The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1864-05-12

companions. who no longer paid him thl
accustomed attention. Al this cxtortc,
acknowledgment of his superior splcn
dor, heavens how the peacock swcllcd
"CurIuiuly," am without an equal
How mean these poor wrctchcd creature,
appear by my side. How maunifccntll
beautiful | am. What guldcd tngc'
chase each other across my feathers
How supcrbly my tail reflects the light
II is full ot eyes which absolutely riva
the SUI himsclf When look around
what is there to compare with me 7"
A rose which was blooming near. over
heard this arrogant soliloquy and address
cd him:--
" Pray, Mr.. Peacock. do not BE- offend
ed, but think can show YOU q bird no
only your equal, but So Tar your superior
that before man would allow one OF III,
race To- be destroyed, he would behold yo,
aud all ytur vain, Haunting relations cx
Terminated"
81 always thought, Madam Rose" re-
piled the peacock. that y,u were a de
cent sort Of person, and had one or tw,
tolcrablc colors in you-.that is, for ,
mere rose but cannot give you crcdi
Tor much wisdom. Aud so sure am o
beng considered Of moro value than any
bird which you can possibly bring, that
lcarlcssly challenge YOU and all the worlt
~ produce my rival"
This very afternoon" said the rose
" and before the assembled creatures OF
the earth and air, they shall pronounce
your respective merits"
will come an hour before sunset, y
replied the peacock, spreading his superb
tail. and tossing his head ullcctcdly.
appear to more advantage the greater tho
light; good morning, Madam Rose. What
u iool il this ridiculous red flower" he
continued in n lower voice, us he strut
ted away" and so conccitcd too. Bah !
how hate conccitcd people I"
Tho hour for the trial came. The set.
ting sun filled the woods with golden
/ light heightened shadows lay on ,hc
soft green medows. The bees hummed
lazily along the dropping flowers, as il
tired of their days wandcrings; the crows
went winging their way over the tree
tops to their nests F; the fsh.huwk had
made his last plunge in the lake, aud was
bearing his prey toward the high drv tee
everything tIld of the closing day.
The peacock spread his ;al, aud entcr-
cd the arena where he was 10 await the
expected rival. He found all the beasts,
poultry, etc, of the ncighborhood nssem-
blcd. The geese came in single IT,,
headed by sage old fellow, u kind of
philosopher, who led the procession with
grave dignity. The hens brought their
dear little chickens, with their wcc bit
voices; the ducks waddlcd TO their placcs
and quacked show do you dog" to their
ncighbOrs. the geese. The horses, who
had been lie, loose in the adjoining field,
can,ercd up, tossing, their heads in the
air, kicking out their heels, and nciphing
chccrfully to their ncighbors and fellow
citizens. The ass shook his cnrs with
much sclfcomrlaccncy, and iro,tcd after.
An old black sheep sprang over fence,
and was Immediately followed by about
hundred others, who leoped over in the
same place. The cows walked out of
the pond, and took their stations, lashing
themselves with their tails, and chewing
the cud; no animal like your COW for
gravity and patience. A great fltl.y h, 4
who had been wOllowiny in the mre,
came in grunting, and thrusting himself
into company where he wa, not wnntel;
but he got n good seat, because every
body feared to come in contact with him.
The swallows skinned down from their
nests under the caves of the barn, and
seated themselves in row on the rail
fence. The turkeys came in late, grum.
bling ard gobbling. They thought the
whole thing rather ridiculous-they were
as good as the peacock any doy-"some
people make such u fuss about nothing"
A beautiful robin came hopping along,
aud flew up into u branch of the cherry
tree, with sweet and plaintive cry;
while sweet little bantam rooster push
ed his way in among the horses, squared
off to turkey seven times MS large as
himself, and at length reached mn excel
lent place, where he sat with the air of
one who thinks himself as good us most
people.
When the company were seated, the
rose, who had called the meeting, in n
brief and graceful address, explained the
wager which Ind been laid between the
peacock and herself.
my friends" s1id the peacock, in n
screaming, discordant voice, which made
the robin hut,er to more distant seat,
al am nearly overcome with dfidence at
appearing thus in public. Nothing but
duty aud sqlI-respect could have driven
me 10 such an extremity, but us the rep
resentative of large class Of society, |
feel bound TO assert our claims TO your
attention. Look at me, my friends; ex.
anime those feathers, the rainbow lingcs
tnut melt into each other on my breast,
the brilliant hues Frightening up forever
and dying away, the radiance that seems
to ilnnt around ne, which certainly ex.
GELS in superb beauty, even the vivid bow
Of heaven. The rose, who is a nice sort
of person, to be sure, but without taste,
and not little prejudice against natures