Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCXLI
Fab. CCXLI.
A Boy and a Thief.
A Thief came to a Boy, that was Blubbering by the Side of a VVell, and Ask’d him what he cry’d for. VVhy, says he, the String’s Broke here, and I’ve dropt a Silver Cup into the VVell. The Fellow presently Strips, and down he goes to search for't. After a while, he comes up again, with his Labour for his Pains, and the Roguy Boy, in the Mean time, was run away with his Cloaths.
The MORAL.
Some Thieves are Ripe for the Gallows sooner then Others.
REFLEXION.
IT must be a Diamond that Cuts a Diamond, and there is No Pleasanter Encounter then a Tryal of Skill betwixt a Couple of Sharpers to Over-reach one Another. The Boy's beginning so Early, tells us that there are Cheats by a Natural Propensity of Inclination as well as by a Corruption of Manners. It was Nature that taught This Boy to Shark; not Discipline, or Experience. And so it was with Two Ladies that I have known (and Women of Plentiful Fortunes too) they could not for their Bloods keep themfelves Honest of their Fingers, but would still be Nimming something or other for the very Love of Thieving. 'Tis an Unhappy Thing, that the Temperament of the Body should have such an Influence upon our Manners, according to the Instance of the Boy in This Fable: For the Morality, or Immorality of the Matter, is not the Whole of the Case.