The crow and the fox

Beware of flatterers: they are the lying race; they are incarnations of two faces, who laugh in order to deceive you. Woe to him who believes them and listens to them, for in them the notions of the true are soon perverted. And yet, how many people let themselves be carried away by that lying lure of flattery! They listen with satisfaction to the rascal who feeds their weaknesses, while they repel the sincere friend who tells them the truth and gives them good counsel; they attract the false friend and drive away the true and disinterested one. To please them one must flatter, approve of everything, applaud everything and find everything good, even the absurd. And — a strange thing! — they repel sensible counsels and believe the lie of the first comer, provided that such a lie favors their ideas. What would you have? They wish to be deceived, and they are. Often they see the consequences only too late; but, by then, the harm is already done and has no remedy. Whence does this come? The cause of this imperfection is, almost always, multiple. The first, incontestably, is the pride that blinds them as to the infallibility of their own merit, which they judge superior to that of others; thus they take it, without difficulty, as the model of common sense. The second arises from a lack of sense, which does not permit them to see the good or bad side of things; but, here again, it is pride that obscures the judgment, because, without pride, they would distrust themselves, confiding in those who have more experience. Believe, further, that the evil Spirits are not always foreign to the case: they love to mystify, to set snares; and who could better fall into them than the proud, who are flattered? Pride, for them, is the lack of armor in some and the cupidity in others, of which they know how to take advantage with skill, but they take care not to address themselves to those who are stronger than they, morally speaking. Do you wish to escape the influence of the evil Spirits? Rise, rise so high in virtues that they cannot reach you and, then, you will be feared by them. But if you let yourselves be dragged by the end of the rope, they will grab it to force you down; they will call you with a mellifluous voice, they will praise you and, like the crow, they will make you let the cheese fall. Sonnet.