The Cock, the Cat, and the young Mouse.
A Mouse of no Experience
Was almost nabb'd for want of Sence.
Hear how the silly young one told
Her strange Adventure to the old.
I cross'd the Limits of our State,
And ran as swift as any Rat;
When suddenly I spy'd two Creatures
Of very different Form and Features.
The one look'd smiling, milde, and Civil,
The other was a very Devil;
He look'd so fierce, made such a rout,
Then tore the Ground, then turn'd about;
He ne'er stood still, upon his Head
He wore a piece of Flesh that's red;
A bunch of Tails with green and black
Stood staring higher than his back.
And thus describes the simple Mouse
A Cock he had seen behind the House,
As had it been some Beast of Prey
Brought over from America.
With insolence, says he, he strides,
And beats with his broad Arms his sides;
Then lifts his shrill and frightful Voice,
And made so terrible a Noise,
That tho' I can assure you, Mother,
I've as much Courage as another,
I trembled, and as I am here,
Was forc'd to fly away for fear.
I curs'd the Bully in my thought;
For 'twas that strutting Ruffi'n's Fault;
Or else that other Beast and I
Had been acquainted presently.
He sat so quiet with such Grace,
So much good Nature in his Face,
He's furr'd like we, and on his Back
So purely streak'd with gray and black;
He has a long Tail, shining Eye,
Yet is all over Modesty.
I believe he is a near Relation
To our Allies the Rattish Nation:
His Ears and Whiskers are the same
With ours, I would have ask'd his Name,
When with his harsh and horrid sound
The other made me quit my Ground.
Replies the Mother, well 'scap'd Son,
You have been very near undone;
That formal Piece of Modesty,
That Mirror of Hypocrisy,
Was a damn'd Cat of wicked Fame;
My Heart akes at the very Name,
The everlasting Foe to Mouse,
Death and Destruction to our House.
Whereas that other Animal
Ne'er did us hurt, nor never will;
But may, when he is dead and gone,
Serve us one Day to dine upon.
Then prithee son, whate'er you do,
Take special Care of him, whom you
For such an humble Creature took,
And judge not People by their Look.
The Cock and Pearl.
A Cock, not very nicely fed,
A Dunghill raker by his Trade,
Whilst scraping in the dirt, had found
A Pearl worth Five and Twenty Pound:
He goes hard by t' a Jeweller,
And like a silly Dog, says Sir,
In yonder Rubbish lay a bit
Of something that in't good to eat,
If you think it will serve your turn,
I'll change it for a grain of Corn.
Nay sometimes Men will do as bad,
I've known a foolish Heir, that had
A Manuscript of Wit and Labour,
Say to a Bookseller his Neighbour,
I've got some Sheets my Uncle writ,
They say he was a Man of Wit,
But Books are things I don't much matter,
A Crown would do my Business better.
The Lyon's Court.
It happen'd that some Years ago,
The Lyon had a Mind to know,
What beastly Nations up and down
Belong'd to his Imperial Crown:
And therefore in his Princely care
Sends word by Letters every where,
That he would keep an open Court,
Grace it with every Royal Sport;
And so invites 'em to his Palace,
A Cave that stunk worse than the Gallows.
The Bear snorts at it, snuffles, blows,
Draws hundred Wrinkles in his Nose.
What need the Fool to have made such Faces?
The Lyon frown'd at his Grimaces,
And for the Niceness of his Smell
My Gentleman is sent to Hell.
The Monky fam'd for flattery
Extalls this Action to the Sky,
Then prais'd the King's majestick Face,
The stately building of the Place,
The Smell, whose Fragrancy so far
Exceeds all other Scents that are,
That there's no Amber, said the Sot,
But what's a house of Office to't.
This gross insipid stuff the Prince }
Dislikes and calls it Impudence, }
To speak so contrary to Sence. }
And as the one was thought too free,
So th' other dy'd for Flattery.
This Lyon had the reputation
To be Caligula's Relation.
The Fox being near; the peevish King
Ask'd his Opinion of the thing.
Tell me what smell it is, be bold,
Sir, says the Fox, I've got a Cold.
If you would have your Answers please
Great Men make use of such as these.
Bluntness and bare-faced Flattery
Can never with the Court agree.