An _Ape_ and a _Dolphin_.
People were us’d in the Days of Old, to carry Gamesome _Puppies_ and
_Apes_ with ’em to Sea, to pass away the Time withal. Now there was One
of these _Apes_, it seems, abord a Vessel that was cast away in a very
great Storm. As the Men were Paddling for their Lives, and the _Ape_
for Company, a Certain _Dolphin_ that took him for a Man, got him upon
his Back, and was making towards Land with him. He had him into a Safe
Road call’d the _Pyræus_, and took occasion to ask the _Ape_, whether he
was an _Athenian_ or not? He told him Yes, and of a very Ancient Family
there. Why then (says the _Dolphin_) You know _Pyræus_: Oh! exceedingly
well says T’other, (taking it for the Name of a Man) Why _Pyræus_ is
my very Particular Good Friend. The _Dolphin_, upon This, had such an
Indignation for the Impudence of the _Buffon-Ape_, that he gave him the
Slip from between his Legs, and there was an End of my very Good Friend,
the _Athenian_.
The MORAL.
_Bragging, Lying, and Pretending, has Cost many a Man his Life and
Estate._