Walter Crane

The Fox said "I can play, when it fits,
Many wiles that with man make me quits."
"But my trick's up a tree!"
Said the Cat, safe to see
Clever Fox hunted out of his wits.

Trust To Skill Rather Than Wit

"Might his Cat be a woman," he said:
Venus changed her: the couple were wed:
But a mouse in her sight
Metamorphosed her quite,
And for bride, a cat found he instead.

Nature Will Out

The Ass gave a horrible bray,
Cock crowed; Lion scampered away;
Ass judged he was scared
By the bray, and so dared
To pursue; Lion ate him they say.

Don't Take All The Credit To Yourself

A rooster, while scratching for grain,
Found a Pearl. He just paused to explain
That a jewel's no good
To a fowl wanting food,
And then kicked it aside with disdain.

If He Ask Bread Will Ye Give Him A Stone?

How the cunning old Crow got his drink
When 'twas low in the pitcher, just think!
Don't say that he spilled it!
With pebbles he filled it,
Till the water rose up to the brink.

Use Your Wits

From the hounds the swift Deer sped away,
To his cave, where in past times he lay
Well concealed; unaware
Of a Lion couched there,
For a spring that soon made him his prey.

Fate Can Meet As Well As Follow

A Cow sought a mouthful of hay;
But a Dog in the manger there lay,
And he snapped out "how now?"
When most mildly, the Cow
Adventured a morsel to pray.

Don't Be Selfish

His image the Dog did not know,
Or his bone's, in the pond's painted show:
"T'other dog," so he thought
"Has got more than he ought,"
So he snapped, & his dinner saw go!

Greed Is Sometimes Caught By Its Own Bait

The Eagle flew off with a lamb;
Then the Crow thought to lift an old ram,
In his eaglish conceit,
The wool tangled his feet,
And the shepherd laid hold of the sham.

Beware Of Overrating Your Own Powers

"Dig deeply, my Sons! through this field!
There's a Treasure"--he died: unrevealed
The spot where 'twas laid,
They dug as he bade;
And the Treasure was found in the yield.

Productive Labour Is The Only Source Of Wealth

The Fir-tree looked down on the Bramble.
"Poor thing, only able to scramble
About on the ground."
Just then an axe' sound
Made the Fir wish himself but a Bramble.

Pride Of Place Has Its Disadvantages

Prayed the Fish, as the Fisherman took
Him, a poor little mite, from his hook,
"Let me go! I'm so small."
He replied, "Not at all!
You're the biggest, perhaps in the brook."

A Little Certainty Is Better Than A Great Chance

Fiddle-de-dee, Fiddle-de-dee,
The fly has married the humble bee.
Says the fly, says he,
"Will you marry me,
And live with me,
Sweet humble bee?"

Says the bee, says she,
"I'll live under your wing,
"And you'll never know
"That I carry a sting."
Fiddle-de-dee, &c.

So when the parson
Had joined the pair,
They both went out
To take the air,
Fiddle-de-dee, &c.

And the flies did buzz,
And the bells did ring--
Did ever you hear
So merry a thing?
Fiddle-de-dee, &c.

And then to think
That of all the flies
The humble bee
Should carry the prize.
Fiddle-de-dee, &c.

I had four brothers over the sea,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;
And they each sent a present unto me.
Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.

The first sent a goose without a bone,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;
The second sent a cherry without a stone,
Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.

The third sent a blanket without a thread,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;
The fourth sent a book that no man could read,
Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.

When the cherry's in the blossom, there is no stone,
Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;
When the goose is in the egg-shell, there is no bone.
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