A Cock was got into a Stable, and there was he Neſtling in the Straw among the Horſes; and ſtill as the Fit took ‘em, they'd be Stamping and Flinging, and laying about 'em with their Heels: So the Cock very gravely Admoniſh’d them; Pray my Good Friends, let us have a Care, ſays he, that we don't Tread upon One Another.
The Moral.
Unequal Converſations are Dangerous and Inconvenient to the Weaker Side in many Reſpects, whether it be in Regard of Quality, Fortune, or the like; where the weight of the One, ſinks the Other: And no matter whether we Embark out of Vanity or Folly; for 'tis Hazardous both ways.
REFLEXION.
Soſays many a Vain Fool in the World, as this Cock does in the Like Caſe, and Expoſes himſelf to Scorn, as well as Deſtruction. ’Tis a neceſſary Point of Wiſdom for People to ſort themſelves with fit Company, and to make a Right Judgment of their Converſation. I do not mean in the matter of Morals only, where Vicious and ill Habits are Contagious; but there ſhould a Regard be had to the very Size, Quality and Degree of the Men that we Frequent: For where the Diſproportion is very great, a Man may be Ruin’d without Malice, and Cruſh’d to Pieces by the Weight even of One that has a Kindneſs for him. Now where we Misjudge the Matter, a Miſcarriage draws Pity after it, but when we are Tranſported by Pride and Vanity into ſo Dangerous an Affectation, our Ruin lies at our own Door.
Fab. CCCCXL.
A Gard’ner and a Mole.
A Gard'ner took a Mole in his Grounds, and the Queſtion was, whether he ſhould put her to Death or no. The Mole Pleaded that ſhe was one of his Family, and Digg’d his Garden for Nothing : Nay, ſhe Inſiſted upon’t, what Pity ‘twas to Deſtroy a Creature that had ſo ſmooth a Skin, and Twenty other Little Pretences. Come, come, ſays theGardner,
