Fab. XLIII.
A Stag Drinking.
AS a Stag was Drinking upon the Bank of a Clear Stream, he ſaw his Image in the Water, and Enter'd into This Contemplation upon't. Well! ſays he, If Theſe Pityful Shanks of mine were but Anſwerable to this Branching Head, I can but think how I mould Defy All my Enemies. The Words were hardly out of his Mouth, but he Diſcover'd a Pack of Dogs coming full-Cry towards him. Away he Scours croſs the Fields, Caſts off the Dogs, and Gains a Wood; but Preſſing thorough a Thicket, the Bullies held him by the Horns, till the Hounds came in, and Pluck'd him Down. The Laſt Thing he ſaid was This. What an Unhappy Fool was I, to Take my Friends for my Enemies, and my Enemies for my Friends! I Truſted to my Head, that has Betray'd me, and I found fault with my Leggs, that would otherwiſe have brought me off.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
This is to ſhew us how perverſly we Judge of Many Things, and take the Worſe for the Better; and the Better for the Worſe; upon a very great Miſtake, both in what we Deſpiſe, and in what we Admire. But we are rather for That which is Fair, and Plauſible in Appearance, then for That which is Plain and Profitable in Effect; Even to the Degree of Preferring Things Temporal to Eternal.
He that would Know Himſelf, muſt look into Himſelf. 'Tis only the Reſemblance, or the Shadow that he ſees in the Glaſs, Not the Man. 'Tis One Thing to Fancy Greatneſs of Mind; Another Thing to Prmiſe it; for a Body may Promiſe, nay and reſolve upon Many Things in Contemplation, that he can never make good upon Tryal. How did the Stag deſpiſe the Dogs here, at the fight of his Armed Head in the Fountain; but his Heart went quite to another Tune, when the Hounds were at the Heels of him. We are likewiſe taught here, how ſubject Vain Men are to Glory in That which commonly Tends to their Loſs, their Misfortune, their Shame, and their very Deſtruction; and yet at the ſame time to take their Beſt Friends for their Enemies. But there's a Huge Difference betwixt a Falſe Conception of Things, and the True Nature and Reaſon of them. The Stag Prided himſelf in his Horns, that afterward Shackled, and were the Ruine of him; but made flight of his Pityful Shanks, that if it had not been for his Branching Head, would have brought him off.
