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cursushonorum — stag in the water fable illustration
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Published: 2020-04-17 19:15:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 131; Favourites: 3; Downloads: 0
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THE STAG SEEING HIMSELF IN THE WATER (Fables, Jean de La Fontaine)
A stag drew near a crystal brook one morn,
And praised the beauty of his antlered horn ;
Yet gave to nature little thanks,
As he beheld his spindle-shanks
Reflected in the liquid bed.
“ What symmetry, ” he cried, “ of feet and head !
My horns above the copse arise,
But I may well my legs and feet despise.”
Whilst this the stag was heard to say,
A blood-hound made him flee away :
He thought to find some hiding-place,
And to the forests ran apace.
The luckless horns that decked his brow,
At every instant checked him now ;
And did all services prevent,
His heels so kindly would have lent.
He now recanted, seeing death so near,
And cursed those horns by Heaven renewed each year.
We prize the beautiful, the good despise,
While in the former oft our ruin lies:
The stag decried his nimble feet that day,
And praised his horns where his destruction lay.
