TO A MOUSE,

ON TURNING UP HER NEST WITH THE PLOUGH, NOVEMBER 1785

And cozie here, beneath the blast,

Thou thought to dwell,

Till, crash! the cruel coulter past

Out through thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves and stibble
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out for a' thy trouble,
But house or hauld,

To thole the winter's sleety dribble,

And cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,

In proving foresight may be vain :
The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft a-gley,

And lea'e us nought but grief and pain
For promised joy.

Still thou art blest, compared wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee :

But, oh! I backward cast my e'e
On prospects drear!

And forward, though I canna see,

I guess and fear.

LIFE.

LIFE! what is life? A shadow!

Its date is but the immediate breath we draw;

Nor have we surety for a second gale;

Ten thousand accidents in ambush lie,

Burns.

A frail and fickle tenement it is,

Which, like the brittle glass that measures time,
Is often broke, ere half its sands are run.

Jones.

M

A PIOUS Brahmin made a vow that on a certain day he would sacrifice a sheep, and on the appointed morning he went forth to buy one. There lived in his neighbourhood three rogues who knew of his vow, and laid a scheme for profiting by it. The first met him and said, "Oh Brahmin, wilt thou buy a sheep? I have one fit for sacrifice." "It is for that very purpose," said the holy man, "that I came forth this day." Then the impostor opened a bag, and brought out of it an unclean beast, an ugly dog, lame and blind. Thereon the Brahmin cried out, "Wretch, who touchest things impure, and utterest things untrue, callest thou that cur a sheep?" "Truly," answered the other, "it is a sheep of the finest fleece, and of the sweetest flesh. O Brahmin, it will be an offering most acceptable to the gods." "Friend," said the Brahmin, "either thou or I must be blind."

Just then one of the accomplices came up.

"Praised be the gods,"

said this second rogue, "that I have been saved the trouble of going to the market for a sheep! This is such a sheep as I wanted. For how much wilt thou sell it?" When the Brahmin heard this, his mind waved to and fro, like one swinging in the air at a holy festival. "Sir," said he to the new-comer, "take heed what thou dost; this is no sheep, but an unclean cur." "O Brahmin," said the new-comer, "thou art drunk or mad!"

"Let us ask this man,"

At this time the third confederate drew near. said the Brahmin, "what the creature is, and I will stand by what he shall say." To this the others agreed; and the Brahmin called out, "O stranger, what dost thou call this beast?" "Surely, O Brahmin," said the knave, "it is a fine sheep." Then the Brahmin said, "Surely the gods have taken away my senses;" and he asked pardon of him who carried the dog, and bought it for a measure of rice and a pot of ghee, and offered it up to the gods, who, being wroth at this unclean sacrifice, smote him with a sore disease in all his joints.

Macaulay.

E

A CLUSTER OF SCOTTISH PROVERBS.

VERY man bows to the bush he gets bield frae.

Keep out o' his company that cracks o' his cheatery.

Cripples are aye great doers, break your leg and try.

Mony ane speaks o' Robin Hood that ne'er shot wi' his bow.

A wise man carries his cloak in fair weather, and a fool wants his in rain. He that doesna mind corn pickles never comes to forpits.

A crooked stick will throw a crooked shadow.

A man's weal or wae as he thinks himsel sae.

Do weel, and doubt nae man; do ill, an' doubt a' men.

A dreigh drink is better than a dry sermon.

Better be the head o' the commons than the tail o' the gentry.

"Sail," quo' the king; "Haud," quo' the wind.

Ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew.

"I winna make a toil o' a pleasure," quo' the man when he buried his wife.