[Original]

THE husband's dire mishap, and silly maid,

In ev'ry age, have proved the fable's aid;

The fertile subject never will be dry:

'Tis inexhaustible, you may rely.

No man's exempt from evils such as these:—

Who thinks himself secure, but little sees.

One laughs at sly intrigues who, ere 'tis long,

May, in his turn, be sneered at by the throng: