Attachment and good will obtain;
Rudeness and insolence provoke,
Unpitied, anger's rudest stroke.
A Grasshopper's incessant din
Disturb'd an Owl, repos'd within
A hollow tree; who slept by day
And roam'd at night in search of prey.
When civilly desir'd to cease,
He shriller sings; and more increase
His cries, as more his neighbour prays.
A plan the angry Night-bird lays
The noisy arrogant to seize.
"Since I should sleep you do not please,
That voice, that with Apollo's vies,
Merits the liquor of the skies;
A little nectar here I have,
My patroness Minerva gave;
Together let us drink." The Fly
Accepts; with heat and singing dry;
And flatter'd with the praise, ascends
To the Owl's nest, who there attends,
And crushes in a moment dead;
"Now, insolent!" the Night-bird said,
"At last in quiet I may live;
Thy death alone repose could give."
Source: Boothby - Phaedrus 3.15.
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