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he you. Any thing to please, says the owner; and alighting with his fon, they tied the legs of the afs together, and by the help of a pole endeavoured to carry him upon their shoulders over the bridge that led to the town. This was fo entertaining a fight, that the people ran in crowds to laugh at it; till the afs, conceiving, a dislike to the over-complaifance of his master, burst asunder the cords that tied him, flipt from the pole, and tumbled into the river. The poor old man made the best of his way home, ashamed and vexed, that by endeavouring to please every body, he had pleased no body, and lost his ass into the bargain.

WORLD.

CHA P.

VII.

WH

HERCULES's CHOICE.

HEN Hercules was in that part of his youth, in which it was natural for him to confider what course of life he ought to pursue, he one day retired into a defart, where the filence and folitude of the place very much favoured his meditations. As he was musing on his prefent condition, and very much perplexed in himfelf on the state of life he should chufe, he faw two women of a larger stature than ordinary approaching towards him. One of them had a very noble air, and graceful deportment; her beauty was natural and eafy, her perfon clean and unspotted, her eyes caft towards the ground with an agreeable reserve, her motion and behaviour full of modesty, and her raiment as white as fnow. The other had a great deal of health and floridness in her countenance, which she had helped with an artificial white and red; and endeavoured to appear more graceful than ordinary in her mien, by a mixture

mixture of affectation in all her geftures. She had a wonderful confidence and affurance in her looks, and all the variety of colours in her dress, that she thought were the most proper to fhew her complexion to advantage. She caft her eyes upon herself, then turned them on thofe that were prefent, to see how they liked her, and often looked on the figure fhe made in her own fhadow. Upon her nearer approach to Hercules, she stepped before the other lady, who came forward with a regular composed carriage, and running up to him, accosted him after the following manner:

My dear Hercules, fays fhe, I find you are very much divided in your own thoughts upon the way of life that you. ought to chufe: be my friend, and follow me; I will lead you into the poffeffion of pleasure, and out of the reach of pain, and remove you from all the noise and difquietude of bufinefs. The affairs of either war or peace fhall have no power to disturb you. Your whole employment fhall be to make your life easy, and to entertain every fenfe with its proper gratifications. Sumptuous tables, beds of rofes, clouds of perfumes, concerts of mufic, crouds of beauties, are all in readiness to receive you. Come along with me into this region of delights, this world of pleasure, and bid farewel for ever to care, to pain, to business.

HERCULES hearing the lady talk after this manner, defired to know her name; to which the answered, my friends, and those who are well acquainted with me, call me Happiness ; but my enemies, and those who would injure my reputation, have given me the name of Pleasure.

By this time the other lady was come up, who addressed herself to the young hero in a very different manner.

HERCULES, fays fhe, I offer myself to you, because I know you are defcended from the Gods, and give proofs of that defcent

descent by your love to virtue, and application to the ftudies proper for your age. This makes me hope you will gain both for yourself and me an immortal reputation. But, before I invite you into my fociety and friendship, I will be open and fincere with you, and muft lay down this as an established truth, that there is nothing truly valuable which can be purchased without pains and labour. The Gods have set a price upon every real and noble pleafure. If you would gain the favour of the Deity, you must be at the pains of worshipping him; if the friendship of good men, you must Atudy to oblige them; if you would be honoured by your country, you must take care to ferve it. In fhort, if you would be eminent in war or peace, you must become mafter of all the qualifications that can make you fo. These are the only terms and conditions upon which I can propose happiness. The Goddess of Pleasure here broke in upon her difcourfe: You fee, faid fhe, Hercules, by her own confeffion, the way to her pleafures is long and difficult, whereas that which I propofe is fhort and eafy. Alas! faid the other lady, whofe vifage glowed with paffion, made up of fcorn and pity, what are the pleasures you propofe? To eat before you are hungry, drink before you are athirst, sleep before you are tired; to gratify appetites before they are raised, and raise fuch appetites as nature never planted. You never heard the most delicious mufic, which is the praise of one's felf; nor faw the most beautiful object, which is the work of one's own hands. Your votaries pass away their youth in a dream of mistaken pleasures, while they are hoarding up anguish, torment, and remorfe, for old age.

As for me, I am the friend of Gods and of good men, an agreeable companion to the artizan, and houfhold guardian to the fathers of families, a patron and protector of fervants,

an

an affociate in all true and generous friendships. The ban quets of my votaries are never coftly, but always delicious; for none eat or drink at them who are not invited by hunger and thirft. Their flumbers are found, and their wakings chearful. My young men have the pleasure of hearing themselves praised by those who are in years; and those who are in years, of being honoured by those who are young. In a word, my followers are favoured by the Gods, beloved by their acquaintance, efteemed by their country, and, after the close of their labours, honoured by pofterity..

We know, by the life of this memorable hero, to which of these two ladies he gave up his heart; and I believe, every one who reads this,, will do him the justice to approve his choice..

TATLER

CHA P. VIII

PI T Y.

N the happy period of the golden age, when all the ce

In the happy of the duodenecarthy and converfed

familiarly with mortals, amongst the moft cherished of the heavenly powers were twins, the offspring of Jupiter, LOVE. and joy. Wherever they appeared, the flowers sprung up beneath their feet, the fun. fhone with a brighter radiance, and all nature feemed embellished by their prefence. They were infeparable companions, and their growing attachment. was favoured by Jupiter, who had decreed that a lafting. union fhould be folemnized between them fo foon as they were arrived at maturer years. But in the mean time the fons of men deviated from their native innocence; vice and ruin over-ran the earth with giant ftrides; and Aftrea with

her

her train of celeftial vifitants forfook their polluted abodes. Love alone remained, having been stolen away by Hope, who was his nurse, and conveyed by her to the forefts of Arcadia, where he was brought up among the fhepherds. But Jupiter affigned him a different partner, and commanded him to espouse SORROW, the danghter of Atè. He complied with reluctance; for her features were harsh and difagreeable, her eyes funk, her forehead contracted into perpetual wrinkles, and her temples were covered with a wreath of cyprefs and wormwood. From this union fprung a virgin, in whom might be traced a ftrong resemblance to both her parents; but the fullen and unamiable features of her mother were fo mixed and blended with the sweetness of her father, that her countenance, though mournful, was highly pleafing. The maids and fhepherds of the neighbourA reding plains gathered round, and called her PITY. breaft was obferved to build in the cabin where fhe was born; and while fhe was yet an infant, a dove pursued by a hawk flew into her bofom. This nymph had a dejected appearance, but fo foft and gentle a mien that she was beloved to a degree of enthusiasm. Her voice was low and plaintive, but inexpreffibly sweet; and fhe loved to lie for hours together on the banks of fome wild and melancholy ftream, finging to her lute. She taught men to weep, for fhe took a ftrange delight in tears; and often, when the virgins of the hamlet were affembled at their evening fports, she would fteal in amongst them, and captivate their hearts by her tales full of a charming sadness. She wore on her head a garland compofed of her father's myrtles, twifted with her mother's cypress.

ONE day, as fhe fat mufing by the waters of Helicon, her tears by chance fell into the fountain; and ever since,

the

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