AND THE MONKEY. 165 
Perhaps that passage of the bard 
Was then in pussy’s eye, 
Which well observes, “ And since ’tis hard 
To combat, learns to fiy.”* 
Full speed they scramble down the place, 
Puss first, and Towser after, 
And boys—a mischief-loving race— 
Join in with shouts and laughter. 
Which would have beat, the dog or puss, 
We never now can learn, 
For just as things were going thus, 
They took a curious turn. 
Whether the gods considered it 
A case for interfering, 
Or whether puss, of her own wit, 
A prudent course was steering. 
Some blessed trees her steps invite, 
Her shelter doom’d to be ; 
And soon as they sprung up in sight, 
Why, she sprung up a tree: 
And clinging round it fast she strove 
To ’scape her savage foe, 
Preferring much the bark above 
Unto the bark below. 
* «Who quits a world, where strong temptations try, 
And since ’tis hard to combat, learns to fly.” 
Goldsmith’s Deserted Village. 
