Education

: A Hundred Fables Of La Fontaine

Lapluck and Caesar brothers were, descended

From dogs by Fame the most commended,

Who falling, in their puppyhood,

To different masters anciently,

One dwelt and hunted in the boundless wood;

From thieves the other kept a kitchen free.

At first, each had another name;

But, by their bringing up, it came,

While one improved upon his natu
e,

The other grew a sordid creature,

Till, by some scullion called Lapluck,

The name ungracious ever stuck.

To high exploits his brother grew,

Put many a stag at bay, and tore

Full many a trophy from the boar;

In short, him first, of all his crew,

The world as Caesar knew;

And care was had, lest, by a baser mate,

His noble blood should e'er degenerate.

Not so with him of lower station,

Whose race became a countless nation--

The common turnspits throughout France--

Where danger is, they don't advance--

Precisely the Antipodes

Of what we call the Caesars, these!



_Oft falls the son below his sire's estate:_

_Through want of care all things degenerate._

_For lack of nursing Nature and her gifts,_

_What crowds from gods become mere kitchen-thrifts!_



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