Fab. CXXV.
Jupiter and a Bee.
A Bee made Jupiter a Preſent of a Pot of Hony, which was ſo kindly Taken, that he had her Ask what ſhe would, and it ſhould be Granted her. The Bee deſir'd, that where-ever ſhe ſhould ſet her Sting, it might be Mortal. Jupiter was loth to leave Mankind at the Mercy of a Little Spiteful Inſect, and ſo had her have a care how ſhe Kill'd any Body; for what Perſon ſoever fhe Attacqu’d, if ſhe left her Sting behind her, it ſhould coſt her her Life.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
Cruelty and Revenge are directly contrary to the very Nature of the Divine Goodneſs, and the Miſchief that is Deſign’d for Other People returns commonly upon the Head of the Author.
How many Men are there in the World, that put up as Malicious Prayers in Chriſtian Aſſemblyes to the True God, as the Bee does to Jupiter here in the Fable! And Prayers too againſt their very Patrons and Maſters; their Benefactors that Entertain, Feed, and Protect them. Will Heaven Heare Theſe Prayers, ſhall we think, (or Curſes rather) and not Puniſh them? This Bee did not Pray for a Power to Kill, without a Previous Diſpoſition and Deſign, to put that Venemous Power in Execution. She had Miſchief in her Heart allready, and only wanted ſome Deſtructive Faculty, anſwerable to her Will: And ſo pray’d to Jupiter, as Men do in many Caſes to the Jehovah, for the Bleſſing of an Ability to Commit Murder.
Fab. CXXVI.
Waſps in a Honey-pot.
THere was a Whole Swarm of Waſps got into a Hony-Pot, and there they Cloy’d and Clamm‘d themſelves, till there was no getting Out again; which brought them to Underſtand in the Concluſion, that they had pay'd too Deare for their Sweet-Meats.
The
