An Angler caught a small Trout, and as he was taking it off the hook, and going to put it into his basket, it opened its little throat, and begged most piteously that he would throw it into the river again. The man demanded what reason it had to expect this indulgence? Why, says the Fish, because I am so young and so little, that it is not worth your while taking me now, and certainly I shall be better worth your notice, if you take me a twelvemonth afterwards, when I shall be grown a great deal larger. That may be, replied the Angler, but I am sure of you now; and I am not one of those who quit a certainty in expectation of an uncertainty. APPLICATION. They who neglect the present opportunity of reaping a small advantage, in the hope that they shall obtain a greater afterwards, are far from acting upon a reasonable and well advised foundation. We ought never thus to deceive ourselves, and suffer the favourable moment to slip away; but secure to ourselves every fair advantage, however small, at the moment that it offers, without placing a vain reliance upon the visionary expectation of something better in time to come. Prudence advises us always to lay hold of time by the forelock, and to remember that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” [Illustration] [Illustration] [Page 113] A MAN BITTEN BY A DOG. A Man, who had been sadly torn by a Dog, was advised by some Old Woman, as a cure, to dip a piece of bread in the wound, and give it to the Cur that bit him. He did so, and Æsop happening to pass by just at the time, asked him what he meant by it? The man informed him. Why then, says Æsop, do it as privately as you can, I beseech you; for if the rest of the Dogs of the town were to see you, we should all be eaten up alive by them. APPLICATION. Vice should always be considered as the proper object of punishment, and we should on no account connive at offences of an atrocious nature, much less confer rewards on the criminals: for nothing contributes so much to the increase of roguery, as when the undertakings of a knave are attended with success. If it were not for the fear of punishment, a great part of mankind, who now make a shift to keep themselves honest, would be great villains. But if criminals, instead of meeting with punishment, were, by having been such, to attain honour and preferment, our natural inclination to mischief would be increased, and we should be wicked out of emulation. We should rather strive to make virtue as tempting as possible, and throw out every allurement in our power to draw the minds of the wavering and unsettled to espouse her cause. [Illustration] [Illustration] [Page 115] THE FOX AND THE TIGER.