Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CLXXXI
Fab. CLXXXI.
A Daw and Pigeons.
A Daw took Particular Notice of the Pigeons in such a Certain Dove-House, that they were very Well Fed, and Provided for: So he Went and Painted himself of a Dove-Colour, and took his Commons with the Pigeons. So long as he kept his Own Counfel, he Pass'd for a Bird of the Same Feather; but it was his Hap once at Unawares, to Cry [KAW,] upon which Discovery, they Beat him out of the House, and when he came to his Old Companions again, They’d have None of him neither; so that he Lost himfelf Both Ways by This Disguise.
The MORAL.
He that Trims betwixt Two Interests, loses himself with Both, when he comes to be Detected, for being True to Neither.
REFLEXION.
This is to Caution us against All Supersluous and Dangerous Desires. Our Own Lot is Best, and by Aiming at what we have Not, and what is Impossible to be had, we lose what we have already. No Man goes out of Himself but to his Loss. Imitation is Servile, let it be Where, How, and What it will. Nature Points out to us which way Every Man’s Talent and Genius lies; and He that keeps to his Own Province, or Biass, speeds Best. The Painting of the Daw like a Pigeon, did not make him One, neither can any Man do himself Right in Another bodies Shape: Besides, that when he is once Out, 'tis Hard to find his Way Home again. The Hypocrite is never so far from being a Good Christian, as when he looks Likest One. ’Tis much a Case with a Faction in a Government, and a Daw in a Pigeon-House. There's a Fraud driven on, and they Assimilate themselves, as much as may be, to the Interest they Propose to be the Better for. They put on all Appearances in Matter of Opinion, Practice and Pretence, Suitable to the Humour they are to Joyn withall: But still Some Unlucky Accident or Other happens to Discover them in the End; and then, when they would go off again, the People of their Own Plume and Colour Beat ‘em away, and Refuse to Entertain them. This is no more then what we find to be True in All Turns of State. Double-Dealers may Pass Muster for a While, but All Parties Wash their Hands of them in the Conclusion.