FAVOURITE FABLES. 93

FABLE LXVITE

THE WAGGONER AND THE BUTTERFLY.

THE rain so soft had made the road,

That, ind ree a waggon-load,

The poor man’s harvest, (bitter luck !)

Sank down a foot, and there it stuck.

He whipped his horses, but in vain ;

They pulled and splashed, and pulled again,
But vainly still; the slippery soil

Defied their strength, and mocked their toil.
Panting they stood, with legs outspread ;
The driver stood, and scratched his head:
(A common custom, by=the-bye,

When people know not what to try,

Though not, it seems, a remedy).

A Butterfly, in flower concealed,
Had travelled with them from the field;
Who in the waggon was thrown up,
While feasting on a buttercup.