The Ass Loaded With Sponges, and the Ass Loaded With Salt
Fable de Jean de la Fontaine
 Fables of la Fontaine > Book II > The Ass Loaded With Sponges, and the Ass Loaded With Salt |
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| A man, whom I shall call an asseteer, His sceptre like some Roman emperor bearing, Drove on two coursers of protracted ear, The one, with sponges laden, briskly faring; The other lifting legs As if he trod on eggs, With constant need of goading, And bags of salt for loading. Over hill and dale our merry pilgrims passed, Till, coming to a river's ford at last, They stopped quite puzzled on the shore. Our asseteer had crossed the stream before; So, on the lighter beast astride, He drives the other, spite of dread, Which, loath indeed to go ahead, Into a deep hole turns aside, And, facing right about, Where he went in, comes out; For duckings two or three Had power the salt to melt, So that the creature felt His burdened shoulders free. The sponger, like a sequent sheep, Pursuing through the water deep, Into the same hole plunges Himself, his rider, and the sponges. All three drank deeply: asseteer and ass For boon companions of their load might pass; Which last became so sore a weight, The ass fell down, Belike to drown, His rider risking equal fate. A helper came, no matter who. The moral needs no more ado That all can't act alike, The point I wished to strike. |
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