Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable XXX

by Roger L'Estrange

Fab. XXX.

A Countryman and a Snake.

THere was a Snake that Bedded himself under the Threshold of a Country-House: A Child of the Family happen'd to set his Foot upon't; The Snake bit him, and he Di'd on't. The Father of the Child made a Blow at the Snake, but Miss'd his Aim, and only left a Mark behind him upon the Stone where he Struck. The Countryman Offer'd the Snake, some time after This, to be Friends again. No, says the Snake, so long as you have This Flaw upon the Stone in Your Eye, and the Death of the Child in your Thought, there's No Trusting of ye.

The Moral.

In Matter of Friendship and Trust, we can never be too Tender; but yet there's a Great Difference betwixt Charity and Facility. We may Hope Well in many Cases, but let it be without Venturing Neck, and All upon't, for New-Converts are Slippery.

REFLEXION.

'Tis Ill Trusting a Reconcil'd Enemy, but 'tis Worse yet, to Proceed at One Step, from Clemency and Tenderness, to Confidence and Trust: Especially where there are so many Memorials in Sight, for Hatred and Revenge to work upon. 'Tis Generous however to Forgive an Enemy; though Extremely Hazardous to Grace him in the doing of an Ill Thing, with the Countenance of a Deference to his Merit. Nay, a Bare Easiness of Pardoning has but too often the Force of a Temptation to Offend again. 'Tis a Nice Business to Indulge on the Left Hand, without Punishing on the Right, for there must be No Sacrificing of a Faithful Friend to the Generosity of Obliging a Mortal Enemy. But the Case is then most Deplorate when Reward goes over to the Wrong side, and when Interest shall be made the Test and the Measure of Virtue. Upon the whole Matter, the Countryman was too Easie, in Proposing a Reconciliation; (the Circumstances duly Consider'd) And the Snake was much in the Right on the Other hand, in not entertaining it from a man that had so many Remembrancers at Hand still, to Provoke him to a Revenge. 'Tis a great Errour to take Facility, for Good Nature: Tenderness, without Discretion, is no better than a mere Pardonable Folly.