In delay, there lies no plenty.
The Kingfisher and the Nightingale;
A FABLE.
Once upon a time, a meeting took place between a kingfisher and a mocking-bird. The latter, being dressed in very plain feathers, at first felt a little humbled by the brilliant plumage of his neighbor. The kingfisher, perceiving the admiration of the mocking-bird, jerked his tail and tossed his head, so as to show off all the changing hues of his feathers to great advantage.
While this was going on between the two birds, a sportsman chanced to be passing by, and seeing them, paused to watch their proceedings. Readily understanding the scene, and disgusted with the conceit and vanity of the kingfisher, he drew up his gun, and shot him down. As he went to pick up the fallen bird, he made the following reflections:
“This silly kingfisher is like a person who is vain of his dress or his outward beauty. His skin, when stuffed with tow, is just as valuable as when the bird’s living flesh and bones are in it; his outside is all there is of him. But the modest mocking-bird is like a person who contributes to our pleasure or our instruction, and relies upon the good he does to others for his standing among mankind. How contemptible is pride; how amiable and attractive is modesty allied to merit!”
A sagacious Dog.—A grocer in Edinburgh had a dog, which for some time amused and astonished the people in the neighborhood. A man who went through the streets ringing a bell and selling penny pies, happened one day to treat this dog with a pie. The next time he heard the pieman’s bell, the dog ran to him with impetuosity, seized him by the coat, and would not allow him to pass. The pieman, who understood what the animal wanted, showed him a penny, and pointed to his master, who stood at the street door and saw what was going on. The dog immediately supplicated his master by many humble gestures and looks. The master put a penny into the dog’s mouth, which he instantly delivered to the pieman, and received his pie; and this traffic between the pieman and the grocer’s dog continued to be daily practised for many months.