THE THIEVES AND ASS (I, 13)
Two thieves who stole an ass a-fighting fell
Whether to keep the animal or sell.
While blows went trotting brisk from pate to pate,
To know who should decide the creature's fate,
Another thief arrived, got on his back,
And galloped off with Master Jack.*

The ass is sometimes but a spot of ground,
The thieves in such and such a prince are found ;
Instead of two I now quote three,
From Turkey, Austria, and Hungary,
  The goods in contest are most common sights ;
Yet oft the victors can't their conquests guard,
A fourth thief comes and sets them all to rights,
And gallops off the ass for his reward

SIMONIDES PRESERVED  BY THE GODS. (I, 14)
Three characters distinct our incense claim,
The gods, our mistress, and the king ;
Malherbe says so ; and I subscribe my name
To maxims from which good may spring :
Praise charms the ear, and brings us friends for fame ;
Sometimes it gains the favours of the fair ;
Sometimes the gods reward it with their care.

Simonides one day had undertook
A certain athlete's eulogy,
But in his hero found a subject dry,
And barren matter for a book.
The athlete's family had no renown --
His sire a sober citizen unknown--
The bard must find materials of his own.
At first the haro of his pen he sang,
And when no more of him he had to say,
Digressed, and to the skies arose ;
And now in bolder note and louder lay,
Castor and Pollux's brilliant praises rang,  
Their wondrous deeds he shows,
The places where they glory bought ;  
Displays their struggles for the prize,  
The glorious battles that they fought,
And bears the twins triumphant to the skies.
The wrestler's deeds were in the proëm,
The gods filled more than half the poem.
The athlete had agreed his price to pay,
But when lie saw his deeds so sparsely sung,
Gave but a third, and with a sneer did say ;
“ Let Castor and his brother give the rest,
The twins, I hope, won't think it wrong ;
To-night, however, will you be my guest ?
I give a banquet to some chosen friends,
Come sup with us and let this make amends.”
Simonides said Yes. Perhaps, men say,
He feared te lose his praise as well as pay.
He went, and there was revel and good cheer,
And all in happy humour now appear.
When suddenly a slave says in his ear,
Two -men desire to speak with him without ;
He leaves the hall filled with the munching rout.
The two men were the poem's subjects ; gravely
They thanked him for the praises given in it,
And bid him foot it bravely ;
Since all the house would topple in a minute.
        This prophecy,
        Was not a lie.
A pillar cracked, the ceiling fell
On plates and cups : confusedly
Guests, waiters tumbled all pell-mell.
Nay more, to make completer seem
The vengeance of the bard, a beam
Broke both the athlete's legs, and mauled
Sadly the rest to that feast called.
The miracle soon spread around,
The poet’s rights, the wrestler's wrongs,
Which raised the price of flattering songs,
And brought the poet many a pound :
For every mother's son, however sprung,
Now had his ancestors most highly sung ;
Nor grudged to give a handsome prize
To such a favourite of the skies.