VIII.

THE GREEDY FLY.

A FABLE.


A fly, who was a great lover of sweet things, came across a cup full
of molasses. He alighted on the edge of the cup, and commenced sipping
the molasses. It pleased him very much. He thought he had never tasted
anything so good before. At length, beginning to be surfeited with his
dinner, instead of flying away, and going about his business, until
he should be hungry again, he plunged into the molasses, so as to
enjoy as much of it as he could.

Mistaken fly! He fared very much as you might suppose he would. He
lost his life in the molasses.


MORAL.

That is just the way with thousands, who have fewer legs and ought to
have more brains than this fly. They are not content with a right and
proper use of the good things which God has given them. They plunge
into a sea of pleasure, so as to enjoy as much of it as they possibly
can. But such a surfeit, instead of increasing the enjoyment, makes
them miserable. They are drowned in the midst of their pleasures.