Chapter V: The Viper and the File 243 (8)

A blind Man and a lame Man happening to come at the same time to a piece of very bad road, the former begged of the latter that he would be so kind as to guide him through the difficulty. How can I do that, said the lame Man, since I am scarcely able to drag myself along? But as you appear to be very strong, if you will carry me, we will seek our fortunes together. It will then be my interest to warn you against any thing that may obstruct your way; your feet shall be my feet, and my eyes your’s. With all my heart, replied the blind Man; let us mutually serve each other. So, taking his lame companion on his back, they by means of this union travelled on with safety and pleasure.

APPLICATION.

There is no such thing as absolute independence, in a state of society, and the defects and weaknesses of individuals form the cement by which it is bound together. All men have their imperfections and wants, and must help each other as a matter of expediency as well as virtue; for Providence has so ordered things in this life, that like the blind man and the lame in the Fable, we may be serviceable to each other in almost every instance. What one man wants another supplies. Without these failings there would be neither friendship nor company; so that it is our interest to be both charitable and sociable, when our very wants and necessities are converted by Providence into blessings. The whole race of mankind ought indeed to be but so many members of the same body; and in contributing to the ease and convenience of each other, we are not only serviceable to the whole, but kind to ourselves.

[Page 367]

THE LION, THE WOLF, AND THE DOG.

A Lion having seized upon a Doe, while he was standing over his prize, a Wolf stepped up to him, and impudently claimed to go halves. No! said the Lion, you are too apt to take what is not your due. I therefore shall never have any thing to do with you, and I peremptorily insist on your immediate departure out of my sight. A poor honest Dog, who happened to be passing, and heard what was going on, modestly withdrew, intending to go about another way. Upon which the Lion kindly invited him to come forward and partake with him of the feast, to which his modesty had given him so good a title.

APPLICATION.

There is something in modesty which ought ever strongly to prepossess us in favour of those persons in whose nature it is interwoven; and men of discerning and generous minds have a pleasure in discovering it, and in bringing into notice the worthy man, who is diffident of his merit, and cannot prevail upon himself to challenge the praise or tribute he deserves. It is, however, to be lamented, that such patrons are not very numerous, and that the assuming arrogance and teasing importunities of the greedy forward man should so commonly succeed in attaining his ends, while modesty in silence starves unnoticed, and is for ever poor. Were men in exalted stations of life to pay more attention to the importance of this, and endeavour to discover modest worth, to draw merit from the shade, and virtue from obscurity, and distribute their patronage and their favours to such only, their own affairs, as well as those of the public, would be better managed, and the difference between the conduct of upstart pride and sensible plain honesty would soon shew itself in its true unvarnished colours.

[Page 369]

THE ASS EATING THISTLES.

An Ass was loaded with provisions of several sorts, which he was carrying home for a grand entertainment. By the way, he met with a fine large Thistle, and being very hungry, immediately eat it up, which, while he was doing, he entered into this reflection: How many greedy epicures would think themselves happy amidst such a variety of delicate viands as I now carry! But to me, this bitter prickly Thistle is more savory and relishing than the most exquisite and sumptuous banquet.

APPLICATION.

Temperance and exercise may be regarded as the constituents of natural luxury. It is not in the power of the whole art of cookery, to give such an exquisite relish and seasoning to a dish, as these two will confer on the plainest fare. Indolent epicures have no true taste: they subsist entirely by whets and provocatives of appetite; but he whose stomach is braced and strengthened by exercise, has a whet within himself, which adds a poignancy to every morsel that he eats. Providence seems to have carved out its blessings with an equal hand, and what it has denied to the poor in one way, it has amply supplied them with in another: if it have withheld riches, it has given them a greater store of health; and if it have refused them the means of luxury, it has at least formed them with the capacity of living as happily without it. And it may further be observed, that if we except hereditary diseases, almost every other ailment may be laid to the account of indolence, intemperance, or anxiety of mind.

[Page 371]

THE DOG AND THE CAT.

Never were two creatures happier together than a Dog and a Cat, reared in the same house from the time of their birth. They were so kind, so gamesome, and diverting, that it was half the entertainment of the family to see the gambols and love tricks that passed between them. Still it was observed, that at mealtimes, when scraps fell from the table, or a tit-bit was thrown to them, they would be snarling and spitting at one another like the bitterest foes.

APPLICATION.

This Fable is too true a picture of the practices and friendships of the world. We first enter into agreeable conversations, contract likings, and form close intimacies and connections, which one would think nothing could ever break up; but clashing interests at length come in the way, and dissolve the charm. An unreasonable desire to engross more than we can enjoy, is the bone of contention, which in greater or less degrees sets mankind together by the ears. A jealous thought, a mistaken word or look, is then sufficient to cancel all former bonds: the league is broken, and the farce concludes like the Dog and the Cat in the Fable, with biting and scratching out one another’s eyes. The same kind of over-grasping selfishness which operates so powerfully upon and blinds individuals, may with equal truth be charged against all public associations or societies of men, from the greatest to the least, when they are under the influence of that mistaken patriotism, which, instead of applying its powers to the improvement of what they already possess, seeks aggrandizement by engrossing the colonies or privileges of their less powerful neighbours.

[Page 373]

THE TRUMPETER TAKEN PRISONER.

A Trumpeter, being taken prisoner in battle, begged hard for quarter, declaring his innocence, and protesting, that he neither had killed nor could kill any man, bearing no arms but his trumpet, which he was obliged to sound at the word of command. For that reason, replied his enemies, we are determined not to spare you; for though you yourself never fight, yet, with that wicked instrument of yours, you blow up animosity among other people, and so become the cause of much bloodshed.

APPLICATION.

The fomenter of mischief is at least as culpable as he who puts it in execution. A man may be guilty of murder, who never has handled a sword or pulled a trigger, or lifted up his arm with any mischievous weapon. There is a little incendiary called the tongue, which is more venomous than a poisoned arrow, and more killing than a two-edged sword. The moral of the Fable therefore is this, that if in any civil insurrection, the persons taken in arms against the government deserve to die, much more do they whose devilish tongues or pens gave birth to the sedition, and excited the tumult. The Fable is also equally applicable to those evil counsellors, who excite corrupt or wicked governments to sap and undermine, and then to overturn the just laws and liberties of a whole people; or involve them in cruel offensive wars, in which they cause thousands upon thousands of swords to be drawn, and whole armies of men to be cut in pieces, while they themselves coolly sit out of danger, and calculate the gains they derive from the wide-spreading desolation. War is the most horrid custom that ever resulted from human wickedness, and is caused only by the ignorance of the people, or the wickedness of governments.

[Page 375]

THE BOYS AND THE FROGS.

A company of idle Boys used to assemble on the margin of a lake, inhabited by a great number of Frogs, and divert themselves by throwing vollies of stones into the water, to the great annoyance and danger of the poor terrified Frogs, who were thus pelted to death as soon as any of them put up their heads. At length, one of the boldest of the Frogs ventured, in behalf of the whole community, to croak out their complaints. Ah, my Boys, said he, why will you learn so soon the cruel practices of your race? Consider, I beseech you, that though this may be sport to you, it is death to us!

APPLICATION.

This Fable shews the propensity of unguided youth to do evil, and points out the need of inculcating benignity of conduct upon their minds, and giving them a direction towards a manly and generous humanity, which in manhood will shew itself in actions and habits that cannot fail to do honour to themselves, and qualify them for any office in the service of their country. The contrary of all this will be found to predominate in society, when youth are suffered to go on with impunity, in indulging their wicked inclinations for cruelty, by which their minds are hardened and debased. This hard-heartedness in boys will grow into brutality and tyranny in man; and that cruelty which was at first inflicted upon poor dumb animals, will soon shew itself upon their fellows. The great man of this cast will tyrannize over those below him: these again will shew the same hateful disposition to their dependants, and so downwards to the lowest, who, guided only by ignorance, will give vent to their natural baseness, by goading and distressing the poor animals which are wretchedly toiling in their service.

FINIS.

NEWCASTLE: PRINTED BY EDWARD WALKER.

Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.

This book often uses commas where periods might be expected, particularly when the next text might be expected to be in quotation marks, but is not.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.

The first page is handwritten, with a woodcut illustration in the middle and a fingerprint between the words “his mark.”

Every Fable begins with a framed illustration and a Title; many Fables end with an unframed illustration.

Page viii: The illustration captioned "Thomas Beswick" is his signature.

Page 36: In the caption of the illustration, “Brains” was crossed-out (by the artist).

Page 76: In the caption of the illustration, the first “the” was crossed out (by the artist).

Page 350: “equinamity” was printed that way.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Fables of Æsop, and Others, by Thomas Bewick