_Mercury_ and _Tiresias_.
_Mercury_ had a Great Mind to try if _Tiresias_ was so Famous a _Diviner_
as the World took him for, or not. So he went and Stole _Tiresias_’s
Oxen; and Order’d the Matter, to be in the Company with _Tiresias_, as
upon Bus’ness by the By, when the News should be brought him of the
Loss of his Oxen. _Mercury_ went to _Tiresias_ in the Shape of a Man,
and the Tidings came as _Mercury_ had Contriv’d it: Upon this, he took
_Mercury_ up to a High Tower, Hard by, and bad him look Well about him,
and tell him what Birds he saw. Why, says _Mercury_, I see an Eagle upon
Wing there, that takes her Course from the Right-hand to the Left. That
_Eagle_ (says _Tiresias_) is nothing to Our Purpose; wherefore Pray look
again once. _Mercury_ stood Gazing a while, and then told _Tiresias_
of a Crow he had discover’d upon a Tree, that was One while looking up
into the Air, and Another while down towards the Ground: That’s enough;
(says _Tiresias_) for this Motion of the Crow, is as much as to say, I do
Appeal to Heaven, and to Earth, that the Man that is now with _Tiresias_,
can help him to his Oxen again, if he pleases.
The MORAL.
_This Fable is of a General Application to All Bold and Crafty Thieves
and Impostors. It serves also to set forth the Vanity of Wizzards,
Fortune-Tellers, and the like._