FAVOURITE FABLES.

To view the premises the people flocked:
And, as ’tis usual in such case,
Began to run them down apace;

The soil was poor, the farm ill stocked:
In short, a barren, miserable place,
Scarce worth th’ expense to draw a lease.

One bolder, tho’ not wiser than the rest,
Offered to pay in so much rent,
Provided he had Jove’s consent

To guide the weather just as he thought best ;
Or wet, or dry; or cold, or hot;
Whate’er he asked should be his lot;

To all which Jove gave a consenting nod.
The seasons now obsequious stand,
Quick to obey their lord’s command,

And now the Farmer undertakes the god ;
Now calls for sunshine, now for rains,
Dispels the clouds, the wind restrains ;

But still confined within his farm alone,
He makes a climate all his own;
For when he sheds, or when he pours,
Refreshing dews, or soaking showers,