends of mine may take offence.
Excuse me, then. You know my heart.
But dearest friends, alas, must part!
How shall we all lament! Adieu!
For see, the hounds are just in view."

244

Tomas de Yriarte (1750-1791) was a Spanish poet
of some note, remembered now mainly as the
author of _Literary Fables_, the first attempt
at literary fable-writing in Spanish. As the
name is meant to imply, they concern themselves
with the follies and weaknesses of authors.
There are about eighty fables in the complete
collection, and they are full of ingenuity and
cleverness. One of the simplest and best of
these is given here in the translation by R.
Rockliffe, which first appeared in _Blackwood's
Magazine_ in 1839. It laughs at the lucky
chance by which even stupidity sometimes "makes
a hit" and then stupidly proceeds to pat itself
on the back.

THE MUSICAL ASS

TOMAS YRIARTE

The fable which I now present
Occurred to me by accident;
And whether bad or excellent,
Is merely so by accident.
A stupid ass one morning went
Into a field by accident
And cropp'd his food and was content,
Until he spied by accident
A flute, which some oblivious gent
Had left behind by accident;
When, sniffing it with eager scent,
He breathed on it by accident,
And made the hollow instrument
Emit a sound by accident.
"Hurrah! hurrah!" exclaimed the brute,
"How cleverly I play the flute!"

_A fool, in spite of nature's bent._
_May shine for once--by accident._

245

Ivan Andreevitch Krylov (1768-1844) was a
Russian author whose fame rests almost entirely
upon his popular verse fables (200 in number)
which have been used extensively as textbooks
in Russian schools. They have "joyousness,
simplicity, wit, and good humor." The following
specimen is from I. H. Harrison's translation
of Krylov's _Original Fables_. It gives a good
illustration of the necessity of "teamwork."

THE SWAN, THE PIKE, AND THE CRAB

IVAN KRYLOV

When partners with each other don't agree,
Each project