A winter hare, by Bruno Liljefors (1860-1939).
Part 1 of 2
FRIENDSHIP, like love, is but a name,
Unless to one, you stint the flame.
The child, whom many fathers share,
Hath seldom known a father’s care.
’Tis thus in friendships; who depend
On many, rarely find a friend.
A Hare who, in a civil way,
Complied with everything, like GAY,*
Was known by all the bestial train
Who haunt the wood or graze the plain;
Her care was never to offend,
And every creature was her friend.
As forth she went, at early dawn,
To taste the dew-besprinkled lawn,
Behind, she hears the hunter’s cries,
And from the deep-mouth’d thunder, flies:
She starts, she stops, she pants for breath;
She hears the near advance of death;
She doubles to mislead the hound,
And measures back her mazy round,
Till, fainting in the public way,
Half dead with fear, she gasping lay.
What transport in her bosom grew,
When first the Horse appear’d in view!
“Let me,” says she, “your back ascend,
And owe my safety to a friend.
You know my feet betray my flight:
To friendship every burden’s light.”
The Horse replied, “Poor honest puss,
It grieves my heart to see thee thus:
Be comforted, relief is near,
For all your friends are in the rear.”
* John Gay was one of thousands who invested in the South Sea Company’s scheme, launched in 1719 amidst a frenzy of publicity and backed by many of the country’s most distinguished politicians, to pay down a huge national debt racked up by Britain’s military adventures around the world. It failed spectacularly — as it deserved to, because one of the chief sources of revenue was Britain’s monopoly on the Atlantic slave trade, recently acquired from Spain. See The South Sea Bubble. Gay lost heavily, and feeling abandoned by his celebrity friends he wrote this little Fable in reproof.
* Nowadays ‘puss’ is familiar as a term of endearment for a cat, but in Gay’s time it was used for a hare, a popular domestic pet. Poet William Cowper (1731-1800) kept three hares, as a cure for depression: Puss, Bess and Tiney.
Précis
Upset over the way his friends had abandoned him, dramatist John Gay told a tale in verse about a popular Hare who, exhausted by her desperate flight from the hunt, appealed to each of her friends in turn for help. The first to pass by was the Horse, who said encouragingly that the Hare had plenty of other friends. (59 / 60 words)
Part Two
Peasant hunter in a winter landscape, by Bruno Liljefors (1860-1939).
She next the stately Bull implored;
And thus replied the mighty lord:
“That I sincerely wish you well;
I may, without offence, pretend
To take the freedom of a friend.
Love calls me hence; a favourite cow
Expects me near yon barley-mow;
And when a lady’s in the case,
You know all other things give place.
Since every beast alive can tell
To leave you thus might seem unkind,
But see, the Goat is just behind.”
The Goat remark’d her pulse was high,
Her languid head, her heavy eye:
“My back,” says he,may do you harm;
The Sheep’s at hand, and wool is warm.”
The Sheep was feeble, and complain’d
His sides a load of wool sustain’d;
Said he was slow; confess’d his fears;
For hounds eat sheep as well as Hares.
She now the trotting Calf address’d,
To save from death a friend distress’d:
“Shall I,” says he, “of tender age,
In this important care engage?
Older and abler pass’d you by;
How strong are those! how weak am I!
Should I presume to bear you hence,
Those friends of mine may take offence.
Excuse me, then: you know my heart;
But dearest friends, alas! must part.
How shall we all lament! Adieu,
For see, the hounds are just in view.”
Précis
A Bull pleaded that he would be no gentleman if he kept his Cow waiting; the Goat said he was too uncomfortable a ride; a frightened sheep grumbled about his heavy fleece; and after a Calf said he was too young to question the unanimous judgment of his elders, the Hare was left to face the hunt alone. (58 / 60 words)
