A _Mastiff_ and an _Ass_.
There was a Huge _Bear-Dog_, and an _Ass_ laden with Bread upon a Long
Journey together: They were both very Hungry, and while the _Ass_ was
Grazing upon Thistles by the Way-side, the _Dog_ would fain have been
Eating too for Company, and Begg’d a Bit of Bread of him. The _Ass_ made
him Answer, that if he were Hungry, he might e’en do as he did; for he
had no Bread to spare. While this pass’d, up comes a _Wolf_ toward them.
The _Ass_ fell a Trembling, and told the _Dog_, he hop’d he would stand
by him if the _Wolf_ should set upon him. No, says the _Dog_, they that
will Eat Alone, shall e’en Fight Alone too, for me: And so he left his
Fellow-Traveller at the mercy of the _Wolf_.
The MORAL.
_Common Defence and Preservation, is the Main End of Society, and the
Great Benefit we receive by Joining in’t: We Love One Another, because we
are the better for One Another: And it is the Interest that Supports us
in the Duty; when that Reciprocal Kindness fails, as we see here in the
Dog and the Ass, the League drops to pieces._