Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CXXVII
Fab. CXXVII.
A Young Man and a Swallow.
A Prodigal Young Fellow that had fold his Cloths to his very Shirt, upon the Sight of a Swallow that came abroad before her Time, made Account that Summer was now at Hand, and away went That too. There happen'd after This, a Fit of Bitter Cold Weather, that allmost starv’d both the Bird, and the Spendthrift. Well (says the Fellow to Himself) This Sot of a Swallow has been the Ruine of us Both.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
Every Man Stands or Falls to his Own Reason; and it is No Excuse to say, that I was Misled by Example, or Conjecture, when I had the Means before me of Enforming my self Better. If this Prodigal had but Consulted the Almanack, or his own Experience, it would have fer him Right in the Course of the Seasons, or the Old Proverb Methinks might have satisfy'd him, that One Swallow makes no Summer, Unless the Fable perchance should fall out to be the Ancienter of the Two, and the Occasion of That Proverb: But there are Certain Extravagants among People of all Sizes and Professions, and there must be no Drawing of General Rules from Particular Exceptions.