Swans are said to sing at the moment of dying. Now a man, having come upon a swan for sale, and knowing by hearsay that it was a very musical creature, bought it. One day, when he was giving a dinner, he went to fetch the swan and begged it to sing during the feast. The swan then kept silent, but later, one day, thinking it was about to die, it wept for itself in a dirge. Its master, hearing it, said, "If you only sing when you are about to die, I was a fool to beg you to sing before, instead of killing you."
What we refuse to do willingly may later be forced upon us.
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