The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep

A goat, a sheep, and porker fat, / All to the market rode together. / Their own amusement was not that / Which caused their journey thither. / Their coachman did not mean to 'set them down' / To see the shows and wonders of the town. / The porker cried, in piercing squeals, / As if with butchers at his heels. / The other beasts, of milder mood, / The cause by no means understood. / They saw no harm, and wonder'd why / At such a rate the hog should cry. / 'Hush there, old piggy! ' said the man, / 'And keep as quiet as you can. / What wrong have you to squeal about, / And raise this dev'lish, deaf'ning shout? / These stiller persons at your side / Have manners much more dignified. / Pray, have you heard / A single word / Come from that gentleman in wool? / That proves him wise. ' 'That proves him fool! ' / The testy hog replied; / 'For did he know / To what we go, / He'd cry almost to split his throat; / So would her ladyship the goat. / They only think to lose with ease, / The goat her milk, the sheep his fleece: / They're, maybe, right; but as for me, / This ride is quite another matter. / Of service only on the platter, / My death is quite a certainty. / Adieu, my dear old piggery! ' / The porker's logic proved at once / Himself a prophet and a dunce.

Hope ever gives a present ease, / But fear beforehand kills: / The wisest he who least foresees / Inevitable ills.[1]