104 FAVOURITE FABLES.

FABLE LAXY.

THE MOUSE AND THE ELEPHANT.

A PERT young Mouse, but just arrived
From Athens, where some time he’d lived ;
And daily to the portico,
To pick up learning, used to go;

- Vain of the wisdom he had stored,
And of the books he had devoured;
Puffed up with pride and self-conceit,
And proud to show his little wit,
Thus to an Elephant, one day,
He took it in his head to say :—

‘Nay, not so pompous in your gait,
Because Dame Nature made you great;
I tell you, sir, your mighty size
Is of no value in my eyes ;—

Your magnitude, I have a notion,

Is quite unfit for locomotion ;

When journeying far, you often prove
How sluggishly your feet can move.