Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCCCVIII
Fab. CCCCVIII.
Two Laden-Asses.
AS Two Asses were Fording a River, the one Laden with Salt, the other with Sponge: The Salt-Ass fell down under his Burden, but quickly got up again, and went-on the Merrier for't. The Sponge-Ass found it agreed so well with his Companion, that down lyes he too, upon the same Experiment; but the Water chat Dissolv'd the Salt, made the Sponge Forty times Heavier then it was before; and that which Eas'd the One, Drown'd the Other.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
A Wise Man lives by Reason, not by Example; or if he does, 'tis odds, he goes out of his Way. We have a Common Saying that holds in a Thousand Ordinary Cases, where the same thing Ruins one, that Saves another. It is the part also of an Honest Man to deal Above-Board, and without Tricks. The Ass with the Sponge fail'd in both; for First, he would be trying Conclusions, without Examining either the Nature of the thing in Question, or what the Matter would bear. Secondly, He was false to his Master too, in Abusing a Trust for the Easing of his own Carcass; and then it cost him his Life Over and Above, which was both his Mishap and his Punishment.