Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable LIX
Fab. LIX.
A Dog and a Butcher.
AS a Butcher was Busy about his Meat, a Dog runs away with a Sheeps Heart. The Butcher saw him upon the Gallop with a piece of Flesh in’'s Mouth, and call'd out after him, Heark ye Friend (says he) you may e'en make the Best of your Purchase, so long as Y’ave made Me the Wiser for't.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
No man is to Account any thing a Loss, if he gets Wisdom by the bargain: Beside, that Bought Wit is Best. It is in some Proportion, in the Business of this World, as it is in that of the Next: In the Cases (I mean, of Losses, Miscarriages and Disappointments: We are in Both Respects the Better for them (Provided they be not Mortal, that is) for they are Monitory and Instructive. Affliction makes a man both Honest and Wise; for the smart brings him to a sense of his Errour, and the Experiment to the Knowledge of it. We have I know not how many Adages to back the Reason of This Moral, Hang a Dog upon a Crab-Tree (we say) and He'll never love Verjuyce. And then we have it again in That Common saying, The Burnt Child Dreads the Fire. ’Tis Wandring Many times, whether it be in Opinion, or in Travelling, that sets a man Right in his Judgment, and brings him into the way. The Dogs running away with the Flesh, Does as good as bid the Cook look Better to’r Another time.
A Dog and a Sheep. See Fable and Moral 29.