Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCCLXXV
Fab. CCCLXXV.
The Dancing Apes.
A Certain Ægyptian King Endow'd a Dancing-School for the Institution of Apes of Quality; and when they came to be Perfect in their Lessons, they were Dress'd up after the best manner, and so brought forth for a Spectacle upon the Stage. As they were in the Middle of their Gamboles, somebody threw a Handful of Apples among them, that set them presently together by the Ears upon the Scramble, without any regard in the World to the Business in Hand, or to the Dignity of their Education.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
Men have their weak Sides as well as Apes, and it is not in the Power of Study and Discipline to extinguish Natural Inclinations; no not so much as to Conceal them for any long time, but they'l be breaking out now and then by Starts and Surprizes , and discover themselves. The Apes were taught their Apes Tricks by a Dancing Master; but it was Nature that taught them to Eat Apples, and the natural Institution was much the stronger of the Two.