The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse

A fox, though young, by no means raw, / Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw: / 'Ho! neighbour wolf,' said he to one quite green, / 'A creature in our meadow I have seen, -- / Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet, -- / The finest beast I ever met. ' / 'Is he a stouter one than we? ' / The wolf demanded, eagerly; / 'Some picture of him let me see. ' / 'If I could paint,' said fox, 'I should delight / T' anticipate your pleasure at the sight; / But come; who knows? perhaps it is a prey / By fortune offer'd in our way. ' / They went. The horse, turn'd loose to graze, / Not liking much their looks or ways, / Was just about to gallop off. / 'Sir,' said the fox, 'your humble servants, we / Make bold to ask you what your name may be. ' / The horse, an animal with brains enough, / Replied, 'Sirs, you yourselves may read my name; / My shoer round my heel hath writ the same. ' / The fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge: / 'Me, sir, my parents did not educate, -- / So poor, a hole was their entire estate. / My friend, the wolf, however, taught at college, / Could read it were it even Greek. ' / The wolf, to flattery weak, / Approach'd to verify the boast; / For which four teeth he lost. / The high raised hoof came down with such a blow, / As laid him bleeding on the ground full low. / 'My brother,' said the fox, 'this shows how just / What once was taught me by a fox of wit, -- / Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ, -- / "All unknown things the wise mistrust. "[1]

[1]: Aesop.