Some beast with horns did gore The lion; and that sovereign dread, Resolved to suffer so no more, Straight banish'd from his realm, 'tis said, All sorts of beasts with horns-- Rams, bulls, goats, stags, and unicorns. Such brutes all promptly fled. A hare, the shadow of his ears perceiving, Could hardly help believing That some vile spy for horns would take them, And food for accusation make them. 'Adieu,' said he, 'my neighbour cricket; I take my foreign ticket. My ears, should I stay here, Will turn to horns, I fear; And were they shorter than a bird's, I fear the effect of words.' 'These horns!' the cricket answer'd; 'why, God made them ears who can deny?' 'Yes,' said the coward, 'still they'll make them horns, And horns, perhaps of unicorns! In vain shall I protest, With all the learning of the schools: My reasons they will send to rest In th' Hospital of Fools.'[7] [6] Faerno. [7] _Hospital of Fools_, i.e., madhouse. V.--THE FOX WITH HIS TAIL CUT OFF.[8] A cunning old fox, of plundering habits, Great crauncher of fowls, great catcher of rabbits, Whom none of his sort had caught in a nap, Was finally caught in somebody's trap. By luck he escaped, not wholly and hale, For the price of his luck was the loss of his tail. Escaped in this way, to save his disgrace, He thought to get others in similar case. One day that the foxes in council were met, 'Why wear we,' said he, 'this cumbering weight, Which sweeps in the dirt wherever it goes? Pray tell me its use, if any one knows. If the council will take my advice, We shall dock off our tails in a trice.' 'Your advice may be good,' said one on the ground; 'But, ere I reply, pray turn yourself round.' Whereat such a shout from the council was heard, Poor bob-tail, confounded, could say not a word. To urge the reform would have wasted his breath. Long tails were the mode till the day of his death. [8] Aesop; Faerno. VI.--THE OLD WOMAN AND HER TWO SERVANTS.[9]