"Can he, avic," siz I; "but can he shwim up agenst them? Wow, wow, Darby for that! But captin, come here; is all my purvisions ready?—don't let me fall short of a dhrop ov the rale stuff above all things.' An' who should come up while I was tawkin' to the captain, but the chap I was to shwim with, and heard all I sed. Bedad! his eyes grew as big as two oysther shells. Then the captain called me aside.

"Darby," siz he, "do you put on this green jacket an' white throwsers, that the people may betther extinguish you from the other chap."

"With all hearts, avic," siz I, "green forever-Darby's own favorite color, the world over; but where am I goin' to, captin?”

"To the shwimmin' place, to be shure," siz he.

"Here's at you, my hearty," siz I, "and 'the de'il take the hindmost.' I was then inthroduced in due form to the shwimmer. I looked at him from head to foot. He was so tall that he could eat bread an' butther over my head—with a face as yallow as a kite's foot.

"Tip us the mitten," siz I, "mabouchal," quite pleasant. Siz I to myself, I'm done-but, cheer up, Darby! if I'm not able to kill him, I'll frighten the life out of him. "Where are we goin' to shwim to?" siz I, though bedad, if all was known, I was rightly nonplushed at the same time. But never a word he answered.

"Are you bothered, neighbor?" siz I to him agin, mighty stiff.

“I reckon I'm not," siz he, as chuff as a bear.

"Well, then," siz I, "why didn't you answer your betthers? What id ye think iv we shwum to Keep Cleer, or the Keep ov Good Hope?"

"I reckon neither," siz he agen,

eyin' me as iv I was goin' to pick his pockets.

..

"Well, then, have ye any favorite place?" siz I. 'Now, I've heard a great deal about the island where poor Bony died; I'd like to see it, iv I had any one to show me the place; suppose we wint there." But not a taste of a word could I get out ov him, good or bad-so off we set through the crowds ov ladies and gintlemen. Such cheerin' an' wavin' ov hats never was seen even at Dan's enthry into Dublin; an' then the row ov purty girls laughin' and rubbin' up against me, that I cou'd harly get on. To be shure, no one cou'd be lookin' to the ground, an' not be lookin' at them, till at last I was thript up by a big lump ov iron stuck fast in the ground, with a big ring to it. "Who! Darby, siz I, makin' a hop an' a crack o' my fingers, you're not down yet.' turned round to look at what thript me. "What d'ye call that? siz I to the captin, who was at my elbow.

I

Why, Darby,' says he, "that's an

anchor.

Have ye any use for it?" siz I. Not in the laste," siz he; "it's only fasten boats to.'

Maybe you'd give it to a body," siz I. "An' welkim, Darby," siz he, "it's

yours.

Good luck to your honor, sir," siz I, "it's my poor father that will pray for you. When I left home, the crathur hadn't as much as an anvil, but what was sthreeled away by the agint-bad look to him. This will be jist the thing that'll match him; he can tie the horse to the ring, while he forges on the other part. Now, will ye obleege me by gettin' a couple ov chaps to lay it on my shouldher when I get into the wather, and I won't have to be comin' back for it afther I shake hands with this fellow." Bedad, the chap turned from yellow to white when he heard me say this; an' siz he to the gintleman that was walkin' by his side,

"I reckon I'm not fit for the shwimmin' to-day-I don't feel myself."

"An' murdher in Irish, if ye're yer brother, can't you send him for yourself, an' I'll wait here till he comes. Here, man, take a dhrop of this before ye go. Here's to your betther health, an' your brother's into the bargain." So I took off my glass, and handed him another; but the never a dhrop ov it he'd take.

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"No force, avic," siz I, "maybe you think there's poison in it-an' takin' another glass myself-well, here's good look to us, once more. An' when will ye be able for the shwim, avick ?" siz I, mighty complisant.

"I reckon in another week," siz he. So we shook hands and parted. The poor fellow went home-took the fever then began to rave-"shwim up catharacts!-shwim to the Keep of Good Hope! -shwim to St. Helena !-shwim to Keep Cleer!-shwim with an anchor on his back! Oh! oh! oh! that'll never do for me."

ANON.

THE FABLES OF JEAN DE LA

FONTAINE.

Thierry in 1621.

His father desired to educate him for the church, a career wholly unsuited to his natural disposition. At the age of nineteen he was placed with the Fathers of the Oratory, but remained with them only eighteen months. He was considered a dull and spiritless youth, and manifested not the least spark of poetry until he was twenty-two years old, when the recitation of an ode of Malherbe's roused his dormant At the age genius, and he began to compose verses. of twenty-six his father persuaded him to marry a woman for whom he had little or no attachment. He lived, however, several years with her, and had a son. He made himself familiar with the best writings of the ancients, particularly Homer, Plato, Plutarch, Horace, Being invited to Virgil, Terence, and Quintilian. Paris by the Duchess Bouillon, he was there introduced to Fouquet, then Minister of Finance, from whom he received an annual pension of a thousand francs, on condition of producing a piece of poetry quarterly. After the fall of Fouquet, he was taken into the service of Henrietta, wife of Monsieur, the king's brother; and, when she died, other persons of distinction gave him their protection, until Madame Sablière opened her house to him and relieved him from every care. With this kindest of friends he lived twenty years.

La Fontaine's Tales and Fables have been published The best edition of the with splendid illustrations.

former is that of 1762, with Eisen's designs, and vignettes by Choffat. The Fables were published in a magnificent edition, four volumes folio, 1755-59, each fable being illustrated with a plate. An exquisite edition of the Fables, in octavo, was published by Fournier in 1839, with designs by J. J. Grandville. The reader of this edition is at a loss which most to admire, the exuberant humor and wisdom of the poet, or the extraordinary felicity with which the artist has told the poet's story in his illustrations, and by Doré, 18C8.]

THE COUNCIL HELD BY THE RATS.

Old Rodilard, a certain cat,

Such havoc of the rats had made,

'Twas difficult to find a rat

Indeed, he knew no other means. And all the rest

At once confessed

To argue or refute,

Wise counsellors abound; The man to execute

Is harder to be found.

THE CAT AND THE OLD RAT.

A story-writer of our sort
Historifies, in short,

Of one that may be reckoned
A Rodilard the Second-
The Alexander of the cats,
The Attila, the scourge of rats,

Whose fierce and whiskered head
Among the latter spread,
A league around, its dread;
Who seemed, indeed, determined
The world should be unvermined.
The planks with props more false than slim,
The tempting heaps of poisoned meal,
The traps of wire and traps of steel,
Were only play, compared with him.
At length, so sadly were they scared
The rats and mice no longer dared
To show their thievish faces
Outside their hiding-places,

Thus shunning all pursuit; whereat

Our crafty General Cat
Contrived to hang himself, as dead,
Beside the wall, with downward head-
Resisting gravitation's laws

By clinging with his hinder claws
To some small bit of string.
The rats esteemed the thing

A judgment for some naughty deed,
Some thievish snatch,

Or ugly scratch;

And thought their foe had got his meed By being hung indeed.

With hope elated all

Of laughing at his funeral,

They thrust their noses out in air;

And now to show their heads they dare,
Now dodging back, now venturing more;
At last, upon the larder's store
They fall to filching, as of yore.
A scanty feast enjoyed these shallows;
Down dropped the hung one from his gallows,
And of the hindmost caught.
"Some other tricks to me are known,"
Said he, while tearing bone from bone,
"By long experience taught:

The point is settled, free from doubt,
That from your holes you shall come out."
His threat as good as prophecy
Was proved by Mr. Mildandsly;
For, putting on a mealy robe,
He squatted in an open tub,

And held his purring and his breath-
Out came the vermin to their death.
On this occasion, one old stager,
A rat as gray as any badger,
Who had in battle lost his tail,
Abstained from smelling at the meal;
And cried, far off, "Ah! General Cat,
I much respect a heap like that;
Your meal is not the thing, perhaps,
For one who knows somewhat of traps;
Should you a sack of meal become,
I'd let you be, and stay at home."
Well said, I think, and prudently,
By one who knew distrust to be
The parent of security.

THE COCK AND THE FOX. Upon a tree there mounted guard A veteran cock, adroit and cunning; When to the roots a fox up running

Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard: "Our quarrel, brother, is at an end; Henceforth I hope to live your friend; For peace now reigns

Throughout the animal domains. I bear the news. Come down, I pray, And give me the embrace fraternal: And please, my brother, don't delay:

So much the tidings do concern all,

That I must spread them far to-day.
Now you and yours can take your walks
Without a fear or thought of hawks;
And should you clash with them or others,
In us you'll find the best of brothers-
For which you may, this joyful night,
Your merry bonfires light.

But, first, let's seal the bliss
With one fraternal kiss."

"Good friend," the cock replied, "upon my word,

A better thing I never heard;
And doubly I rejoice

To hear it from your voice:
And, really, there must be something in it,
For yonder come two greyhounds, which,
I flatter

Myself, are couriers on this very matter; They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute,

I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessing With general kissing and caressing." "Adieu," said the fox; my errand's pressing, I'll hurry on my way,

66

And we'll rejoice some other day." So off the fellow scampered, quick and light, To gain the fox-holes of the neighboring height

Less happy in his stratagem than flight. The cock laughed sweetly in his sleeve'Tis doubly sweet deceiver to deceive.

THE DEVIL.

[THE FABLES OF PILPAY first appear in the Pomtchatantra of the Sanskrit: probably in some antecedent form they were translated from the now extinct Pehlvi language.

About the eighth century the first Arabic version was made by a Persian named Razbeh. This Arabic version is the parent of all successive ones. Of the

European languages the German (1483) seems to have been the earliest. In English it first appeared in 1570, from which Beaumont and Fletcher probably derived

the story of the Dervise and the Thief, which appears in the tragi-comedy of Women Pleased. Massinger also makes the same story serve in the Guardian.]

"In the parts adjoining to Babylon," continued the third Minister, “there was once a certain Dervise, who lived like a true servant of Heaven: he subsisted only upon such alms as he received; and, as for other things, gave himself up wholly to Providence, without troubling his mind with the intrigues of this world.

"One of the friends of the Dervise one day sent him a fat ox, which a Thief seeing as it was led to his lodging, he resolved to have it whatever it cost him. With this intent he set forward for the. Dervise's habitation; but, as he went on, he met the Devil in the shape of a plaindressed man, and suspecting by his countenance that he was one of his own stamp, he immediately asked him who he was and whither he was going.

"The stranger, on this, made him a short answer to his demand, saying, 'I am the Devil, who have taken human shape upon me, and I am going to this cave with intent to kill the Dervise that lives there; because his example does me a world of mischief, by making several wicked people turn honest and good men: I intend, therefore, to put him out of the way, and then hope to succeed better in my business than I have done of late; else, I assure you, we shall soon want people in my dominions.'

666

Mr. Satan,' answered the Thief, 'I am your most obedient, humble servant; I assure you I am one you have no reason to complain about; for I am a notorious Robber

you are bent, to steal a fat ox that was a few hours ago given to the Dervise that you design to kill.'

666

"My good friend,' quoth the Devil, ‘I am heartily glad I have met you, and rejoice that we are both of the same humor, and that both of us design to do this abominable Dervise a mischief. Go on and prosper,' continued the Devil, and know, when you rob such people as these, you do me a doubly acceptable service.'

"In the midst of this discourse they both came to the Dervise's habitation. Night was already well advanced, and the good man had said his usual prayers and was gone to bed. And now the Thief and the Devil were both preparing to put their designs into execution, when the Thief said to himself, The Devil, in going to kill this man, will certainly make him cry out, and raise the neighborhood, which will hinder me from stealing the ox.

"The Devil, on the other hand, reasoned with himself after this manner: 'If the Thief goes to steal the ox before I have executed my design, the noise he will make in breaking open the door will waken the Dervise and set him on his guard. Therefore said the Devil to the Thief, 'Let me first kill the Dervise, and then thou mayest steal the ox at thy own leisure.'

666

"No,' said the Thief, 'the better way will be for you to stay till I have stolen the ox, and then do you murder the man.' But both refusing to give way the one to the other, they quarrelled first, and from words they fell to downright fisticuffs. At which sport the Devil proving the stronger of the two, the Thief called out to the Dervise, 'Awake, man, arise! here is the Devil come to murder you!' And on this, the Devil perceiving himself discovered, cried out, Thieves, thieves! look to your ox, Dervise!' The good man, quickly waking at the noise, called in the neighbors, whose presence constrained the Thief and the Devil to betake themselves to their heels; and the poor Dervise saved both his life and his ox."