Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CLVIII
Fab. CLVIII.
A Swan and a Goose.
THE Master of a House brought up a Swan and a Goose both together; The One for his Eare, the Other for his Belly. He gave Orders for the Goose to be Taken up, and Dress'd for Dinner. But the Place was so Dark, that the Cook took One for T'other. This Mistake had Cost the Swan her Life, if she had not Sung in That very Instant, and Discover’d her self; by which Means she both sav'd her Life, and Express'd her Nature.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
There's a Providence Attends Innocency and Virtue, the Power of Musique apart, 'Tis a Rule that goes a Great Way in the Government of a Sober Man's Life, not to put any thing to Hazard that may be Secur'd by Industry, Considceation, or Circumspection. And this Caution reaches to a Thousand Cases in the Ordinary Course of Life. Men should Look before they Leap; Deliberate before they Resolve; Try, Weigh, Examine, and Bethink themselves well of the Matter before they Execute. We fall into some Inconveniencies out of Pure Lazyness, and for want of taking pains to Enform our selves Better: Into Others, out of Rashness; by doing Things in a Hurry, and Hand over Head at a Venture. Now there’s no Excuse for a Blunder upon any of these Topiques where there was both Time and Means to prevent it. What are we the better for the Faculty of Reason, without the Exercise of it. If the Cook would but have been at the Trouble of Carrying a Candle with him, he would have been in No Danger of taking a Swan for a Goose.