A WISE and illustrious Writer of Fables2 was visiting a travelling
menagerie with a view to collecting literary materials. As he was
passing near the Elephant, that animal said:
How sad that so justly famous a satirist3 should mar4 his work by
ridicule5 of people with long noses - who are the salt of the
earth!
The Kangaroo said:
I do so enjoy that great man's censure6 of the ridiculous -
particularly his attacks on the Proboscidae; but, alas7! he has no
reverence8 for the Marsupials, and laughs at our way of carrying our
young in a pouch9.
The Camel said:
If he would only respect the sacred Hump, he would be faultless.
As it is, I cannot permit his fables to be read in the presence of
my family.
The Ostrich10, seeing his approach, thrust her head in the straw,
saying:
If I do not conceal11 myself, he may be reminded to write something
disagreeable about my lack of a crest12 or my appetite for scrap-
iron; and although he is inexpressibly brilliant when he devotes
himself to censure of folly13 and greed, his dulness is matchless
when he transcends14 the limits of legitimate15 comment.
That,' said the Buzzard to his mate, is the distinguished16 author
of that glorious fable1, 'The Ostrich and the Keg of Raw Nails.' I
regret to add, that he wrote, also, 'The Buzzard's Feast,' in which
a carrion17 diet is contumeliously disparaged18. A carrion diet is the
foundation of sound health. If nothing else but corpses19 were
eaten, death would be unknown.
Seeing an attendant approaching, the wise and illustrious Writer of
Fables passed out of the tent and mingled20 with the crowd. It was
afterward21 discovered that he had crept in under the canvas without
paying.
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