Fable V. History of Rosimund and Braminth

THERE vha a young man, more beauteous than the day, darned Rofimund, and who had as much li^t and virtue, as his elder brother Brarointh was komdy, disagreeable, brutal, and wicked, their mother, who abhorred her eldest soo, made the younger di€ darling of her eyes. Braminth, shing with jealousy and envy, devised an horiid calumny to dedroy his ftrother. he told his father that Rofimund made a practice of going to a neighbour's, who was his mortal enemy, to report to him whatever pasTed at home, and to furnish him with the means of poisoning his father, the father, in a violent pafEon, beat his foa crtidly, laid him weltering in blood, then confined him> ^ree days without sustenance, and, last of all^ tosa^d hi» out of his house^ threatmng him with g6 ff I i r o n T ow death if he ever returned, the mother, liri^iiBd her wits, durst not say a word, oor Teat Iki hue in moanful (ighs. the lad went cxjmg avaj; aad not knowing whither to retreat, ftraggjkd, m w aid s evcnisg, intp ^. great wood. Dight orenook liini at the foot of A rock; he laid him down at a cave's month, upon a niofTy carpet, where glided a limpid ftrcam, and there, thro* weariness, he fell asleep.

NVaking at break of day, he beheld a be a ut if ul wonmn, mounted on a grey palfrey, with fumhnie of gulii ciubroidery, who appeared to be gobg to the i*h4ce, have you not seen, said (he to him, a flag and dogi piifi this way? he answered, no. mcthinks yoa Hri? in dillr«ff» said the hMntrefs; what is the matter with yoii \ be comforted, young man, and take this \\^% which will render you the happiest and most puwri ful of men, provided you never abuse it: when yf)U turn the diamond inward, you will instantly beiomo invilibic; whenever you turn it outward, yoa {\a\ Appear plainly; when yon put the ring on your \{\U finger, you (hall seem the King's -son, attended by a magnificent coqrt; when you clap it on your ring finjc{<^r, you (Imll appear ii> your own likeness. the youth now underflood that it was a fairy who thus fpokc to him, which (he had no sooner done, than (he plunged into the woods, as for him, he (Iraightway returned home to hit father's, impatient to make trial i^flm ring, he saw and heard undiscovered whatever

ItOSIMUNI) AND B RAMI NTH. J^;

lie pfeafed; he had it now in his power to revenge him- • feis of his brother, without being exposed to any dan« ger; he ihewed himself only to his mother, embraced her, and told her all his wonderful adventure, afterwards, clapping the inchanted ring on his little singer, he appeared, all of a sudden, like the Prince royal, ' with an hundred fine caparisoned horses, and a great number of officers, in rich array, his father was not a little astonished to see the King's son in his humble' habitation; he was quite confounded, and at a loss. how to pay him due refpedt. then Rofimund asked-him, bow many sons he had? two, replied the father. • I want to see them; call them presently, said the pretended prince: I mean to carry them both to court, in order to make their fortune, the father, in a panic, answered with a faultering voice, behold the eldest,- whom I here present to you. where pray is the younger,: i must have him too, said Rofimund.. he is not here, replied the father; I had chastised him for a fault, and he has riin away from me. then Rofimund said to him, you fiiould have inflruded him, but not driven him from your house: give me, however, the elder; let. bim follow me, and do you, said he, speaking to the father, go along with two guards, who will condudt. you to the place I (hall appoint, straightway two guards carried off the father; and the fairy above-mentioned, meeting him in a forest, smote him with a gplden wand> and made him enter into a dark and

'jA klSTORYOV deep cayeroy Vfhtrc he reraaiiied indhafited. aKde« there, said she, till your son come and fetch 3^00 put. ia • the mean while the fbn went to the Kings court, at a time when the. young Prince had embarked, in order to make war in a didant island. he had been driven by the winds upon unknown coafls, where after fliipwreck, he remained captive with a savage people. Ro fimund appeared at court as if he had been the Prince, whose loss was universally lamented, he said he had got safe home by the help of some merchants, withCRit whom he should certainly have periflied. the pob-lie mourning now was turned to joy. the King ap^ peared fb transported that he could not {peak, but long did he embrace, and longer would hare embraced that son he had imagined dead, the Queen was, if possible, flill more affeded. the greatest rejoicings were made throughout the whole kingdom.

One day he who pasTed for the Prince, (aid to his thie brother Braminth, you see I have brought yoa out of your village in order to make your fortni^e; but I know that you are a lyar, and that you have by your calumnies, occasioned the misfortune of your brother Rofimund; he is here conceaJed; I will have you to speak to him, and he (hall confront you. Braminth trembling, threw himself at his feet, and cott'^ feiTed his fault, no matter, said Rofimund, I will have you to speak to your brother, and to aflc him pardds; he will be very geoecoos if he forgtre yoa> yoa

RO S I MUIID.AM-D B R A.M I N T H. ^^

'?• iot de&nre it; He is in my doki, where yoii (hall see iiiin presently; in the mean time, I will go iota the dezt apartment, to leave you more at liberty with hiin. Bfaminth made obeisance, and went towards the doiet: instantly RoOmuod shifted his ring, pasTed thro' the adjoining room, and entered by a back-doov ID his hatCiral ihape, in whidi Braminth was not a little abaihed to see him. he asked his pardon, and pro4 miied reparation of all his faults. Rofimund embra* ced hijqi with tears, forgave him, and said to him, I ^m io high favour with the Prince; it is in my power to have you put to death, or to confine you for life in t dungeon; but I will be as indulgent to you as yoii hai^ebeen cruel to me. Braminth, ashamed and con* founded, answered with great fubmifHon, not daring to lift up his eyes, nor to call him brother. Soon after this interview, Rofimund pretended to make a secret expedition, in order to espouse a Princess of a neigh^ bouring kingdom; but under this pretext he went to see his mother, to whom he related all he had done at court, and gave her in her need some fmali supply of inoney; for the King allowed him to take whatever lie had a mind, but he never abused that indulgence. tocsin while there broke out a furious war between th^ "Xing and a neighbouring monarch, who regarded neither faith, nor judice. Rofimund repaired to iht hiMih King's court, and by means of hi» ring got in* ko idt ^c secret counfiU of that Pripcc^ repMimng all the while inyifible: he improved aH he leariKd ol the epemy's meafuresy towards preventiog and dis« concertiog him; he commanded the anny against him; he iotirely defeated lum in a bloody battle, and quickly concluded with him an honourable peacey upon e- ^uitable conditions.

The King now turned his thoughts whoUy upon marrying his son to a Princess, who was heiress of a neighbouring kingdom, and fairer than the Graces themfehes. but one day as RoCmund was gone a hunting in the same forest, where he had formerly met the fairy, (he presented herself to him. beware» said (he, with an awful voice, of marrying as though you were the Prince; you must deceive no body; it is but just that the Prince, for whom you are taken, return^ and succeed to the King his father, go, therefore, with« out delay, and seek him out in an island, whither the winds, which I (hall send to swell your fails, (hall, without difHculty, wast you. haste to render this ser* vice to your maftcr, however contrary to what might 'flatter your ambition, and think of returning, like an honest man, to your native station; if you. do it not, you will be unjust and unhappy, and I will abandon you to your antient woes. Rofimund made no heiitation to improve the wife advice, upon pretence of undertaking a secret negotiation in a neighbouring state, he embarked on board a (hip, and the winds bore him presently to the island^ where the fairy bad

ILOSIMVUD ANP BRAMINTH* ^i told hkri the King's trae (bo was, this Prince, Sill cap* Uwt wkh the fiivage peo^, was employed io keeping iheep. Rofimaod iariiible» went to the paAures where he cendcd his floek, aod cer«red him with his owa dotk* which was ifiyifible as himself* he delivered him out of the hands of the eruei peopie* they embarked tbgether, and other wiads. obedient to the fairy, wasted them back: they arrived tog/ether in the King^s apart'* ipent* Rofinund prefeoted himielf to him, and said, ]Foa have believed me your soo; I am oot, but here I lieftore him to yoo; behold your soo himself. the Kiogt gready aflooiihedf addrefled himself to his son» Ikying; is it not you, my soo, who have vanquished Ay eoemies, and gJbriouHy (Iruck the peace: or is u troo that yoo fufiered ihipwred^, that you have bceo a captive, and that Rofimuod hath delivered 3rou? even (b, my father, replied the Prince; it is he irbo easlie over into the country, where I was a captivSe, and brought me safe away; to him I owe my li* berty, and the pleaAire of seeing you again; to him, ■ot me, are you iadebted for vi<3ory and peace, the KiBg could not beKeve what was told him; but RofiawDd ftftftiog his ring, (hewed himself to the King in Ibe Ukeoefs of the Prince; and the King, io terror and aaiaze, saw aa onee two perfoas, each seemingly his totiL

The King at last folly satisfied, OtTered immense fiiois fo Rofnrniad for fo many fervicesj but he mo*

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^2 ' H I S T O KX O f deftly refused them, and reqaefted only of the King the favour to continue his brother Braminth in a place he held at court; as for himself» he feared the incoaflancy of fortune, the envy of men, and his own frailty, he chose, therefore, to retire to his village with his mother, where he chearfully returned to the ploag^.

The fairy, whom he saw again in the woods, (hewed him the cavern where his father was, and told him the words he mufl pronounce, in order to set him free.- those words he pronounced with a very sensible joy;.he delivered his father, which he had long been impatient to do, and gave him wherewithal to pass his old age comfortably, thus RoCmund was a benefa6h>r to his whole family, and had the pleasure of doing good to all those who had meant to do him evil, after having done fo much for the court, he desired nothing of it, but the liberty of living far from its corruption, to crown his wisdom, he feared left his ring should tempt him to leave his fblitude, and re-engage him in public affairs: under this apprehension, he returned into the wood, where the fairy had appeared to him fo favourably; he took daily walks by the cavern, where he had had the happiness of seeing her heretofore: and this he did, in hopes to see her again, at length she prefeoted herself to him, and he gave her back the in-chanted ring. I return to you, said he, a gift, as dangerous as it is valuable, a gift fo easy to be abused; I (hall not think myfelfin safety, fo long as I poffels fiich a temptation to quit my folitade, ^th fo many means to gratify all my paiEons.

"While Rofimund was returning the ring, Braminth» ygfhok wicked disposition was no ways corrected, gave himself up to all his paffionsy and would needs engage the young Prince, who was become King, to use Rofimund unworthily, the fairy, knowing his praAices» told Rofimund; your brother, still aljring incendiary, has been endeavouring to render you fufpeded to the new King, and to work your ruin; he deserves to be punished, and he must needs perish: I will go and give him this ring which you return to me. Rofimund bewailed his brother's fate, and then said to the fairy; how do you mean to punish him by fo wonderful a present? he will abuse it to the persecuting of all the good, and to the attaining of a boundless power.. the same things, replied the fairy, are a blelEng to some, and a curse to others; prosperity is the source of all evils to the wicked; the esse^al way to punish a villain is to render him very powerful, which will make him run headlong to defbudion.

She then set out for the palace, "vdiere ihe shewed herself to Braminth, in the shape of an old woman, cloathed in rags: (he told him, I have recovered out of your brother's hands, the ring which I had lent him, and wherewithal he had acquired fo much glory; here, receive it from me, and take heed what use you ihall make of it. Braminth replied^ with a smile; I

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(haH not do like mj brofber, irfao was fboKfli etoq^ to go in qued of the Prince, wheo be tai^ hast t«igB« od IB his place.

BramiDthyDOW mafler of ^e fmgfnatd€n Ym ^Mk bufioefs to dtfcovcr the feorett of all faaiiies, to cam* mit treacheries, morders, fillaioies; to overbear ibf King's counsels, and to dtfraod prtfate peribos al their property* bis invisible crimes aftooiflied t^fkrf body, the King percei?tng fo many secret» dtfcorcr^ ed, was at a loss to what to ascribe thisioeonfeiiitiKt) but the boundkfs profpcrity, and txccfive mfoltM^ of Braminth, made hiai fnfpcd that be bad got kk brother's iDchaated ting, io order to 4eted hm, hi employed a foreigner of aa boftile na«aft^ and gtH bim a great foro of money to work witbaL tbit «nm came to Brainintb by night, aad offered him oa ibi prt of the adrerfe King, immense riches and hoMomnj if he wouki let bim know, by proper spies, wbatefCf be could learn of bis royal mailer's secrets.

Bramrncb readily procnifcd erery thing, and kadi himself even carried to a certain place, where a Ttfy large sum was advanced him, aa an earnest of bis reward, in his inebriation of joy, he booftcd of hansg i ling that rendered him invisible. next naorntog tba King sent lor him, and ordered bim to be fcized and searched; the ring was ukca from bim, and papen were foond upon him, which fiifBdemly proved bit crkxKa. Rofimund cane to court to^ ifiterccde &» bi|

ItOSlMUND AND BRAMlNTR, 4;

brother's pardon, but it «as refused him. Braminth was put to death; and fo the ring proved more fatal to him,- than it had been useful to his brother.

The King to comfort Rofimund for the just puDifhment of Braminth, restored to him the ring, as the mod ineflimable present he could make him. the afflided RoGmund judged not fo; but haftcd back to the woods ifi quest of the £iiiry. here, said be^take yoar ring; my brother's sad experience hath fully explained to me what I did not fo clearly comprehend at Brfk when you told it me; keep that fatal instrument ^ my brother's rutn; alas! he had been yet alife; Ke would Bot have brought the grey hairs of my father and mother with (hame and sorrow to the grate; he might 9 perhaps, hate become wiie and happy, had lie netcr had wherewithal to gratify his desires! Obt liow dangerous a thing it is to hate mort power tbaft other men I take back your mg; wo to those «pOst VhoRi yoQ sliall btlbw it; the only fatour I request 0f you k, Mter to give it ai»y perfoa 'm whoa I tsi •Mcetacd.

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