The Fabulist and the Animals

  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.