Moralists have interpreted this Fable in various ways, some of them
ascribing the want of setting a proper value upon the Jewel, to
ignorance, and say:--
“To fools, the treasures dug from wisdom’s mine
“Are Jewels thrown to Cocks, and Pearls to Swine.”
But the most obvious meaning of the Fable is surely to shew, that
men who weigh well their own real wants, and shape their pursuits to
their abilities, will always prefer those things which are necessary,
to such as are merely ornamental or superfluous, and will not easily
suffer themselves to be led astray by the gaudy allurements of glitter
and show, which have no other value than what vanity, pride, or luxury
may have set upon them; but governing their minds by their own reason,
judge of every thing by its intrinsic worth.
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