[35] Abstemius. [36] _Madame Harvey_.--An English lady (_née_ Montagu), the widow of an officer of Charles II. (of England) who is said to have died at Constantinople. She was a visitor at the English embassy in Paris, and moved in the highest circles generally of that city; a circumstance which enabled La Fontaine to make her acquaintance and secure her as one of his best friends and patrons. She died in 1702. [37] _Your Prince_.--Charles II. of England. [38] _Cytherea's isle_.--Where Venus was worshipped. [39] _Goddess Mazarin_.--The Duchess de Mazarin, niece to the Cardinal. She was at this time in England, where she died (at Chelsea) in 1699. She married the Duke de la Meilleraie, but it was stipulated that she should adopt the name and arms of Mazarin. XXIV.--THE SUN AND THE FROGS.[40] Long from the monarch of the stars The daughters of the mud received Support and aid; nor dearth nor wars, Meanwhile, their teeming nation grieved. They spread their empire far and wide Through every marsh, by every tide. The queens of swamps--I mean no more Than simply frogs (great names are cheap)-- Caball'd together on the shore, And cursed their patron from the deep, And came to be a perfect bore. Pride, rashness, and ingratitude, The progeny of fortune good, Soon brought them to a bitter cry,-- The end of sleep for earth and sky. Their clamours, if they did not craze, Would truly seem enough to raise All living things to mutiny Against the power of Nature's eye. The sun,[41] according to their croak, Was turning all the world to smoke. It now behoved to take alarm, And promptly powerful troops to arm. Forthwith in haste they sent Their croaking embassies; To all their states they went, And all their colonies. To hear them talk, the all That rides upon this whirling ball, Of men and things, was left at stake Upon the mud that skirts a lake! The same complaint, in fens and bogs, Still ever strains their lungs; And yet these much-complaining frogs Had better hold their tongues; For, should the sun in anger rise, And hurl his vengeance from the skies, That kingless, half-aquatic crew Their impudence would sorely rue. [40] Phaedrus, I., 6. Fable XII., Book VI., gives another version of the same story. [41] _The sun_.--This fable has reference to the current troubles between France and the Dutch. Louis XIV. is the sun. He had adopted the sun as his emblem. XXV.--THE LEAGUE OF THE RATS.