The Sun.
London, England, 1821-03-14 00:00:00

AN OLD STORY.

. A. Shepherd once found considerable difficulty in
forming and preserving his flock from the Wolves.
At length he succeeded in enclosing a good pasture,
.and in securing a good and serviceable paling,
.too high for the wolves to jump over, but over
which they might peep, nay even through a cre-
vice here and there, though the paling was too
strong to be• broken by force.
The wolves, finding all ingress impossible,
now crouched their tails, pursed up their lips to
hide their • fangs; and drew up their Claws; peti-
tioning the Shepherd, at the same time, to. let
them into the fold ; not, indeed, to kill their own
mutton- oh no !—but just to enjoy the pasture as
the sheep did. The Shepherd, 'at first, was reso-
.. Jute denial ; but, finally, honest soul ! consent-
ed on condition of their being muzzled! A new
invented muzzle was accordingly got up.as a pat-
, tern, with tzoentS strops ; muzzles were made and
fitted on ; and thee Wolves were admitted,. only
• begging permission to declare, upon their con-
sciences, that mutton is mutton, and that grass is
grass, but still that, if, they pleased, they might
consider mutton to be grass, and grass to be mutt
tell, upon the authority of that text which says
all flesh is grass."
They had not been long in the fold, however,
.s'Olen 'one of them found the twentieth strap to
touch him in a sore place, and the Shepherd, at,
request, - and full assurance that the other
nineteen straps held him sufficiently tight, con-
sented to'take it off. This indulgence the others,
of course, asked and received : when shortly af-
terwards the nineteenth strap was found to be
both troublesome and " useless," and removed
Alicordinf.,-,ly.—'Phis was soya the fate of the
eighteenth, seventeenth, &c., on to the tenth.—
. "Wow," said the Wolves, " take off but that strap
sand we shall be contented

.This was done, to their perfect content; for no
seDner was it cut, than with the help of each
other's paws, they cast off the remaining straps,
and the muzzles dropped off in a moment.
• The, silly Shepherd exclaimed," La ! who'd
have thought it"—and began to prepare new
straps for the muzzles ; but, before he could fit
them on again, the wives. hal dined !! ! - -

iESOP.

Iris Royal Highness the Duke of CLArtEN:cE will
accompany his MAJ Est r to treland,as wit! several
9f the English Nobility.' It has been represented
' us that the Royal Dublin Society mean to
n"r their splendid establishment, in Kildare-
et, as a place of residence during his MA-
: s'll7's stay in this Country. We believe there
are few places in this Country more eligible.—
Cbqblin Journal.).
St. Patrjcli.-'s Day is. to be celebrated at Paris
aNin,
,140444qru. ell Saturday next. The
I''" Ut wtil preside .at the Parisian
festivo.
To the curious in natural history it will be in-
teresting to learn that four or five specimens of
°ne of our rarest British fishes. have been cast on
shore this last year, at different times, on the sand
and rocks between Whitburn and South Shields.
The fish is named by authors, the Tooth Gilt
(Sparus Raji of Donovan, Sp. Niger of
Turton.) It was first described by Mr. Ray,
from a specimen cast on shore at the mouth of
the Tees, in 1681 ; and for a 'century after is
not known to have been again seen. Other spe-'
• "Cimens are, however, since then recorded. One
'singularity of the fish is learnt from these late
'Specimens, which perhaps was not known before
any collector, viz—the exquisite quality of the
road, both as to flavour and firnmess. It is a very
Rat fish, but compressed vertically, with a large
eye. Our ingenious neighbour, Mr. Bewick, has
made a correct drawing from one specimen, which
probably will be published, if he should -extendhis '
Aorks on natural history to the department
of fishes. This specimen is in length r- inches
"' 4 7
cast breadth 71 thickness 24',
Courant.)