Æsop has here given us the Fiction of a Case, wherein it may not be
Amiss to repay an Abuse in its own Kind. The Mockery of the _Fox_ was
a Reproche, as it Hit the _Stork_ on the Weak side; but That which was
Rudeness, and Ill Nature in the Aggressor, was only a Monitory Justice,
and a Discreet Sharpness in the Other. But This is the Fate Commonly of
Drolls and Buffons, that while they think to make Sport with Others, they
serve only in the conclusion for a Laughing-Stock themselves.
There’s nothing looks Sillier then a Crafty Knave Out-witted, and
Beaten at his Own Play. The _Foxes_ Frolick went too far, in regard it
was both upon an Invitation, and under his Own Roof. Now the Return
of the _Stork_ was only a _Quid pro Quo_, and a Warrantable Revenge,
even according to the Rules of Civility, and Good Fellowship; for the
_Fox’s_ leading the Humour gave the Other not only a Provocation, but a
kind of a Right to Requite him in his Own Way: Beside that it was the
Cleverer Mockery of the Two. This may serve to Reprove Those Liberties in
Conversation that pass the Bounds of Good Nature, Honour, Honesty, and
Respect. When they Exceed These Limits, they Degenerate into Scurrility,
Scandal and Ill-Manners. For in All Cases, an Eye must be had to the Due
Circumstances of Measure, Time, Place, Occasion, and Person. The Laws of
Humanity, and Hospitality must be kept Sacred upon any Terms: for the
Wounding of a Friend for the sake of a Jest, is an Intemperance, and an
Immorality, not to be Endur’d. There was somewhat of This in the _Foxes_
beginning the Frolick.