A Man was a Miser; every one knows That his was a vice which grows and grows: This was a man that filled jars and buckets, Old stockings and coffers, with pistoles and ducats. 'Tis a maxim of mine that such things left unused, I mean pistoles and ducats, are simply abused. To secure all his wealth from the lovers of stealth, My Miser had built him a home, Surrounded by waves with their foam, And there with a pleasure the which To some seems but poor, to some rich, He heaped up his wealth with delight, And every day, and each night, He counted the sum, and re-counted, And gloated to see how it mounted; But, somehow, count well as he might, The gold pieces never came right. And the source of this grievous disaster Was this, that an Ape, than his master More wise, to my mind, took a pleasure In flinging to seaward his treasure. The Miser secure, With his double-locked door, Was wont to leave silver and gold All loose on his table, untold. "Ah! ah!" said the Monkey, one day; "I'll fling this in the sea; 'twill be gay." Now for me it were hard to decide If the Master or Ape were the wiser, 'Twould be half for the Ape, half for Miser. Well, as I've said, the Ape, one day, Laying hands on Master's gold, Many a ducat flung away, With sovereigns new and angels old. With huge delight he tried his skill, And ducks and drakes made with a will, Of golden coins which mortals seem To think of mortal goods the cream. In fact, had not the Monkey heard The key within the key-hole stirred, And feared its Master, every coin Had gone its comrades to rejoin, And 'neath the waves with golden flecks Had lit the gloomy floor of wrecks. Now, blessings on each Miser's head, Both whilst he lives and when he's dead. TO THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY, <i>In Answer to a Request for a Fable on "The Cat and the Mouse."</i> To please the youthful Prince whom courtly fame Destines entempled in my works to be, How shall I write a fable with this name-- <i>Le Chat et la Souris?</i> ("The Cat and the Mouse.") How can I represent in verse a maid Who, sweet in aspect, yet still ruthless played With hearts her charms snared, as you see <i>Le petit Chat</i> does <i>la Souris?</i> Shall I sketch Fortune, and show her deceit?-- Tell how she gulls the world with the old cheat? Treating poor self-complacent friends you see <i>Comme le Chat</i> does <i>la Souris?</i> Shall I depict of all earth's royalty The only one her restless wheel that stays? The one who wars with Europe's chivalry; And with the strongest of his foemen plays, <i>Comme le Chat</i> with <i>la Souris?</i>