couth Appearance of his Perſon (at leaſt if That Part of his Hiſtory may paſs for Current.) There goes a Tradition, that he had the good hap to Relieve certain Prieſts that were Hungry, and out of their way, and to ſet them Right again, and that for that good Office, he was, upon their Prayers, brought to the Uſe of his Tongue: But Camerarius whom I ſhall Principally follow, has no Faith in the Miracle, And ſo begins his Hiſtory with the tracing of him to Samos, and from thence Proſecutes it through the moſt Remarkable Paſſages of his Life, to the Laſt Barbarous Violence upon him at Delphos. As to his Impediment in his ſpeech, whether there were any ſuch thing or Not, or how he came to be cur'd of it, the Reader is at Liberty what to Believe and what Not. And ſo likewiſe for Twenty Other Paſſages up and down this Hiſtory; Some of them too Triviall, and others too Groſs to be taken Notice of, Upon this Argument and Occaſion: Let it ſuffice, that (according to the Common Tradition) he had been Alreadie Twice Bought and Sold; and ſo we ſhall Date the Story of his Adventures; from his Entrance into the Service of at leaſt a Third Maſter.
As to the Age he liv'd in, it is Agreed upon among the Ancients, that it was when Crœſus Govern'd Lydia; as alſo that Xanthus, a Samian, was his Maſter. Herodotus will have it to be one Jadmon, a Samian too; but ſtill according to the Current of moſt Writers, Xanthus was the Man.
Cap. II.
Æſop and his Fellow-ſlaves Upon their Journey to Epheſus.
IT was Æſop's Fortune to be ſent to Epheſus, in Company with other Slaves to be ſold. His Maſter had a great many Burdens to Carry, and Æſop begg'd of his Companions not to over Charge him. They found him a Weakling, and bad him pleaſe himſelf. The Parcel that he Pitch'd upon was a Panyer of Bread; and twice as heavy as any of the reſt. They called him a thouſand Fools for his pains, and ſo took up their Luggage, and away they Trudg'd together. About Noon, they had their Dinner deliver'd out of Æſop's Basket, which made his Burden Ligh-
