BOOK fOUR. lOI II. THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA.' A SHEPHERD, neighbour to the sea, Lived with his flock contentedly. His fortune, though but small. Was safe within his call. At last some stranded kegs of gold Him tempted, and his flock he sold, Turned merchant, and the ocean's waves Bore all his treasure — to its caves. Brought back to keeping sheep once more, But not chief shepherd, as before, When sheep were his that grazed the shore, He who, as Corydon or Thyrsis, Might once have shone in pastoral verses, Bedecked with rhyme and metre, W as nothing now but Peter. But time and toil redeemed in full Those harmless creatures rich in wool ; And as the lulling winds, one day, The vessels wafted with a gentle motion,
- Want you,' he cried, ' more money. Madam Ocean?
Address yourself to some one else, I pray ; You shall not get it out of me ! I know too well your treachery.'
