Æsop _Presents himself before the King of_ Lydia.
Immediately Upon Æsop’s Arrival in _Lydia_, he Presented himself before
the King, who looking upon him with Contempt, Hatred, and Indignation; Is
This a Man says he, to hinder the King of _Lydia_ from being Master of
_Samos_? Æsop then with a Reverence after the _Lydian_ Fashion, deliver’d
what he had to say.
_I am not here_ (says he,) _Great King in the Quality of a Man that’s
Given up by his Country, or under the Compulsion of any force; But it
is of my own Accord that I am now come to lay my self at your Majesty’s
Feet, and with this only Request, that you will vouchsafe me the Honour
of your Royal Ear, and Patience but for a few words._
‘There was a Boy hunting of Locusts, and he had the Fortune to take a
Grasshopper. She found he was about to kill her, and Pleaded after this
Manner for her Life. Alas (says she) I never did any Body an Injury, and
never had it either in my Will or in My Power to do’t. All my Business is
my Song; and what will you be the Better for my Death? The Youth’s Heart
relented and he set the Simple Grasshopper at Liberty.’
Your Majesty has now that Innocent Creature before you: There’s Nothing
that I can pretend to _but my Voice, which I have ever employ’d so far as
in me Lay, to the Service of Mankind_. The King was so Tenderly moved
with the Modesty and Prudence of the Man, That he did not only give him
his Life, but bad him ask any thing further that he had a Mind to, and
it should be Granted him. Why then, says Æsop, (with that Veneration,
Gratitude and Respect that the Case required) I do most humbly implore
your Majesties favour for my Country-Men the _Samians_. The King Granted
him his Request, and Confirmed it under his Seal; Beside that the Piety
of making that Petition his Choice, was a further Recommendation of him
to his Royal Kindness and Esteem.
Æsop, soon after This, returned to _Samos_ with the News of the Peace,
where he was Welcom’d with All the Instances of Joy and Thankfulness
Imaginable; Insomuch that they Erected a Statue for him, with an
Inscription upon it, in Honour of his Memory. From _Samos_ he return’d
afterwards to _Crœsus_, for whose sake he Composed several of _Those
Apologues_ that pass in the World to This Day under his Name. His
Fancy lay extreamly to Travelling; but above All other Places, he
had the Greatest Mind to see _Babylon_: To which End he got Letters
of Recommendation from _Crœsus_ to the King there: who, according to
_Herodotus_, was a Friend, and an Ally of _Crœsus_’s, and his Name,
_Labynetus_; not _Lycerus_, and _Planudes_ has Handed it down to us
upon a Great Mistake. But his Curiosity led him first to pass through
_Greece_, for the sake of the _Seven Wise Men_, whose Reputation was
at That Time Famous All over the World. He had the Good Hap in his
Travels to find them at _Corinth_, together with _Anacharsis_, and
several of their Followers and Disciples, Where they were All Treated by
_Periander_ at a _Villa_ of his not far from the Town. This Encounter
was to the Common Satisfaction of the Whole Company; the Entertainment
Philosophical, and Agreeable, and among other Discourses, they had some
Controversy upon the Subject of Government; and which was the most
Excellent Form: Æsop being still for _Monarchy_, and the _Rest_ for a
_Common-wealth_. He Travell’d thence, a while after into _Asia_, and so
to _Babylon_, according to his first Intention.