Aesop's Fables: Sir Roger L'Estrange (1692)
68. A THRUSH AND A SWALLOW (Perry 29)
Ah my dear Mother! Says the Thrush, never had any Creature such a Friend
as I have, of this same Swallow. No, says she, nor ever any Mother such
a Fool to her Son as I have, of this same Thrush: To talk of a Friendship
betwixt People that cannot so much as live together in the same Climate
and Season. One is for Summer, t’other for Winter; and that which keeps
you alive, kills your Companion.
THE MORAL OF THE TWO FABLES ABOVE. ‘Tis a necessary Rule in Alliances,
Matches, Societies, Fraternities, Friendships, Partnerships, Commerce,
and all manner of civil dealings and Contracts, to have a strict Regard
to Humour, the Nature, and the Disposition of those we have to do withal.
 L'Estrange originally published his version of the fables in 1692. There is a
very nice illustrated edition in the Children's Classics series by Knopf: Sir
Roger L'Estrange. Aesop
- Fables which is available at amazon.com.
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