Page:La Fontaine - The Original Fables Of, 1913.djvu/59

 XV

THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER

( VIII.—No. 2)

was once a cobbler who was so light hearted that he sang from morning to night. It was wonderful to watch him at his work, and more wonderful still  to hear his runs and trills. He was in fact happier than the Seven Sages.

This merry soul had a neighbour who was exactly the reverse. He sang little and slept less; for he was a financier, and made of money, as they say. Whenever it happened that after a sleepless night he would doze  off in the early morning, the cobbler, who was always  up betimes, would wake him up again with his joyful  songs. "Ha!" thought the man of wealth, "what a misfortune it is that one cannot buy sleep in the open  market as one buys food and drink!" Then an idea