Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable XXXVIII
Fab. XXXVIII.
A Horse and an Asse.
IN the Days of Old, when Horses spoke Greek and Latin, and Asses made Syllogisms, there happen'd an Encounter upon the Road betwixt a Proud Pamper'd Jade in the Full Course of his Carriere, and a Poor Creeping Ass, under a Heavy Burden, that had Chopt into the same Track with him. Why, how now Sirrah, says he, D'ye not see by these Arms, and Trappings, to what Master I belong? And D'ye not Understand that when I have That Master of mine upon my Back, the Whole Weight of the State rests upon My Shoulders? Out of the way thou slavish Insolent Animal, or I'll Tread thee to Dirt. The Wretched Asse immediately Slunck aside, with this Envious Reflexion betwixt his Teeth. [What would I give to Change Conditions with That Happy Creature there.] This Fancy would not out of the Head of him, 'till it was his Hap some Few Days after to see This very Horse doing Drudgery in a Common Dung-Cart. Why how now Friend (says the Ass) How comes This about? Only the Chance of the War, says the Other: I was a Soldiers Horse, you must know; and my Master carry'd me into a Battel, where I was Shot, Hack'd, and Maim'd; and you have here before Your Eyes the Catastrophe of My Fortune.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
We are to Gather from hence, that people would never Envy the Pomp and Splendour of Greatness, if they did but confider, either the Cares and Dangers that go along with it, or the Blessings of Peace, and Security in a Middle Condition. No man can be truly Happy, who is not every Hour of his Life prepar'd for the worst that can befall him. Now This is a State of Tranquility never to be Attain'd, but by keeping perpetually in our Thoughts the Certainty of Death, and the Lubricity of Fortune; and by Delivering our selves from the Anxiety of Hopes and Fears.
It falls Naturally within the Prospect of This Fiction to Treat of the Wickedness of a Presumptuous Arrogance, the Fate that Attends it; The Rife of it; and the Means of either Preventing, or Suppressing it; The Folly of it; The Wretched and Ridiculous Estate of a Proud man, and the Weakness of That Envy that is Grounded upon the mistaken Happiness of Humane Life.
If a body may be Allow'd to Graft a Christian Moral upon a Pagan Fable, what was it but Pride and Arrogance that fist threw Lucifer out of Heaven, and afterward, Adam out of Paradise? [Ye shall be as Gods] was the Temptation; an Impotent, and a Presumptuous Affectation of Vain-Glory was the Sin; and a Malediction Temporal and Eternal was the Punishment. Now if the Charms of an Unruly Ambition could so far prevail upon the Angels Themselves in their Purity; and upon Mankind in a State of Innocence, how Strict a Guard ought we then to keep upon our selves, that are the Children of disobedience, and bring the feeds of This Deadly Vanity into the World with us in our very Veins?
It is highly Remarkable, that as Pride, and Envy are the Two Passions, that above All Others give the Greatest Trouble to the Sons of Men, so are they likewise the First Emotions of the Mind that we take Notice of in our Approaches to the Exercise of our Reason. They begin with us in the Arms of our Nurses, and at the very Breasts of our Mothers; for what's the meaning of All the Little Wrangles and Contentions else, which Child sall be most made off; or which Baby shall have the Gayer Coat? So that These Affections are in truth, Connatural to us, and as We our selves grow up and Gather Strength, so do They, and pass Insensibly from our Inclinations into our Manners. Now the Corruption must needs be Strong, where Humane Frailty strikes in so Early with it, and the Progress no less Mortal, where it is suffer'd to go on without Control: For what are all the Extravagances of the Leudest Life, but the more Consummated Follies and Disorders, of either a Mis-taught, or a Neglected Youth? Nay, what are All the Publick Outrages of a Destroying Tyranny and Oppression, but Childish Appetites let alone 'till they are grown Ungovernable? Beside, that it is Infinitely Easier to prevent Ill Habits, than to Matter them; As the Choaking of the Fountain is the surest Way to Cut off the Course of the River. It should be Consider'd too that we have the seeds of Virtue in us, as well as of Vice; and when ever we take a Wrong Biass, 'tis not out of a Moral Incapacity to do Better, but for want of a Careful Manage and Discipline, to let us Right at First.
Wherefore Children should be Moulded while their Tempers are yet Pliant and Ductile. As Pride, for the Purpose, that Arises from a False Opinion of Things, mould be Obviated by Enforming their Understandings. And so for Envy; the very Disposition to it is to be Sweeten'd, as Flowing from a Certain Froward Tiniture of Ill Nature. (I speak This of the Malevolent, Canker'd Passion of Envy, which, in Effect, is Little or Nothing akin to the Silly Envy of the Ass here in the Fable.) In One word, Children should be season'd betimes, and Lesson'd into such a Contempt, and Detestation of This Vice, as neither to practice it Themselves, nor to Approve it in Others. This is, in Little, the Foundation of a Virtuous Life, and there goes no more than Judging, and Acting Aright, to the Character of a Good Philosopher, a Good Christian, and a Good Man: For to Know, and to Do, is the Compendium of our Duty.
It is not for Every Twatling Gossip yet, or some Empty Pedant, presently to Undertake This Province; for it requires a Critical Nicety both of Wit, and of Judgment, to find out the Genius, or the Propensions of a Child, and to Distinguish betwixt the Impulses of Envy, and Those of Emulation: Betwixt the First Motions of a Churlish, and Impetuous Insolence, and Those of a Serene Greatness, and Dignity of Mind. It is nor, I fay, for Every Common Eye, or Hand, to Divide so Accurately betwixt the Good, and the Evil, the Gracious, and the Perverse, as to Hit the precise Medium of Encouraging the One, without Discouraging the Other. And This Faculty of Discerning is not enough neither, without a Watchful Assiduity of Application. The Just Scason of Doing Things must be Nick'd, and All Accidents Observ'd and Improv'd; for Weak Minds are to be as Narrowly Attended, as Sickly Bodies: To say Nothing of the Infinite Curiosity of the Operation, in the Forming of our Lives and Manners: And that not One man of Ten Thousand is Competently Qualify'd for the Office. Upon the Whole Matter there must be an Awe maintain'd on the One Hand, and at the same time, a Love and Reverence Preserv'd on the Other. And all this must be Order'd too with so Gentile a Softness of Address, that we may not Hazzard, either the Stifling, or the Quenching of Generous Inclinations, by bearing too Hard upon them, or the Licentiating of any thing that is Course and Vulgar, out of a foolish Facility or a Mistaken Pity. It is with our Passions, as it is with Fire and Water, they are Good Servants, but Bad Masters, and Subminister to the Belt, and Word of Purposes, at once. This is enough said, as to the Wickedness, and the Fate of Pride; The Source and Danger of it, together with the only sure and Effectual Means of Remedy.
The Moral leads me in the Next place, to Confider the Folly of both the Horse and the Ass; The One, in Placing his Happiness upon any thing that could be Taken away, and the Other, in Envying that Mistaken Happiness, under the Abuse of the same Splendid Illusion and Imposture. What Signifies a Gay Furniture, and a Pamper'd Carcass; or any other Outward Appearance, without an Intrinsick Value of Worth and Virtue? What signisies Beauty, Strength, Youth, Fortune, Embroder'd Furniture, Gawdy Bosses, or any of Those Temporary, and Uncertain Satisfactions, that may be taken from us with the very next Breath we draw? What Assurance can any man have of a Possession that Every Turn of State, Every Puff of Air, Change of Humour, and the lead of a Million of Common Casualties may Deprive him of? How many Huffing Sparks have we seen in the World, that in the same day have been both the Idols, and the Sport and Scorn of the same Slaves and Fools? Nay, how many Emperours and Princes, that in the Ruff of All their Glory have been taken down from the Head of a Conquering Army, to the Wheel of the Victors Chariot? Where's that Advantage under the Sun that any but a Mad man would be Proud of? Or where's That Pride it self that any Mortal in his Right Wits, would not find Reason to be Ashamed of? Take it singly, and what is there More in't, than an Unnatural, and an Unmanly Tympany, that Rises in a Bubble, and spends it self in a Blast? Take it in Complication, and we find a Thousand Weaknesses, Iniquities, and Vexatious Cutting Miseries wrapt up in't. What can be more Imprudent than to Affect Reputation by the Methods of Infamy? To Aspire to Greatness by the ways of becoming Odious and Contemptible? And to Propose the Erecting of a Mighty Fabrick, upon a Bottom that will Certainly sink under the Weight?
The Disappointments of Those that Build their Hopes in this World upon a False Basis, fall under These Three General Heads. The Advantages we Value our selves upon, may either be Taken from Us; or We from Them: Or, which is much at One, we may be brought by a Thousand Accidents to lose the Use and Rellish of them. As first for the Purpose; they may be taken from Us, by Cheats, Robberies, Subornations, False Oaths, Forgeries, Corrupt Judges; To say nothing of Fires, Earthquakes, Tempests, Inundations, Insurrections, and Other Violences without Number. Secondly, We may be taken from Them, by as many Ways as there are out of This World. A Fly or a Hair shall do the Office of a Rope. And then for the Third Branch, an Indisposition, a Feaver, an Acute Pain, an Impetuous Passion, an Anxious Thought, Impotency and Old Age, shall do the Work of Taking away both the Gust, and the Comfort of them. Nay, the very Loss of One Pleasure is enough to Damp, if not to Destroy the Rellish of Another.
But now to carry the Allusion One Step further yet; It may be literally Asserted, that All Proud Men, over and above the Stroke of a Divine Judgment, are Miserable, even in Themselves, and that no Circumstances in This World can ever make them Other. Their Appetites are Insatiable, and their Hearts consequently never at Rest; Whether it be Wealth, Power, Honour, Popular Esteem, or whatever else they pretend to. They Envy, and they are Envy'd. 'Tis Impossible for them to be at rest, without Enjoying what it is Impossible for them to Attain. They live Gaping after More, and in a perpetual Fear of Losing what they have already. The Higher they are Rais'd, the Giddier they are; the more Slippery is their Standing, and the Deeper the Fall. They are never Well, so long as Any thing is above them: And their Ambition carries them on to the Supplanting of their very Matters and Makers: When yet by a most Ridiculous Contradiction, they lie Effectually, (in the very same Instant) at the mercy or the men they most Despise. [The Silver, being Ten Thousand Talents, is given to Thee (says Abasuerus to Haman,) The People also, to do with them, as it seemeth good unto Thee, Esther, Cap. 3. V. 11.] Who would have Imagin'd now, that the Stiff Crossness of a Poor Captive, should ever have had the Power to make Haman's Seat so Uneasie to him? Or that the want of a Cap, or a Cringe, should so Mortally Discompose him, as we find afterwards it did! If Large Possessions, Pompous Titles, Honourable Charges, and Profitable Commissions; If a Plentiful Issue, Court-Favours, or the Flowing Bounty of a Gracious Prince, could have made This Proud man Happy, there would have been Nothing wanting to his Establishment. But All This did not do his Work, it seems; neither, as big as he was, did there in Truth, need any Great Matter to Unsettle him. But he was as sure to sink under the Infirmity of his Own Mind, as if he had been Doom'd to Sink in the Fate of a Common Ruine.
When Haman saw Mordecai in the Kings Gate, (says the Text) that he stood not up, nor Moved for hint, he was full of Indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman Refrained himself, and when he came Home, he sent and call'd for his Friends, and Teresh, his Wife; and told them of the Glory of his Riches, and the Multitude of his Children, And All the Things wherein the King had Promoted him, and how he had Advanced him above the Princes and Servants of the King. Tea, Esther the Queen (says he) did let no man come with the King unto the Banquet that she had prepaid, but my self; and to morrow am I Invited unto her also with the King [Yet All This Availeth Me Nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Kings Gate, Esther, Cap. 5. V. 9. 10, II, 12, 13.]
This Instance of Haman's Case may serve, in a Good Measure, for a Moral to the Arrogance of the Horse here in the Fable; only Haman's Pride was the more Invidious and Malicious of the Two. To Wind up the Story; Mordecai was an Eye-sore to Haman, and a Gallows of Fifty Cubits High was prepar'd for him by the Order of Haman, Cap, 5. V, 14. But the King, upon Examination of the Matter, Order'd Haman Himself to be Hanged. [So they Hanged Haman upon the Gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, Cap. 7. V. 10] Haman's Pride, in fine, was a Torment to him, and he was not only Punish'd By it, and For it, but by a Righteous Judgment of Retaliation, he suffer'd Death Himself upon the very Gibbet that he had provided for Another.
How Wretched a Creature was Haman now, even in the Caresses of his Royal Master, and in the very Rapture of all his Glories! And how Vain again were All the Marks and Ensigns of his Character and Power; that were not able to support him against one Slighting Look of a Sorry Slave! He had the World at Will, we see; but All was as good as Nothing to him, so long as he saw Mordecai the Jew sitting in the Kings Gate. Where's the Sober Man now, that would not rather chuse to be Mordecai in the Gate, upon These Terms, than to be Haman in the Palace? The One had the Blessing of a Conscience that Fears Nothing but God; the Other was Haunted with a Fantastical Weakness of Mind, that makes a man Dread Every thing, and stand in awe of his Own Shadow! A Word, a Thought, an Imagination, a Countenance is enough to Break his Sleep, and to Shake the very Foundations of the Babel that he has Built. He fansies Every Bolt that's Levell'd at his Vices, to be Pointed at his Person, and finds himself Wounded in the Morality of the most Innocent Reproofs. He's a Slave to All Passions, All Accidents, and All sorts of Men. A Jest, a Banter, a Lampoon; Nay a Glance, an Insinuation, or a Bare Casuality, with the Help of a Guilty Conscience, and a Suspicious Gloss of Application, is enough to Murder him; for he Conceits himself to be Struck at, when he is not so much as Thought of: as I dare appeale to the Consciences of a Thousand Top-Gallant Sparks, that will fancy their Own Case to be the Key to This Moral. He makes himself Odious to his Superiours. by his Haughtiness; to his Equals, by a Restless Course of Factious Competitions; and then he never fails of a Virulent Hatred and Envy, from those that are Below him; So that he's Beset with Enemies on All hands, the Meanest of which is not without Many and Many a Way to the Wreaking of a Malice, and to the Gratifying of a Revenge. As to the Wretchedness of his Condition, 'tis all a case to Him, whether he be Teiz'd out of his Life by a Judgment of Flies and Lice, or Stung to Death by Fiery Serpents. And he is not only Tormented by Others, but the very Tormenter of Himself too. Nay, rather than want a Colourable Ground of Trouble, he Creates it. His Pride is a Continual Drought upon him, and a Thirst never to be Quench'd. His Conscience, his Fancy, his Fears, Jealousies, and Mistakes; Every thing helps on toward his Undoing. And now to the Infinite Variety of Plagues that Wait upon Pride, there is likewise as Great a Diversity of Imperious Humours for This Misery to Work upon. As for Example, There is a Pride of Stomach, a Pride of Popularity, a Pride of Brow, Equipage, and Parade. There's a Pride of Tongue without either Brains, or Heart to Support it. There is an Abject, (in fine) and there is a Surly Pride; But to Conclude, there is All This, and a Thousand times more of the same Kind and Colour, that lies Naturally Couch'd under This Allegory. And not One Instance at last, that is not verify'd by Many and Many an Example.
Now as to the Envy of the Ass it was a Double Folly; for he Mistakes both the Horses Condition, and his Own. 'Tis Madness to Envy any Creature that may in a Moment become Miserable; Or for any Advantage that may in a Moment be taken from him. The Ass Envies the Horse to day; and in some Few Days more, the Horse comes to Envy Him: Wherefore let no man Despair, so long as it is in the Power, either of Death, or of Chance, to Remove the Burden. Nothing but Moderation and Greatness of Mind can make, either a Prosperous, or an Adverse Fortune Easie to us. The Only Way to be Happy is to submit to our Lot; for No man can be properly said to be Miserable that is not wanting to Himself. It is Certainly True, that many a Jolly Cobler has a Merrier Heart in his Stall, than a Prince in his Palace.