FABLES. 



1 9 



THE STAG LOOKING INTO THE WATER. 



A Stag drinking, saw himself in the water, and 

 pleased with the sight, stood contemplating his 

 shape. Ah, says he, what a glorious pair of 

 branching horns are here, how gracefully do these 

 antlers project over my forehead, and give an 

 agreeable turn to my whole face; but I have such 

 legs as really make me ashamed; they look so very 

 long and unsightly, that I had rather have none at 

 all. In the midst of this soliloquy, he was alarmed 

 with the cry of a pack of hounds. Away he flies in 

 some consternation, and bounding nimbly over the 

 plain, threw dogs and men at a vast distance be- 

 hind him. After which, taking to a very thick 

 copse, he had the ill fortune to be entangled by his 

 horns in the branches, where he was held fast till 

 the hounds came up and seized him. In the pangs 

 of death he is said to have uttered these words: 



