Page:Miser and the prodigal, a moral tale.pdf/3

 But to our tale, which shall the truth declare.

There was a man liv'd near the town o' Ayr

Whase way o' life we will attempt to show,

That all wha read, may learn an' wiser grow.

Aye frae his youth he was inclin’d to care—

While ithers spent, his money he would spare—

Whan young chaps fairings cat, an' dress'd fu'trig,

He kept his bawbees in a pinor-pig;

At school, he aften sell't his bread an' cheese;

An' gather'd prins, or ought wad bring bawbecs.

His father dee't, nae hame ava had he,

To his ain fen he gaed an' took a fee.

Would foolish mortals fallow Reason's light,

An' whan they're weel, try to continue right,

Then might they aften frae their troubling cease,

An' let themsel's an' ithers live in peace.

Now was the time he hit the happy mark,

He wrought an' gat his wages for his wark,

His siller lent, wi' pleasure he would tell,

It gain'd as fast as he could do himsel'.

He gather'd, view'd, an' sav'd, how happy now,

An' every day he liv'd he richer grew.

At length, resolv'd to change his way o' life,

He made a bauld attempt an' took a wife—

A wife, of carthly gifts, by Wisdom's plan

Design'd the best, a helpmate unto man,

Prov'd not a blessing to a man like this,

But seal'd her own unhappiness an' his.

She wish'd to live a moderate, frugal mean,

And, by industry, to gang snod an' clean;