Page:Fables of Aesop and other eminent mythologists.djvu/279

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Fab. CCL.

A Dog and a Lyon.

What a Miſerable Life doſt thou lead, ſays a Dog to a Lyon, to run Starving up and down thus in Woods and Deſerts, without either Meat, or Eaſe. I am Fat and Fair you ſee, and it Coſts me neither Labour, nor Pains. Nay, ſays the Lyon, you have many a Good Bit no Doubt on’t; but then like a Fool you ſubject your ſelf to the Clogs and Chains that go along with it: But for my Own Part, let him ſerve that ſerve Can, and ſerve Will, I'll Live and Die Free.

The MORAL.

That Man deſerves to be a Slave, that Sacrifices his Liberty to his Appetite.

REFLEXION.

THE Moral of This is the Same with That of Dog and Wolfe, Fab. 69.

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Fab. CCXLI.

A River-fiſh and a Sea-fiſh.

THere was a Large Over-grown Pike that had the Fortune to be Carry’d out to Sea by a Strong Current, and he had there the Vanity to Value himſelf above All the Fiſh in the Ocean. We’l refer That (ſays a Sturgeon) to the Judgment of the Market, and ſee which of the Two Yields the Better Price.

The MORAL.

Every Man has his Province Aſſign'd him, and none but a Mad-man will pretend to Impoſe; and to give Laws where he has Nothing to do.

REFLEXION.

THERE's no Folly like That of Vain Glory, nor any thing more Ridiculous then for a Vain Man to be ſtill Boaſting of Himſelf: For ‘tis againſt All Law and Equity, for a Body to be admitted a Judge in ones Own Caſe. A ſecond Doctrine may be This (and we find it True by Experience) that Money Governs the World; and that the Market Price is theMeaſure