The Fables of Florian. Jean Pierre Claris de Florian
To have them by their int'rests bound.
The Ivy and the Thyme
FABLE IX.
THE IVY AND THE THYME.
"How I do pity you, indeed,
My sorry, little trembling weed!"
Once said the ivy to the thyme.
"You always creep and never climb.
Whilst scarce above the ground you rise,
I mount this oak and seek the skies:—
The old oak which Jove cherishes,
My comrade is."
"I know," the thyme replied, "'tis true,
In height I can't dispute with you,
But my support is all my own,
While you could never stand alone.
'Tis by that tree you mount so high;
Alone you could not climb at all;
But in your feebleness would fall,
And creep e'en lower than I."
Attend ye authors who would seek
By learned Latin, or by Greek,
To climb aloft in prose or rhyme:—
Whate'er you do,
Keep well in view,
These words of wisdom of the thyme.
The Child and the Looking-Glass
FABLE X.
THE CHILD AND THE LOOKING-GLASS.
Once on a time it came to pass,
A child by a poor woman rais'd,
First saw at home a looking-glass,
In which it often fondly gazed.
At length, by a mere child's caprice,
But which the grown man often shows,
Its raptures for the mirror cease,
At which it ugly glances throws.
These glances now his rage inflame,
At what he loved before;
And as the image makes the same,
He's angered more and more.
Whene'er his angry fist he shakes,
Or wry and hateful faces makes,
The image, aping ev'ry whim,
Repeats the same bad thoughts to him.
Enraged at insults so extreme,
At last he bursts out in a scream.
His mother coming wiped his face,
And gave her child a kind embrace;
Consol'd his wrath and gently show'd
How 'twas those insults were bestowed.
"For, if you smile," she said, "'tis plain,
The image will smile back again.
Extend your arms for an embrace,
And 'twill not make an angry face.
You see, whatever you may do,
The image does the same to you."
So in the world at large 'twill be;
'Tis your own image there you'll see.
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