The Weasel In The Granary
Fable de Jean de la Fontaine
 Fables of la Fontaine > Book III > The Weasel In The Granary |
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| A weasel through a hole contrived to squeeze, (She was recovering from disease,) Which led her to a farmer's hoard. There lodged, her wasted form she cherished; Heaven knows the lard and victuals stored That by her gnawing perished! Of which the consequence Was sudden corpulence. A week or so was past, When having fully broken fast. A noise she heard, and hurried To find the hole by which she came, And seemed to find it not the same; So round she ran, most sadly flurried; And, coming back, thrust out her head, Which, sticking there, she said, "This is the hole, there can't be blunder: What makes it now so small, I wonder, Where, but the other day, I passed with ease?" A rat her trouble sees, And cries, "But with an emptier belly; You entered lean, and lean must sally." What I have said to you Has eke been said to not a few, Who, in a vast variety of cases, Have ventured into such like places. |
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