# Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CCXXX to CCXXXIII

Fab. CCXXX.
Good Luck and Bad Luck.
THere was a Middling sort of a Man that was left well enough to pass by his Father, but could never think he had enough, so long as any Man had more, He took Notice what Huge Estates many Merchants got in a very short Time; and so Sold his Inheritance, and betook himself to a way of Traffique and Commerce. Matters succeeded so Wonderfully well with him, that Every body was in Admiration to see how Mighty Rich he was grown all on a Sudden. Why Ay, says he, This 'tis for a Man to Understand his Bus'ness; for I have done All This by my Industry. It would have been well if he had stopt there: But Avarice is Insatiable, and so he went Pushing on still for More; till, what by Wrecks, Bankrupts, Pyrates, and I know not how many other Disappointments, One upon the Neck of Another, he was reduc’d in Half the Time that he was a Rising, to a Morsel of Bread. Upon These Mis carriages, People were at him over, and over again, ​to know how This came About. Why says he, My Damn’d Fortune would have it so. Fortune happen’d to be at That Time within Hearing, and told him in his Ear, that he was an Arrogant, Ungrateful Clown; to Charge Her with All the Evil that Befell him, and to take the Good to Himself.
Fab. CCXXXI.
A Country-man and Fortune.
AS a Labourer was at his Work a Digging, he Chops his Spade upon a Pot of Money; Takes it up, Blesses the Place where he found it, and away he goes with his Treasure. It so fell out, that Fortune Saw and Heard All that Past, and so she call’d out to him upon the Way. Heark ye Friend, says she; You are very Thankful, I perceive, to the Place where you found This Money; but 'tis the Jade Fortune, I warrant ye, that's to be Claw'd away for't: if you should happen to Lose it again. Pray tell me now why should not you Thank Fortune for the One, as well as Curse her for the Other.
Fab. CCXXXII.
An Old Woman and the Devil.
'TIS a Common Practice, when People draw Mischiefs upon their Own Heads, to cry, the Devil's in't, and the Devil's in’t. Now the Devil happen'd to spy an Old Woman upon an Apple-Tree. Look ye (says he) You shall see that Beldam Catch a Fall there by and by, and Break her Bones, and then say 'twas all long of me. Pray Good People will you bear me Witness, that I was None of her Adviser. The Woman got a Tumble, as the Devil said she would, and there was she at it. The Devil Ought her a Shame, and the Devil put her upon't: But the Devil Clear’d himself by sufficient Evidence that he had no Hand in’t at all.
Fab. CCXXXIII.
A Boy and Fortune.
THere was a Boy half asleep upon the very Brink of a River. Fortune came to him, and wak'd him. Child, says she, prethee get up, and go thy ways, thou't Tumble in and be Drown'd else, and then the Fault will be laid upon Me.
The Moral of the Four Fables Above.
REFLEXION.
THESE Four Fables run upon the same Biass; That is to say, the Moral is a Lash at the Vanity of Arrogating That to our selves, which succeeds Well, and the Ingratitude of making Providence the Author of Evil, which seldom scapes without a Judgment in the Tayle on't. But our Hearts are so much let upon the Value of the Benefits we receive, that we never Think of the Bestower of them, and so our Acknowledgments are commonly paid to the Second Hand, without any Regard to the Principal. We run into Mistakes, and Misfortunes, of our Own Accord; and then when we are once Hamper'd, we lay the Blame of our Own Faults and Corruptions upon Others. This is much the Humour of the World too in Common Bus'ness. If any thing Hits, we take it to our Selves; if it Miscarries, we shuffle it off to our Neighbours. This Arises, partly from Pride, and in part from a Certain Canker'd Malignity of Nature. Nay rather then Impute our Miscarriages and Disappointments to our Own Corruptions, or Frailties, we do not Stick to Arraign Providence it self, though under Another Name, in all our Exclamations against the Rigour, and the Iniquity of Fortune. Now This Fortune in the Fable, is Effectually, God Himself, in the Moral. We are apt to Value our selves upon our Own Strength and Abilities, and to Entitle Carnal Reason to the very Works of Grace: And where any thing goes Wrong with us, we lay our Faults, as we do our Bastards, at Other Peoples Doors. This or That was not well done, we fay, but alas it was none of our Fault. We did it by Constraint, Advice, Importunity, or the Authority perhaps of Great Examples, and the Like. At This rate do we Palliate our Own Weaknesses and Corruptions, and at the same Rate do We likewise Assume to our selves Other Peoples Merits. The Thing to be done, in fine, is to Correct the Arrogance of Claiming to our selves the Good that does not belong to us on the One Hand, and of Imputing to our Neighbors the Ill that they are not Guilty of, on the Other. This is the Sum of the Doctrine that's Pointed at in the Case and Custom of Dividing our Miscarriages betwixt Fortune and the Devil.