FABLE
[
16
]
XVI
.
The
Pin
and
the
Needle
.
A
Pin
who
long
had
serv'd
a
Beauty
,
Proficient
in
the
toilette's
duty
,
Had
form'd
her
sleeve
,
confin'd
her
hair
,
Or
giv'n
her
knot
a
smarter
air
,
Now
nearest
to
her
heart
was
plac'd
,
Now
in
her
manteau's
tail
disgrac'd
;
But
could
she
partial
fortune
blame
,
Who
saw
her
lovers
serv'd
the
same
?
At
length
from
all
her
honours
cast
,
Through
various
turns
of
life
she
past
;
Now
glitter'd
on
a
taylor's
arm
,
Now
kept
a
beggar's
infant
warm
,
Now
,
rang'd
within
a
miser's
coat
,
Contributes
to
his
yearly
groat
,
Now
,
rais'd
again
from
low
approach
,
She
visits
in
the
doctor's
coach
;
Here
,
there
,
by
various
fortune
tost
,
At
last
in
Gresham
hall
was
lost
.
Charm'd
with
the
wonders
of
the
show
,
On
ev'ry
side
,
above
,
below
,
She
now
of
this
or
that
enquires
,
What
least
was
understood
admires
;
'Tis
plain
,
each
thing
so
struck
her
mind
,
Her
head's
of
virtuoso
kind
.
And
pray
what's
this
and
this
,
dear
sir
?
A
needle
,
says
th'
interpreter
.
She
knew
the
name
.
And
thus
the
fool
Addrest
her
as
a
taylor's
tool
.
A
needle
with
that
filthy
stone
,
Quite
idle
,
all
with
rust
o'ergrown
!
You
better
might
employ
your
parts
,
And
aid
the
sempstress
in
her
arts
.
But
tell
me
how
the
friendship
grew
Between
that
paultry
flint
and
you
?
Friend
,
says
the
Needle
,
cease
to
blame
;
I
follow
real
worth
and
fame
.
Know'st
thou
the
loadstone's
power
and
art
,
That
virtue
virtues
can
impart
?
Of
all
his
talents
I
partake
.
Who
then
can
such
a
friend
forsake
?
'Tis
I
direct
the
pilot's
hand
To
shun
the
rocks
and
treach'rous
sand
;
By
me
the
distant
world
is
known
,
And
either
India
is
our
own
.
Had
I
with
milliners
been
bred
,
What
had
I
been
?
the
guide
of
thread
,
And
drudg'd
as
vulgar
needles
do
,
Of
no
more
consequence
than
you
.