The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog

A fox, old, subtle, vigilant, and sly, -- / By hunters wounded, fallen in the mud, -- / Attracted, by the traces of his blood, / That buzzing parasite, the fly. / He blamed the gods, and wonder'd why / The Fates so cruelly should wish / To feast the fly on such a costly dish. / 'What! light on me! make me its food! / Me, me, the nimblest of the wood! / How long has fox-meat been so good? / What serves my tail? Is it a useless weight? / Go, -- Heaven confound thee, greedy reprobate! -- / And suck thy fill from some more vulgar veins! ' / A hedgehog, witnessing his pains, / (This fretful personage / Here graces first my page,) / Desired to set him free / From such cupidity. / 'My neighbour fox,' said he, / My quills these rascals shall empale, / And ease thy torments without fail. ' / 'Not for the world, my friend! ' the fox replied. / 'Pray let them finish their repast. / These flies are full. Should they be set aside, / New hungrier swarms would finish me at last. ' / Consumers are too common here below, / In court and camp, in church and state, we know. / Old Aristotle's penetration / Remark'd our fable's application; / It might more clearly in our nation. / The fuller certain men are fed, / The less the public will be bled.[1]

[1]: Aesop; also Philibert Hegemon, and others.