screech that sounded as if a train of waggons were rolling along on a thousand unoiled wheels. But how did the varied beauty of the singing end? Why, the landlord, losing all patience, drove them away from Parnassus into his stable.
If it will not hurt the feelings of the uncultivated, I should like to quote the ancient saw:
[This fable is supposed to refer to the downfall of what was called the "English" Ministry in Russia, after the meeting which took place at Tilsit between Alexander I. and Napoleon. When Alexander came to the throne he displaced most of the old Ministers, and gave their portfolios to young men who shared his own liberal ideas. They held office for five years. Then came the change in Alexander's policy, which drove them out, so that by the end of 1807 not one of them was left in power. Krilof, as a Conservative, and an admirer of the old school of politicians formed under Catherine II., was delighted at the fall of the "Young-Russian" Ministry.]
