Hast thou old Greece and Rome surveyed, And hast thou fathomed Tully's* mind? ΙΙΙ. The Shepherd modestly replied, IV. The daily labors of the bee * Marcus Tullius Cicero. See page 296. 130364 The hen, who from the chilly air, V. From nature, too, I take my rule, In conversation overbear. Can grave and formal pass for wise, When men the solemn owl despise? My tongue within my lips I rein; Who listens to the chattering pye? Kites, hawks, and wolves, deserve their fate. VI. Do not we just abhorrence find VII. Thy fame is just, the Sage replies, But he who studies Nature's laws, 66 EXERCISE XVI. PAR A BLE is a word made up of two Greek words (PARA, beside, aas BOLE, a throwing), signifying the act of throwing or placing one thing beside another for the purposes of comparison. It is the name applied to a species of Allegory (see page 52), and differs from the Fable only, or chiefly, in treating of things spiritual, and in not violating the order of things in real life. "The excellence of a parable," says an able writer, depends on the propriety and force of the comparison on which it is founded; on the general fitness and harmony of its parts; on the obviousness of its main scope or design; on the beauty and conciseness of the style in which it is expressed; and on its adaptation to the circumstances and capacities of the hearers." The one here given, besides conveying a noble moral lesson, furnishes an admirable exercise in reading. THE PRODIGAL SON:-A PARABLE. LUKE, CHAP. XV. 1. And he said, A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 2. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. But when he was 3. And he arose, and came to his father. yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 4. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he beard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in; therefore came his father out, and entreated him. 5. And he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me; and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. EXERCISE XVII. JANE TAYLOR was born in London in the year 1783. She died in 1824. She began to make verses before she had reached her ninth year. She wrote much and wrote well; and, in her writings, has left to the young a rich legacy of mingled entertainment and instruction. The following is quite in her vein. THE VASE AND THE PITCHER. I. JANE TAYLOR One day, when a grand entertainment was ended, II. "I hope, rustic neighbor, you don't feel distressed III. "'Tis true that, before I arrived from abroad, IV. ""Tis true that gay ladies, in feathers and pearls, V. "But you, paltry bottle! I pity your fate: So graceless a shape, and so vile a contour?" |