CHAP. II.

_Of the Fable; and the means of making a perfect One_.


A Fable proper for Pastoral, and best adapted to delight, must have
these following Qualities to render It compleat.

_First_, It must be one entire _Action_, having a Beginning, a Middle,
and an End.

_Secondly_, A perfect _Fable_ must have a due _Length_. And not consist
of only a mournful Speech which a Shepherd find's occasion to make; or
the like.

_Thirdly_, And since all Poetry is an Imitation of the most
Considerable, or the most Delightful Actions in the Person's Life we
undertake; not any trifling Action can be sufficient to constitute the
_Fable_.

_Fourthly_, Another Quality which a Pastoral Fable should have to be the
most compleat is a _Moral Result_.

I shall speak to all these Heads, except the first, concerning the
_Unity_; for without that Quality, it's self-evident that 'tis no Fable.
By _Unity_ I mean the same with Aristotle.[A]