A cobbler sang from morn till night; 'Twas sweet and marvellous to hear, His trills and quavers told the ear Of more contentment and delight, Enjoy'd by that laborious wight...
There was once a cobbler who was so light hearted that he sang from morning to night. It was wonderful to watch him at his work, and more wonderful still to hear his runs and trills. He was in fact happier than the Seven Sages....
Upon a tree there mounted guard A veteran cock, adroit and cunning; When to the roots a fox up running, Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard: - 'Our quarrel, brother, 's at an end;...
That great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his companions driven hither and thither at the will of the winds for ten years, never knowing what their ultimate fate was to be. At length they disembarked upon a shore where Cir...
A fox once practised, 'tis believed, A stratagem right well conceived. The wretch, when in the utmost strait By dogs of nose so delicate, Approach'd a gallows, where, A lesson to like passengers,...
A young country woman named Perrette set out one morning from her little dairy-farm with a pail of milk which she cleverly balanced upon her head over a pad or cushion. She hurried with sprightly steps to the market town, and s...
BY master Francis clearly 'tis expressed: The folks of Papimania are blessed; True sleep for them alone it seems was made With US the copy only has been laid; And by Saint John, if Heav'n my life will spare,...
This world is full of shadow-chasers, Most easily deceived. Should I enumerate these racers, I should not be believed. I send them all to Aesop's dog, Which, crossing water on a log,...
"What have I done to be treated in this way? Mutilated by my own master! A nice state to be in! Dare I present myself before other dogs? O ye kings over the animals, or rather tyrants of them, would any creature do the same to ...
Once in the olden times the elephant and the rhinoceros disputed as to which was the more important, and which should, therefore, have empire over the other animals. They decided to settle the point by battle in an enclosed fie...
Sound reason and a tender heart With thee are friends that never part. A hundred traits might swell the roll; - Suffice to name thy nobleness of soul;...
Thanks to Memory's daughters nine, Animals have graced my line: Higher heroes in my story Might have won me less of glory. Wolves, in language of the sky, Talk with dogs throughout my verse;...
I RECOLLECT, that lately much I blamed, The sort of lover, avaricious named; And if in opposites we reason see, The liberal in paradise should be. The rule is just and, with the warmest zeal,...
You often hear a sweet seductive call: If wise, you haste towards it not at all; - And, if you heed my apologue, You act like John de Nivelle's dog.[2]
The wolf and fox are neighbours strange: I would not build within their range. The fox once eyed with strict regard From day to day, a poultry-yard; But though a most accomplish'd cheat,...
No pond nor pool within his haunt But paid a certain cormorant Its contribution from its fishes, And stock'd his kitchen with good dishes. Yet, when old age the bird had chill'd,...
Thrysis - who for his Annette dear Made music with his flute and voice, Which might have roused the dead to hear, And in their silent graves rejoice - Sang once the livelong day,...
A fly and ant, upon a sunny bank, Discuss'd the question of their rank. 'O Jupiter!' the former said, 'Can love of self so turn the head, That one so mean and crawling,...
A knight of powder-horn and shot Once fill'd his bag - as I would not, Unless the feelings of my breast By poverty were sorely press'd - With birds and squirrels for the spits...