Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable XXXV
Fab. XXXV.
A Frog and an Oxe.
AS a Huge Over-grown Oxe was Grazing in a Meadow, an Old Envious Frog that stood Gaping at him hard by, call'd out to her Little Ones, to take Notice of the Bulk of That Monstrous Beast; and see, says she, if I don't make my self now the Bigger of the Two. So she Strain'd Once, and Twice, and went still swelling on and on, till in the Conclusion she Forc'd her self, and Burst.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
This Fancy is a Lash upon Those that set up to Live above their Quality and Fortune, and pretend to spend Penny for Penny with men of Twenty times their Estate, and therefore must needs Burst in the Conclusion! But Pride and Ambition Pushes men forward, not only to Extravagances, but Impossibilities, though to the Certain Undoing of the Weaker and the Meaner: When they come to Vie Power and Expence with Those that are too High, and too many for them.
Men that would be Bigger than God has made them, must e'en Expect to fall to Nothing. This Affectation strikes upon All the Weaknesses that Pride, Envy, or Ambition can fancy to it self, provided always that we do not take Emulation for Envy. In One Word, when men's Hearts and Thoughts are puff'd up into a Desire of Things Unnatural, the Tumour is Incurable. But they are Weak Minds commonly, that are Tainted with This Evil. They take False Measures, both of Themselves, and of Others, without considering the Limits, Bulk, Fortune, Ability, Strength, &c. or in truth, the very Nature of the Things, Matters, or Person in Question. They let up Competitors for Learning, Power, Estate, Policy; They Censure their Betters, Despise their Equals, and Admire Themselves: But their Greatness all this while, is only in Imagination, and they make All fly with the Frog at last, by Straining to be Bigger than they Are, and Bigger than 'tis possible for them to Be.