Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Tale.
Pie was a short man , of good features , well made , of a mild , simple countenance , that betrayed a simplicity atid innocence , to which silver locks , with a head half bald , gave a tender respectability , calculated to thaw a stoic ' s indifference info pity , and melt the feeliug ' heart into all the gentle afflictions of nature Surely there must be truth in this extraordinary talefor truth
, may exist even in madness . He calls Maria to witness , added I loud enough to be heard—Heaven be his witness ! ( cried she instantly with some warmth)—and you , Maria , his friend—you , it seems , can unfold this tale . In the name of goodness let me hear it ! Maria was too polite to be importuned , a'nd , perceiving that I did not mean to ask an impertinent question , told me the whole
Story with the most unaffected simplicity . The story of George , commonly called Cracky , and his Ass . — - This poor mat :, Sir , is an object truly worthy of compassion , from tke infirmities both of nature and condition , which have made him an easy prey to the arts of wicked men , practised upon the weakness ofiiis understanding , and the hellessness of poverty . These
p defects , however , were supplied by honesty and industry , that gained him a livelihood by means of this favourite ass , whom he now laments ; which , ' with a wife and family that loved him , was all the riches poor George possessed—except one good friend ( said
I , looking at Maria ) that inestimable pearl , of which , alas ! too frequently , we must be deprived to know its real value . Himself ( resumed Maria ) has told you the value of his ass , and sorry indeed am I that I have nothing to add hut the loss of it . It was stolen from him one night by some unfeeling villains , whilst poor Cracky mourned , as a mother for the loss of her child . It affected him so muchthat it quite broke'his heart , so that he became insensible to
, every other object , and will now often burst into tears , and in a kind of delirium cry , " Pray give me my ass—he is the only friend poor George has in the world--pray give me my ass ; " whilst his children Hock r . bout their aged fa titer , and lisp out , Don ' t cry daddy—Job was good—Goci will take care of Job—perhaps he'll send him back again ; No , my dears , never , waving his hand , as if , like Rachel ,
he would not be comforted for his beast , because to him—he was not . Pie was weeping in this manner one day , and his children were tenderly administering the flattering comfort of Job ' s return , when a collier came to the door of his cottage , and amongst the rest of his beasts was an ass very heavy laden—it was the very ass George had lost . The instant Cracky saw it , like the father on the si ght of
his prodigal son , he fell , on his neck and kissed it ; he knew it to be the friend of his bosom , whilst the poor dumb creature ' s sensibility seemed to rejoice at finding himself once more in the embraces of his old msster . The man ' s mad , said the collier— " I should like to be thus mad { cried I ) o ; i the unexpected return of s . * long-lost brother . Plave
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Tale.
Pie was a short man , of good features , well made , of a mild , simple countenance , that betrayed a simplicity atid innocence , to which silver locks , with a head half bald , gave a tender respectability , calculated to thaw a stoic ' s indifference info pity , and melt the feeliug ' heart into all the gentle afflictions of nature Surely there must be truth in this extraordinary talefor truth
, may exist even in madness . He calls Maria to witness , added I loud enough to be heard—Heaven be his witness ! ( cried she instantly with some warmth)—and you , Maria , his friend—you , it seems , can unfold this tale . In the name of goodness let me hear it ! Maria was too polite to be importuned , a'nd , perceiving that I did not mean to ask an impertinent question , told me the whole
Story with the most unaffected simplicity . The story of George , commonly called Cracky , and his Ass . — - This poor mat :, Sir , is an object truly worthy of compassion , from tke infirmities both of nature and condition , which have made him an easy prey to the arts of wicked men , practised upon the weakness ofiiis understanding , and the hellessness of poverty . These
p defects , however , were supplied by honesty and industry , that gained him a livelihood by means of this favourite ass , whom he now laments ; which , ' with a wife and family that loved him , was all the riches poor George possessed—except one good friend ( said
I , looking at Maria ) that inestimable pearl , of which , alas ! too frequently , we must be deprived to know its real value . Himself ( resumed Maria ) has told you the value of his ass , and sorry indeed am I that I have nothing to add hut the loss of it . It was stolen from him one night by some unfeeling villains , whilst poor Cracky mourned , as a mother for the loss of her child . It affected him so muchthat it quite broke'his heart , so that he became insensible to
, every other object , and will now often burst into tears , and in a kind of delirium cry , " Pray give me my ass—he is the only friend poor George has in the world--pray give me my ass ; " whilst his children Hock r . bout their aged fa titer , and lisp out , Don ' t cry daddy—Job was good—Goci will take care of Job—perhaps he'll send him back again ; No , my dears , never , waving his hand , as if , like Rachel ,
he would not be comforted for his beast , because to him—he was not . Pie was weeping in this manner one day , and his children were tenderly administering the flattering comfort of Job ' s return , when a collier came to the door of his cottage , and amongst the rest of his beasts was an ass very heavy laden—it was the very ass George had lost . The instant Cracky saw it , like the father on the si ght of
his prodigal son , he fell , on his neck and kissed it ; he knew it to be the friend of his bosom , whilst the poor dumb creature ' s sensibility seemed to rejoice at finding himself once more in the embraces of his old msster . The man ' s mad , said the collier— " I should like to be thus mad { cried I ) o ; i the unexpected return of s . * long-lost brother . Plave