THE TORTOISE AND THE EAGLE.
A Tortoise, weary of his condition, by which he was confined to creep upon the ground, and ambitious to look about him with a larger prospect, proclaimed that if any bird would take him up into the air, and shew him the world, he would reward him with the discovery of an invaluable treasure, which he knew was hidden in a certain place of the earth. The Eagle accepted the offer, and having performed his undertaking, gently set the Tortoise again on the ground, and demanded the reward. The Tortoise was obliged to confess that he could not fulfil his promise, which he had made only with the view of having his fancy gratified. The Eagle, stung with resentment at being thus duped, grasped him again in his talons, and then soaring to a great height, let him fall, by which he was dashed to pieces.
APPLICATION.
Men of honour are careful not to tarnish their reputations by falsifying their word, and always consider well how far it may be in their power to fulfil their promises before they make them. They always strive to walk on the straight line of rectitude; and should they, in an unguarded moment, happen to stagger from it, they instantly retrace their steps, and feel unhappy until they have regained their station. There is a simplicity in truth and virtue, which requires no artifices, and never leads us into difficulties, but points out the plain and safe way. Deceit and cunning, on the contrary, involve those who practise them in a maze, and they are bewildered in their own falsehoods, from which no dexterity can extricate them. The brain-racking schemes which villains practise to delude others, are commonly detected, and end in the unpitied punishment of themselves; for they seldom discover the folly of being wicked, until it has betrayed them into their ruin. But such persons would do well to refresh their memories with the old adage which says, that “all knaves are fools, but all fools are not knaves.”