Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/449

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On turning author, finds his fame

Unequal to the trying test,

And like the Swan, exposed to shame.

Becomes a byword and a jest.

(Iriarte, Literary Fables. Translated for Blackwood's Magazine.)

THE SILKWORM AND THE SPIDER

NE day, as a Silkworm slowly spun

&ensp;Its delicate threads in the noon-tide sun,

A Spider cried, from its darksome nook:

"Look at my web, sweet sister, look!

I began it at dawn, 'tis hardly noon.

And yet my task will be ended soon;

For while thou spinnest thy life away,

I weave a web in a single day.

Examine it well, each airy line

Is as fine and fair as the best of thine."

"True," said the Silkworm, with a smile,

"But will they endure for half the while?"

(Iriarte, Literary Fables. Translated for Blackwood's Magazine.)

ITH a ravenous pack of Dogs at his back,

&ensp;A Rabbit fled—or flew;

For his course was as fleet as if his four feet

Were winged, like Mercury's two.