The Man and the Ass

5.04. THE MAN AND THE ASS. A Man having sacrificed a young boar to the god Hercules, to whom he owed performance of a vow made for the preservation of his health, ordered the remains of the barley to be set for the Ass. But he refused to touch it, and said: “I would most willingly accept your food, if he who had been fed upon it had not had his throat cut.”
Warned by the significance of this Fable, I have always been careful to avoid the gain that exposed to hazard. “But,” say you, “those who have got riches by rapine, are still in possession of them.” Come, then, let us enumerate those, who, being detected, have come to a bad end; you will find that those so punished constitute a great majority. Rashness brings luck to a few, misfortune to most. [more info]

The Man and the Ass

5.04. THE MAN AND THE ASS.
A certain Man, when he had made
A sacrifice, for special aid
To Hercules, and kill’d a swine,
Did for his Ass’s share assign
All the remainder of the corn;
But he, rejecting it with scorn,
Thus said: “I gladly would partake—
But apprehend that life’s at stake;
For he you fatted up and fed
With store of this, is stuck and dead.”
Struck with the import of this tale,
I have succeeded to prevail
Upon my passions, and abstain,
From peril of immod’rate gain.
But, you will say, those that have come
Unjustly by a handsome sum,
Upon the pillage still subsist—
Why, if we reckon up the list,
You’ll find by far the major part
Have been conducted in the cart:
Temerity for some may do,
But many more their rashness rue. [more info]