Page:Florian - The Fables, 1888.djvu/94

Yet their rude manners I detest.
The robes of virtue's self should be
       Politeness and civility.
A hedgehog once of evil fame,
Forc'd from his home by some disgrace,
Unto a rabbit-warren came,
Burning with hate against his race.
He told the gentle inmates there,
All that he'd suffer'd everywhere;
Against his foes exhal'd his bile,
And ask'd asylum for a while.
"With pleasure, sir," the leader said,
"You'll here find shelter, board, and bed.
Be one of us; make free and bold;
We all things here in common hold.
We simple, frugal people are,
And have no great affairs on hand;
To crop the clover our chief care,
Or nibble o'er the dewy land.
At the first streak of early dawn,
We're out betimes upon the lawn.
The dangers from our homes to ward,
Each takes his turn in standing guard.
And when the sentry gives alarm,
We're off at once to hide from harm.
Thus with our little ones and wives,
We pass our happy, cheerful lives.
These lives, 'tis true, are oft cut short,
And made of dogs and boys the sport.
But this good reason serves to give