Aesop In Rhyme-11

THE WOODCUTTER AND DEATH.

A woodman was toiling, all covered with dust,
But reach home with his faggot ere night he must,
Panting and weary he walks quite slow,
How to get home he does not know.
At last quite exhausted with toil and trouble,
With the weight of the burden and his years, bent double.
[238]He puts down his faggot, and thinks of his pains,
What is his work, and what are his gains,
How since he came into this weary world,
By the wheels of blind fortune around he’s been twirled.
Was he not poor, a wood cutter, at best,
Oft without bread, always without rest.
He thinks of his wife, his children, his taxes,
At last quite warm with the subject he waxes.
He calls on death; who comes without delay,
The woodman, in terror, knows not what to say.
Death asks what to do the man wishes he should.
“Oh, help me,” he said, “with this faggot of wood.
My poor bones ache, and my limbs they crack.
So help me to put it upon my back.”

THE RAT AND THE OYSTER.

A rat who lived in the field,
A rat of little wit,
Once grew tired of his father’s house,
And quietly left it.
He left the field, the grain and wheat,
Set out to travel, left his hole,
And just as soon as he was out,
“How large and spacious on the whole
[240]Is this great country spread about.
Here are the Apeninnes, and there Caucasus.”
The smallest mole hill is a mountain.
At the end of some days our traveller arrives
At a certain canton where every oyster thrives,
And our famed traveller turned very pale,
Thinking he saw great vessels setting sail
“Mercy,” said he, “My father was a dunce,
He did not dare to travel even once,
While I have seen already,
The maritime empire,
And travelled to my heart’s desire.”
From a certain learn’d man,
The rat had heard of such things,
And thinks he has seen all he can.
Among the many oysters closed,
There was one open, which reposed,
Mouth gaping, in the sun,
The learned, travelled man,
[241]The rat, approached, thinking to make
An excellent repast, and began to take
A bite at the fine oyster, plump and fat,
Whereupon closing on our rat,
The oyster caught him tight
And held him with all its might.
MORAL.

This fable goes to show,
That those mistake,
Who think that all they know:
When knowing nothing of the world,
Their giddy brain is quickly whirled.
And hence this moral let us make,
That he is caught, who thinks to take.

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Read these beautiful poems and rhymes for kids. List of the poems included in this poem eBook:

1. The Woodcutter And Death
2. The Rat And The Oyster
3. The Physician
4. The Mountain Labour
5. The Cat Metamorphosed Into A Woman
6. The Frog And The Rat
7. The Lion And The Fly
8. The Two Mules
9. Jupiter And The Farmer
10. The Cock, The Cat, And The Little Mouse

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