Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCVII

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3937485Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists — Fable CCVII: A Wolfe and a KidRoger L'Estrange


Fab. CCVII.

A Wolfe and a Kid.

AS a Wolfe was passing by a Poor Country Cottage, a Kid spy’d him through a Peeping-Hole in the Door; and sent a Hundred Curses along with him. Sirrah (says the Wolfe) if had ye out of your Castle, I'd make ye give Better Language.

The MORAL.

A Coward in his Castle, makes a Great Deal more Bluster then a Man of Honour.

REFLEXION.

THE Advantages of Time and Place are enough to make a Poultron Valiant. There's Nothing so Couragious as a Coward if you put him out of Danger. This way of Brawl and Clamour, is so Arrant a Mark of a Dastardly Wretch, that he does as good as Call himself so that Uses it. The Kid behind the Door has the Priviledge of a Lord Mayors Fool. He's under Protection: he One is Scurrilous, and the Other Saucy; and yet These are the Two Qualities that pass but too frequently in the ord for Wit and Valour.