FABLE LXVII.
THE VIPER AND THE LEECH.
"A strangely inconsistent crew!"—
Said the Viper to the simple Leech,—
"Men fly from me and seek for you;
Although they get a bite from each."
"All very true,"—the Leech replied,—
"But the two things are different quite.
I bite the sick, to give them aid;
To kill the sound and well, you bite."
Now, gentle reader, with you take
This counsel, as we part:
And always due distinction make,
If from the lash you smart.
Great is the difference between
Correction kind and malice keen.