Two
mules were bearing on their backs,
One, oats; the other, silver of the tax.*The latter
glorying in his load,
March'd proudly forward on the road;
And, from the jingle of his bell,
'Twas plain he liked his burden well.
But in a wild-wood glen
A band of robber men
Rush'd forth upon the twain.
Well with the silver pleased,
They by the bridle seized
The treasure-mule so vain.
Poor mule! in struggling to repel
His ruthless foes, he fell
Stabb'd through; and with a bitter sighing,
He cried, 'Is this the lot they promised me?
My humble friend from danger free,
While, weltering in my gore, I'm dying?'
'My friend,' his fellow-mule replied,
'It is not well to have one's work too high.
If thou hadst been a miller's drudge, as I,
Thou wouldst not thus have died.
ean de La Fontaine, Fable IV, Book I.
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Deux
mulets cheminaient, l'un d'avoine chargé,
L'autre portant l'argent de la gabelle
Celui-ci, glorieux d'une charge si belle,
N'eût voulu pour beaucoup en être soulagé.
Il marchait d'un pas relevé,
Et faisait sonner sa sonnette :
Quand, l'ennemi se présentant,
Comme il en voulait à l'argent,
Sur le mulet du fisc une troupe se jette,
Le saisit au frein et l'arrête.
Le mulet, en se défendant,
Se sent percé de coups; il gémit, il soupire.
Est-ce donc là, dit-il, ce qu'on m'avait promis ?
Ce mulet qui me suit du danger se retire;
Et moi j'y tombe et je péris !
- Ami, lui dit son camarade,
Il n'est pas toujours bon d'avoir un haut emploi :
Si tu n'avais servi qu'un meunier, comme moi,
Tu ne serais pas si malade.
Jean de La Fontaine, Fable IV, Livre I.
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*The silver of the tax_.--An allusion to the
French _gabelle_, or
old salt tax, which, like all taxes levied upon the mass of the
people, was a very productive one. Its collection caused several
peasants' insurrections. |
