Fables for the Frivolous

THE AMBITIOUS FOX AND THE UNAPPROACHABLE GRAPES A farmer built around his crop A wall, and crowned his labors By placing glass upon the top To lacerate his neighbors , Provided they at any time Should feel disposed the wall to climb. He also drove some iron pegs Securely in the coping , To tear the bare, defenceless legs Of brats who, upward groping , Might steal, despite the risk of fall , The grapes that grew upon the wall. One day a fox, on thieving bent , A crafty and an old one , Most shrewdly tracked the pungent scent That eloquently told one That grapes were ripe and grapes were good And likewise in the neighborhood. He threw some stones of divers shapes The luscious fruit to jar off: It made him ill to see the grapes So near and yet so far off. His throws were strong, his aim was fine , But Never touched me! said the vine.