FABLES. 



213 



THE MAGPIE AND THE SHEEP. 



A Magpie sat chattering upon the back of a 

 Sheep, and pulling off the wool to line her nest. 

 Peace, you noisy thing, says the Sheep : if I were a 

 dog, you durst not serve me so. That is true 

 enough, replies the Magpie, I know very well 

 whom I have to deal with : I never meddle with the 

 surly and revengeful; but I love to plague such 

 poor helpless creatures as you are, who cannot do 

 me any harm. 



APPLICATION. 



IT is the characteristic of a mean, low, base 

 spirit, to be insolent or tyrannical to those who are 

 obliged to submit to it, and slavishly submissive to 

 those who have the spirit and the power to resist. 

 Men of this stamp take especial care not to meddle 



