A fox and a monkey, as they journeyed together, disputed at great length about the nobility of their lineage.
When they reached a certain place on the road, the monkey fixed his gaze upon it and uttered a groan.
The fox asked what was wrong with him.
The monkey pointed to some tombs that stood there.
"Don't you expect me to mourn," he said, "when I behold the sepulchres of the slaves and the freedom of my ancestors?"
"Lie away to your heart's content," answered the fox.
"They won't any of them rise up to contradict you."
It is the same with men who are important. They never boast more loudly than when there is no one to expose them.