Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCXXIII
Fab. CCXXIII.
The Sun and the Wind.
THere happen’d a Controversy betwixt the Sun and the Wind, which was the Stronger of the Two; and they put the Point upon This Issue: There was a Traveller upon the Way, and which of the Two could make That Fellow Quit his Cloak should carry the Cause. The Wind feil presently a Storming, and threw Hail-Shot over and above in the very Teeth of him. The Man Wraps himself up, and keeps Advancing still in spight of the Weather: But This Gust in a short Time Blew over; and then the Sun Brake out, and fell to Work upon him with his Beams; but still he Pushes forward, Sweating, and Panting, till in the End he was forc’d to Quit his Cloak, and lay himself down upon the Ground in a Cool Shade for his Relief: So that the Sun, in the Conclusion, carry’d the Point.
The MORAL.
REFLEXION.
'TIS a Part of Good Discretion in All Contests, to Consider over and over, the Power, the Strength, and the Interest of our Adversary; and likewise again, that though One Man may be more Robust then Another, That Force may be Baffled yet by Skill and Address. It is in the Bus'ness of Life as it is in a Storm, or a Calm at Sea: The Blast may be Impetuous; but seldom lasts long; and though the Vessel be Press'd never so Hard, a Skilful Steers-man will yet bear up against it: But in a Dead Calm, a Man loses his Spirits, and lies in a Manner Expos’d, as the Scorn and Spectacle of Ill Fortune.