Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCCCXXXIX
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Fab. CCCCXXXIX.
A Cock and Horses.
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.
So says 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.