92 FAVOURITE FABLES.

would immediately set about the work, before the seeds had
taken too deep root. But, they still rejecting his advice, he
forsook their society; repaired, for safety, to towns and cities;
there built his habitation, and kept his residence.

One day, as he was skimming along the streets, he
happened to see a great number of these very Birds,
imprisoned in a cage, on the shoulders of a bird-catcher.

1?

‘‘ Unhappy wretches!’’ said he, ‘‘ you now feel the punish-
ment of your former neglect. But those who, having no
foresight of their own, despise the wholesome admonition of
their friends, deserve the mischiefs which their own obstinacy

or negligence bring upon their heads.”’

MORAL.

This Fable teaches thoughtless youth

A most important moral truth :—

The seeds, which proved the young birds’ ruin,
Are emblems of their own undoing,
Should they neglect, while yet ’tis time,
To pluck the early shoots of crime;

Or, in their own opinions wise,

The counsel of their friends despise.
For evil habits, left to grow,

Are ever sure to lead to woe;

But checked in time with vigorous hand,
Will bend to virtue’s firm command.