FAVOURITE FABLES. — gl

where he was held fast, till the hounds came in and pulled
him down. Finding now how it was likely to go with him, in
the pangs of death, he is said to have uttered these words :—
‘“‘Unhappy creature thatI am! Iam too late convinced that
what I prided myself in has been the cause of my undoing,
and what I so much disliked was the only thing that could
have saved me.”’
MORAL.

Beauty often becomes a snare and ruin, while solid virtue,
though unadorned, gains respect. The latter, too, will
mature with age, while the former will surely fade.

 

 

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FABLE LXVII.

THE OLD SWALLOWS AND THE YOUNG BIRDS.

A Swattow, observing a husbandman employed in
sowing hemp, called the little Birds together, and informed
them what the farmer was about. He told them that hemp
was the material from which the nets, so fatal to the feathered
race, were composed; and advised them unanimously to join
in picking it up, in order to prevent the consequences.

The Birds, either disbelieving his information, or
neglecting his advice, gave themselves no trouble about the
matter. In a little time, the hemp appeared above the
ground. The friendly Swallow again addressed himself to
them—told them it was not yet too late, provided they