The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot

An iron pot proposed / To an earthen pot a journey. / The latter was opposed, / Expressing the concern he / Had felt about the danger / Of going out a ranger. / He thought the kitchen hearth / The safest place on earth / For one so very brittle. / 'For thee, who art a kettle, / And hast a tougher skin, / There's nought to keep thee in. ' / 'I'll be thy body-guard,' / Replied the iron pot; / 'If anything that's hard / Should threaten thee a jot, / Between you I will go, / And save thee from the blow. ' / This offer him persuaded. / The iron pot paraded / Himself as guard and guide / Close at his cousin's side. / Now, in their tripod way, / They hobble as they may; / And eke together bolt / At every little jolt, -- / Which gives the crockery pain; / But presently his comrade hits / So hard, he dashes him to bits, / Before he can complain.

Take care that you associate / With equals only, lest your fate / Between these pots should find its mate.[1]