Page:Fables of Aesop and other eminent mythologists.djvu/406

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A

SUPPLEMENT

OF

FABLES,

OUT OF

Phædrus. Avienus, Camerarius, Neveletus, Apththonius, Gabrias, Babrias, Abſtemius, Alciatus, Boccalini, Baudoin, De la Fontaine, Æfope en Belle Humeur, Meſlier, &c.

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Fab. CCCLXXXIV.

A Lamb, a Wolf and a Goat.

A Wolf overheard a Lamb Bleating among the Goats. D'ye hear Little One, (ſays the Wolf,) if it be your Dam you want, ſhe’s yonder in the Field. Ay (ſays the Lamb,) but I am not looking for her that was my Mother for her Own ſake, but for her that Nurſes me up, and Suckles me out of Pure Charity, and Good Nature. Can any thing be Dearer to you, ſays the Wolf, then ſhe that brought you forth? Very Right, ſays the Lamb; and without knowing or caring what ſhe did: And pray, what did ſhe bring me forth for too; but to Eaſe her ſelf of a Burden, and to deliver me out of her own Belly, into the Hands of the Butcher? I am more Beholden to her that took Pity of me when I was in the VVorld already, then to her that brought me into’t, I know not how. 'Tis Charity, not Nature, or Neceſſity that does the Office of a Tender Mother.

The Moral.

There's a difference betwixt Reverence and Affection; the one goes to the Character, and the other to the Perſon, and ſo diſtinguiſhes Duty fromInclination.