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FRENCH FABLES
355

And here I'll stay:
Go out yourself, if you find things unpleasant!"


In a companion one may find a master.
A solitary life is dull, you say;
Life with a Hedgehog is a worse disaster.

(Henri Richer, Fables. Translated by the Rev. Wm. Lucas Collins.)


THE ASS AND THE HORSE

AN Ape, past master in the graphic arts,
 Had finished a great picture—something new;
The Animals, invited from all parts
Came to a private view.
His work the artist to their taste submitted;
It was a Horse—"Superb!" they all admitted,—
"Nature," they said, "has found a rival here!"
"Humph!" said the Ass—"to me that's not so clear.
Our friend has done a clever thing, of course.
But to my humble judgment it appears
That to have perfect symmetry, that Horse
Should have had longer ears."

(Antoine François le Bailly, Fables Nouvelles. Translated by the Rev. Wm. Lucas Collins.)


THE APES AND THE LEOPARD

A LITTLE band of gamesome Apes, one day,
Met in the woods to play.
The game was this: one had to hide his face