Page:The Battle of the Books, and Other Short Pieces.djvu/149

 And so absurd, that, could I raise up From fields Elysian, fabling Æsop; I would accuse him to his face, For libelling the four-foot race. Creatures of every kind but ours Well comprehend their natural powers; While we, whom reason ought to sway, Mistake our talents every day: The ass was never known so stupid To act the part of Tray or Cupid; Nor leaps upon his master's lap, There to be stroked, and fed with pap: As Æsop would the world persuade; He better understands his trade: Nor comes whene'er his lady whistles, But carries loads, and feeds on thistles; Our author's meaning, I presume, is A creature bipes et implumis; Wherein the moralist designed A compliment on human-kind: For, here he owns, that now and then Beasts may degenerate into men.