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Page 25
As the god of the thunders ceased the whole assembly applauded. As for
the boy himself, he did not appear to be above the wish to learn
everything.
"I undertake," said Mars, the god of war, "to teach him the art by which
so many heroes have won the glories of Olympus and extended the empire."
"I will be his master in the art of the lyre," promised the fair and
learned Apollo.
"And I," said Hercules with the lion's-skin, "will teach him how to
overcome Vice and quell evil passions, those poisonous monsters which
like Hydras[15] are ever reborn in the heart. A foe to effeminate
pleasures, he shall learn from me those too seldom trodden paths that
lead to honour along the tracks of virtue."
When it came to Cupid, the god of love, to speak he simply said, "I can
show him everything."
And Cupid was right; for what cannot be achieved with wit and the desire
to please?
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 14: The Goddess of Spring and of Flowers, was also regarded by
the Greeks as the Goddess of Youth and its pleasures.]
[Footnote 15: The Hydra was a monster with one hundred heads. If one was
cut off two grew in its place unless the wound was stopped by fire.]
XXXV
THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES
(BOOK XI.--No. 5)
King Lion, thinking that he would govern better if he took a few lessons
in moral philosophy, had a monkey brought to him one fine day who was a
master of arts in the monkey tribe. The first lesson he gave was as
follows:--
"Great King, in order to govern wisely a prince should always consider
the good of the country before yielding to that feeling which is
commonly known as self-love, for that fault is the father of all the
vices one sees in animals. To rid oneself of this sentiment is not an
easy thing to do, and is not to be done in a day. Indeed, merely to
moderate it is to achieve a good deal, and if you succeed so far you
will never tolerate in yourself anything ridiculous or unjust."
"Give me," commanded the king, "an example of each of those faults."
"Every species of creature," continued the philosopher, "esteems itself
in its heart above all the others. These others it regards as
ignoramuses, calling them by many hard names which, after all, hurt
nobody. At the same time this self-love, which sneers at other tribes
and other kinds of beasts, induces the individual to heap praise upon
other individuals of his own species, because that is a very good way of
praising oneself too. From this it is easy to see that many talents here
below are in reality but empty pretence, assumption, and pose, and a
certain gift of making the most of oneself, better understood by
ignorant people than by learned.
"The other day I followed two asses who were offering the incense of
flattery to each other by turns, and heard one say, 'My Lord, do you not
think that man, that perfect animal, is both unjust and stupid? He
profanes our august name by calling every one of his own kind an ass who
is ignorant, or dull, or idiotic; and he calls our laughter and our
discourse by the term "braying." It is very amusing that these human
people pretend to excel us!'
"'My friend,' said his companion, 'it is for you to speak, and for them
to hold their tongues. They are the true brayers. But let us speak no
more of them. We two understand each other; that is sufficient. And as
for the marvels of delight your divine voice lets fall upon our ears,
the nightingale herself is but a novice in comparison. You surpass the
court musician.'
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