A Fable

Speaking within compass, as to fabulousness I preferSouthcote to Northcote.

One day, or night, no matter where or when,Sly Reynard, like a foot-pad, laid his padRight on the body of a speckled Hen,Determined upon taking all she had;And like a very bibber at his bottle,Began to draw the claret from her throttle;Of course it put her in a pretty pucker,And with a scream as highAs she could cry,She call'd for help--she had enough of sucker.

Dame Partlet's screamWaked, luckily, the house-dog from his dream,And, with a savage growlIn answer to the fowl,He bounded forth against the prowling sinner,And, uninvited, came to the Fox Dinner.

Sly Reynard, heedful of the coming doom,Thought, self-deceived,He should not be perceived,Hiding his brush within a neighboring broom!But quite unconscious of a Poacher's snare,And caught in copper noose,And looking like a goose,Found that his fate had "hung upon a hare";His tricks and turns were rendered of no use to him,And worst of all he saw old surly TrayComing to playTray-Deuce with him.

Tray, an old Mastiff bred at Dunstable,Under his Master, a most special constable,Instead of killing Reynard in a fury,Seized him for legal trial by a Jury;But Juries--AEsop was a sheriff then--Consisted of twelve Brutes and not of Men.

But first the Elephant sat on the body--I mean the Hen--and proved that she was dead,To the veriest fool's headOf the Booby and the Noddy.

Accordingly, the Stork brought in a billQuite true enough to kill,And then the Owl was call'd,--for, mark,The Owl can witness in the dark.To make the evidence more plain,The Lynx connected all the chain.In short there was no quirk or quibbleAt which a legal Rat could nibble;The Culprit was as far beyond hope's bounds.As if the Jury had been packed--of hounds.Reynard, however, at the utmost nick,Is seldom quite devoid of shift and trick;Accordingly our cunning Fox,Through certain influence, obscurely channel'dA friendly Camel got into the box,When 'gainst his life the Jury was impanel'd.

Now, in the Silly Isles such is the law,If Jurors should withdraw,They are to have no eating and no drinking,Till all are starved into one way of thinking.Thus Reynard's Jurors, who could not agree,Were lock'd up strictly, without bit or mummock,Till every Beast that only had one stomach,Bent to the Camel, who was blest with three.To do them justice, they debatedFrom four till ten, while dinner waited,When thirst and hunger got the upper,And each inclin'd to mercy, and hot supper:"Not Guilty" was the word, and Master FoxWas freed to murder other hens and cocks.