Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable XXXIV

by Roger L'Estrange

Fab. XXXIV.

An Ant and a Fly.

THere happen'd a Warm Dispute betwixt an Ant and a Fly, Why, Where's the Honour, or the Pleasure in the World, says the Fly, that I have not My Part in? Are not All Temples and Palaces Open to me? Am not I the Taster to Gods and Princes, in All their Sacrifices and Entertainments? Am I not serv'd in Gold and Silver? And is not my Meat and Drink still of the Best? And all This, without either Mony or Pains. I Trample upon Crowns, and Kiss what Ladies Lips I please. And what have You now to Pretend to all this While? Why, says the Ant, You Value Your self upon the Access You have to the Altars of the Gods, the Cabinets of Princes, and to All Publick Feasts and Collations: And what's all This but the Access of an Intruder, not of a Guest. For People are so far from Liking Your Company, that they Kill ye as fast as they can Catch ye. You're a Plague to 'em Wherever You Come. Your very Breath has Maggots in't, and for the Kisse you Brag of, what is it but the Perfume of the Last Dunghil you Touch'd upon, once Remov'd? For My Part, I live upon what's my Own, and Work Honestly in the Summer to Maintain my self in the Winter; Whereas the whole Course of Your Scandalous Life, is only Cheating or Sharping, one Half of the Year, and Starving, the Other.

The Moral.

Here's An Emblem of Industry, and Luxury, set forth at large: with the Sober Advantages, and the Scandalous Excesses of the One and of the Other.

REFLEXION.

This Fable Marks out to us the Difference betwixt the Empty Vanity of Ostentation, and the Substantial Ornaments of Virtue. It shews that the Happiness of Life does not lie so much in the Enjoying of small Advantages, as in living free from Great Inconveniences, and that an Honest Mediocrity is Best. The Fly stands up for the Pride, the Luxury, and the Ambition of Courts, in the preference of Palaces, to Caves, and Private Retreats. The Ant contents her self with the Virtue of Sobriety, Retirement, and Moderation: She lives upon her Own, Honestly Gotten and Possess'd, without either Envy or Violence; Whereas the Fly is an Intruder, and a Common Smell-Feast, that Spunges upon Other peoples Trenchers.