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The Crocodile.

A FABLE FOR LITTLE FOLKS AND GREAT ONES TOO.

 

BY MRS. J. L. GRAY.

 

On the banks of the fertile and many-mouthed Nile,
A long time ago, lived a fierce Crocodile,
Who round him was spreading a vast desolation,
For bloodshed and death seemed his chief oc~ypation.
’T'was easy to see
No pity had he;
His tears were but water—there all could agree.

The sheep he devour’d, and the shepherd, I ween;
The herd fear’d to graze in the pastures so green;
And the farmer himself, should he happen to meet. him,
The monster ne’er scrupled a moment to eat nim,
There never before
Was panic so sore,
On the banks of the Nile, as this creature spread o’er.

Wherever he went, all were flying before him,
Though some, in their blindness, thought fit to adore him;
But as they came near, each his suit to prefer,
This god made a meal of his base worshiper.
By day and by night,
It was his delight
His votaries to eat—it was serving them right.

Grown proud of his prowess, puff’d up with success,
The reptile must travel—how could he do less?
So, one fine summer morning, he set out by water,
On a pleasure excursion—his pleasure was slaughter !—
To Tentyra’s isle,
To visit awhile,
The careless inhabitants there to beguile.