Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCLII
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Fab. CCLII.
A Fox and a Leopard.
AS a Leopard was Valuing himself upon the Lustre of his Party-colour’d-Skin, a Fox gave him a Jog, and Whisperd him, that the Beauty of the Mind was an Excellence, Infinitely to be Preferr'd above That of a Painted Out-side.
The Moral.
A Good Understanding, is a Blessing Infinitely beyond All External Beauties.
REFLEXION.
THERE are Degrees in Good Things. There are Blessings of Fortune, and Those are of the Lowest Rate. The Next above Those Blessings are the Bodily Advantages of Strength, Gracefulness and Health; but the Superlative Blessings, in fine, are the Blessings of the Mind: Fools ‘tis true may be allow'd to Brag of Foolish Things; but the Leopard's Beauty without the Foxes Wit is no better then a Fop in a Gay Coat.