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.
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.
