Fair weather sailors, keep at home,
For be assur'd the storm will come.
A shepherd of an inland breed
Brought to the coast his flocks to feed;
The beauty of a summer sea,
A merchant tempted him to be.
He sold his sheep, and with the sale
Purchas'd of dates an ample bale.
He sail'd; a furious tempest rose;
Into the sea his dates he throws;
And swimming from the bark to land,
Arrives half dead upon the strand.
To one, soon afterwards who stood
Pleas'd with the calmness of the flood,
"Aye, aye," the simple shepherd said
"With dates again it would be fed."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE
SWALLOW.
A fool who all had thrown away,
When wandering pennyless one day,
Perceived a swallow. "Ho," says he,
"Summer is come at last I see!"
And to a Jew his mantle sold.
Next day it was severely cold:
Starv'd as he walk'd, the bird he found
Frozen to death upon the ground.
"Ah! what a fool was I," he cried,
"When on one swallow I relied!"
Those who too readily believe,
For their credulity may grieve.
[Illustration]