Note 317 — NAPOLEONIC RULE.
Reading edition
The jay, of course, is Esop’s Fable of that bird, tricked out in finer feathers than its own. The elegant rendering by La Fontaine [iv. 9, Ed., 1838] of Le Geai paré des plumes du Paon had, when Nostradamus wrote, not then taken shape. The original is so accessible, that it may suffice to give here the English version.
“A peacock moulted, and a jay. Assumed the feathers fine, And, strutting in a peacock-way, Thought ‘now I look divine.’ “The first who met him laughed outright; Others he found to sneer; The peacocks voted him a fright, His brother jays all quizzed ‘the sight,’ But none would have him near. “Of biped jays like this, there are Thousands from here to Zanzibar; We call them ‘plagiarist!’ But hush! For setting souls ajar Is not my line, I wist.”