Crow and the Fox, The

1. Master CORBEAU was the sleekest of crows :
      On the tallest of trees
      He sat at his ease,
And held in his stout beak a fistful of cheese, 
Whither sly Master Fox came, led by his nose!
      And he said to the Crow,
      "Hey, brother, hallo!
I vow you're a beauty, so glossy and black;
If your warbling, indeed, is as fine as your back,
      You're the Nonesuch and Phoenix of all,
To whose music the Nightingale's song were a squall."

2. Mr. Crow was so tickled, 
He sidled and wriggled, 
      And hurried to show
What a beautiful lay could be sung by a crow;
      He opened his beak
      With a big hoarse creak,
And down fell the cheese to the joker below!

3.    Fox, saucy and sly,
       Just cocked up his eye,
And said to his Crowship, by way of good-by,
      "When a flatterer's voice
      Can make you rejoice,
Pay the fiddler you must, with a will or without, 
This lesson is worth a good cheese, not a doubt!"

4.    Ashamed and confused, said the Crow,
       “You'll not take me in again so!”
But his wit came a little too late for the show.