[Footnote IV.17: _If neither Fables_)--Ver. 22. By “fabellæ,” he probably means Æsopian fables, while by “fabulæ,” the more lofty stories of tragedy are meant. By “Cato,” he means a censorious or over-scrupulous reader.] FABLE VIII. THE VIPER AND THE FILE. Let him who with greedy teeth attacks one who can bite harder, consider himself described in this Fable. A Viper came[18] into a smith’s workshop; {and} while on the search whether there was anything fit to eat, fastened her teeth upon a File. That, however, disdainfully exclaimed “Why, fool, do you try to wound me with your teeth, who am in the habit of gnawing asunder every kind of iron?” [Footnote IV.18: _A Viper entered_)--Ver. 3. Lokman, the Arabian Fabulist, has the same fable; but there a Cat plays the part of the Viper.] FABLE IX. THE FOX AND THE GOAT. As soon as a crafty man has fallen into danger, he seeks to make his escape by the sacrifice of another. A Fox, through inadvertence, having fallen into a well,[19] and being closed in by the sides which were too high for her, a Goat parched with thirst came to the same spot, and asked whether the water was good, and in plenty. The other, devising a stratagem, {replied}: “Come down, {my} friend: such is the goodness of the water, that my pleasure {in drinking} cannot be satisfied.” Longbeard descended; then the Fox, mounting on his high horns, escaped from the well, and left the Goat to stick fast in the enclosed mud. [Footnote IV.19: _Fallen into a well_)--Ver. 3. Some of the Commentators think that Tiberius and Sejanus are pointed at in this Fable.] FABLE X. OF THE VICES OF MEN. Jupiter has loaded us with a couple of Wallets: the one, filled with our own vices, he has placed at our backs, {the other}, heavy with those of others, he has hung before. From this circumstance, we are not able to see our own faults: but as soon as others make a slip, we are ready to censure. FABLE XI. A THIEF PILLAGING THE ALTAR OF JUPITER. A Thief lighted his Lamp at the altar of Jupiter, and then plundered it by the help of its own light. Just as he was taking his departure, laden with the results of his sacrilege, the Holy Place suddenly sent forth these words: “Although these were the gifts of the wicked, and to me abominable, so much so that I care not to be spoiled of them, still, profane man, thou shalt pay the penalty with thy life, when hereafter, the day of punishment, appointed by fate, arrives. But, that our fire, by means of which piety worships the awful Gods, may not afford its light to crime, I forbid that {henceforth} there shall be any such interchange of light.” Accordingly, to this day, it is neither lawful for a lamp {to be lighted} at the fire of the Gods, nor yet a sacrifice kindled from a lamp.[20]