{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_13815/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_13815","id":"gutenberg_13815","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13815","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's Literature","Fables"],"text":"THE TALKING BEASTS\n\nA Book of Fable Wisdom\n\nEDITED BY KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN AND NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH\n\nIllustrations by Harold Nelson\n\n1922\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \"Accept, young Prince, the moral lay\n  And in these tales mankind survey;\n  With early virtues plant your breast\n  The specious arts of vice detest.\"\n\n      JOHN GAY\n        TO\n      HIS HIGHNESS\n      WILLIAM, DUKE OF CUMBERLAND\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n    I. Fables of Aesop. (Greek)\n\n   II. Fables of Bidpai. (Indian)\n\n  III. Fables from the Hitopadesa. (Sanskrit)\n\n   IV. Fables from P. V. Ramaswami Raju. (Indian)\n\n    V. Malayan Fables\n\n   VI. Moorish Fables\n\n  VII. African Fables\n\n VIII. Fables from Krilof. (Russian)\n\n   IX. Fables from the Chinese\n\n    X. Fables of La Fontaine. (French)\n\n   XI. Fables from the Spanish of Carlos Yriarte\n\n  XII. Fables of Gay, Cowper, and others. (English)\n\n\n\n\n  For Eastern princes, long ago,\n    These fables, grave and gay,\n  Were written as a friendly guide\n    On life's perplexing way.\n  When Rumour came to court and news\n    Of such a book was heard,\n  The monarch languished till he might\n    Secure the Golden Word.\n\n  Prince of To-day, this little hook\n    A store-house is of treasure.\n  Unlock it and where'er you look\n    Is wisdom without measure.\n  'Twill teach thee of the meed of greed,\n    Of sowing versus reaping,\n  Of that mad haste that makes for waste,\n    And looking before leaping.\n\n  'Twill teach thee what is like to hap\n    To self-conceit and folly;\n  And show that who begins in sin\n    Will end in melancholy.\n  So take the book and learn of beast\n    And animate creation\n  The lesson that the least may teach,\n    However mean his station.\n\n          NORA ARCHIBALD SMITH\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\n\"Among all the different ways of giving counsel I think\nthe finest and that which pleases the most universally is\nfable, in whatever shape it appears.\"\n\n  JOSEPH ADDISON\n\n\n\nHow shall I bring to your mind the time and\ndistance that separate us from the Age of\nFable?  Think of what seemed to you the\nlongest week of your life.  Think of fifty-two of\nthese in a year; then think of two thousand five\nhundred years and try to realize that Aesop--sometimes\ncalled the Eighth Wise Man--lived\ntwenty-five centuries ago and made these wonderful\ntales that delight us to-day.\n\nShakespeare is even yet something of a mystery,\nalthough he was born in our own era, less than\nfive hundred years ago; but men are still trying\nto discover any new facts of his life that might\nbetter explain his genius.  A greater mystery\nis grand old Homer, who has puzzled the world\nfor centuries.  Scholars are not certain whether\nthe \"Iliad\" or \"Odyssey\" are the work of one\nor more than one mind.  Who can say? for the\nthrilling tales were told--probably after the\nfashion of all the minstrels of his day--more than\neight hundred years before Christ.\n\nOn the background of that dim distant long ago,\nperhaps two hundred years later than Homer,\nlooms the magnificent figure of another mysterious\nbeing--Aesop the Greek slave.\n\nWherever and whenever he lived, and whether,\nin fact, he ever lived at all, he seems very real to\nus, even though more than two thousand years have\npassed.  Among all the stories that scholars and\nhistorians have told of him--sifting through the\ncenturies the true from the false--we get a vivid\npicture of the man.  He was born in Greece,\nprobably in Phrygia, about 620 years before Christ.\nHe had more than one master and it was the last,\nIadmon, who gave him his liberty because of his\ntalents and his wisdom.  The historian Plutarch\nrecounts his presence at the court of Croesus,\nKing of Lydia, and his meeting Thales and Solon\nthere, telling us also that he reproved the wise\nSolon for discourtesy toward the king.  Aesop\nvisited Athens and composed the famous fable\nof Jupiter and the Frogs for the instruction of\nthe citizens.  Whether he left any written fables\nis very uncertain, but those known by his name\nwere popular in Athens when that city was\ncelebrated throughout the world for its wit and its\nlearning.  Both Socrates and Plato delighted\nin them; Socrates, we read, having amused himself\nduring the last days of his life with turning\ninto verse some of Aesop's \"myths\" as he called\nthem.  Think of Socrates conning these fables\nin prison four hundred years before Christ, and\nthen think of a more familiar picture in our own\nday--a gaunt, dark-faced, black-haired boy\nporing over a book as he lay by the fireside in a\nlittle Western farmhouse; for you remember that\nAbraham Lincoln's literary models were \"Aesop's\nFables,\" \"The Pilgrim's Progress\" and the\nBible.  Perhaps he read the fable of the Fig\nTree, Olive, Vine, and Bramble from the ninth\nchapter of Judges, or that of the Thistle and\nCedar from the fourteenth chapter of II Kings\nand noted that teaching by story-telling was\nstill well in vogue six hundred years after Aesop.\n\nIn later times the fables that had been carried\nfrom mouth to mouth for centuries began to\nbe written down: by Phaedrus in Latin and\nBabrius in Greek; also, in the fourteenth century,\nby a Greek monk named Planudes.  But do\nnot suppose they had their birth or flourished\nin Greece alone. At the very time that Aesop\nwas telling them at the court of Croesus, or in\nDelphi, Corinth, or Athens,--far, far away in\nIndia the Buddhist priests were telling fables in\nthe Sanskrit language to the common people, the\nblind, the ignorant and the outcast.  Sanskrit,\nyou know, is the eldest brother of all the family\nof languages to which our English belongs.  When\nthe Buddhist religion declined, the Brahmins\ntook up the priceless inheritance of fable and\nused it for educational purposes.  Their ancient\nIndian sages and philosophers compiled a treatise\nfor the education of princes which was supposed\nto contain a system of good counsel for right\ntraining in all the chief affairs of life.  In it they\ninserted the choicest treasures of their wisdom\nand the best rules for governing a people, and the\nRajahs kept the book with great secrecy and care.\nThen a Persian king heard of its existence and\nsent a learned physician to India, where he spent\nseveral years in copying and translating the\nprecious manuscript, finally bringing it hack to\nthe court, where he declined to accept all reward\nbut a dress of honour.  In much the same way\nit was rendered into Arabic and gradually,\ncentury by century, crept into the literature of all\nEurope.\n\nWe give you some of these very fables in\nthe  \"Hitopadesa,\" which means \"Friendly\nInstruction\" or \"Amicable Advice\" for the\noriginal hooks contained many maxims, like the\nfollowing:\n\n\n\"He who is not possessed of such a book as will dispel\nmany doubts, point out hidden treasures, and is, as it were,\na mirror of all things, is even an ignorant man.\"\n\n\"These six--the peevish, the niggard, the dissatisfied,\nthe passionate, the suspicious, and those who live upon\nothers' means--are forever unhappy.\"\n\n\"That mother is an enemy, and that father a foe, by whom\nnot having been instructed, their son shineth not in the\nassembly; but appeareth there like a booby among geese.\"\n\n\"There are two kinds of knowledge in use: the knowledge\nof arms, and the knowledge of books.  The first is the scoff\nif the wise, whilst the last is forever honoured.\"\n\n\nWe give you other Indian fables from the\ncollection of Bidpai.  La Fontaine in one of the\nprefaces to his French fables in verse expresses his\ngratitude to \"Bilpay the Indian sage.\"  These\nare the very manuscripts translated from the\nSanskrit into Persian by the physician who took\nthem back to his king.  Sir William Jones says\nthat \"Bidpai\" signifies \"beloved physician\" and\nthat Bilpay is simply a mis-spelling of the word.\nAs other scholars contended that Bidpai was not\na man at all, but probably one of the two wise\ncamels that did most of the talking in the earlier\nfables, you and I will not be able to settle the truth\nof the question.  All these points are interesting,\nor, if they are not so to you, you must say, \"Wake\nup!\" to your mind.  It is the eager spirit of\ninquiry that conquers difficulties and gains\nknowledge.  In another preface I reminded you that\nin all the faery stories the youngest brother was\nthe one who always said, \"I wonder!\" and he it\nwas who triumphed over all the others.  You are\nholding between these crimson covers fables from\nsome of the oldest and most valuable books the\nworld has ever known.  The \"Hitopadesa\" was\na very fountain of riches, as old as the hills\nthemselves, precious and inexhaustible.  In its\ninnumerable translations it passed down the stream\nof time, and the fables known as Aesop's made\ntheir way among all races of people in the same\nmarvellous way.  No one knows whether Aesop--through\nthe Assyrians with whom the Phrygians\nhad commercial relations--borrowed his stories\nfrom the Orientals or whether they borrowed from\nhim.  One thing is certain, nothing persists so\nstrongly and lives so long as a fable or folk tale.\nThey migrate like the birds and make their way\ninto every corner of the world where there are\nlips to speak and ears to hear. The reasons are,\nperhaps, because they are generally brief; because\nthey are simple; because they are trenchant and\nwitty; because they are fresh and captivating and\nhave a bite to them like the tang of salt water;\nbecause they are strong and vital, and what is\nthoroughly alive in the beginning always lives\nlongest.\n\nAnd, now we come to La Fontaine the French\nfabulist, who in 1668 published the first six books\nof his fables.  \"Bonhomme La Fontaine,\" as\nhe was called, chose his subjects from Aesop and\nPhaedrus and Horace, and, in the later volumes,\nfrom such Oriental sources as may have been\nwithin his reach.  He rendered the old tales in\neasy-flowing verse, full of elegance and charm,\nand he composed many original ones besides.\nLa Bruyere says of him: \"Unique in his way\nof writing, always original whether he invents or\ntranslates, he surpasses his models and is himself\na model difficult to imitate. . . .  He instructs\nwhile he sports, persuades men to virtue\nby means of beasts, and exalts trifling subjects\nto the sublime.\"\n\nVoltaire asserts: \"I believe that of all authors\nLa Fontaine is the most universally read.  He is\nfor all minds and all ages.\"\n\nLater, by a hundred years, than La Fontaine,\ncomes Krilof, the Russian fable-maker, who\nwas born in 1768.  After failing in many kinds\nof literary work the young poet became intimate\nwith a certain Prince Sergius Galitsin; lived in\nhis house at Moscow, and accompanied him to\nhis country place in Lithuania, where he taught\nthe children of his host and devised entertainments\nfor the elders.  He used often to spend\nhours in the bazaars and streets and among the\ncommon people, and it was in this way probably\nthat he became so familiar with the peasant life\nof the country.  When he came back from his\nwanderings on the banks of the Volga he used to\nmount to the village belfry, where he could write\nundisturbed by the gnats and flies, and the children\nfound him there one day fast asleep among the\nbells.  A failure at forty, with the publication of\nhis first fables in verse he became famous, and\nfor many years he was the most popular writer\nin Russia.  He died in 1844 at the age of seventy-six,\nhis funeral attended by such crowds that the great\nchurch of St. Isaac could not hold those who\nwished to attend the service.  Soon after, a public\nsubscription was raised among all the children\nof Russia, who erected a monument in the\nSummer Garden at Moscow.\n\nThere the old man sits in bronze, as he used to\nsit at his window, clad in his beloved dressing\ngown, an open book in his hand.\n\nAround the monument (says his biographer) a\nnumber of children are always at play, and the\npoet seems to smile benignly on them from his\nbronze easy chair.  Perhaps the Grecian children\nof long ago played about Aesop's statue in Athens,\nfor Lysippus the celebrated sculptor designed and\nerected a monument in his memory.\n\nRead Krilof's \"Education of a Lion\" and\n\"The Lion and the Mosquitoes\" while his life is\nfresh in your mind.  Then turn to \"What\nEmployment our Lord Gave to Insects\" and \"How\nSense was Distributed,\" in the quaint African\nfables.  Glance at \"The  Long-tailed\nSpectacled Monkey\" and \"The Tune that Made the\nTiger Drowsy,\" so full of the very atmosphere of\nIndia.  Then re-read some old favourite of\nAesop and imagine you are hearing his voice, or\nthat of some Greek story-teller of his day, ringing\ndown through more than two thousand years\nof time.\n\nThere is a deal of preaching in all these fables,--that\ncannot be denied,--but it is concealed as\nwell as possible.  It is so disagreeable for people\nto listen while their faults and follies, their foibles\nand failings, are enumerated, that the fable-maker\ntold his truths in story form and thereby\nincreased his audience.  Preaching from the mouths\nof animals is not nearly so trying as when it\ncomes from the pulpit, or from the lips of your\nown family and friends!\n\nWhether or not our Grecian and Indian, African\nand Russian fable-makers have not saddled the\nanimals with a few more faults than they possess--just\nto bolster up our pride in human nature--I\nsometimes wonder; but the result has been beneficial.\nThe human rascals and rogues see themselves\nclearly reflected in the doings of the jackals,\nfoxes, and wolves and may get some little distaste\nfor lying, deceit and trickery.\n\nWe make few fables now-a-days.  We might\nsay that it is a lost art, but perhaps the world is too\nold to be taught in that precise way, and though\nthe story writers are as busy as ever, the\nstory-tellers (alas!) are growing fewer and fewer.\n\nIf your ear has been opened by faery tales you\nwill have learned already to listen to and interpret\na hundred voices unheard by others.  A\ncomprehension of faery language leads one to\nunderstand animal conversation with perfect ease, so\nopen the little green doors that lead into the forest,\nthe true Land of Fable.  Open them softly and\nyou will hear the Beasts talk Wisdom.\n\n    KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN\n\n\n\n\nTHE FABLES OF AESOP\n\n  \"'Twas the Golden Age when every brute\n  Had voice articulate, in speech was skilled,\n  And the mid-forests with its synods filled.\n  The tongues of rock and pine-leaf then were free;\n  To ship and sailor then would speak the sea;\n  Sparrows with farmers would shrewd talk maintain;\n  Earth gave all fruits, nor asked for toil again.\n  Mortals and gods were wont to mix as friends--\n  To which conclusion all the teaching tends\n  Of sage old Aesop.\"\n\n      BABRIUS\n\n\n\n\nTHE FABLES OF AESOP\n\nThe Power of Fables\n\nDemades, a famous Greek orator, was once addressing an assembly at\nAthens on a subject of great importance, and in vain tried to fix the\nattention of his hearers.  They laughed among themselves, watched the\nsports of the children, and in twenty other ways showed their want of\ninterest in the subject of the discourse.\n\nDemades, after a short pause, spoke as follows:\n\n\"Ceres one day journeyed in company with a Swallow and an Eel.\"  At\nthis there was marked attention and every ear strained now to catch the\nwords of the orator.  \"The party came to a river,\" continued he; \"the\nEel swam across, and the Swallow flew over.\"  He then resumed the\nsubject of his harangue.\n\nA great cry, however, arose from the people, \"And Ceres? and Ceres?\"\ncried they.  \"What did Ceres do?\"\n\n\"Why, the goddess was, as she is now,\" replied he, \"mightily offended\nthat people should have their ears open to any sort of foolery, and\nshut to words of truth and wisdom.\"\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Lamb\n\nA hungry Wolf one day saw a Lamb drinking at a stream, and wished to\nframe some plausible excuse for making him his prey.\n\n\"What do you mean by muddling the water I am going to drink?\" fiercely\nsaid he to the Lamb.\n\n\"Pray forgive me,\" meekly answered the Lamb; \"I should be sorry in any\nway to displease you, but as the stream runs from you toward me, you\nwill see that such cannot be the case.\"\n\n\"That's all very well,\" said the Wolf; \"but you know you spoke ill of\nme behind my back a year ago.\"\n\n\"Nay, believe me,\" replied the Lamb, \"I was not then born.\"\n\n\"It must have been your brother, then,\" growled the Wolf.\n\n\"It cannot have been, for I never had any,\" answered the Lamb.\n\n\"I know it was one of your lot,\" rejoined the Wolf, \"so make no more\nsuch idle excuses.\"  He then seized the poor Lamb, carried him off to\nthe woods, and ate him, but before the poor creature died he gasped\nout, feebly, \"Any excuse will serve a tyrant.\"\n\n\n\nAesop and His Fellow Servants\n\nA merchant, who was at one time Aesop's master, on a certain occasion\nordered all things to be made ready for an intended journey.  When the\nburdens were divided among the Servants, Aesop asked that he might have\nthe lightest.  He was told to choose for himself, and he took up the\nbasket of bread.  The other Servants laughed, for that was the largest\nand heaviest of all the burdens.\n\nWhen dinner-time came, Aesop, who had with some difficulty sustained\nhis load, was told to distribute an equal share all around.  He did so,\nand this lightened his burden one half, and when supper-time arrived he\ngot rid of the rest.\n\nFor the remainder of the journey he had nothing but the empty basket to\ncarry, and the other Servants, whose loads seemed to get heavier and\nheavier at every step, could not but applaud his ingenuity.\n\n\n\nThe Kite and the Pigeons\n\nA Kite, that had kept sailing around a dovecote for many days to no\npurpose, was at last forced by hunger to have recourse to stratagem.\nApproaching the Pigeons in his gentlest manner, he described to them in\nan eloquent speech how much better their state would be if they had a\nking with some firmness about him, and how well such a ruler would\nshield them from the attacks of the Hawk and other enemies.\n\nThe Pigeons, deluded by this show of reason, admitted him to the\ndovecote as their king.  They found, however, that he thought it part\nof his kingly prerogative to eat one of their number every day, and\nthey soon repented of their credulity in having let him in.\n\n\n\nThe Ant and the Fly\n\nAn Ant and a Fly one day disputed as to their respective merits.  \"Vile\ncreeping insect!\" said the Fly to the Ant, \"can you for a moment\ncompare yourself with me?  I soar on the wing like a bird.  I enter the\npalaces of kings, and alight on the heads of princes, nay, of emperors,\nand only quit them to adorn the yet more attractive brow of beauty.\nBesides, I visit the altars of the gods.  Not a sacrifice is offered\nbut it is first tasted by me.  Every feast, too, is open to me.  I eat\nand drink of the best, instead of living for days on two or three\ngrains of corn as you do.\"\n\n\"All that is very fine,\" replied the Ant; \"but listen to me.  You boast\nof your feasting, but you know that your diet is not always so choice,\nand you are sometimes forced to eat what nothing would induce me to\ntouch.  As for alighting on the heads of kings and emperors, you know\nvery well that whether you pitch on the head of an emperor or of an ass\n(and it is as often on the one as the other), you are shaken off from\nboth with impatience.  And, then, the 'altars of the gods,' indeed!\nThere and everywhere else you are looked upon as nothing but a\nnuisance.  In the winter, too, while I feed at my ease on the fruit of\nmy toil, what more common than to see your friends dying with cold,\nhunger, and fatigue?  I lose my time now in talking to you.  Chattering\nwill fill neither my bin nor my cupboard.\"\n\n\n\nThe Frog Who Wished to Be as Big as an Ox\n\nAn Ox, grazing in a meadow, chanced to set his foot on a young Frog and\ncrushed him to death.  His brothers and sisters, who were playing near,\nat once ran to tell their mother what had happened.\n\n\"The monster that did it, mother, was such a size!\" said they.\n\nThe mother, who was a vain old thing, thought that she could easily\nmake herself as large.\n\n\"Was it as big as this?\" she asked, blowing and puffing herself out.\n\n\"Oh, much bigger than that,\" replied the young Frogs.\n\n\"As this, then?\" cried she, puffing and blowing again with all her\nmight.\n\n\"Nay, mother,\" said they; \"if you were to try till you burst yourself,\nyou could never be so big.\"\n\nThe silly old Frog then tried to puff herself out still more, and burst\nherself indeed.\n\n\n\nThe Cat and the Mice\n\nA certain house was overrun with mice.  A Cat, discovering this, made\nher way into it and began to catch and eat them one by one.\n\nThe Mice being continually devoured, kept themselves close in their\nholes.\n\nThe Cat, no longer able to get at them, perceived that she must tempt\nthem forth by some device.  For this purpose she jumped upon a peg,\nand, suspending herself from it, pretended to be dead.\n\nOne of the Mice, peeping stealthily out, saw her, and said, \"Ah, my\ngood madam, even though you should turn into a meal-bag, we would not\ncome near you.\"\n\n\n\nThe Cock and the Jewel\n\nA brisk young Cock, scratching for something with which to entertain\nhis favourite Hens, happened to turn up a Jewel.  Feeling quite sure\nthat it was something precious, but not knowing well what to do with\nit, he addressed it with an air of affected wisdom, as follows: \"You\nare a very fine thing, no doubt, but you are not at all to my taste.\nFor my part, I would rather have one grain of dear delicious barley\nthan all the Jewels in the world.\"\n\n\n\nThe Man and the Lion\n\nA Man and a Lion were discussing the relative strength of men and lions\nin general, the Man contending that he and his fellows were stronger\nthan lions by reason of their greater intelligence.\n\n\"Come now with me,\" he cried to the beast, \"and I will soon prove that\nI am right.\"  So he took him into the public gardens and showed him a\nstatue of Hercules overcoming the Lion.  and tearing him to pieces.\n\n\"That is all very well,\" said the Lion, \"but it proves nothing, for it\nwas a man who made the statue!\"\n\n\n\nThe Discontented Ass\n\nIn the depth of winter a poor Ass once prayed heartily for the spring,\nthat he might exchange a cold lodging and a heartless truss of straw\nfor a little warm weather and a mouthful of fresh grass.  In a short\ntime, according to his wish, the warm weather and the fresh grass came\non, but brought with them so much toil and business that he was soon as\nweary of the spring as before of the winter, and he now became\nimpatient for the approach of summer.  The summer arrived; but the\nheat, the harvest work and other drudgeries and inconveniences of the\nseason set him as far from happiness as before, which he now flattered\nhimself would be found in the plenty of autumn.  But here, too, he was\ndisappointed; for what with the carrying of apples, roots, fuel for the\nwinter, and other provisions, he was in autumn more fatigued than ever.\n\nHaving thus trod around the circle of the year, in a course of restless\nlabour, uneasiness and disappointment, and found no season, nor station\nof life without its business and its trouble, he was forced at last to\nacquiesce in the comfortless season of winter, where his complaint\nbegan, convinced that in this world every situation has its\ninconvenience.\n\n\n\nThe Boasting Traveller\n\nA Man was one day entertaining a lot of fellows in an ale-house with an\naccount of the wonders he had done when abroad on his travels.  \"I was\nonce at Rhodes,\" said he, \"and the people of Rhodes, you know, are\nfamous for jumping.  Well, I took a jump there that no other man could\ncome within a yard of.  That's a fact, and if we were there I could\nbring you ten men who would prove it.\"\n\n\"What need is there to go to Rhodes for witnesses?\" asked one of his\nhearers; \"just imagine that you are there now, and show us your leap!\"\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Mouse\n\nA Lion, tired with the chase, lay sleeping at full length under a shady\ntree.  Some Mice, scrambling over him while he slept, awoke him.\nLaying his paw upon one of them, he was about to crush him, but the\nMouse implored his mercy in such moving terms that he let him go.\n\nNow it happened that sometime afterward the Lion was caught in a net\nlaid by some hunters, and, unable to free himself, made the forest\nresound with his roars.  The Mouse, recognizing the voice of his\npreserver, ran to the spot, and with his little sharp teeth gnawed the\nropes asunder and set the Lion free.\n\n\n\nThe Swallow and Other Birds\n\nA Swallow, observing a Husbandman employed in sowing hemp, called the\nlittle Birds together and informed them of what the farmer was about.\nHe told them that hemp was the material from which the nets, so fatal\nto the feathered race, were composed; and advised them to join\nunanimously in picking it up in order to prevent the consequences.\n\nThe Birds, either disbelieving his information or neglecting his\nadvice, gave themselves no trouble about the matter.  In a little time\nthe hemp appeared above the ground, when the friendly Swallow again\naddressed himself to them, and told them it was not yet too late,\nprovided they would immediately set about the work, before the seeds\nhad taken too deep root.  But as they still rejected his advice, he\nforsook their society, repaired for safety to towns and cities, there\nbuilt his habitation and kept his residence.\n\nOne day as he was skimming along the streets he happened to see a large\nparcel of those very Birds imprisoned in a cage on the shoulders of a\nbird-catcher.\n\n\"Unhappy wretches,\" said he.  \"You now feel punishment for your former\nneglect; but those who, having no foresight of their own, despise the\nwholesome admonition of their friends, deserve the mischief which their\nown obstinacy or negligence brings upon their heads.\"\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Crow\n\nA Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and\nsettle on a branch of a tree.  \"That's for me, as I am a Fox,\" said\nMaster Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree.  \"Good-day,\nMistress Crow,\" he cried.  \"How well you are looking to-day; how glossy\nyour feathers, how bright your eye.  I feel sure your voice must\nsurpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but\none song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.\"\n\nThe Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment\nshe opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be\nsnapped up by Master Fox.  \"That will do,\" said he.  \"That was all I\nwanted.  In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice\nfor the future--Do not trust flatterers!\"\n\n\n\nThe Dog and His Shadow\n\nA Dog, bearing in his mouth a piece of meat that he had stolen, was\nonce crossing a smooth stream by means of a plank.  Looking into the\nstill, clear water, he saw what he took to be another dog as big as\nhimself, carrying another piece of meat.\n\nSnapping greedily to get this as well, he let go the meat that he\nalready had, and it fell to the bottom of the stream.\n\n\n\nThe Ass and His Master\n\nA Diligent Ass, already loaded beyond his strength by a severe Master\nwhom he had long served, and who kept him on very short commons,\nhappened one day in his old age to be oppressed with a more than\nordinary burden of earthenware.  His strength being much impaired, and\nthe road steep and uneven, he unfortunately made a misstep, and, unable\nto recover himself, fell down and broke all the vessels to pieces.  His\nMaster, transported with rage, began to beat him most unmercifully,\nagainst whom the poor Ass, lifting up his head as he lay on the ground,\nthus strongly remonstrated:\n\n\"Unfeeling wretch!  To thine own avaricious cruelty in first pinching\nme on food, and then loading me beyond my strength, thou owest the\nmisfortune which thou so unjustly imputest to me.\"\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Crane\n\nA Wolf once devoured his prey so ravenously that a bone stuck in his\nthroat, giving him great pain.  He ran howling up and down in his\nsuffering and offered to reward handsomely any one who would pull the\nbone out.\n\nA Crane, moved by pity as well as by the prospect of the money,\nundertook the dangerous task, and having removed the bone, asked for\nthe promised reward.\n\n\"Reward!\" cried the Wolf; \"pray, you greedy fellow, what greater reward\ncan you possibly require?  You have had your head in my mouth, and\ninstead of biting it off I have let you pull it out unharmed.  Get away\nwith you, and don't come again within reach of my paw.\"\n\n\n\nThe Hares and the Frogs\n\nThe Hares once took serious counsel among themselves whether death\nitself would not be preferable to their miserable condition.  \"What a\nsad state is ours,\" they said, \"never to eat in comfort, to sleep ever\nin fear, to be startled by a shadow, and to fly with beating heart at\nthe rustling of the leaves.  Better death by far,\" and off they went\naccordingly to drown themselves in a neighbouring lake.\n\nSome scores of Frogs, who were enjoying the moonlight on the bank,\nscared at the approach of the Hares, jumped into the water.  The splash\nawoke fresh fears in the breasts of the timid Hares, and they came to a\nfull stop in their flight.\n\nSeeing this, one wise old fellow among them cried: \"Hold, brothers!  It\nseems that, weak and fearful as we are, beings exist that are more weak\nand fearful still.  Why, then, should we seek to die?  Let us rather\nmake the best of our ills and learn to bear them as we should.\"\n\n\n\nThe Invalid Lion\n\nA Lion, who had grown too old and feeble to go out and hunt for prey,\ncould hardly find enough food to keep him from starving.  But at last\nhe thought of a plan for bringing the game within his reach.\n\nHe kept quite still in his den and made believe that he was very ill.\nWhen the other animals heard of his distress, they came, one by one, to\nlook at him and ask him how he felt.  No sooner were they within his\nreach, however, than he seized upon them and ate them up.\n\nAfter a good many beasts had lost their lives in this way a Fox came\nalong.\n\n\"How do you feel to-day, friend Lion?\" he asked, taking care to stand\nat a safe distance from the den.\n\n\"I am very ill,\" answered the Lion.  \"Won't you come inside a little\nwhile?  It does me a great deal of good to see my kind friends.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" said the Fox; \"but I notice that all the tracks point\ntoward your den and none point away from it,\" and so saying, he trotted\nmerrily away.\n\n\n\nThe Travellers and the Bear\n\nTwo Men, about to journey through a forest, agreed to stand by each\nother in any dangers that might befall.  They had not gone far before a\nsavage Bear rushed out from a thicket and stood in their path.\n\nOne of the Travellers, a light, nimble fellow, climbed up into a tree.\nThe other fell flat on his face and held his breath.\n\nThe Bear came up and smelled at him, and, taking him for dead, went off\nagain into the wood.  The man in the tree then came down, and,\nrejoining his companion, asked him, with a mischievous smile, what was\nthe wonderful secret that the Bear had whispered into his ear,\n\n\"Why,\" replied the other sulkily, \"he told me to take care for the\nfuture and not to put any confidence in such cowardly rascals as you\nare!\"\n\n\n\nThe Fox Without a Tail\n\nA Fox was once caught in a trap by his tail, and in order to get away\nwas forced to leave it behind him.  Knowing that without a tail he\nwould be a laughing-stock for all his fellows, he resolved to try to\ninduce them to part with theirs.  At the next assembly of Foxes,\ntherefore, he made a speech on the unprofitableness of tails in\ngeneral, and the inconvenience of a Fox's tail in particular, adding\nthat he had never felt so easy as since he had given up his own.\n\nWhen he had sat down, a sly old fellow rose, and waving his long brush\nwith a graceful air, said, with a sneer, that if, like the last\nspeaker, he had been so unfortunate as to lose his tail, nothing\nfurther would have been needed to convince him; but till such an\naccident should happen, he should certainly vote in favour of tails.\n\n\n\nThe Crab and Its Mother\n\nOne fine day two Crabs came out from their home to take a stroll on the\nsand.  \"Child,\" said the mother, \"you are walking very ungracefully.\nYou should accustom yourself to walking straight forward without\ntwisting from side to side.\"\n\n\"Pray, mother,\" said the young one, \"do but set the example yourself,\nand I will follow you!\"\n\n\n\nThe Jackdaw with Borrowed Plumes\n\nA Jackdaw, having dressed himself in feathers which had fallen from\nsome Peacocks, strutted about in the company of those birds and tried\nto pass himself off as one of them.\n\nThey soon found him out, however, and pulled their plumes from him so\nroughly, and in other ways so battered him, that he would have been\nglad to rejoin his humble fellows, but they, in their turn, would have\nnothing to do with him, and driving him from their society, told him to\nremember that it is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.\n\n\n\nThe Farmer and His Dog\n\nA Farmer who had just stepped into the field to close a gap in one of\nhis fences found on his return the cradle, where he had left his only\nchild asleep, turned upside down, the clothes all torn and bloody, and\nhis Dog lying near it besmeared also with blood.  Convinced at once\nthat the creature had destroyed his child, he instantly dashed out its\nbrains with the hatchet in his hand; when, turning up the cradle, he\nfound the child unhurt and an enormous serpent lying dead on the floor,\nkilled by the faithful Dog, whose courage and fidelity in preserving\nthe life of his son deserved another kind of reward.\n\nThese affecting circumstances afforded him a striking lesson upon how\ndangerous it is hastily to give way to the blind impulse of a sudden\npassion.\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Countryman\n\nA Fox, having been hunted hard and chased a long way, saw a Countryman\nat work in a wood and begged his assistance to some hiding-place.  The\nman said he might go into his cottage, which was close by.\n\nHe was no sooner in than the huntsmen came up.  \"Have you seen a Fox\npass this way?\" said they.  The Countryman said \"No,\" but pointed at\nthe same time toward the place where the Fox lay.  The huntsmen did not\ntake the hint, however, and made off again at full speed.\n\nThe Fox, who had seen all that took place through a chink in the wall,\nthereupon came out and was walking away without a word.\n\n\"Why, how now!\" said the Countryman, \"haven't you the manners to thank\nyour host before you go?\"\n\n\"Nay, nay,\" said the Fox; \"if you had been as honest with your finger\nas you were with your tongue, I shouldn't have gone without saying\ngood-bye.\"\n\n\n\nBelling the Cat\n\nA certain Cat that lived in a large country house was so vigilant and\nactive in the performance of her duties that the Mice, finding their\nnumbers grievously thinned, held a council with closed doors to\nconsider what they had best do.\n\nMany plans had been started and dismissed, when a young Mouse, rising\nand catching the eye of the President, said that he had a proposal to\nmake that he was sure must meet with the approval of all.  \"If,\" said\nhe, \"the Cat should wear around her neck a little bell, every step she\ntook would make it tinkle; then, ever forewarned of her approach, we\nshould have time to reach our holes.  By this simple means we should\nlive in safety and defy her power.\"\n\nThe speaker resumed his seat with a complacent air, and a murmur of\napplause arose from the audience.\n\nAn old gray Mouse, with a merry twinkle in his eye, now got up and said\nthat the plan of the last speaker was an admirable one, but he feared\nit had one drawback.  He had not told them who should put the bell\naround the Cat's neck!\n\n\n\nThe Old Woman and Her Maids\n\nA certain Old Woman had several Maids, whom she used to call to their\nwork every morning at the crowing of the Cock.\n\nThe Maids, finding it grievous to have their sweet sleep disturbed so\nearly, killed the Cock, thinking that when he was quiet they might\nenjoy their warm beds a little longer.\n\nThe Old Woman, however, vexed at the loss of the Cock, and suspecting\nthem to be concerned in his death, from that time made them rise soon\nafter midnight!\n\n\n\nThe Dog in the Manger\n\nThere was once a Dog who lay all day long in a manger where there was\nplenty of hay.  It happened one day that a Horse, a Cow, a Sheep, and a\nGoat came one by one and wanted to eat the hay.  The Dog growled at\nthem and would not let them have so much as a mouthful.  Then an Ox\ncame and looked in, but the Dog growled at him also.\n\n\"You selfish fellow,\" said the Ox; \"you cannot eat the hay.  Why do you\nwant to keep it all to yourself?\"\n\n\n\nThe Old Man and His Sons\n\nAn old Man had many Sons, who were always falling out with one another.\nHe had often exhorted them to live together in harmony, but without\nresult.\n\nOne day he called them around him and, producing a bundle of sticks,\nbade them each in turn to break it across.  Each put forth all his\nstrength, but the bundle still resisted their efforts.\n\nThen, cutting the cord which bound the sticks together, he told his\nSons to break them separately.  This was done with the greatest ease.\n\n\"See, my Sons,\" exclaimed he, \"the power of unity!  Bound together by\nbrotherly love, you may defy almost every mortal ill; divided, you will\nfall a prey to your enemies.\"\n\n\n\nHercules and the Wagoner\n\nAs a Wagoner was driving his wain through a miry lane, the wheels stuck\nfast in the clay and the Horses could get on no farther.  The Man\nimmediately dropped on his knees and began crying and praying with all\nhis might to Hercules to come and help him.\n\n\"Lazy fellow!\" cried Hercules, \"get up and stir yourself.  Whip your\nHorses stoutly, and put your shoulder to the wheel.  If you want my\nhelp then, you shall have it.\"\n\n\n\nThe Goose with the Golden Eggs\n\nOne day a poor countryman going to the nest of his Goose found there a\ngolden egg all yellow and glittering.  When he took it up it felt as\nheavy as lead and he was minded to throw it away, because he thought a\ntrick had been played on him.\n\nOn second thoughts, he took it home, however, and soon found to his\ndelight that it was an egg of pure gold.  Every morning the same thing\noccurred, and he soon became prosperous by selling his eggs.\n\nAs he grew rich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the\ngold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to\nfind--nothing!\n\n\n\nThe Frogs Desiring a King\n\nThe Frogs, living an easy, free sort of life among the lakes and ponds,\nonce prayed Jupiter to send them a King.\n\nJove, being at that time in a merry mood, threw them a Log, saying, as\nhe did so, \"There, then, is a King for you.\"\n\nAwed by the splash, the Frogs watched their King in fear and trembling,\ntill at last, encouraged by his stillness, one more daring than the\nrest jumped upon the shoulder of the monarch.  Soon, many others\nfollowed his example, and made merry on the back of their unresisting\nKing.  Speedily tiring of such a torpid ruler, they again petitioned\nJupiter, and asked him to send them something more like a King.\n\nThis time he sent them a Stork, who tossed them about and gobbled them\nup without mercy.  They lost no time, therefore, in beseeching the god\nto give them again their former state.\n\n\"No, no,\" replied he, \"a King that did you no harm did not please you.\nMake the best of the one you have, or you may chance to get a worse in\nhis place.\"\n\n\n\nThe Porcupine and the Snakes\n\nA Porcupine, seeking for shelter, desired some Snakes to give him\nadmittance into their cave.  They accordingly let him in, but were\nafterward so annoyed by his sharp, prickly quills that they repented of\ntheir easy compliance, and entreated him to withdraw and leave them\ntheir hole to themselves.\n\n\"No, no,\" said he, \"let them quit the place that don't like it; for my\npart, I am very well satisfied as I am.\"\n\n\n\nThe Lark and Her Young Ones\n\nA Lark, who had Young Ones in a field of grain which was almost ripe,\nwas afraid that the reapers would come before her young brood was\nfledged.  Every day, therefore, when she flew off to look for food, she\ncharged them to take note of what they heard in her absence, and to\ntell her of it when she came home.\n\nOne day, when she was gone, they heard the owner of the field say to\nhis son that the grain seemed ripe enough to be cut, and tell him to go\nearly the next day and ask their friends and neighbours to come and\nhelp reap it.\n\nWhen the old Lark came home, the Little Ones quivered and chirped\naround her, and told her what had happened, begging her to take them\naway as fast as she could.  The mother bade them to be easy; \"for,\"\nsaid she, \"if he depends on his friends and his neighbours, I am sure\nthe grain will not be reaped tomorrow.\"\n\nNext day, she went out again, and left the same orders as before.  The\nowner came, and waited.  The sun grew hot, but nothing was done, for\nnot a soul came.  \"You see,\" said the owner to his son, \"these friends\nof ours are not to be depended upon; so run off at once to your uncles\nand cousins, and say I wish them to come early to-morrow morning and\nhelp us reap.\"\n\nThis the Young Ones, in a great fright, told also to their mother.  \"Do\nnot fear, children,\" said she; \"kindred and relations are not always\nvery forward in helping one another; but keep your ears open, and let\nme know what you hear to-morrow.\"\n\nThe owner came the next day, and, finding his relations as backward as\nhis neighbours, said to his son: \"Now listen to me.  Get two good\nsickles ready for to-morrow morning, for it seems we must reap the\ngrain by ourselves.\"  The Young Ones told this to their mother.\n\n\"Then, my dears,\" said she, \"it is time for us to go; for when a man\nundertakes to do his work himself, it is not so likely that he will be\ndisappointed.\"  She took them away at once, and the grain was reaped\nthe next day by the old man and his son.\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Stork\n\nA Fox one day invited a Stork to dine with him, and, wishing to be\namused at his guest's expense, put the soup which he had for dinner in\na large flat dish, so that, while he himself could lap it up quite\nwell, the Stork could only dip in the tip of his long bill.\n\nSome time after, the Stork, bearing his treatment in mind, invited the\nFox to take dinner with him.  He, in his turn, put some minced meat in\na long and narrow-necked vessel, into which he could easily put his\nbill, while Master Fox was forced to be content with licking what ran\ndown the sides of the vessel.\n\nThe Fox then remembered his old trick, and could not but admit that the\nStork had well paid him off.  \"I will not apologize for the dinner,\"\nsaid the Stork, \"nor for the manner of serving it, for one ill turn\ndeserves another.\"\n\n\n\nThe Gnat and the Bull\n\nA sturdy Bull was once driven by the heat of the weather to wade up to\nhis knees in a cool and swift-running stream.  He had not been there\nlong when a Gnat that had been disporting itself in the air pitched\nupon one of his horns.\n\n\"My dear fellow,\" said the Gnat, with as great a buzz as he could\nmanage, \"pray excuse the liberty I take.  If I am too heavy only say so\nand I will go at once and rest upon the poplar which grows hard by the\nedge of the stream.\n\n\"Stay or go, it makes no matter to me,\" replied the Bull.  \"Had it not\nbeen for your buzz I should not even have known you were there.\"\n\n\n\nThe Deer and the Lion\n\nOne warm day a Deer went down to a brook to get a drink.  The stream\nwas smooth and clear, and he could see himself in the water.  He looked\nat his horns and was very proud of them, for they were large and long\nand had many branches, but when he saw his feet he was ashamed to own\nthem, they were so slim and small.\n\nWhile he stood knee-deep in the water, and was thinking only of his\nfine horns, a Lion saw him and came leaping out from the tall grass to\nget him.  The Deer would have been caught at once if he had not jumped\nquickly out of the brook.  He ran as fast as he could, and his feet\nwere so light and swift that he soon left the Lion far behind.  But by\nand by he had to pass through some woods, and, as he was running, his\nhorns were caught in some vines that grew among the trees.  Before he\ncould get loose the Lion was upon him.\n\n\"Ah me!\" cried the Deer, \"the things which pleased me most will now\ncause my death; while the things which I thought so mean and poor would\nhave carried me safe out of danger.\"\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Grapes\n\nThere was a time when a Fox would have ventured as far for a Bunch of\nGrapes as for a shoulder of mutton, and it was a Fox of those days and\nthat palate that stood gaping under a vine and licking his lips at a\nmost delicious Cluster of Grapes that he had spied out there.\n\nHe fetched a hundred and a hundred leaps at it, till, at last, when he\nwas as weary as a dog, and found that there was no good to be done:\n\n\"Hang 'em,\" says he, \"they are as sour as crabs\"; and so away he went,\nturning off the disappointment with a jest.\n\n\n\nThe Farmer and the Stork\n\nA Farmer placed nets on his newly sown plough lands, and caught a\nquantity of Cranes, which came to pick up his seed.  With them he\ntrapped a Stork also.\n\nThe Stork, having his leg fractured by the net, earnestly besought the\nFarmer to spare his life.  \"Pray, save me, master,\" he said, \"and let\nme go free this once.  My broken limb should excite your pity.\nBesides, I am no Crane.  I am a Stork, a bird of excellent character;\nand see how I love and slave for my father and mother.  Look, too, at\nmy feathers, they are not the least like to those of a Crane.\"\n\nThe Farmer laughed aloud, and said: \"It may all be as you say, I only\nknow this, I have taken you with those robbers, the Cranes, and you\nmust die in their company.\"\n\n\n\nThe Hare and the Tortoise\n\nThe Hare, one day, laughing at the Tortoise for his slowness and\ngeneral unwieldiness, was challenged by the latter to run a race.  The\nHare, looking on the whole affair as a great joke, consented, and the\nFox was selected to act as umpire and hold the stakes.\n\nThe rivals started, and the Hare, of course, soon left the Tortoise far\nbehind.  Having come midway to the goal, she began to play about,\nnibble the young herbage, and amuse herself in many ways.  The day\nbeing warm, she even thought she would take a little nap in a shady\nspot, as, if the Tortoise should pass her while she slept, she could\neasily overtake him again before he reached the end.\n\nThe Tortoise meanwhile plodded on, unwavering and unresting, straight\ntoward the goal.\n\nThe Hare, having overslept herself, started up from her nap, and was\nsurprised to find that the Tortoise was nowhere in sight.  Off she went\nat full speed, but on reaching the winning-post found that the Tortoise\nwas already there, waiting for her arrival!\n\n\n\nThe Old Woman and the Doctor\n\nAn old Woman who had bad eyes called in a clever Doctor, who agreed for\na certain sum to cure them.  He was a very clever physician, but he was\nalso a very great rogue; and when he called each day and bound up the\nOld Woman's eyes he took advantage of her blindness to carry away with\nhim some article of her furniture.  This went on until he pronounced\nhis patient cured and her room was nearly bare.\n\nHe claimed his reward, but the Old Woman protested that, so far from\nbeing cured, her sight was worse than ever.\n\n\"We will soon see about that, my good dame,\" said he; and she was\nshortly after summoned to appear in court.\n\n\"May it please Your Honour,\" said she to the Judge, \"before I called in\nthis Doctor I could see a score of things in my room that now, when he\nsays I am cured, I cannot see at all.\"\n\nThis opened the eyes of the court to the knavery of the Doctor, who was\nforced to give the Old Woman her property back again, and was not\nallowed to claim a penny of his fee.\n\n\n\nThe Boy and the Wolf\n\nA mischievous Lad, who was set to mind some Sheep, often used, in jest,\nto cry \"Wolf!  Wolf!\" and when the people at work in the neighbouring\nfields came running to the spot he would laugh at them for their pains.\n\nOne day the beast came in reality, and the Boy, this time, called\n\"Wolf! Wolf!\" in earnest; but the men, having been so often deceived,\ndisregarded his cries, and he and his Sheep were left at the mercy of\nthe Wolf.\n\n\n\nThe Blackamoor\n\nA certain Man who had bought a Blackamoor said he was convinced that it\nwas all nonsense about black being the natural colour of his skin.  \"He\nhas been dirty in his habits,\" said he, \"and neglected by his former\nmasters.  Bring me some hot water, soap, and scrubbing-brushes, and a\nlittle sand, and we shall soon see what his colour is.\"\n\nSo he scrubbed, and his servants scrubbed till they were all tired.\nThey made no difference in the colour of the Blackamoor; but the end of\nit all was that the poor fellow caught cold and died.\n\n\n\nThe Wolf in Sheep's Clothing\n\nA Wolf, wrapping himself in the skin of a Sheep, by that means got\nadmission into a sheepfold, where he devoured several of the young\nLambs.  The Shepherd, however, soon found him out and hung him up to a\ntree, still in his assumed disguise.\n\nSome other Shepherds, passing that way, thought it was a sheep hanging\nand cried to their friend: \"What, brother! is that the way you serve\nSheep in this part of the country?\"\n\n\"No, friends,\" cried he, giving at the same time the carcass a swing\naround, so that they might see what it was; \"but it is the way to serve\nWolves, even though they be dressed in Sheep's clothing.\"\n\n\n\nThe Two Travellers\n\nAs two men were travelling through a wood, one of them took up an axe\nwhich he saw lying upon the ground.  \"Look here,\" said he to his\ncompanion, \"I have found an axe.\"\n\n\"Don't say, 'I have found it,'\" said the other, \"but 'We have found\nit.'  As we are companions, we ought to share it between us.\"  The\nfirst would not agree to this idea, however.\n\nThey had not gone far when they heard the owner of the axe calling\nafter them in a great passion.  \"We are in for it!\" cried he who had\nthe axe.\n\n\"Nay,\" answered the other, \"say 'I'm in for it!'--not we.  You would\nnot let me share the prize, and I am not going to share the danger.\"\n\n\n\nThe Fox in the Well\n\nAn unlucky Fox, having fallen into a well, was able, by dint of great\nefforts, just to keep his head above water.\n\nWhile he was struggling there and sticking his claws into the side of\nthe Well, a Wolf came and looked in.  \"What! my dear brother,\" cried\nhe, with affected concern, \"can it really be you that I see down there?\nHow cold you must feel!  How long have you been in the water?  How came\nyou to fall in?  I am so pained to see you.  Do tell me all about it!\"\n\n\"The end of a rope would be of more use to me than all your pity,\"\nanswered the Fox.\n\n\"Just help me to get my foot on solid ground once more, and you shall\nhave the whole story.\"\n\n\n\nThe Hen and the Fox\n\nA Fox, having crept into an outhouse, looked up and down for something\nto eat, and at last espied a Hen sitting upon a perch so high that he\ncould be no means come at her.  He therefore had recourse to an old\nstratagem.\n\n\"Dear cousin,\" said he to her, \"how do you do?  I heard that you were\nill and kept at home; I could not rest, therefore, till I had come to\nsee you.  Pray let me feel your pulse.  Indeed, you do not look well at\nall.\"\n\nHe was running on in this impudent manner, when the Hen answered him\nfrom the roost: \"Truly, dear Reynard, you are in the right.  I was\nseldom in more danger than I am now.  Pray excuse my coming down; I am\nsure I should catch my death.\"\n\nThe Fox, finding himself foiled by the Hen's cleverness, made off and\ntried his luck elsewhere.\n\n\n\nThe Ass and His Shadow\n\nA Man, one hot day, hired an Ass, with his Driver, to carry some\nmerchandise across a sandy plain.  The sun's rays were overpowering,\nand unable to advance farther without a temporary rest he called upon\nthe Driver to stop, and proceeded to sit down in the shadow of the Ass.\n\nThe Driver, however, a lusty fellow, rudely pushed him away, and sat\ndown on the spot himself.\n\n\"Nay, friend,\" said the Driver, \"when you hired this Ass of me you said\nnothing about the shadow.  If now you want that, too, you must pay for\nit.\"\n\n\n\nThe Ass in the Lion's Skin\n\nAn Ass, finding a Lion's skin, put it on, and ranged about the forest.\nThe beasts fled in terror, and he was delighted at the success of his\ndisguise.  Meeting a Fox, he rushed upon him, and this time he tried to\nimitate as well the roaring of the Lion.\n\n\"Ah,\" said the Fox, \"if you had held your tongue I should have been\ndeceived like the rest; but now you bray I know who you are!\"\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Sheep\n\nA Wolf, sorely wounded and bitten by dogs, lay sick and maimed in his\nlair.  Parched with thirst, he called to a Sheep who was passing and\nasked her to fetch some water from a stream flowing close by.  \"For,\"\nhe said, \"if you will bring me drink, sister, I will find means to\nprovide myself with meat.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said the Sheep, \"but if I should bring you the draught, you\nwould doubtless make me provide the meat also.\"\n\n\n\nJupiter's Two Wallets\n\nWhen Jupiter made Man, he gave him two Wallets; one for his neighbour's\nfaults, the other for his own.  He threw them over the Man's shoulder,\nso that one hung in front and the other behind.\n\nThe Man kept the one in front for his neighbour's faults, and the one\nbehind for his own; so that, while the first was always under his nose,\nit took some pains to see the latter.\n\nThis custom, which began thus early, is not quite unknown at the\npresent day.\n\n\n\nThe Satyr and the Traveller\n\nA Satyr, ranging in the forest in winter, came across a Traveller, half\nstarved with the cold.  He took pity on him and invited him to go to\nhis cave.  On their way the Man kept blowing upon his fingers.\n\n\"Why do you do that?\" said the Satyr, who had seen little of the world.\n\n\"To warm my hands, they are nearly frozen,\" replied the Man.\n\nArrived at the cave, the Satyr poured out a mess of smoking pottage and\nlaid it before the Traveller, who at once commenced blowing at it with\nall his might.\n\n\"What, blowing again!\" cried the Satyr.  \"Is it not hot enough?\"\n\n\"Yes, faith,\" answered the Man, \"it is hot enough in all conscience,\nand that is just the reason why I blow it.\"\n\n\"Be off with you!\" cried the Satyr, in alarm; \"I will have no part with\na man who can blow hot and cold from the same mouth.\"\n\n\n\nThe Two Travellers and the Oyster\n\nAs two men were walking by the seaside at low water they saw an Oyster,\nand they both stooped at the same time to pick it up.  Immediately, one\npushed the other away, and a dispute ensued.\n\nA third Traveller coming along at the time, they determined to refer\nthe matter to him, as to which of the two had the better right to the\nOyster.\n\nWhile they were each telling his story the Arbitrator gravely took out\nhis knife, opened the shell and loosened the Oyster.\n\nWhen they had finished, and were listening for his decision, he just as\ngravely swallowed the Oyster, and offered them the two halves of the\nshell.  \"The Court,\" said he, \"awards you each a Shell.  The Oyster\nwill cover the costs.\"\n\n\n\nThe Young Mouse, the Cock, and the Cat\n\nA young Mouse, on his return to his hole after leaving it for the first\ntime, thus recounted his adventures to his mother: \"Mother,\" said he,\n\"quitting this narrow place where you have brought me up, I was\nrambling about to-day like a Young Mouse of spirit, who wished to see\nand to be seen, when two such notable creatures came in my way!  One\nwas so gracious, so gentle and benign; the other, who was just as noisy\nand forbidding, had on his head and under his chin pieces of raw meat,\nwhich shook at every step he took; and then, all at once, beating his\nsides with the utmost fury, he uttered such a harsh and piercing cry\nthat I fled in terror; and this, too, just as I was about to introduce\nmyself to the other stranger, who was covered with fur like our own,\nonly richer looking and much more beautiful, and who seemed so modest\nand benevolent that it did my heart good to look at her.\"\n\n\"Ah, my son,\" replied the Old Mouse, \"learn while you live to distrust\nappearances.  The first strange creature was nothing but a Fowl, that\nwill ere long be killed, and, when put on a dish in the pantry, we may\nmake a delicious supper of his bones, while the other was a nasty, sly,\nand bloodthirsty hypocrite of a Cat, to whom no food is so welcome as a\nyoung and juicy Mouse like yourself.\"\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Mastiff\n\nA Wolf, who was almost skin and bone, so well did the Dogs of the\nneighbourhood keep guard over their masters' property, met, one\nmoonshiny night, a sleek Mastiff, who was, moreover, as strong as he\nwas fat.  The Wolf would gladly have supped off him, but saw that there\nwould first be a great fight, for which, in his condition, he was not\nprepared; so, bidding the Dog good-evening very humbly, he praised his\nprosperous looks.\n\n\"It would be easy for you,\" replied the Mastiff, \"to get as fat as I am\nif you liked.  Quit this forest, where you and your fellows live so\nwretchedly, and often die with hunger.  Follow me, and you will fare\nmuch better.'\n\n\"What shall I have to do?\" asked the Wolf.\n\n\"Almost nothing,\" answered the Dog; \"only chase away the beggars and\nfawn upon the folks of the house.  You will, in return, be paid with\nall sorts of nice things--bones of fowls and pigeons--to say nothing of\nmany a friendly pat on the head.\"\n\nThe Wolf, at the picture of so much comfort, nearly shed tears of joy.\nThey trotted off together, but, as they went along, the Wolf noticed a\nbare spot on the Dog's neck.\n\n\"What is that mark?\" said he.  \"Oh, nothing,\" said the Dog.\n\n\"How nothing?\" urged the Wolf.  \"Oh, the merest trifle,\" answered the\nDog; \"the collar which I wear when I am tied up is the cause of it.\"\n\n\"Tied up!\" exclaimed the Wolf, with a sudden stop; \"tied up?  Can you\nnot always run where you please, then?\"\n\n\"Well, not quite always,\" said the Mastiff; \"but what can that matter?\"\n\n\"It matters so much to me,\" rejoined the Wolf, \"that your lot shall not\nbe mine at any price\"; and, leaping away, he ran once more to his\nnative forest.\n\n\n\nThe Tail of the Serpent\n\nThe Tail of a Serpent once rebelled against the Head, and said that it\nwas a great shame that one end of any animal should always have its\nway, and drag the other after it, whether it was willing or no.  It was\nin vain that the Head urged that the Tail had neither brains nor eyes,\nand that it was in no way made to lead.\n\nWearied by the Tail's importunity, the Head one day let him have his\nwill.  The Serpent now went backward for a long time quite gayly, until\nhe came to the edge of a high cliff, over which both Head and Tail went\nflying, and came with a heavy thump on the shore beneath.\n\nThe Head, it may be supposed, was never again troubled by the Tail with\na word about leading.\n\n\n\nThe Falcon and the Capon\n\nA Capon, who had strong reasons for thinking that the time of his\nsacrifice was near at hand, carefully avoided coming into close\nquarters with any of the farm servants or domestics of the estate on\nwhich he lived.  A glimpse that he had once caught of the kitchen, with\nits blazing fire, and the head cook, like an executioner, with a\nformidable knife chopping off the heads of some of his companions, had\nbeen sufficient to keep him ever after in dread.\n\nHence, one day when he was wanted for roasting, all calling, clucking,\nand coaxing of the cook's assistants were in vain.\n\n\"How deaf and dull you must be,\" said a Falcon to the Capon, \"not to\nhear when you are called, or to see when you are wanted!  You should\ntake pattern by me.  I never let my master call me twice.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" answered the Capon, \"if Falcons were called like Capons, to be\nrun upon a spit and set before the kitchen fire, they would be just as\nslow to come and just as hard of hearing as I am now.\"\n\n\n\nThe Crow and the Pitcher\n\nA Crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a Pitcher, hoping to\nfind some water in it.\n\nHe found some there, to be sure, but only a little drop at the bottom\nwhich he was quite unable to reach.\n\nHe then tried to overturn the Pitcher, but it was too heavy.  So he\ngathered up some pebbles, with which the ground near was covered and,\ntaking them one by one in his beak, dropped them into the Pitcher.\n\nBy this means the water gradually reached the top, and he was enabled\nto drink at his ease.\n\n\n\nThe Eagle and the Owl\n\nThe Eagle and the Owl, after many quarrels, swore that they would be\nfast friends forever, and that they would never harm each other's\nchildren.\n\n\"But do you know my little ones?\" said the Owl.  \"If you do not, I fear\nit will go hard with them when you find them.\"\n\n\"Nay, then, I do not,\" replied the Eagle.\n\n\"The greater your loss,\" said the Owl; \"They are the sweetest prettiest\nthings in the world.  Such bright eyes! such charming plumage! such\nwinning little ways!  You'll know them now from my description.\"\n\nA short time after the Eagle found the owlets in a hollow tree.\n\n\"These hideous little staring frights, at any rate, cannot be neighbour\nOwl's delicious pets,\" said the Eagle; \"so I may make away with them\nwithout the least misgiving.\"\n\nThe Owl, finding her young ones gone, loaded the Eagle with reproaches.\n\n\"Nay,\" answered the Eagle, \"blame yourself rather than me.  If you\npaint with such flattering colours, it is not my fault if I do not\nrecognize your portraits.\"\n\n\n\nThe Buffoon and the Countryman\n\nOn the occasion of some festivities that were given by a Roman\nnobleman, a Merry-Andrew of a fellow caused much laughter by his tricks\nupon the stage, and, more than all, by his imitation of the squeaking\nof a Pig, which seemed to the hearers so real that they called for it\nagain and again.\n\nA Countryman, however, in the audience, thought the imitation was not\nperfect; and he made his way to the stage and said that, if he were\npermitted, he to-morrow would enter the lists and squeak against the\nMerry-Andrew for a wager.\n\nThe mob, anticipating great fun, shouted their consent, and\naccordingly, when the next day came, the two rival jokers were in their\nplaces.\n\nThe hero of the previous day went first, and the hearers, more pleased\nthan ever, fairly roared with delight.\n\nThen came the turn of the Countryman, who having a Pig carefully\nconcealed under his cloak, so that no one would have suspected its\nexistence, vigorously pinched its ear with his thumbnail, and made it\nsqueak with a vengeance.\n\n\"Not half as good--not half as good!\" cried the audience, and many\namong them even began to hiss.\n\n\"Fine judges you!\" replied the Countryman, rushing to the front of the\nstage, drawing the Pig from under his cloak, and holding the animal up\non high.  \"Behold the performer that you condemn!\"\n\n\n\nThe Old Man, His Son, and the Ass\n\nAn Old Man and his Little Boy were once driving an Ass before them to\nthe next market-town, where it was to be sold.\n\n\"Have you no more wit,\" said a passerby, \"than for you and your Son to\ntrudge on foot and let your Ass go light?\"  So the Man put his Boy on\nthe Ass, and they went on again.\n\n\"You lazy young rascal!\" cried the next person they met; \"are you not\nashamed to ride and let your poor old Father go on foot?\"  The Man then\nlifted off the Boy and got up himself.\n\nTwo women passed soon after, and one said to the other, \"Look at that\nselfish old fellow, riding along while his little Son follows after on\nfoot!\"  The Old Man thereupon took up the Boy behind him.\n\nThe next traveller they met asked the Old Man whether or not the Ass\nwas his own.  Being answered that it was: \"No one would think so,\" said\nhe, \"from the way in which you use it.  Why, you are better able to\ncarry the poor animal than he is to carry both of you.\"\n\nSo the Old Man tied the Ass's legs to a long pole, and he and his Son\nshouldered the pole and staggered along under the weight.  In that\nfashion they entered the town, and their appearance caused so much\nlaughter that the Old Man, mad with vexation at the result of his\nendeavours to give satisfaction to everybody, threw the Ass into the\nriver and seizing his Son by the arm went his way home again.\n\n\n\nThe Lion, the Bear, the Monkey, and the Fox\n\nThe Tyrant of the Forest issued a proclamation commanding all his\nsubjects to repair immediately to his royal den.\n\nAmong the rest, the Bear made his appearance, but pretending to be\noffended with the odour which issued from the Monarch's apartments, be\nwas imprudent enough to hold his nose in his Majesty's presence.\n\nThis insolence was so highly resented that the Lion in a rage laid him\ndead at his feet.\n\nThe Monkey, observing what had passed, trembled for his skin, and\nattempted to conciliate favour by the most abject flattery.  He began\nwith protesting that, for his part, he thought the apartments were\nperfumed with Arabian spices; and, exclaiming against the rudeness of\nthe Bear, admired the beauty of his Majesty's paws, so happily formed,\nhe said, to correct the insolence of clowns.\n\nThis adulation, instead of being received as he expected, proved no\nless offensive than the rudeness of the Bear, and the courtly Monkey\nwas in like manner extended by the side of Sir Bruin.\n\nAnd now his Majesty cast his eye upon the Fox.\n\n\"Well, Reynard,\" Said he, \"and what scent do you discover here?\"\n\n\"Great Prince,\" replied the cautious Fox, \"my nose was never esteemed\nmy most distinguishing sense; and at present I would by no means\nventure to give my opinion, as I have unfortunately caught a terrible\ncold.\"\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Lamb\n\nA flock of Sheep was feeding in the meadow while the Dogs were asleep,\nand the Shepherd at a distance playing on his pipe beneath the shade of\na spreading elm.\n\nA young, inexperienced Lamb, observing a half-starved Wolf peering\nthrough the pales of the fence, began to talk with him.\n\n\"Pray, what are you seeking for here?\" said the Lamb.\n\n\"I am looking,\" replied the Wolf, \"for some tender grass; for nothing,\nyou know, is more pleasant than to feed in a fresh pasture, and to\nslake one's thirst at a crystal stream, both which I perceive you enjoy\nwithin these pales in their utmost perfection.  Happy creature,\"\ncontinued he, \"how much I envy you who have everything which I desire,\nfor philosophy has long taught me to be satisfied with a little!\"\n\n\"It seems, then,\" returned the Lamb, \"those who say you feed on flesh\naccuse you falsely, since a little grass will easily content you.  If\nthis be true, let us for the future live like brethren, and feed\ntogether.\"  So saying, the simple Lamb crept through the fence, and at\nonce became a prey to the pretended philosopher, and a sacrifice to his\nown inexperience and credulity.\n\n\n\nThe Chameleon\n\nTwo Travellers happened on their journey to be engaged in a warm\ndispute about the colour of the Chameleon.  One of them affirmed that\nit was blue and that he had seen it with his own eyes upon the naked\nbranch of a tree, feeding in the air on a very clear day.\n\nThe other strongly asserted it was green, and that he had viewed it\nvery closely and minutely upon the broad leaf of a fig-tree.\n\nBoth of them were positive, and the dispute was rising to a quarrel;\nbut a third person luckily coming by, they agreed to refer the question\nto his decision.\n\n\"Gentlemen,\" said the Arbitrator, with a smile of great\nself-satisfaction, \"you could not have been more lucky in your\nreference, as I happen to have caught one of them last night; but,\nindeed, you are both mistaken, for the creature is totally black.\"\n\n\"Black, impossible!\" cried both the disputants!\"\n\n\"Nay,\" quoth the Umpire, with great assurance, \"the matter may be soon\ndecided, for I immediately inclosed my Chameleon in a little paper box,\nand here it is.\"  So saying, he drew it out of his pocket, opened his\nbox, and, lo! it was as white as snow.\n\nThe Travellers looked equally surprised and equally confounded; while\nthe sagacious reptile, assuming the air of a philosopher, thus\nadmonished them: \"Ye children of men, learn diffidence and moderation\nin your opinions.  'Tis true, you happen in this present instance to be\nall in the right, and have only considered the subject under different\ncircumstances, but, pray, for the future allow others to have eyesight\nas well as yourselves; nor wonder if every one prefers to accept the\ntestimony of his own senses.\"\n\n\n\nThe Eagle, the Jackdaw, and the Magpie\n\nThe kingly Eagle kept his court with all the formalities of sovereign\nstate, and was duly attended by all his plumed subjects in their\nhighest feathers.\n\nThese solemn assemblies, however, were frequently disturbed by the\nimpertinent conduct of two, who assumed the importance of high-fliers;\nthese were no other than the Jackdaw and the Magpie, who were forever\ncontending for precedence which neither of them would give up to the\nother.\n\nThe contest ran so high that at length they mutually agreed to appeal\nto the sovereign Eagle for his decision in this momentous affair.\n\nThe Eagle gravely answered that he did not wish to make an invidious\ndistinction by deciding to the advantage of either party, but would\ngive them a rule by which they might determine between themselves;\n\"for,\" added he, \"the greater fool of the two shall in future always\ntake precedence, but which of you it may be, yourselves must settle.\"\n\n\n\nThe Boy and the Filberts\n\nA Boy once thrust his hand into a pitcher which was full of figs and\nfilberts.\n\nHe grasped as many as his fist could possibly hold, but when he tried\nto draw it out the narrowness of the neck prevented him.\n\nNot liking to lose any of them, but unwilling to draw out his hand, he\nburst into tears and bitterly bemoaned his hard fortune.\n\nAn honest fellow who stood by gave him this wise and reasonable advice:\n\"Take only half as many, my boy, and you will easily get them.\"\n\n\n\nThe Passenger and the Pilot\n\nIn a violent storm at sea, the whole crew of a vessel was in imminent\ndanger of shipwreck.\n\nAfter the rolling of the waves was somewhat abated, a certain\nPassenger, who had never been at sea before, observing the Pilot to\nhave appeared wholly unconcerned, even in their greatest danger, had\nthe curiosity to ask him what death his father died.\n\n\"What death?\" said the Pilot, \"Why, he perished at sea, as my\ngrandfather did before him.\"\n\n\"And are you not afraid of trusting yourself to an element that has\nproved thus fatal to your family?\"\n\n\"Afraid?  By no means; why, we must all die; is not your father dead?\"\n\n\"Yes, but he died in his bed.\"\n\n\"And why, then, are you not afraid of trusting yourself to your bed?\"\n\n\"Because I am perfectly secure there.\"\n\n\"It may be so,\" replied the Pilot; \"but if the hand of Providence is\nequally extended over all places, there is no more reason for me to be\nafraid of going to sea than for you to be afraid of going to bed.\"\n\n\n\nThe Dog and the Crocodile\n\nA Dog, running along the banks of the Nile, grew thirsty, but fearing\nto be seized by the monsters of that river, he would not stop to\nsatiate his drought, but lapped as he ran.\n\nA Crocodile, raising his head above the surface of the water, asked him\nwhy he was in such a hurry.  He had often, he said, wished for his\nacquaintance, and should be glad to embrace the present opportunity.\n\n\"You do me great honour,\" said the Dog, \"but it is to avoid such\ncompanions as you that I am in so much haste!\"\n\n\n\nA Matter of Arbitration\n\nTwo Cats, having stolen some cheese, could not agree about dividing the\nprize.  In order, therefore, to settle the dispute, they consented to\nrefer the matter to a Monkey.\n\nThe proposed Arbitrator very readily accepted the office, and,\nproducing a balance, put a part into each scale.  \"Let me see,\" said\nhe, \"aye--this lump outweighs the other\"; and immediately bit off a\nconsiderable piece in order to reduce it, he observed, to an\nequilibrium.  The opposite scale was now heavier, which afforded our\nconscientious judge a reason for a second mouthful.\n\n\"Hold, hold,\" said the two Cats, who began to be alarmed for the event,\n\"give us our shares and we are satisfied.\"  \"If you are satisfied,\"\nreturned the Monkey, \"justice is not; a cause of this intricate nature\nis by no means so soon determined.\"  Upon which he continued to nibble\nfirst one piece then the other, till the poor Cats, seeing their cheese\nrapidly diminishing, entreated to give himself no further trouble, but\nto deliver to them what remained.\n\n\"Not so fast, I beseech ye, friends,\" replied the Monkey; \"we owe\njustice to ourselves as well as to you.  What remains is due to me in\nright of my office.\"\n\nThus saying, he crammed the whole into his mouth, and with great\ngravity dismissed the court.\n\n\n\nThe Crow and the Mussel\n\nA Crow having found a Mussel on the seashore; took it in his beak and\ntried for a long time to break the shell by hammering it upon a stone.\n\nAnother Crow--a sly old fellow--came and watched him for some time in\nsilence.\n\n\"Friend,\" said he at last, \"you'll never break it in that way.  Listen\nto me.  This is the way to do it: Fly up as high as you can, and let\nthe tiresome thing fall upon a rock.  It will be smashed then sure\nenough, and you can eat it at your leisure.\"\n\nThe simple-minded and unsuspecting Crow did as he was told, flew up and\nlet the Mussel fall.\n\nBefore he could descend to eat it, however, the other bird had pounced\nupon it and carried it away.\n\n\n\nThe Ass and His Purchaser\n\nA Man wished to purchase an Ass, and agreed with his owner that he\nshould try him before he bought him.  He took the Ass home, and put him\nin the straw-yard with his other asses, upon which the beast left all\nthe others and joined himself at once to the most idle and the greatest\neater of them all.\n\nThe Man put a halter on him, and led him back to his owner: and when he\nwas asked how, in so short a time, he could have made a trial of him,\n\"I do not need,\" he answered, \"a trial; I know that he will be just\nsuch another as the one whom of all the rest he chose for his\ncompanion.\"\n\n\n\nA Country Fellow and the River\n\nA stupid Boy, who was sent to market by the good old woman, his Mother,\nto sell butter and cheese, made a stop by the way at a swift river, and\nlaid himself down on the bank there, until it should run out.\n\nAbout midnight, home he went to his Mother, with all his market trade\nback again.\n\n\"Why, how now, my Son?\" said she.  \"What ill fortune have you had, that\nyou have sold nothing all day?\"\n\n\"Why, Mother, yonder is a river that has been running all this day, and\nI stayed till just now, waiting for it to run out; and there it is,\nrunning still.\"\n\n\"My Son,\" said the good woman, \"thy head and mine will be laid in the\ngrave many a day before this river has all run by.  You will never sell\nyour butter and cheese if you wait for that.\"\n\n\n\nThe Playful Ass\n\nAn Ass climbed up to the roof of a building and, frisking about there,\nbroke in the tiling.  His Master went up after him, and quickly drove\nhim down, beating him severely with a thick wooden cudgel.\n\nThe Ass then cried out in astonishment, \"Why, I saw the monkey do this\nvery thing yesterday, and you all laughed heartily, as if it afforded\nyou great amusement!\"\n\n\n\nThe Boys and the Frogs\n\nSome idle boys, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the\nwater, and began to pelt them with stones.  They had killed several of\nthem, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water, cried\nout: \"Pray stop, my Boys: you forget that what is sport to you is death\nto us!\"\n\n\n\nThe Camel and His Master\n\nOne night a Camel looked into the tent where his Master was lying and\nsaid: \"Kind Master, will you not let me put my head inside of the door?\nThe wind blows very cold to-night.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes,\" said the Man.  \"There is plenty of room.\"\n\nSo the Camel moved forward and stretched his head into the tent.  \"Ah!\"\nhe said, \"this is what I call comfort.\"\n\nIn a little while he called to his Master again.  \"Now if I could only\nwarm my neck also,\" he said.\n\n\"Then put your neck inside,\" said his Master, kindly.  \"You will not be\nin my way.\"\n\nThe Camel did so, and for a time was very well contented.  Then,\nlooking around, he said: \"If I could only put my forelegs inside I\nshould feel a great deal better.\"\n\nHis Master moved a little and said: \"You may put your forelegs and\nshoulders inside, for I know that the wind blows cold to-night.\"\n\nThe Camel had hardly planted his forefeet within the tent when he spoke\nagain:\n\n\"Master,\" he said, \"I keep the tent open by standing here.  I think I\nought to go wholly within.\"\n\n\"Yes, come in,\" said the Man.  \"There is hardly room for us both, but I\ndo not want to keep you out in the cold.\"\n\nSo the Camel crowded into the tent, but he was no sooner inside than he\nsaid: \"You were right when you said that there was hardly room for us\nboth.  I think it would be better for you to stand outside and so give\nme a chance to turn around and lie down.\"\n\nThen, without more ado, he rudely pushed the Man out at the door, and\ntook the whole tent for himself.\n\n\n\nThe Flies and the Honey-pot\n\nA jar of Honey having been upset in a housekeeper's room, a number of\nFlies were attracted by its sweetness, and placing their feet in it ate\nit greedily.\n\nTheir feet, however, became so smeared with the Honey that they could\nnot use their wings, nor release themselves, and so were suffocated.\n\nJust as they were expiring, they exclaimed, \"O foolish creatures that\nwe are; for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves!\"\n\n\n\nThe Spectacles\n\nJupiter, one day, enjoying himself over a bowl of nectar, and in a\nmerry humour, determined to make mankind a present.\n\nMomus was appointed to convey it, who, mounted on a rapid car, was\npresently on earth.  \"Come hither,\" said he, \"ye happy mortals; great\nJupiter has opened for your benefit his all-gracious hands.  'Tis true\nhe made you somewhat short-sighted, but, to remedy that inconvenience,\nbehold now he has favoured you!\"\n\nSo saying, he opened his portmanteau, when an infinite number of\nspectacles tumbled out, and were picked up by the crowd with all the\neagerness imaginable.  There were enough for all, for every man had his\npair.\n\nBut it was soon found that these spectacles did not represent objects\nto all mankind alike; for one pair was purple, another blue; one was\nwhite and another black; some of the glasses were red, some green, and\nsome yellow.  In short, there were all manner of colours, and every\nshade of colour.  However, notwithstanding this diversity, every man\nwas charmed with his own, as believing it the best, and enjoyed in\nopinion all the satisfaction of truth.\n\n\n\nThe Bear and the Fowls\n\nA Bear, who was bred in the savage desert, wished to see the world, and\nhe travelled from forest to forest, and from one kingdom to another,\nmaking many profound observations on his way.\n\nOne day he came by accident into a farmer's yard, where he saw a number\nof Fowls standing to drink by the side of a pool.  Observing that after\nevery sip they turned up their heads toward the sky, he could not\nforbear inquiring the reason of so peculiar a ceremony.\n\nThey told him that it was by way of returning thanks to Heaven for the\nbenefits they received; and was indeed an ancient and religious custom,\nwhich they could not, with a safe conscience, or without impiety, omit.\n\nHere the Bear burst into a fit of laughter, at once mimicking their\ngestures, and ridiculing their superstition, in a most contemptuous\nmanner.\n\nOn this the Cock, with a spirit suitable to the boldness of his\ncharacter, addressed him in the following words: \"As you are a\nstranger, sir, you may perhaps be excused for the indecency of your\nbehaviour; yet give me leave to tell you that none but a Bear would\nridicule any religious ceremonies in the presence of those who believe\nthem of importance.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE FABLES OF BIDPAI\n\n  \"In English now they teach us wit.  In English now they say:\n  Ye men, come learn of beasts to live, to rule and to obey,\n  To guide you wisely in the world, to know to shun deceit,\n  To fly the crooked paths of guile, to keep your doings straight.\"\n\n      SIR THOMAS NORTH\n\n\nTHE FABLES OF BIDPAI\n\n\nThe Snake and the Sparrows\n\nIt is related that two Sparrows once made their nest in the roof of a\nhouse; and, contenting themselves with a single grain, so lived.  Once\non a time they had young ones, and both the mother and father used to\ngo out in search of food for their support; and what they procured they\nmade up into grains and dropped into their crops.\n\nOne day, the male Sparrow had gone out somewhere.  When he came back he\nbeheld the female Sparrow fluttering in the greatest distress around\nthe nest, while she uttered piteous cries.  He exclaimed, \"Sweet\nfriend! what movements are these which I behold in thee?\"  She replied,\n\"How shall I not lament, since, when I returned after a moment's\nabsence, I saw a huge Snake come and prepare to devour my offspring,\nthough I poured forth piteous cries.  It was all in vain, for the Snake\nsaid, 'Thy sigh will have no effect on my dark-mirrored scales.'  I\nreplied, 'Dread this, that I and the father of these children will gird\nup the waist of vengeance, and will exert ourselves to the utmost for\nthy destruction.'  The Snake laughed on hearing me, and that cruel\noppressor has devoured my young and has also taken his rest in the\nnest.\"\n\nWhen the male Sparrow heard this story, his frame was wrung with\nanguish; and the fire of regret for the loss of his offspring fell on\nhis soul.  At that moment the master of the house was engaged in\nlighting his lamp; and holding in his hand a match, dipped in grease\nand lighted, was about to put it into the lamp-holder.  The Sparrow\nflew and snatched the match from his hand and threw it into the nest.\nThe master of the house, through fear that the fire would catch to the\nroof, and that the consequences would be most pernicious, immediately\nran up on the terrace and began clearing away the nest from beneath, in\norder to put out the fire.  The Snake beheld in front the danger of the\nfire, and heard above the sound of the pickaxe.  It put out its head\nfrom a hole which it had near the roof, and no sooner did it do so than\nit received a blow of death from the pickaxe.\n\nAnd the moral of this fable is, that the Snake despised its enemy, and\nmade no account of him, until in the end that enemy pounded his head\nwith the stone of vengeance.\n\n\n\nThe Geese and the Tortoise\n\nIt is related that in a pool whose pure water reflected every image\nlike a clear mirror, once resided two Geese and a Tortoise, and in\nconsequence of their being neighbours, the thread of their\ncircumstances had been drawn out into sincere friendship, and they\npassed their lives contentedly.\n\nIn that water which was the source of their life and the support of\ntheir existence, however, a complete failure began to manifest itself,\nand a glaring alteration became evident.  When the Geese perceived that\nstate of things they withdrew their hearts from the home to which they\nwere accustomed and determined on emigrating.  Therefore with hearts\nfull of sorrow and eyes full of tears, they approached the Tortoise,\nand introduced the subject of parting.\n\nThe Tortoise wept at the intelligence and piteously exclaimed, \"What\nwords are these, and how can existence be supported without\nsympathizing friends?  And since that I have not power even to take\nleave, how can I endure the load of separation?\"\n\nThe Geese replied: \"Our hearts, too, are wounded by the sharp points of\nabsence, but the distress of being without water is impossible to\nendure, and therefore of necessity we are about to forsake our friend\nand country.\"\n\nThe Tortoise rejoined: \"O friends! ye know that the distress of the\nwant of water affects me more, and that without water I cannot support\nmyself.  At this crisis the rights of ancient companionship demand that\nye should take me with you, and not leave me alone in the sorrowful\nabode of separation.\"\n\nThe Geese answered: \"O esteemed comrade! the pang of parting from thee\nis sharper than that of exile, and wherever we go, though we should\npass our time in the utmost comfort, yet, deprived of seeing thee, the\neye of our rejoicing would be darkened; but for us to proceed on the\nearth's surface and so to traverse a great and long distance is\nimpossible, and for thee, too, to fly through the expanse of air and\naccompany us is impracticable; and such being the case, how can we\ntravel together?\"\n\nThe Tortoise answered: \"Your sagacity will be able to devise a remedy\nfor this matter, and what plan can develop while my spirit is broken by\nthe thought of parting?\"\n\nThe Geese replied: \"O friend! during this period of our friendship we\nhave observed in thee somewhat of hastiness and rashness; perhaps thou\nwilt not act upon what we say, nor keep firm to thy promise after thou\nhast made it.\"\n\nThe Tortoise rejoined; \"How can it be that ye should speak with a view\nto my advantage, and I fail to perform a compact which is for my own\ngood?\"\n\nSaid the Geese: \"The condition is that when we take thee up and fly\nthrough the air thou wilt not utter a single syllable, for any one who\nmay happen to see us will be sure to throw in a word, and say something\nin reference to us directly or indirectly.  Now, how many soever\nallusions thou mayest hear, or whatever manoeuvres thou mayest observe,\nthou must close the path of reply, and not loose thy tongue.\"\n\nThe Tortoise answered: \"I am obedient to your commands, and I will\npositively place the seal of silence on my lips, so that I shall not be\neven disposed to answer any creature.\"\n\nThe Geese then brought a stick, and the Tortoise laid hold of the\nmiddle of it firmly with his teeth, and they, lifting the two ends of\nthe stick, bore him up.  When they got to a height in the air, they\nhappened to pass over a village, and the inhabitants thereof having\ndiscovered them, were astonished at their proceedings, and came out to\nlook at the sight, and raised a shout from left and right, \"Look! how\ntwo geese are carrying a tortoise!\"\n\nAnd as in those days the like of it had never been witnessed by that\npeople, their cries and exclamations increased every moment.  The\nTortoise was silent for a time, but at length the cauldron of his\nself-esteem began to boil, and his patience being exhausted, he\nexclaimed: \"You who are shouting to others to look at what is plain\nenough to every one, hold your peace!\"  No sooner had he opened his\nlips, however, than he fell from on high, and the Geese exclaimed, \"It\nis the part of friends to give advice and of the well-disposed to\nlisten to it.\"\n\nAnd the moral of this story is, that whoever listens not to the\nadmonition of friends, with the hearing of acceptance, will have\nhastened his own destruction.\n\n\n\nThe Sagacious Snake\n\nIt is related that the infirmities of age had taken effect upon a Snake\nand through loss of strength he was unable to pursue his prey, and was\nbewildered in his proceedings how to obtain food.  Life was impossible\nwithout food, and to hunt for it, had, through his weakness, become\nimpracticable.  Accordingly he thus reflected:\n\n\"Alas! for the strength of my youth; and now to expect its return and\nto hope for the recurrence of my animal vigour is a thing of the same\ncomplexion as to light a fire from water.\"  He felt that what was\npassed could not be recalled, and he therefore busied himself with\ntaking thought for the future, and said: \"In lieu of the strength of\nyouth I have a little experience which I have acquired, and a trifle of\nprudence.  I must now base my proceedings on abstaining from injuring\nothers and must begin to consider how I may obtain, for the remainder\nof my life, what may be the means of support.\"\n\nHe then went to the brink of a spring of water in which there were a\nnumber of frogs who had a potent King and one who was obeyed and\nrenowned.  The Snake cast himself down there in the dust of the road,\nlike to a sufferer on whom calamity has fallen.  A Frog speedily made\nup to him, and asked him: \"I see thou art very sorrowful.  What is the\ncause of it?\"  The Snake replied: \"Who deserves more to grieve than I,\nwhose maintenance was from hunting frogs?  Today an event has occurred\nwhich has rendered the pursuit of them unlawful to me, and if I\nseriously designed to seize one, I could not.\"  The Frog went away and\ntold the King, who was amazed at this strange circumstance, and coming\nto the Snake, asked him: \"What is the cause of this accident that has\nbefallen thee and what act has brought down this upon thee?\"\n\nThe Snake replied: \"O King, greed plunged me into calamity, and this\nbefell as follows: One day I attempted to seize a Frog, which fled from\nme and took refuge in the house of a holy man.  My appetite led me to\nfollow him into the house, which happened to be dark.  The son of the\nholy man lay there asleep, and his great toe coming against me I\nfancied it was the Frog.  From the ardour of my greediness I closed my\nteeth upon it, and the child died on the spot.  The holy man discovered\nthe fact, and from regret for his son, attacked me, and I, turning\ntoward the open country, fled with speed, and the recluse pursued me\nand cursed me, and said: 'I desire of my Creator that He will make thee\nbase and powerless, and cause thee to be the vehicle of the Frog-king.\nAnd, verily, thou shalt not have power to eat Frogs, save what their\nKing shall bestow on thee as alms.'  And now, of necessity, I have come\nhither that the King may ride upon me, and I have acquiesced in the\nwill of God.\"\n\nThe matter pleased the King of the Frogs, and he thought that it would\nredound to his advantage; and he at once seated himself upon the Snake,\nand indulged in vainglorious airs in consequence.\n\nSome time passed in this way.  At last the Snake said: \"May the life of\nthe King be prolonged!  I cannot do without food and sustenance, that I\nmay support life thereon and fulfil this service.\"  The King said: \"The\ncase is as thou sayest; I cannot do without my steed, and my steed\ncannot have strength without food.\"  He then fixed two Frogs as his\ndaily allowance, that he might use as his regular supply for breakfast\nand dinner.  The Snake maintained himself on that allowance; and\ninasmuch as the attention he paid to the Frog-king involved a benefit\nto himself he did not find fault with it.\n\nAnd this story is adduced to make it apparent that courtesy and\nhumility are readier means to uproot an enemy than war and contest.\n\n\n\nThe Old Woman's Cat\n\nIn former times there lived an old woman in a state of extreme\ndebility.  She possessed a cot more narrow than the heart of the\nignorant and darker than the miser's grave; and a Cat was her\ncompanion, which had never seen, even in the mirror of imagination, the\nface of a loaf, nor had heard from friend or stranger the name of meat.\nIt was content if occasionally it smelt the odour of a mouse from its\nhole, or saw the print of the foot of one on the surface of a board,\nand if, on some rare occasion, by the aid of good fortune one fell into\nits claws, it subsisted a whole week, more or less, on that amount of\nfood.\n\nAnd, inasmuch as the house of the old woman was the famine-year of that\nCat, it was always miserable and thin, and from a distance appeared\nlike an idea.\n\nOne day, through excessive weakness, it had, with the utmost\ndifficulty, mounted on the top of the roof; thence it beheld a Cat\nwhich walked proudly on the wall of a neighbouring house, and after the\nfashion of a destroying lion advanced with measured steps, and from\nexcessive fat lifted its feet slowly.  When the Cat of the old woman\nsaw this, it was astonished and cried out, saying: \"Thou, whose state\nis thus pleasant, whence art thou? and since it appears that thou\ncomest from the banquet-chamber of the Khan of Khata, whence is this\nsleekness of thine, and from what cause this thy grandeur and strength?\"\n\nThe Neighbour-Cat replied: \"I am the crumb-eater of the tray of the\nSultan.  Every morning I attend on the court of the king, and when they\nspread the tray of invitation, I display boldness and daring, and in\ngeneral I snatch off some morsels of fat meats, and of loaves made of\nthe finest flour; and thus I pass my time happy and satisfied till the\nnext day.\"\n\nThe Cat of the old woman inquired: \"What sort of a thing may fat meat\nbe? and what kind of relish has bread, made of fine flour?  I, during\nmy whole life, have never seen nor tasted aught save the old woman's\nbroths, and mouse's flesh.\"\n\nThe Neighbour-Cat laughed, and said: \"Therefore it is that one cannot\ndistinguish thee from a spider, and this form and appearance that thou\nhast is a reproach to our whole race.  If thou shouldst see the court\nof the Sultan and smell the odour of those delicious viands, thou\nwouldst acquire a fresh form.\"\n\nThe Cat of the old woman, said, most beseechingly, \"O brother! thou art\nbound to me by neighbourship and kinship; why not this time, when thou\ngoest, take me with thee?  Perchance, by thy good fortune, I may obtain\nfood.\"\n\nThe heart of the Neighbour-Cat melted at the speaker's lamentable\nposition, and he resolved that he would not attend the feast without\nhim.  The Cat of the old woman felt new life at these tidings, and\ndescending from the roof stated the case to his mistress.  The old dame\nbegan to advise the Cat, saying: \"O kind companion, be not deceived by\nthe words of worldly people and abandon not the corner of content, for\nthe vessel of covetousness is not filled save with the dust of the\ngrave.\"  But the Cat had taken into its head such a longing for the\ndelicacies of the Sultan's table that the medicine of advice was not\nprofitable to it.\n\nIn short, the next day, along with its neighbour, the old woman's Cat,\nwith tottering steps conveyed itself to court, but before it could\narrive there ill-fortune had poured the water of disappointment on the\nfire of its wish, and the reason was as follows:\n\nThe day before, the cats had made a general onslaught on the table, and\nraised an uproar beyond bounds, and annoyed, to the last degree, the\nguests and their host.  Wherefore, on this day, the Sultan had\ncommanded that a band of archers, standing in ambush, should watch, so\nthat for every cat who, holding before its face the buckler of\nimpudence should enter the plain of audacity, the very first morsel\nthat it ate should be a liver-piercing shaft.\n\nThe old woman's Cat, ignorant of this circumstance, as soon as it smelt\nthe odour of the viands, turned its face like a falcon to the\nhunting-ground of the table, and the scale of the balance of appetite\nhad not yet been weighted by heavy mouthfuls, when the heart-piercing\narrow quivered in its breast.\n\n  Dear friend! the honey pays not for the sting,\n  Content with syrup is a better thing.\n\n\n\nThe Young Tiger\n\nIn the environs of Basrah there was an island of excessively pleasant\nclimate, where limpid waters flowed on every side and life-bestowing\nzephyrs breathed around.\n\nFrom its excessive exquisiteness they called it the \"Joy-expanding\nWilderness,\" and a Tiger bore sway there, such that from dread of him\nfierce lions could not set foot in that retreat.\n\nHe had lived much time in that wild, according to his wish, and had\nnever seen the form of disappointment in the mirror of existence.  He\nhad a young one whose countenance made the world seem bright to him,\nand his intention was that when that young one came to years he would\ncommit that solitude to his charge, and pass the rest of his life at\nease in the corner of retirement.  The blossom of his wish had not yet\nexpanded on the stem of desire when the autumn of death gave the fruit\nof the garden of his existence to the mind of destruction.\n\nAnd when this Tiger was seized by the claw of the Lion, Death, several\nwild beasts who for a long time entertained a desire for that\nwilderness made a unanimous movement and set about appropriating it.\nThe young Tiger saw that he possessed not the strength to resist.  He\nwent voluntarily into exile, and amongst the wild beasts a huge contest\narose.  A blood-spilling Lion overcame all the others and brought the\nisland into his own possession, and the young Tiger, having for some\ntime endured distress in the mountains and wastes, conveyed himself to\nanother haunt, and disclosed his affliction to the wild beasts of that\ndistrict, asking their aid to find a remedy.\n\nThey, having received intelligence of the victory of the Lion, and his\noverpowering might, said: \"O unfortunate! thy place is now in the\npossession of a Lion such that from terror of him the wild birds will\nnot fly over that wilderness, and from fear of him the elephant will\nnot approach.  We have not strength to fight with him and thou too art\nnot able to enter with him the arena of strife.  Our opinion demands\nthat thou shouldst betake thyself to his court, and with perfect\nloyalty enter his service.\"\n\nThese words seemed reasonable to the young Tiger, and he looked upon\nhis best course to be this--that he should voluntarily enter the\nservice of the Lion, and, to the extent of his ability, offer the\nduties of attendance.  Through the intervention of one of the nobles he\nobtained the honour of waiting on the Lion, and, having become the\nobject of the imperial regard, was appointed to an office suited to his\nspirit.  Having tightly fastened the belt of obedience on the waist of\naffection the royal favour was constantly augmented and he incessantly\ndisplayed increased exertion in the affairs of the state.\n\nUpon a certain time an important matter arose which called the Lion\naway to a distant jungle; and at that time the heat of the oven of the\nsky was unmitigated, and the expanse of waste and mountain like a\nfurnace of glass fiercely inflamed.  From the excessive heat of the\nair, the brains of animals were boiled in their craniums, and the crabs\nin the water were fried like fish in the frying-pan.\n\nThe Lion reflected: \"At such a time, when the shell at the bottom of\nthe deep, like a fowl on a spit, is roasting, an affair of this\nimportance has occurred.  Who may there be among my attendants who\nwould not be affected by the labour and who, undeterred by the heat of\nthe atmosphere, would approach this undertaking?\"\n\nIn the midst of this reflection the Tiger came in with the line of\nattendants and observed that the Lion was thoughtful.  On the ground of\nhis tact and affection, he advanced near the throne of royalty, and was\nemboldened to ask the cause of that thoughtfulness, and having learned\nhow the case stood, he took upon himself to accomplish the matter, and\nhaving been honoured with permission, he set off with a body of\nattendants, and, arriving at that place at noon, he betook himself to\nthe accomplishment of that affair, and the instant that the business\nwas settled to his satisfaction he changed his reins to return.\n\nThe officers who had been appointed to attend him unanimously\nrepresented as follows: \"In such heat as this, all this distance has\nbeen traversed by the steps of completion, and now that the affair has\nbeen settled and the confidence placed in you by his majesty been\ndemonstrated, it will certainly be advisable if you should repose a\nshort time in the shade of a tree and allay the fiery tongue of thirst\nby drinking cool water.\"\n\nThe Tiger smiled and said: \"My intimacy and rank with his majesty the\nking is a banner that I have by toil and effort set up.  It would not\nbe well to level it with the ground by indulgence and sloth.  Without\nsupporting trouble it is impossible to arrive at the carrying off of\ntreasure, and unaccompanied by the thorn we cannot reap the enjoyment\nof the rose garden.\"\n\nThe informers furnished intelligence of this to the Lion, and recited\nthe book of the affair, from preface to conclusion.  The Lion nodded\nthe head of approval, and said: \"The people may be at peace in the just\nreign of that ruler who does not place his head on the pillow of\nrepose.\"  He then sent for the Tiger, and having distinguished him with\nspecial honours, committed that jungle to him, and, having bestowed on\nhim the place of his sire, conferred on him, in addition, the dignity\nof being his heir.\n\nAnd the use of this fable is, that thou mayest learn that to no one\ndoes the sun of his wish rise from the eastern quarter of hope without\nthe diligent use of great exertion.\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Drum\n\nIt is related that a Fox was once prowling over a moor, and was roaming\nin every direction in hope of scenting food.  Presently he came to the\nfoot of a tree, at the side of which they had suspended a drum, and\nwhenever a gust of wind came, a branch of the tree was put in motion,\nand struck the surface of the drum, when a terrible noise arose from it.\n\nThe Fox, seeing a domestic fowl under the tree, who was pecking the\nground with her beak, and searching for food, planted himself in\nambush, and wished to make her his prey, when all of a sudden the sound\nof a drum reached his ear.  He looked and saw a very fat form, and a\nprodigious sound from it reached his hearing.  The appetite of the Fox\nwas excited, and he thought to himself, \"Assuredly its flesh and skin\nwill be proportioned to its voice.\"\n\nHe issued from his lurking-place and turned toward the tree.  The fowl\nbeing put on its guard by that circumstance, fled, and the Fox, by a\nhundred exertions, ascended the tree.  Much did he labour till he had\ntorn the drum, and then he found nought save a skin and a piece of\nwood.  The fire of regret descended into his heart, and the water of\ncontrition began to run from his eyes, and he said: \"Alas! that by\nreason of this huge bulk which is all wind, that lawful prey has\nescaped from my hand, and from this empty form no advantage has\nresulted to me.\"\n\n  Loudly ever sounds the labour,\n    But in vain--within is nought:\n  Art thou wise, for substance labour,\n   Semblance will avail thee nought.\n\n\n\nThe Sparrows and the Falcon\n\nTwo Sparrows once fixed their nest on the branch of a tree; and of\nworldly gear, water and grain sufficed them; while on the summit of a\nmountain, beneath which that tree lay, a Falcon had its abode, which,\nat the time of stooping on its quarry, issued from its lurking-place\nlike lightning, and, like heaven's bolt, clean consumed the feebler\nbirds.\n\nWhenever the Sparrows produced young, and the time was near at hand for\nthem to fly, that Falcon, rushing forth from its ambush, used to carry\nthem off and make them food for its own young.  Now, to those\nSparrows--in accordance with the saying, \"The law of home is a part of\nfaith\"--to migrate from that place was impossible, and yet from the\ncruelty of the tyrannous Hawk it was difficult to reside there.\n\nOn one occasion their young ones, having gained strength and put forth\nfeathers and wings, were able to move; and the father and mother,\npleased with the sight of their offspring, testified their joy at their\nattempt to fly.\n\nSuddenly the thought of the Falcon passed through their minds, and, all\nat once, they began to lament from anxiety.\n\nOne of their children--in whose countenance the signs of ripe\ndiscretion were visible--having inquired the reason of their\ndespondency, they recounted the history of the Falcon's oppression and\nof its carrying off their young, with all the particulars.\n\nThe son said; \"The Causer of Causes has sent a cure for every sorrow.\nIt is probable that if ye exert yourselves in repelling this misfortune\nboth this calamity will be averted from our heads and this burden\nremoved from your hearts.\"\n\nThese words pleased the Sparrows; and while one of them stopped to\nattend the young ones, the other flew forth in search of relief.  He\nresolved in his mind on the way that he would tell his story to\nwhatsoever animal his eyes first fell upon, and ask a remedy for his\nheart's distress from it.\n\nIt happened that a Salamander, having come forth from a mine of fire,\nwas wandering in the spreading plain of the desert.  When the glance of\nthe Sparrow lighted upon him, and that strange form came into his view,\nhe said to himself: \"I have fallen upon good!  Come on, I will disclose\nthe grief of my heart to this marvellous bird; perhaps he may undo the\nknot of my affairs and may show me the way to a remedy.\"  Then with the\nutmost respect, he advanced to the Salamander, and after the usual\nsalutation, paid the compliment of offering service.  The Salamander,\ntoo, in a kind tone, expressed the courtesy required toward travellers\nand said:  \"The traces of weariness are discernible in thy countenance.\nIf this arises from journeying, be pleased to halt some days in this\nneighbourhood; and if the case be aught else, explain it, that, to the\nextent of my power, I may exert myself to remedy it.\"\n\nThe Sparrow loosed his tongue, and represented to the Salamander his\npiteous condition, after a fashion, that, had he told it to a rock, it\nwould have been rent in pieces by his distress.\n\nAfter hearing his tale, the Salamander, too, felt the fire of\ncompassion kindled, and he said; \"Grieve not! for I will this night\ntake such measures as to consume the Falcon's abode and nest and all\nthat therein is.  Do thou point out to me thy dwelling, and go to thy\noffspring until the time I come to thee.\"\n\nThe Sparrow indicated his dwelling in such a way as not to leave a\ndoubt in the mind of the Salamander; and with a glad heart turned\ntoward his own nest.  When the night came on, the Salamander, with a\nnumber of its own kind, each carrying a quantity of naphtha and\nbrimstone, set off in the direction of the spot, and under the guidance\nof that Sparrow conveyed themselves to the vicinity of the Falcon's\nnest.\n\nThe latter, unaware of the impending misfortune, had, with its young,\neaten plentifully and fallen asleep.  The Salamanders cast upon their\nnest all the naphtha and brimstone that they had brought with them and\nturned back and the blast of justice fell upon those oppressors.  They\nrose up from the sleep of negligence and all of them, with their abode\nand nest, were at once consumed to ashes.\n\nAnd this instance is given that thou mayest know that every one who\nlabours to repel an enemy, though he be small and weak, and his foe\ngreat and strong, may yet hope for victory and triumph.\n\n\n\nThe Hermit, the Thief, and the Demon\n\nIt is related that a Hermit of pure disposition, abstemious and\nvirtuous, had made his cell in one of the environs of Baghdad, and\npassed his morning and evening hours in the worship of the All-wise\nKing, and by these means had shaken his skirt clear from the dust of\nworldly affairs.  He had bowed his head in the corner of contentment\nunder the collar of freedom from care, and rested satisfied with the\nportion that was supplied to him from the invisible world.\n\nOne of his sincere disciples got knowledge of the poverty and fastings\nof the Holy Man, and by way of offering, brought to the hermitage a she\nbuffalo, young and fat, with whose delicious milk the palate of desire\nwas oiled and sweetened.\n\nA thief beheld the circumstance, and his hungry appetite was excited;\nand he set off for the cell of the recluse.  A demon, too, joined him\nin the likeness of a man.  The thief asked him: \"Who art thou, and\nwhither goest thou?\"  He replied: \"I am a demon, who have assumed this\nshape, and, putting on this guise, am going to the hermitage of the\nrecluse, for many of the people of this country, through the blessing\nof his instruction, have begun to repent and to be converted and the\nmarket of our temptations has become flat.  I wish to get an\nopportunity and kill him.  This is my story which thou hast heard; now,\ntell me, who art thou and what is thy story?\"  The thief replied:\n\n\"I am a man whose trade is roguery, and I am occupied night and day\nwith thinking how to steal some one's goods and impose the scar of\naffliction on his heart.  I am now going, as the recluse has got a fat\nbuffalo, to steal it and use it for my own wants.\"  The demon said;\n\n\"Praise be to God that the bond of kinship is strong between us, and\nthis alone is sufficient to ally us, since the object of both is to\nassail him.\"\n\nThey then proceeded on their way, and at night reached the cell of the\nrecluse.  The latter had finished the performance of his daily worship,\nand had gone to sleep, just as he was, on his prayer-carpet.  The thief\nbethought himself, that if the demon attempted to kill him he would\nprobably awake and make an outcry; and the other people who were his\nneighbours, would be alarmed, and in that case it would be impossible\nto steal the buffalo.  The demon, too, reflected that if the thief\ncarried off the buffalo from the house, he must of course open the\ndoor.  Then the noise of the door would very likely awaken the recluse,\nand he should have to postpone killing him.  He then said to the thief:\n\"Do thou wait and give me time to kill the hermit, and then do thou\nsteal the buffalo.\"  The thief rejoined: \"Stop thou till I steal the\nbuffalo, and then kill the hermit.\"\n\nThis difference was prolonged between them, and at last the words of\nboth came to wrangling.  The thief was so annoyed that he called out to\nthe recluse: \"There is a demon here who wants to kill thee.\"  The\ndemon, too, shouted: \"Here is a thief, who wants to steal thy buffalo.\"\n\nThe hermit was roused by the uproar, and raised a cry, whereupon the\nneighbours came, and both the thief and the demon ran way; and the life\nand property of the Holy Man remained safe and secure through the\nquarrel of his enemies.\n\n  When the two hostile armies fall to strife,\n  Then from its sheath what need to draw the knife?\n\n\n\nThe King and the Hawk\n\nIt is related that in ancient times there was a King fond of hunting.\nHe was ever giving reins to the courser of his desire in the pursuit of\ngame, and was always casting the lasso of gladness over the neck of\nsport.  Now this King had a Hawk, who at a single flight could bring\ndown a pebble from the peak of the Caucasus, and in terror of whose\nclaws the constellation Aquila kept himself in the green nest of the\nsky; and the King had a prodigious fondness for this Hawk and always\ncared for it with his own hands.\n\nIt happened one day that the Monarch, holding the Hawk on his hand, had\ngone to the chase.  A stag leapt up before him and he galloped after it\nwith the utmost eagerness.  But he did not succeed in coming up with\nit, and became separated from his retinue and servants; and though some\nof them followed him, the King rode so hotly that the morning breeze\ncould not have reached the dust he raised.\n\nMeantime the fire of his thirst was kindled, and the intense desire to\ndrink overcame the King.  He galloped his steed in every direction in\nsearch of water until he reached the skirt of a mountain, and beheld\nthat from its summit limpid water was trickling.  The King drew forth a\ncup which he had in his quiver, and riding under the mountain filled\nthe cup with that water, which fell drop by drop, and was about to take\na draught, when the Hawk made a blow with his wing, and spilled all the\nwater in the goblet.  The King was vexed at this action, but held the\ncup a second time under the rock, until it was brimful.  He then raised\nit to his lips again, and again the Hawk made a movement and overthrew\nthe cup.  The King rendered impatient by thirst, dashed the Hawk on the\nground and killed it.\n\nShortly after a stirrup-holder of the King came up and saw the Hawk\ndead, and the Monarch athirst.  He then undid a water-vessel from his\nsaddle-cord and washed the cup clean, and was about to give the King a\ndrink.  The latter bade him ascend the mountain, as he had an\ninclination for the pure water which trickled from the rock; and could\nnot wait to collect it in the cup, drop by drop.  The stirrup-holder\nascended the mountain and beheld a spring giving out a drop at a time\nwith a hundred stintings; and a huge serpent lay dead on the margin of\nthe fountain; and as the heat of the sun had taken effect upon it, the\npoisonous saliva mixed with the water of that mountain, and it trickled\ndrop by drop down the rock.\n\nThe stirrup-holder was overcome with horror, and came down from the\nmountain bewildered, and represented the state of the case, and gave\nthe King a cup of cold water from his ewer.  The latter raised the cup\nto his lips, and his eyes overflowed with tears.  The attendant asked\nthe reason of his weeping.  The King drew a sigh from his anguished\nheart and relating in full the story of the Hawk and the spilling of\nthe water in the cup, said: \"I grieve for the death of the Hawk, and\nbemoan my own deed in that without inquiry I have deprived a creature,\nso dear to me, of life.\"  The attendant replied: \"This Hawk protected\nthee from a great peril, and has established a claim to the gratitude\nof all the people of this country.  It would have been better if the\nKing had not been precipitate in slaying it, and had quenched the fire\nof wrath with the water of mildness.\"\n\nThe King replied; \"I repent of this unseemly action; but my repentance\nis now unavailing, and the wound of this sorrow cannot be healed by any\nsalve\"; and this story is related in order that it may be known that\nmany such incidents have occurred where, through the disastrous results\nof precipitation, men have fallen into the whirlpool of repentance.\n\n\n\nThe Mouse and the Frog\n\nIt is related that a Mouse had taken up its abode on the brink of a\nfountain and had fixed its residence at the foot of a tree.\n\nA Frog, too, passed his time in the water there, and sometimes came to\nthe margin of the pool to take the air.  One day, coming to the edge of\nthe water, he continued uttering his voice in a heart-rending cadence\nand assumed himself to be a nightingale of a thousand melodies.\n\nAt that time the Mouse was engaged in chanting in a corner of his cell.\nDirectly he heard the uproarious yelling of the Frog he was astounded,\nand came out with the intention of taking a look at the reciter; and\nwhile occupied with listening to him, kept smiting his hands together\nand shaking his head.  These gestures, which seemed to display\napprobation, pleased the Frog and he made advances toward acquaintance\nwith him.  In short, being mutually pleased with each other, they\nbecame inseparable companions, and used to narrate to each other\nentertaining stories and tales.\n\nOne day the Mouse said to the Frog: \"I am oftentimes desirous of\ndisclosing to thee a secret and recounting to thee a grief which I have\nat heart, and at that moment thou art abiding under the water.  However\nmuch I shout thou nearest me not, owing to the noise of the water, and\nin spite of my crying to thee, the sound cannot reach thee, because of\nthe clamour of the other frogs.  We must devise some means by which\nthou mayest know when I come to the brink of the water, and thus mayest\nbe informed of my arrival without my shouting to thee.\"\n\nThe Frog said: \"Thou speakest the truth.  I, too, have often pondered\nuneasily, thinking, should my friend come to the brink of the water,\nhow shall I, at the bottom of this fountain, learn his arrival?  And it\nsometimes happens that I, too, come to the mouth of thy hole, and thou\nhast gone out from another side, and I have to wait long.  I had\nintended to have touched somewhat on this subject before, but now the\narrangement of it rests with thee.\"\n\nThe Mouse replied: \"I have got hold of the thread of a plan, and it\nappears to me the best thing to get a long string, and to fasten one\nend to thy foot, and tie the other tight around my own, in order that\nwhen I come to the water's edge and shake the string, thou mayest know\nwhat I want; and if thou, too, art so kind as to come to the door of my\ncell, I may also get information by thy jerking the string.\"  Both\nparties agreed to this, and the knot of friendship was in this manner\nfirmly secured, and they were also kept informed of one another's\ncondition.  One day, the Mouse came to the water's edge to seek the\nFrog, in order to renew their friendly converse.  All of a sudden a\nCrow, like an unforeseen calamity, flew down from the air, and\nsnatching up the Mouse, soared aloft, with him.  The string which was\ntied to the leg of the Mouse drew forth the Frog from the bottom of the\nwater, and, as the other leg was fastened to the Frog's leg, he was\nsuspended head downward in the air.  The Crow flew on, holding the\nMouse in its beak, and lower still the Frog hanging head downward.\nPeople witnessing that extraordinary sight were uttering in the road\nvarious jokes and sarcasms: \"A strange thing this, that contrary to his\nwont, a crow has made a prey of a frog!\" and \"Never before was a frog\nthe prey of a crow!\"\n\nThe Frog was howling out in reply: \"Now, too, a Frog is not the prey of\na Crow, but from the bad luck of associating with a Mouse, I have been\ncaught in this calamity, and he who associates with a different species\ndeserves a thousand times as much.\"\n\nAnd this story carries with it this beneficial advice: That no one\nought to associate with one of a different race, in order that, like\nthe Frog, he may not be suspended on the string of calamity.\n\n\n\nThe Crow and the Partridge\n\nIt is related that one day a Crow was flying and saw a Partridge, which\nwas walking gracefully on the ground with a quick step and graceful\ngait that enchanted the heart of the looker-on.\n\nThe Crow was pleased with the gait of the Partridge, and amazed at its\nagility.  The desire of walking in the same manner fixed itself in his\nmind, and the insane longing to step proudly, after this fascinating\nfashion, made its appearance.  He forthwith girt his loins in\nattendance on the Partridge, and abandoning sleep and food, gave\nhimself up to that arduous occupation, and kept continually running in\nthe traces of the Partridge and gazing on its progress.\n\nOne day the Partridge said: \"O crazy, black-faced one!  I observe that\nthou art ever hovering about me, and art always watching my motions.\nWhat is it that thou dost want?\"\n\nThe Crow replied: \"O thou of graceful manners and sweet smiling face,\nknow that having conceived a desire to learn thy gait, I have followed\nthy steps for a long time past, and wish to acquire thy manner of\nwalking, in order that I may place the foot of preeminence on the head\nof my fellows.\"\n\nThe Partridge uttered a merry laugh, and said: \"Alack! alack!  My\nwalking gracefully is a thing implanted in me by nature, and thy style\nof going is equally a natural characteristic.  My going is in one way,\nand thy mode of procedure is quite another.  Leave off this fancy and\nrelinquish this idea.\"\n\nThe Crow replied: \"Since I have plunged into this affair, no idle\nstories shall make me give it up; and until I grasp my wished-for\nobject, I will not turn back from this road.\"\n\nSo the unfortunate Crow for a long time ran after the Partridge, and\nhaving failed to learn his method of going, forgot his own too, and\ncould in nowise recover it.\n\n\n\n\nFABLES FROM THE HITOPADESA\n\n\"This work entitled Hitopadesa, or Friendly Instructor, affordeth\nelegance in the Sanskrit idioms, in every part variety of language, and\ninculcateth the doctrine of prudence and policy.\"\n\n\nFABLES FROM THE HITOPADESA\n\nThe Traveller and the Tiger\n\nA traveller, through lust of gold, being plunged into an inextricable\nmire, is killed and devoured by an old tiger.\n\nAs I was travelling on the southern road, once upon a time, I saw an\nold Tiger seated upon the bank of a large river, with a bunch of kusa\ngrass in his paw, calling out to every one who passed: \"Ho! ho!\ntraveller, take this golden bracelet,\" but every one was afraid to\napproach him to receive it.  At length, however, a certain wayfarer,\ntempted by avarice, regarded it as an instance of good fortune; but,\nsaid he, in this there is personal danger, in which we are not\nwarranted to proceed.  Yet, said he, there is risk in every undertaking\nfor the acquisition of wealth.\n\nThe Traveller then asked where was the bracelet; and the Tiger, having\nheld out his paw, showed it to him and said, \"Look at it, it is a\ngolden bracelet.\"  \"How shall I place confidence in thee?\" said the\nTraveller; and the Tiger replied: \"Formerly, in the days of my youth, I\nwas of a very wicked disposition, and as a punishment for the many men\nand cattle I had murdered, my numerous children died, and I was also\ndeprived of my wife; so, at present, I am destitute of relations.  This\nbeing the case, I was advised, by a certain holy person, to practise\ncharity and other religious duties, and I am now grown extremely\ndevout.  I perform ablutions regularly, and am charitable.  Why, then,\nam I not worthy of confidence?\"\n\n\"So far, you see,\" continued the Tiger, \"I have an interest in wishing\nto give away to some one this golden bracelet from off my own wrist;\nand as thou appearest to be rather a poor man, I prefer giving it to\nthee; according to this saying:\n\n\"'Make choice of the poor, and bestow not thy gifts on others.'  Then\ngo, and having purified thyself in this stream, take the golden\nbracelet.\"\n\nThe Traveller no sooner began to enter the river to purify himself,\nthan he stuck fast in the mud, and was unable to escape.  The Tiger\ntold him he would help him out; and creeping softly toward him, the\npoor man was seized, and instantly exclaimed to himself: \"Alas! the\ncareer of my heart is cut short by fate!\"\n\nBut whilst the unfortunate fellow was thus meditating, he was devoured\nby the Tiger.  Hence also, it is at no time proper to undertake\nanything without examination.\n\n\n\nThe Jackal and the Cat\n\nTo one whose family and profession are unknown, one should not give\nresidence: the Jackal Jarad-gava was killed through the fault of a Cat.\n\nOn the banks of the river Bhageerathee, and upon the mountain\nGreedhra-koota, there is a large parkattee tree, in the hollow of whose\ntrunk there dwelt a Jackal, by name Jarad-gava, who, by some accident,\nwas grown blind, and for whose support the different birds who roosted\nupon the branches of the same tree were wont to contribute a trifle\nfrom their own stores, by which he existed.  It so fell out, that one\nday a certain Cat, by name Deerga-karna,[1] came there to prey upon the\nyoung birds, whom perceiving, the little nestlings were greatly\nterrified, and began to be very clamorous; and their cries being heard\nby Jarad-gava, he asked who was coming.  The Cat Deerga-karna, too,\nseeing the Jackal, began to be alarmed, and said to himself: \"Oh! I\nshall certainly be killed, for now that I am in his sight, it will not\nbe in my power to escape.  However, let what will be the consequence, I\nwill approach him.\"  So, having thus resolved, he went up to the\nJackal, and said: \"Master, I salute thee!\"  \"Who art thou?\" demanded\nthe Jackal.  Said he, \"I am a Cat.\"  \"Ah! wicked animal,\" cried the\nJackal, \"get thee at a distance; for if thou dost not, I will put thee\nto death.\"\n\n\"Hear me for a moment,\" replied Puss, \"and then determine whether I\nmerit either to be punished or to be killed; for what is any one,\nsimply by birth, to be punished or applauded?  When his deeds have been\nscrutinized, he may, indeed, be either praiseworthy or punishable.\"\n\nThe Jackal after this desired the Cat to give some account of himself,\nand he complied in the following words: \"I am,\" said he, \"in the\nconstant habit of performing ablutions on the side of this river; I\nnever eat flesh, and I lead that mode of life which is called\nBrahma-Charya[2].  So, as thou art distinguished amongst those of thy\nown species, noted for skill in religious matters, and as a repository\nof confidence, and as the birds here are always speaking before me in\npraise of thy good qualities, I am come to hear from thy mouth, who art\nso old in wisdom, the duties of religion.  Thou, master, art acquainted\nwith the customs of life; but these young birds, who are in ignorance,\nwould fain drive me, who am a stranger, away.  The duties of a\nhousekeeper are thus enjoined:\n\n\"Hospitality is commanded to be exercised, even toward an enemy, when\nhe cometh to thine house.  The tree doth not withdraw its shade, even\nfrom the wood-cutter.\n\n\"And again:\n\n\"Some straw, a room, water, and in the fourth place, gentle words.\nThese things are never to be refused in good men's houses.\"\n\nTo all this the Jackal replied: \"Cats have a taste for animal food, and\nabove is the residence of the young birds: it is on this account I\nspeak to thee.\"\n\nThe Cat, having touched his two ears, and then the ground, exclaimed:\n\"I, who have read books upon the duties of religion, and am freed from\ninordinate desires, have forsaken such an evil practice; and, indeed,\neven amongst those who dispute with one another about the authority of\nthe Sastras, there are many by whom this sentence: 'Not to kill is a\nsupreme duty,' is altogether approved.\"\n\nThe Cat by these means having satisfied the jackal, he remained in the\nhollow of the tree with him and passed the time in amusing\nconversation; and the Jackal told the young birds that they had no\noccasion to go out of the way.\n\nAfter this, when many days had passed, it was discovered that the Cat\nhad, by degrees, drawn all the little birds down into the hollow of the\ntree, and there devoured them; but when he found inquiry was about to\nbe made by those whose young ones had been eaten, he slipped out of the\nhole and made his escape.  In the meantime, the bones of the young ones\nhaving been discovered in the hollow of the tree by the parent birds,\nwho had been searching here and there, they concluded that their little\nones had been devoured by the Jackal, and so, being joined by other\nbirds, they put him to death.\n\nWherefore I say, \"To one whose family and profession are unknown, one\nshould not give residence.\"\n\n[1]Long-ear\n\n[2]Forsaking all worldly concerns to lead a godly life.\n\n\n\nThe Greedy Jackal\n\nA hoard should always be made; but not too great a hoard.  A Jackal,\nthrough the fault of hoarding too much, was killed by a bow.\n\nA certain Huntsman, by name Bhirava, being fond of flesh, once upon a\ntime went to hunt in the forests of the Vindhya mountains and having\nkilled a Deer, as he was carrying him away, he chanced to see a wild\nBoar of a formidable appearance.  So, laying the Deer upon the ground,\nhe wounded the Boar with an arrow; but, upon his approaching him, the\nhorrid animal set up a roar dreadful as the thunder of the clouds, and\nwounding the Huntsman in the groin, he fell like a tree cut off by the\naxe.  At the same time, a Serpent, of that species which is called\nAjagara, pressed by hunger and wandering about, rose up and bit the\nBoar, who instantly fell helpless upon him, and remained upon the spot.\nFor:\n\nThe body having encountered some efficient cause, water, fire, poison,\nthe sword, hunger, sickness, or a fall from an eminence, is forsaken by\nthe vital spirits.\n\nIn the meantime, a Jackal, by name Deergharava, prowling about in\nsearch of prey, discovered the Deer, the Huntsman, and the Boar; and\nhaving observed them, he said to himself: \"Here is a fine feast\nprepared for me; with their flesh I shall have food to eat.  The Man\nwill last me for a whole month, and the Deer and the Boar for two more;\nthen the Serpent will serve me a day; and let me taste the bow-string\ntoo.  But, in the first place, let me try that which is the least\nsavoury.  Suppose, then, I eat this catgut line which is fastened to\nthe bow\": saying so, he drew near to eat it; but the instant he had bit\nthe line in two, he was torn asunder by the spring of the bow; and he\nwas reduced to the state of the five elements.  I say, therefore, \"A\nhoard should always be made; but not too great a hoard.\"\n\n\n\nThe Elephant and the Jackal\n\nThat which cannot be effected by force may be achieved by cunning.  An\nElephant was killed by a Jackal, in going over a swampy place.\n\nIn the forest Brahmaranya there was an Elephant, whose name was\nKarphooratilaka,[1] who having been observed by the jackals, they all\ndetermined that if he could by any stratagem be killed, he would be\nfour months' provisions for them all.  One of them, who was of\nexceeding vicious inclination and by nature treacherous, declared that\nhe would engage, by the strength of his own judgment, to effect his\ndeath.    Some time after, this deceitful wretch went up to the\nElephant, and having saluted him, said:  \"Godlike sir!  Condescend to\ngrant me an audience.\"  \"Who art thou?\" demanded the Elephant, \"and\nwhence comest thou?\"  \"My name,\" replied he, \"is Kshudrabuddhi,[2] a\njackal, sent into thy presence by all the inhabitants of the forest,\nassembled for that purpose, to represent that, as it is not expedient\nto reside in so large a forest as this without a chief, your Highness,\nendued with all the cardinal virtues, hath been selected to be anointed\nRajah of the Woods.  Then, that we may not lose the lucky moment,\"\ncontinued the Jackal, \"be pleased to follow quickly.\"  Saying this, he\ncocked his tail and went away.\n\nThe Elephant, whose reason was perverted by the lust of power, took the\nsame road as the Jackal, and followed him so exactly that, at length,\nhe stuck fast in a great mire.  \"O my friend!\" cried the Elephant,\n\"what is to be done in this disaster?  I am sinking in a deep mire!\"\n\nThe Jackal laughed, and said: \"Please, your divine Highness, take hold\nof my tail with your trunk, and get out!  This is the fruit of those\nwords which thou didst place confidence in.\"\n\nThey say:\n\nAs often as thou shalt be deprived of the society of the good, so often\nshalt thou fall into the company of knaves.\n\nAfter a few days, the Elephant dying for want of food, his flesh was\ndevoured by the Jackals.  I say, therefore: \"That which cannot be\neffected by force, may be achieved by cunning.\"\n\n[1]Marked with white spots.\n\n[2]Low-minded, mean-spirited, bad-hearted.\n\n\n\nThe Lion, the Mouse, and the Cat\n\nThe master should never be rendered free from apprehension by his\nservants, for a servant having quieted the fears of his master may\nexperience the fate of Dahdikarna.[1]\n\nUpon the mountain Arbuda-sikhara, there was a Lion, whose name was\nMaliavikrama[2] the tips of whose mane a Mouse was wont to gnaw, as he\nslept in his den.  The noble beast, having discovered that his hair was\nbitten, was very much displeased; and as he was unable to catch the\noffender, who always slipped into his hole, he meditated what was best\nto be done; and having resolved, said he:\n\n\"Whoso hath a trifling enemy, who is not to be overcome by dint of\nvalour, should employ against him a force of his own likeness.\"\n\nWith a review of this saying, the Lion repaired to the village, and by\nmeans of a piece of meat thrown into his hole, with some difficulty\ncaught a Cat, whose name was Dadhikarna.  He carried him home, and the\nMouse for some time being afraid to venture out, the Lion remained with\nhis hair unnipped.  At length, however, the Mouse was so oppressed with\nhunger, that creeping about he was caught and devoured by the Cat.  The\nLion now, no longer hearing the noise of the Mouse, thought he had no\nfurther occasion for the services of the Cat, and so began to be\nsparing of his allowance; and, in consequence, poor Puss pined away and\ndied for want.  Wherefore, I say: \"The master should never be rendered\nfree from apprehension by his servants.\"\n\n[1]Whose ears are the colour of curds.\n\n[2]Great courage.\n\n\n\nThe Poor Woman and the Bell\n\nIt is not proper to be alarmed by a mere sound, when the cause of that\nsound is unknown.  A poor woman obtaineth consequence for discovering\nthe cause of a sound.\n\nBetween the mountains Sree-parvata there is a city called Brahma-puree,\nthe inhabitants of which used to believe that a certain giant, whom\nthey called Ghautta-Karna, infested one of the adjacent hills.\n\nThe fact was thus: A thief, as he was running away with a Bell he had\nstolen, was overcome and devoured by a tiger; and the Bell falling from\nhis hand having been picked up by some monkeys, every now and then they\nused to ring it.  Now the people of the town finding that a man had\nbeen killed there, and at the same time hearing the Bell, used to\ndeclare that the giant Ghautta-Karna being enraged, was devouring a\nman, and ringing his Bell; so that the city was abandoned by all the\nprincipal inhabitants.  At length, however, a certain Poor Woman having\nconsidered the subject, discovered that the Bell was rung by the\nmonkeys.\n\nShe accordingly went to the Rajah, and said:\n\n\"If, divine sir, I may expect a very great reward, I will engage to\nsilence this Ghautta-Karna.\"\n\nThe Rajah was exceedingly well pleased, and gave her some money.  So\nhaving displayed her consequence to the priesthood of the country, to\nthe leaders of the army, and to all the rest of the people, she\nprovided such fruits as she conceived the monkeys were fond of, and\nwent into the wood; where strewing them about, they presently quitted\nthe Bell, and attached themselves to the fruit.  The Poor Woman, in the\nmeantime, took away the Bell, and repaired to the city, where she\nbecame an object of adoration to its inhabitants.  Wherefore, I say:\n\"It is not proper to be alarmed by a mere sound, when the cause of the\nsound is unknown.\"\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Rabbit\n\nHe who bath sense hath strength.  Where hath he strength who wanteth\njudgment?  See how a Lion, when intoxicated with anger, was overcome by\na Rabbit.\n\nUpon a certain mountain there lived a Lion, whose name was Durganta,[1]\nwho was perpetually sacrificing animals to his gods; so that, at\nlength, all the different species assembled, and, in a body,\nrepresented that, as by his present mode of proceeding the forest would\nbe cleared all at once; if it pleased his Highness, they would, each of\nthem in his turn, provide him an animal for his daily food; and the\nLion gave, his consent accordingly.  So every beast delivered his\nstipulated provision, till at length, in coming to the Rabbit's turn he\nbegan to meditate in this manner: \"Policy should be practised by him\nwho would save his life; and I myself shall lose mine, if I do not take\ncare.  Suppose I lead him after another Lion?  Who knows how that may\nturn out for me?  Then I will approach him slowly, as if fatigued.\"\n\nThe Lion by this time began to be very hungry; so, seeing the Rabbit\ncoming toward him, he called out in a great passion: \"What is the\nreason thou comest so late?\"  \"Please your Highness,\" said the Rabbit\n\"as I was coming along, I was forcibly detained by another of your\nspecies; but having given him my word that I would return immediately I\ncame here to represent it to your Highness.\"  \"Go quickly,\" said the\nLion in a rage, \"and show me where this vile wretch may be found?\"\n\nAccordingly the Rabbit conducted the Lion to the brink of a deep well,\nwhere being arrived, \"There,\" said the Rabbit, \"look down and behold\nhim\"; at the same time he pointed to the reflected image of the Lion in\nthe water; who swelling with pride and resentment, leaped into the\nwell, as he thought, upon his adversary, and thus put an end to his own\nlife.  I repeat, therefore: \"He who hath sense, hath strength.\"\n\n[1]Hard to go near.\n\n\n\nThe Birds and the Monkeys\n\nA wise man is worthy to be advised; but an ignorant one never.\nCertain birds, having given advice to a troop of monkeys, have their\nnests torn to pieces, and are obliged to fly away.\n\nOn the banks of the river Navmoda, upon a neighbouring mountain, there\nwas a large Salmalee tree wherein certain Birds were wont to build\ntheir nests and reside, even during the season of the rains.  One day\nthe sky being overcast with a troop of thick dark clouds, there fell a\nshower of rain in very large streams.  The Birds seeing a troop of\nMonkeys at the foot of the tree, all wet, and shivering with cold,\ncalled out to them; \"Ho, Monkeys! why don't you invent something to\nprotect you from the rain?  We build ourselves nests with straws\ncollected with nothing else but our bills.  How is this, that you, who\nare blessed with hands and feet, yield to such sufferings?\"\n\nThe Monkeys hearing this, and understanding it as a kind of reproach,\nwere exceedingly irritated and said amongst themselves: \"Those Birds\nthere, sitting comfortably out of the wind within their warm nests, are\nlaughing at us!  So let them, as long as the shower may last.\"  In\nshort, as soon as the rain subsided, the whole troop of them mounted\ninto the tree, where tearing all the nests to pieces, the eggs fell\nupon the ground and were broken.  I say, therefore: \"A wise man is\nworthy to be advised, but an ignorant one never.\"\n\n\n\nThe Rabbits and the Elephants\n\nGreat things may be effected by wise counsel, when a sovereign enemy\nmay be too powerful.  Certain Rabbits were enabled to live in comfort,\nthrough the policy of one of their brethren.\n\nOnce upon a time, for want of rain in due season, a troop of Elephants\nbeing greatly distressed for water, addressed their chief in these\nwords: \"What resource have we, except in that hollow sinking ground\ninhabited by those little animals! but deprived of that too, whither,\nsir, shall we go?  What shall we do?\"\n\nUpon hearing their complaints, their chief, after travelling with them\na great way, discovered a fountain of clear water.  But, as many\nRabbits who happened, to be in their burrows were crushed to death\nunder the feet of so many Elephants trampling over their warren, at\nlength, one of them, reflected in this manner: \"This troop of\nElephants, oppressed with thirst, will be coming here every day to\ndrink, and, at length, our whole race will be destroyed!\"  But an old\nbuck said to him, \"Brother, don't be uneasy; for I am going to prevent\nwhat thou dreadest.\"  Saying which, he set off to try how he could\noppose them; but as he went along, he began to consider how he should\napproach so formidable a troop; \"for,\" observed he, \"they say:\n\n\"'An elephant killeth even by touching, a serpent even by smelling, a\nking even by ruling, and a wicked man by laughing at one.'\n\n\"Wherefore, I will mount the summit of a rock to address the head of\nthe troop.\"\n\nThis being put in execution accordingly, the chief Elephant asked him\nwho he was, and whence he came.  \"I am,\" he replied, \"an ambassador\nsent here by the god Chandra.\"  \"Declare the purport of thy\ncommission,\" said the Elephant.  \"Sir,\" replied the Rabbit, \"as\nambassadors, even when the weapons of war are lifted up, speak not\notherwise than for the benefit of their State; and although they speak\nboldly according as it is their advantage, they are not to be put to\ndeath; then I will declare what are the commands of the god Chandra.\nHe bade me say, that in driving away and destroying the Rabbits who are\nappointed to guard the fountain which is consecrated to that duty, you\nhave done ill; 'for,' said he, 'they are my guards and it is notorious\nthat the figure of a Rabbit is my emblem.'\"\n\nThe head Elephant, upon hearing this became greatly alarmed, declared\nthat they had offended through ignorance, and would never go to the\nfountain again.\n\n\"If this be your resolution,\" said the ambassador, \"go this once, and\nmake your submission before the diety himself, whom you will see in the\nfountain, quite agitated with anger; and when you have pacified him,\nyou may depart.\"\n\nAccordingly, as soon as it was night, the ambassador Vijaya having\nconducted the chief of the Elephants to the fountain, there showed him\nthe image of the moon, trembling, as it were, upon the smooth surface\nof the water and when he had made him bow down to it, in token of\nsubmission, he said: \"Please your divinity!  What hath been done having\nbeen done through ignorance, I pray thee pardon them!\" and upon saying\nthis, he caused the Elephant to depart.  I repeat, therefore, \"Great\nthings may be effected by wise counsel, when a sovereign enemy may be\ntoo powerful.\"\n\n\n\nThe Blue Jackal\n\nThe fool who forsaketh his own party, and delighteth to dwell with the\nopposite side may be killed by them; as was the case with the Blue\nJackal.\n\nA certain Jackal, as he was roaming about the borders of a town, just\nas his inclinations led him, fell into a dyer's vat;[1] but being\nunable to get out in the morning he feigned himself dead.  At length,\nthe master of the vat, which was filled with indigo, came, and seeing a\nJackal lying with his legs uppermost, his eyes closed, and his teeth\nbare, concluded that he was dead, and so, taking him out, he carried\nhim a good way from the town, and there left him.  The sly animal\ninstantly got up, and ran into the woods; when, observing that his coat\nwas turned blue, he meditated in this manner: \"I am now of the finest\ncolour! what great exaltation may I not bring about for myself?\"\nSaying this, he called a number of Jackals together, and addressed them\nin the following words: \"Know that I have lately been sprinkled king of\nthe forests, by the hands of the goddess herself who presides over\nthese woods, with a water drawn from a variety of choice herbs.\nObserve my colour, and henceforward let every business be transacted\naccording to my orders.\"\n\nThe rest of the Jackals, seeing him of such a fine complexion,\nprostrated themselves before him, and said: \"According as your Highness\ncommands!\"  By this step he made himself honoured by his own relations,\nand so gained the supreme power over those of his own species, as well\nas all the other inhabitants of the forests.  But after a while,\nfinding himself surrounded by a levee of the first quality, such as the\ntiger and the like, he began to look down upon his relations; and, at\nlength, he kept them at a distance.  A certain old Jackal perceiving\nthat his brethren were very much cast down at this behaviour, cried:\n\"Do not despair!  If it continues thus, this imprudent friend of ours\nwill force us to be revenged.  Let me alone to contrive his downfall.\nThe lion, and the rest who pay him court, are taken by his outward\nappearance; and they obey him as their king, because they are not aware\nthat he is nothing but a Jackal: do something then by which he may be\nfound out.  Let this plan be pursued: Assemble all of you in a body\nabout the close of the evening, and set up one general howl in his\nhearing; and I'll warrant you, the natural disposition of his species\nwill incline him to join in the cry for:\n\n\"'Whatever may be the natural propensity of any one is very hard to be\novercome.  If a dog were made king, would he not gnaw his shoe straps?'\n\n\"And thus, the tiger discovering that he is nothing but a Jackal, will\npresently put him to death.\"\n\nIn short, the plan was executed, and the event was just as it had been\nforetold.  I repeat, therefore: \"The fool who forsaketh his own party\nand delighteth to dwell with the opposite side, may be killed by them.\"\n\n[1]A dyer's vat, in Hindostan, is a large pan sunk in the ground, often\nin the little court before the dyer's house.\n\n\n\nThe Mouse Who Became a Tiger\n\nOne of low degree, having obtained a worthy station, seeketh to\ndestroy his master; like the mouse, who having been raised to the state\nof a Tiger, went to kill the Hermit.\n\nIn a certain forest, there once dwelt a Hermit whose name was\nMaha-tapa.  One day seeing a young Mouse fall from the mouth of a crow\nnear his hermitage, out of compassion be took it up and reared it with\nbroken particles of rice.  He now observed that the cat was seeking to\ndestroy it; so, by the sacred powers of a saint, he metamorphosed his\nMouse into a cat; but his cat being afraid of his dog, he changed her\ninto a dog; and the dog being terrified at the tiger, at length he was\ntransformed into a Tiger.  The holy man now regarded the Tiger as no\nway superior to his Mouse.  But the people who came to visit the\nHermit, used to tell one another that the Tiger which they saw there\nhad been made so by the power of the saint, from a Mouse; and this\nbeing overheard by the Tiger, he was very uneasy, and said to himself:\n\"As long as this Hermit is alive, the disgraceful story of my former\nstate will be brought to my ears\"; saying which he went to kill his\nprotector; but as the holy man penetrated his design with his\nsupernatural eye, he reduced him to his former state of a Mouse.  I\nrepeat, therefore: \"One of low degree, having obtained a worthy\nstation, may seek to destroy his master.\"\n\n\n\nThe Brahmin and the Goat\n\nHe who, judging by what passeth in his own breast, believeth a knave\nto be a person of veracity, is deceived; as the Brahmin was concerning\nhis Goat.\n\nIn a certain forest, a Brahmin, having determined to make an offering,\nwent to a neighbouring village and purchased a Goat, which having\nthrown across his shoulder, he turned toward home.  As he was\ntravelling along, he was perceived by three thieves.  \"If,\" said they,\n\"we could by some artifice get the Goat from that man, it would be a\ngreat proof of our address.\"\n\nSaying this, they agreed upon their stratagem, and executed it in this\nmanner: They stationed themselves before the Brahmin, and sat down\nunder the trees in the road which led to his habitation, till he should\ncome up to them.  Soon after, he was accosted by one of them in this\nmanner: \"Is not that a dog?  Brahmin, what is the reason thou carriest\nit upon thy shoulder?\"  The Brahmin replied: \"No, it is not a dog; it\nis a Goat, which I have purchased to make an offering of.\"  About a\nmile farther on he met another of them, who repeating the same\nquestion, he took the Goat from his shoulder, and putting it upon the\nground, examined it again and again; and at length, replacing it upon\nhis shoulder, he went on, quite staggered as it were, for:\n\nThe minds even of good men are staggered by the arguments of the\nwicked; but those who place confidence in them may suffer by it.\n\nAt length the Brahmin, having heard the third thief, like the former\ntwo, insist upon it that he had a dog upon his shoulder, was convinced\nthat it was indeed a dog; and so, leaving his Goat behind him, which\nthe thieves presently took away and made a feast of, the good man\nwashed himself and went home.  Whence, I say, \"He who, judging by what\npasseth in his own breast, believeth a knave to be a person of\nveracity, is deceived.\"\n\n\n\n\nFABLES FROM INDIA\n\n\"These simple children's stories have lived on, and maintained their\nplace of honour and their undisputed sway in every schoolroom of the\nEast and every nursery of the West.\"\n\nF. MAX MULLER\n\n\nFABLES FROM INDIA\n\nThe Lion, the Fox, and the Story-teller\n\nA Lion who was the king of a great forest once said to his subjects: \"I\nwant some one among you to tell me stories one after another without\nceasing.  If you fail to find somebody who can so amuse me, you will\nall be put to death.\"\n\nIn the East there is a proverb which says; \"The king kills when he\nwill,\" so the animals were in great alarm.\n\nThe Fox said: \"Fear not; I shall save you all.  Tell the king the\nStory-teller is ready to come to court when ordered.\"  So the animals\nhad orders to send the Story-teller at once to the presence.  The Fox\nbowed respectfully, and stood before the king, who said: \"So you are to\ntell us stories without ceasing?\"\n\n\"Yes, your Majesty,\" said the Fox.\n\n\"Then begin,\" said the Lion.\n\n\"But before I do so,\" said the Fox, \"I would like to know what your\nMajesty means by a story.\"\n\n\"Why,\" said the Lion, \"a narrative containing some interesting event or\nfact.\"\n\n\"Just so,\" said the Fox, and began: \"There was once a fisherman who\nwent to sea with a huge net, and spread it far and wide.  A great many\nfish got into it.  Just as the fisherman was about to draw the net the\ncoils snapped.  A great opening was made.  First one fish escaped.\"\nThen the Fox stopped.\n\n\"What then?\" said the Lion.\n\n\"Then two escaped,\" said the Fox.\n\n\"What then?\" asked the impatient Lion.\n\n\"Then three escaped,\" said the Fox.  Thus, as often as the Lion\nrepeated his query, the Fox increased the number by one, and said as\nmany escaped.  The Lion was vexed, and said: \"Why you are telling me\nnothing new!\"\n\n\"I wish that your majesty may not forget your royal word,\" said the\nFox.  \"Each event occurred by itself, and each lot that escaped was\ndifferent from the rest.\"\n\n\"But wherein is the wonder?\" said the Lion.\n\n\"Why, your majesty, what can be more wonderful than for Fish to escape\nin lots, each exceeding the other by one?\"\n\n\"I am bound by my word,\" said the Lion, \"else I would see your carcass\nstretched on the ground.\"\n\nThe Fox replied in a whisper: \"_If tyrants that desire things\nimpossible are not at least bound by their own word, their subjects can\nfind nothing to bind them_.\"\n\n\n\nThe Fox in the Well\n\nA Fox fell into a well, and was holding hard to some roots at the side\nof it, just above the water.  A Wolf who was passing by saw him, and\nsaid, \"Hollo, Reynard; after all you have fallen into a well!\"\n\n\"But not without a purpose, and not without the means of getting out of\nit,\" said the Fox.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" said the Wolf.\n\n\"Why,\" said the Fox, \"there is a drought all over the country now, and\nthe water in this well is the only means of appeasing the thirst of the\nthousands that live in this neighbourhood.  They held a meeting, and\nrequested me to keep the water from going down lower; so I am holding\nit up for the public good.\"\n\n\"What will be your reward?\" asked the Wolf.\n\n\"They will give me a pension, and save me the trouble of going about\nevery day in quest of food, not to speak of innumerable other\nprivileges that will be granted me.  Further, I am not to stay here all\nday.  I have asked a kinsman of mine, to whom I have communicated the\nsecret of holding up the water, to relieve me from time to time.  Of\ncourse he will also get a pension, and have other privileges.  I expect\nhim here shortly.\"\n\n\"Ah, Reynard, may I relieve you, then?  May I hope to get a pension,\nand other privileges?  You know what a sad lot is mine, especially in\nwinter.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" said the Fox, \"but you must get a long rope, that I may\ncome up and let you down.\"\n\nSo the Wolf got a rope.  Up came the Fox, and down went the Wolf; when\nthe former observed, with a laugh, \"My dear sir, you may remain there\ntill doomsday, or till the owner of the well throws up your carcass,\"\nand left the place.\n\n\"Alas!\" said the Wolf, when it was too late, \"_greed hath its meed!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Fawn and the Little Tiger\n\nA Fawn met a little Tiger, and said: \"What fine stripes you have!\"\n\nThe little Tiger said: \"What fine spots you have!\"\n\nThen the Fawn said: \"It would be such a nice thing if you and I were to\nlive together as friends.  We might then roam through the woods as we\nlike, and be so happy!\"\n\n\"I think so too,\" said the Tiger.\n\nThe two joined hands, and went out for a long walk.  It was breakfast\ntime.  The Fawn saw some fine grass in the lawn, and said to himself:\n\"One should first see his friend fed and then feed.\"  So he turned to\nthe Tiger and said, \"Will you have some of this fine grass for your\nbreakfast?\"\n\nThe Tiger put his nose to the grass but could not bring himself to feed\nupon it, because it was against his nature; so he replied, \"I am so\nsorry, I cannot eat it!\"\n\nThen the Fawn said: \"Allow me to go home for one moment and ask mamma\nfor something that would suit you for breakfast.\"\n\nSo the Fawn went home and told the Hind of the happy friendship he had\nformed, and of all that had happened since.\n\nThe Hind replied, \"Child, how lucky it is that you have come away!  You\nmust know the Tiger is the most deadly enemy we have in the woods.\"\n\nAt these words the Fawn drew near to his dam and trembled.\n\nThe Hind said: \"_It is indeed lucky to get away from the wicked at the\nfirst hint!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Villagers\n\nA Fox that had long been the dread of the village poultry yard was one\nday found lying breathless in a field.  The report went abroad that,\nafter all, he had been caught and killed by some one.  In a moment,\neverybody in the village came out to see the dead Fox.  The village\nCock, with all his hens and chicks, was also there, to enjoy the sight.\n\nThe Fox then got up, and, shaking off his drowsiness, said: \"I ate a\nnumber of hens and chicks last night; hence I must have slumbered\nlonger than usual.\"\n\nThe Cock counted his hens and chicks, and found a number wanting.\n\"Alas!\" said he, \"how is it I did not know of it?\"\n\n\"My dear sir,\" said the Fox, as he retreated to the wood, \"it was last\nnight I had a good meal on your hens and chicks, yet you did not know\nof it.  A moment ago they found me lying in the field, and you knew of\nit at once.  _Ill news travels fast!_\"\n\n\n\nTinsel and Lightning\n\nA piece of Tinsel on a rock once said to a Pebble: \"You see how bright\nI am!  I am by birth related to the lightning.\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" said the Pebble; \"then accept my humble respects.\"\n\nSome time after, a flash of lightning struck the rock, and the Tinsel\nlost all its brilliancy by the scorching effects of the flash.\n\n\"Where is your brilliancy now?\" said the Pebble.\n\n\"Oh, it is gone to the skies,\" said the Tinsel, \"for I have lent it to\nthe lightning that came down a moment ago to borrow it of me.\"\n\n\"Dear me!\" said the Pebble; \"_how many fibs doth good bragging need!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Glow-worm and the Daw\n\nA Jackdaw once ran up to a Glow-worm and was about to seize him.  \"Wait\na moment, good friend,\" said the Worm; \"and you shall hear of something\nto your advantage.\"\n\n\"Ah! what is it?\" said the Daw.\n\n\"I am but one of the many Glow-worms that live in this forest.  If you\nwish to have them all, follow me,\" said the Glow-worm.\n\n\"Certainly!\" said the Daw.\n\nThen the Glow-worm led him to a place in the wood where a fire had been\nkindled by some woodmen, and pointing to the sparks flying about, said:\n\"There you find the Glow-worms warming themselves around a fire.  When\nyou have done with them, I will show you some more, at a distance from\nthis place.\"\n\nThe Daw darted at the sparks, and tried to swallow some of them; but\nhis mouth being burnt by the attempt, he ran away exclaiming, \"Ah, the\nGlow-worm is a dangerous little creature!\"\n\nSaid the Glow-worm with pride: \"_Wickedness yields to wisdom!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Gadfly\n\nOnce a Lion was sleeping in his den at the foot of a great mountain\nwhen a Gadfly that had been sipping the blood from his mouth bit him\nseverely.  The Lion started up with a roar, and catching the Fly in his\nhuge paws, cried: \"Villain, you are at my mercy!  How shall I punish\nyour impudence?\"\n\n\"Sire,\" said the Fly, \"if you would pardon me now, and let me live, I\nshall be able to show ere long how grateful I am to you.\"\n\n\"Indeed!\" said the Lion; \"who ever heard of a Gadfly helping a Lion?\nBut still I admire your presence of mind and grant your life.\"\n\nSome time after, the Lion, having made great havoc on the cattle of a\nneighbouring village, was snoring away in his den after a heavy meal.\nThe village hunters approached with the object of surrounding him and\nputting an end to his depredations.\n\nThe Fly saw them, and hurrying into the den, bit the Lion.  He started\nup with a roar as before, and cried: \"Villain, you will get no pardon\nthis time!\"\n\n\"Sire,\" said the Fly, \"the village hunters are on their way to your\nden; you can't tarry a moment here without being surrounded and killed.\"\n\n\"Saviour of my life!\" cried the lion as he ran up the mountain.\n\"_There is nothing like forgiving, for it enables the humblest to help\nthe highest_.\"\n\n\n\nThe Sunling\n\nIn the good old days a Clown in the East, on a visit to a city kinsman,\nwhile at dinner pointed to a burning candle and asked what it was.  The\ncity man said, in jest, it was a Sunling, or one of the children of the\nsun.\n\nThe Clown thought that it was something rare; so he waited for an\nopportunity, and hid it in a chest of drawers close by.  Soon the chest\ncaught fire, then the curtains by its side, then the room, then the\nwhole house.\n\nAfter the flames had been put down, the city man and the Clown went\ninto the burnt building to see what remained.  The Clown turned over\nthe embers of the chest of drawers.  The city man asked what he was\nseeking for.  The Clown said: \"It is in this chest that I hid the\nbright Sunling; I wish to know if he has survived the flames.\"\n\n\"Alas,\" said the city man, who now found out the cause of all the\nmischief, \"_Never jest with fools!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Despot and the Wag\n\nA Despot in the East wished to have a great name as a very munificent\nprince, so he gave large presents to every one of note that came to his\ncourt, but at the same time his officers had secret orders to waylay\nthe recipients of his gifts and recover them.\n\nIn this manner many a man had been rewarded and plundered.  Once a wag\ncame to court, and amused every one by his drolleries.  The King gave\nhim a great many presents, including a horse.  After taking leave of\nthe King and his courtiers, the Wag bundled up the presents and put\nthem over his shoulders, and mounting the horse, facing the tail, was\ngoing out.  The King asked him why he acted in that manner.\n\n\"Sire,\" said the Wag, \"simply to see if your officers were coming\nbehind, that I may at once hand over the bundle to them and go about my\nbusiness.\"\n\nThe Despot was abashed, and stopped giving any more presents, saying:\n\"_Giving is but giving in vain, when we give to take again_.\"\n\n\n\nThe Crane and the Fool\n\nIn the East there lived a Fool, who went one day to his fields and\nsaid: \"I sowed a month ago; should the crops stand two months more, I\nshall get three hundred bushels of corn.  But I am in a hurry, so if I\nshould reap now, I dare say I shall have one hundred bushels at least.\"\n\nA Crane who heard his words said: \"If I were you, I should have all the\nthree hundred bushels this very day.\"\n\n\"How?\" said the Fool.\n\n\"Why,\" said the Crane, \"you stored up water in the tank to feed the\ncrops for three months.  A month has elapsed, so water enough for two\nmonths more remains in the tank.  Should you open the sluices and let\nall the water flow into the fields, you will have all the corn at once.\"\n\n\"Are you sure I shall have all the corn at once?\" said the Fool.\n\n\"Oh, yes,\" said the Crane, \"there is not the slightest doubt.  My\ngeographical knowledge is extensive, for I have travelled over a great\npart of the world; so you may depend on my wide knowledge and\nexperience.\"\n\nThe Fool then let all the water flow into the fields.  The Crane\ninvited his kindred, and they together ate all the big fish left in the\ntank first, and then, hovering over the fields, picked up all the small\nfish that had gone out with the water.  A great portion of the crops\nwas swept away; what remained was soon buried in the mud.\n\nThe Fool sat on the bank of the lake and wept, saying: \"The Crane's\ngeography ruined me.\"\n\n\"My friend,\" said the Crane, \"my geography was as good as your\narithmetic.  _It is all the same whether you fall into the ditch from\nthis side or that!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Goat\n\nA Lion was eating up one after another the animals of a certain\ncountry.  One day an old Goat said: \"We must put a stop to this.  I\nhave a plan by which he may be sent away from this part of the country.\"\n\n\"Pray act up to it at once,\" said the other animals.\n\nThe old Goat laid himself down in a cave on the roadside, with his\nflowing beard and long curved horns.  The Lion on his way to the\nvillage saw him, and stopped at the mouth of the cave.\n\n\"So you have come, after all,\" said the Goat.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" asked the Lion.\n\n\"Why, I have long been lying in this cave.  I have eaten up one hundred\nelephants, a hundred tigers, a thousand wolves, and ninety-nine lions.\nOne more lion has been wanting.  I have waited long and patiently.\nHeaven has, after all, been kind to me,\" said the Goat, and shook his\nhorns and his beard, and made a start as if he were about to spring\nupon the Lion.\n\nThe latter said to himself: \"This animal looks like a Goat, but it does\nnot talk like one, so it is very likely some wicked spirit in this\nshape.  Prudence often serves us better than valour, so for the present\nI shall return to the wood,\" and he turned back.\n\nThe Goat rose up and, advancing to the mouth of the cave, said, \"Will\nyou come back to-morrow?\"\n\n\"Never again,\" said the Lion.\n\n\"Do you think I shall be able to see you, at least, in the wood\nto-morrow?\"\n\n\"Neither in the wood, nor in this neighbourhood any more,\" said the\nLion, and running to the forest, soon left it with his kindred.\n\nThe animals in the country, not hearing him roar any more, gathered\naround the Goat, and said: \"_The wisdom of one doth save a host_.\"\n\n\n\nThe Man and His Piece of Cloth\n\nA Man in the East, where they do not require as much clothing as in\ncolder climates, gave up all worldly concerns and retired to a wood,\nwhere he built a hut and lived in it.\n\nHis only clothing was a Piece of Cloth which he wore round his waist.\nBut, as ill-luck would have it, rats were plentiful in the wood, so he\nhad to keep a cat.  The cat required milk to feed it, so a cow had to\nbe kept.  The cow required tending, so a cowboy was employed.  The boy\nrequired a house to live in, so a house was built for him.  To look\nafter the house, a maid had to be engaged.  To provide company for the\nmaid, a few more houses had to be built, and people invited to live in\nthem.  In this manner a little township sprang up.\n\nThe man said: \"_The farther we seek to go from the world and its cares,\nthe more they multiply!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Tiger, the Fox, and the Hunters\n\nA Fox was once caught in a trap.  A hungry Tiger saw him and said, \"So\nyou are here!\"\n\n\"Only on your account,\" said the Fox, in a whisper.\n\n\"How so?\" said the Tiger.\n\n\"Why, you were complaining you could not get men to eat, so I got into\nthis net to-day, that you may have the men when they come to take me,\"\nsaid the Fox, and gave a hint that if the Tiger would wait a while in a\nthicket close by, he would point out the men to him.\n\n\"May I depend upon your word?\" said the Tiger.\n\n\"Certainly,\" said the Fox.\n\nThe hunters came, and, seeing the Fox in the net, said: \"So you are\nhere!\"\n\n\"Only on your account,\" said the Fox, in a whisper.\n\n\"How so?\" said the men.\n\n\"Why, you were complaining you could not get at the Tiger that has been\ndevouring your cattle.  I got into this net to-day that you may have\nhim.  As I expected, he came to eat me up, and is in yonder thicket,\"\nsaid the Fox, and gave a hint that if they would take him out of the\ntrap he would point out the Tiger.  \"May we depend upon your word?\"\nsaid the men.\n\n\"Certainly,\" said the Fox, while the men went with him in a circle to\nsee that he did not escape.\n\nThen the Fox said to the Tiger and the men: \"Sir Tiger, here are the\nmen; gentlemen, here is the Tiger.\"\n\nThe men left the Fox and turned to the Tiger.  The former beat a hasty\nretreat to the wood, saying, \"I have kept my promise to both; now you\nmay settle it between yourselves.\"\n\nThe Tiger exclaimed, when it was too late: \"_Alas! what art for a\ndouble part?_\"\n\n\n\nThe Hare and the Pig\n\nA Hare and a Pig once agreed to leap over a ditch.  The Hare went a\ngreat way, and fell into it, just short by an inch.  The Pig went some\nway and fell into it; but far behind the Hare.  Yet they were eager to\nknow which of them leapt more, and was therefore the better animal.\n\nSo they said to a Fox, who had been watching the race: \"Will you tell\nus which of us is superior, and which inferior, in the race?\"\n\nThe Fox said: \"_Both in the ditch: can't say which!_\"\n\n\n\nThe Peacock and the Fox\n\nA Fox, who had an eye on a Peacock, was one day standing in a field\nwith his face turned up to the sky.\n\n\"Reynard,\" said the Peacock, \"what have you been doing?\"\n\n\"Oh, I have been counting the stars,\" said the Fox.\n\n\"How many are they?\" said the Peacock.\n\n\"About as many as the fools on earth,\" said the Fox.\n\n\"But which do you think is the greater, the number of the stars or of\nthe fools?\" asked the Peacock.\n\n\"If you put it so, I should say the fools are more by one,\" said the\nFox.\n\n\"Who is that one?\" said the Peacock.\n\n\"Why, my own silly self!\" said the Fox.\n\n\"How are you silly, Reynard?\" questioned the Peacock.\n\n\"Why, was it not foolish of me to count the stars in the sky, when I\ncould have counted the stars in your brilliant plumage to better\nadvantage?\" said the Fox.\n\n\"No, Reynard,\" said the Peacock, \"therein is not your folly--although\nthere is neither wit nor wisdom in your prattle--but in the thought\nthat your fine words would make an easy prey of me!\"\n\nThe Fox quietly left the place, saying: \"_The Knave that hath been\nfound out cannot have legs too quick_.\"\n\n\n\nThe Tiger and the Giraffe\n\nA Tiger, named Old Guile, who had grown weak with age, was lying under\na tree by the side of a lake in quest of some animal off which he could\nmake a meal.\n\nA Giraffe, named Tall Stripes, who came to the lake to quench his\nthirst, attracted his attention, and Old Guile addressed him as\nfollows: \"Oh, what a happy day!  I see there the son of my old friend\nYellow Haunch, who lived in the great forest near that distant\nmountain.\"\n\nTall Stripes was astonished to hear the words of Old Guile, and asked\nhim how he, a Tiger, could be the friend of his father, a Giraffe.\n\n\"I am not surprised at your question,\" replied Old Guile; \"it is a\ntruth known to very few indeed that the Tiger and the Giraffe belong to\nthe same family.  Just look at your skin and my own: yours is of a pale\nyellow colour, mine is very nearly the same; you have stripes, I have\nthem, too.  What more proofs do you want?\"\n\nTall Stripes, who was extremely simple and guileless, believed these\nwords, and said: \"I am very happy to know that my father was your\nfriend, and that we are of the same family.  Can I do anything for you?\"\n\nOld Guile replied, \"No, thank you; old as I am, I make it a point of\nrelying on myself.  Further, a great part of my time is spent in prayer\nand meditation; for I consider it necessary, at this age, to devote all\nmy attention to spiritual things.  It will, however, be a great\ngratification to me to have your company whenever you should chance to\npass by this lake.\"\n\nTall Stripes acceded to this request, and was about to go on his Way,\nwhen Old Guile observed; \"My dear Tall Stripes, you are well aware of\nthe instability of all earthly things.  I am old and infirm, and who\nknows what may happen to me to-morrow.  Perhaps I may not see you\nagain; so let me do myself the pleasure of embracing you before you\nleave me for the present.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" said Tall Stripes.  Thereupon Old Guile rose up slowly\nfrom his seat, like one devoid of all energy, and embracing him,\nplunged his deadly teeth into his long neck, and stretching him on the\nground made a hearty breakfast on him.\n\n_Beware of the crafty professions of the wicked_.\n\n\n\nThe Man of Luck and the Man of Pluck\n\nA King in the East said to his Minister; \"Do you believe in luck?\"\n\n\"I do,\" said the Minister.\n\n\"Can you prove it?\" said the King.\n\n\"Yes, I can,\" said the Minister.\n\nSo one night he tied up to the ceiling of a room a parcel containing\npeas mixed with diamonds, and let in two men, one of whom believed in\nluck and the other in human effort alone.  The former quietly laid\nhimself down on the ground; the latter after a series of efforts\nreached the parcel, and feeling in the dark the peas and the stones,\nate the former, one by one, and threw down the latter at his companion,\nsaying, \"Here are the stones for your idleness.\"  The man below\nreceived them in his blanket.\n\nIn the morning the king and the minister came to the room and bade each\ntake to himself what he had got.  The Man of Effort found he had\nnothing beyond the peas he had eaten.  The Man of Luck quietly walked\naway with the diamonds.\n\nThe Minister said to the King: \"Sire, there is such a thing as luck;\nbut it is as rare as peas mixed with diamonds.  So I would say: '_Let\nnone hope to live by luck_.'\"\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Crabs\n\nOne day a Fox seated himself on a stone by a stream and wept aloud.\nThe Crabs in the holes around came up to him and said: \"Friend, why are\nyou wailing so loud?\"\n\n\"Alas!\" said the Fox, \"I have been turned by my kindred out of the\nwood, and do not know what to do.\"\n\n\"Why were you turned out?\" asked the Crabs in a tone of pity.\n\n\"Because,\" said the Fox, sobbing, \"they said they should go out\nto-night hunting Crabs by the stream, and I said it would be a pity to\nlull such pretty little creatures.\"\n\n\"Where will you go hereafter?\" said the Crabs.\n\n\"Where I can get work,\" said the Fox; \"for I would not go to my kindred\nagain, come what would.\"\n\nThen the Crabs held a meeting, and came to the conclusion that, as the\nFox had been thrown out by his kindred on their account, they could do\nnothing better than engage his services to defend them.  So they told\nthe Fox of their intention.  He readily consented, and spent the whole\nday in amusing the Crabs with all kinds of tricks.\n\nNight came.  The moon rose in full splendour.  The Fox said: \"Have you\never been out for a walk in the moonlight?\"\n\n\"Never, friend,\" said the Crabs; \"we are such little creatures that we\nare afraid of going far from our holes.\"\n\n\"Oh, never mind!\" said the Fox; \"follow me!  I can defend you against\nany foe.\"\n\nSo the Crabs followed him with pleasure.  On the way the Fox told them\nall sorts of delightful things, and cheered them on most heartily.\nHaving thus gone some distance, they reached a plain, where the Fox\ncame to a stand, and made a low moan in the direction of an adjacent\nwood.  Instantly a number of foxes came out of the wood and joined\ntheir kinsman, and all of them at once set about hunting the poor\nCrabs, who fled in all directions for their lives, but were soon caught\nand devoured.\n\nWhen the banquet was over, the Foxes said to their friend: \"How great\nthy skill and cunning!\"\n\nThe heartless villain replied, with a wink: \"My friends, _There is\ncunning in cunning_.\"\n\n\n\nThe Camel and the Pig\n\nA Camel said: \"Nothing like being tall!  Look how tall I am!\"\n\nA Pig, who heard these words, said: \"Nothing like being short!  Look\nhow short I am!\"\n\nThe Camel said: \"Well, if I fail to prove the truth of what I said, I\nshall give up my hump.\"\n\nThe Pig said: \"If I fail to prove the truth of what I have said, I\nshall give up my snout.\"\n\n\"Agreed!\" said the Camel.\n\n\"Just so!\" said the Pig.\n\nThey came to a garden, enclosed by a low wall without any opening.  The\nCamel stood on this side the wall, and reaching the plants within by\nmeans of his long neck made a breakfast on them.  Then he turned\njeeringly to the Pig, who had been standing at the bottom of the wall\nwithout even a look at the good things in the garden, and said: \"Now,\nwould you be tall, or short?\"\n\nNext they came to a garden, enclosed by a high wall, with a wicket gate\nat one end.  The Pig entered by the gate and, after having eaten his\nfill of the vegetables within, came out, laughing at the poor Camel,\nwho had had to stay outside, because he was too tall to enter the\ngarden by the gate, and said: \"Now, would you be tall, or short?\"\n\nThen they thought the matter over, and came to the conclusion that the\nCamel should keep his hump and the Pig his snout, observing: \"_Tall is\ngood, where tall would do; if short, again, 'tis also true!_\"\n\n\n\n\nMALAYAN FABLES\n\n\"He who is not possessed of such a book as will dispel many doubts,\npoint out hidden treasures, and is, as it were, a mirror of all things,\nis even an ignorant man.\"\n\n\nMALAYAN FABLES\n\nFather \"Lime-stick\" and the Flower-pecker\n\nOld Father Lime-stick once limed a tree for birds and caught a\nFlower-pecker.  He was just about to kill and eat it when the bird\ncried out, \"O Grandfather, surely you are not going to eat me?  Why,\nflesh, feathers and all, I am no bigger than your thumb!\"  \"What!\" said\nthe old man; \"do you expect me then to let you go?\"  \"Yes,\" said the\nbird, \"only let me go, and I will fetch you such a talisman as never\nwas--a Bezoar-stone as big as a cocoanut and worth at least a\nthousand.\"  Said the old man, \"Do you really mean it?\"  \"Really, I do,\"\nreplied the bird.  \"Just let me go, and I'll bring it to you.\"  Then,\non being released, he flew off and perched on a tree, and began to\npreen his feathers, to get rid of the bird-lime.\n\nPresently the old man said: \"Where has that bird got to?  Bird, where\nis the Bezoar-stone you promised to bring me, the one that was worth at\nleast a thousand?\"  \"Out-on-you,\" was the reply, \"this is really _too_\nridiculous.  Just think of me, with my body as big as your thumb,\ncarrying a Bezoar-stone as big as a cocoanut!  It really is too absurd.\nWhy, have I even got the strength to lift it?\"  At this the old man\nheld his peace.  \"Well,\" continued the bird, \"you will gain nothing by\nrepenting that you set me free.  Only remember in future not to\nundertake an affair quite out of keeping with your own powers.  Neither\ntry to get your arms round a tree too big for your embrace, nor attempt\nto climb one higher than your strength permits you.\"\n\n\n\nThe Mouse-deer's Shipwreck\n\n\"Come,\" said the Mouse-deer to the Stump-tailed Heron, \"come and sail\nwith me to Java.\"  So they set sail, and Friend Mouse-deer held the\ntiller and Friend Heron spread the sail, and the wind blew from the\nnorth.  Soon however Friend Mouse-deer got drowsy, and let the boat\nfall out of the wind.\n\nAt this Friend Heron said: \"Why does the boat fall off?  How is your\nhelm, Friend Mouse-deer?\"  \"I was only taking a few winks,\" said he.\n\"Bring her up to the wind again,\" said the Heron.  And the Mouse-deer\nreplied: \"All right, I'm 'on the spot.'\"  Presently, however, he dozed\nagain and the Heron exclaimed: \"Oh, if that's to be it, you may die and\nbe done with.  I'll peck a hole in this boat of ours and you'll go to\nthe bottom.\"\n\nBut the Mouse-deer said: \"_Please_ don't, I'm _such_ a bad hand at\nswimming.\"  So they sailed on.  And the Mouse-deer dozed a third time.\nAt this the Heron could contain himself no longer, and said, \"Confound\nyou, Friend Mouse-deer, for sleeping at the helm.\"  And losing his\ntemper he pecked a hole in the boat, and the boat let in the water and\nFriend Heron flew away.  But the Mouse-deer swam struggling with his\nfeet in the midst of the sea.\n\nPresently there came up a young Shark who exclaimed, \"I'll have a meal\noff you this time at all events.\"  But the Mouse-deer answered, \"What,\nFriend Shark, you'll make a meal off me?  Why, in place of the little\nflesh I've got, if you'll carry me ashore, I'll teach you some\nexcellent Magic which will save you from ever having to hunt for your\nfood again.\"  To this the Shark replied, \"Agreed.  If you'll teach me\n'your excellent Magic' I'll carry you ashore.\"  So the Mouse-deer got\nupon Friend Shark's back, and was carried straight ashore.\n\nAnd on their arrival the Mouse-deer said: \"Wait here a bit, while I go\nand get the simples.\"  And going a-land he hunted up a rattan creeper\nand took it back with him and said: \"Now I'll give you the simples I\nspoke of,\" and bound it fast to Friend Shark's tail.  And presently the\nShark said: \"Why have you made the line fast to my tail?\"  But the\nMouse-deer replied: \"'Keep quite quiet till I have tied you up\nproperly, and then I'll give you the simples.\"  But presently he\ndragged the Shark up on to the dry beach, and made butcher's meat of\nhim.  Just then, however, a Tiger came up, exclaiming, \"Here's really a\ngood meal for Me, for once in a way!\"  To this, however, the Mouse-deer\nreplied: \"What is the use of eating me, when there's already plenty of\nbutcher's meat and to spare?\"  \"Very well, I'll share it with you,\"\nsaid the Tiger.  The Mouse-deer replied, \"You may share it with me by\nall means, if you will only go and get some water to do the cooking.\"\nSo the Tiger went off to get water and presently came back with it.\n\n\"Wash the meat before you roast it,\" said the Mouse-deer.  The Tiger\ntook the meat and washed it in the water.  \"Go and fetch fire and roast\nit,\" said the Mouse-deer.  The Tiger fetched fire and came back to do\nthe cooking.  And when the meat was done, \"Now go and fetch some\ndrinking water,\" said the Mouse-deer, \"and we'll have our meal\ntogether.\"  So the Tiger went off again to fetch the drinking water.\nBut the Mouse-deer in the meantime made off with the Shark's meat and\nclimbed up with it to the top of a She-oak Tree.  And presently the\nTiger came back and found both Mouse-deer and meat missing.  At this he\nexclaimed: \"For once in a way, Mr. Mouse-deer, you've fairly cheated\nMe; if we don't meet again no matter, but if we do, I'll be the death\nof you.\"  And here the story ends.\n\n\n\nThe Tiger Gets His Deserts\n\nA Tiger which had been caught in a trap, seeing a man, begged to be\nreleased.  The man said to the Tiger: \"If I let you out of the trap\nwill you promise not to attack me?\"  \"Certainly,\" said the Tiger, and\nthe man therefore let the Tiger go; but the moment the Tiger was loose\nit sprang upon the man and caught him.  At this the man begged the\nTiger to wait until he had inquired how the law stood with reference to\ntheir contract, and the Tiger agreed to do so.  The man and the Tiger\ntherefore set out together; and on coming to a Road the man said: \"O\nRoad, Road, is it lawful to requite evil for good, or good for good\nonly?\"  The Road replied: \"I do good to mankind, but they requite me\nwith evil, defiling my surface as they go.\"  Then they came to a Tree,\nof which the man asked the same question.  The Tree replied: \"I do good\nto mankind, but they requite me with evil, lopping off my branches and\ncutting me down.\"  At last they came to the Mouse-deer and the man made\nthe same inquiry as before.  The Mouse-deer replied: \"I must really go\ninto the question thoroughly before I answer it; let us go back\ntogether to the trap.\"  On reaching the trap, he requested the Tiger to\n\"Step inside,\" and the Tiger entering the trap, the Mouse-deer let down\nthe door of the trap, and exclaimed, \"Accursed Brute, you have returned\nevil for good and now you shall die for it.\"  He then called in the\nneighbours and had the Tiger killed.\n\n\n\nThe Tune That Makes the Tiger Drowsy\n\nThere is a tune which when played upon the \"Kerotong\" (a two-stringed\nbamboo harp) makes Rimau the Tiger drowsy, but only a few old people\nknow it.  One evening two men were sitting together and playing in a\nhut in the jungle when two tigers overheard them.\n\nThe Tigers took counsel together, and one of them said to the other,\n\"You shall be the first to go into the house.  Whatever you seize shall\ntherefore be your portion, but Whatever plunges down the steps to\nescape shall be mine.\"\n\nAt this the second Tiger ascended the house-ladder and was just\ncrouching upon the topmost rung when one of the men to amuse himself\ncommenced to play the Tune that makes the Tiger drowsy.  As soon as the\nTiger heard it he began to grow sleepy, and presently fell plump down\nthe steps to the ground, where he was seized by his companion.  When he\nobjected his companion exclaimed, \"Did we not agree that Whatever\nplunged down the steps was to be my portion?\" and, so saying, he\nproceeded to devour him at his leisure.\n\n\n\nThe Tiger and the Shadow\n\nThere was a \"salt-lick\" in the jungle to which all the beasts of the\nforest resorted, but they were greatly afraid by reason of an old Tiger\nwhich killed one of them every day.  At length, therefore, P'lando' the\nMouse-deer said to the Tiger, \"Why not permit me to bring you a beast\nevery day, to save you from hunting for your food?\"  The Tiger\nconsented and P'lando' went off to make arrangement with the beasts.\nBut he could not persuade any of them to go, and after three days he\nset off, taking nobody with him but Kuwis the smallest of the Flying\nSquirrels.\n\nOn their arrival P'lando' said to the Tiger: \"I could not bring you any\nof the other beasts because the way was blocked by a fat old Tiger with\na Flying Squirrel sitting astride its muzzle.\"  On hearing this the\nTiger exclaimed, \"Let us go and find it and drive it away.\"  The three\ntherefore set out, the Flying Squirrel perched upon the Tiger's muzzle\nand the Mouse-deer sitting astride upon its hind quarters.  On reaching\nthe river, the Mouse-deer pointed to the Tiger's likeness in the water\nand exclaimed, \"Look there!  That is the fat old Tiger that I saw.\"  On\nhearing this, the Tiger sprang into the river to attack his own shadow,\nand was drowned immediately.\n\n\n\nThe King-crow and the Water-snail\n\nA Water-snail was coming up-stream from the lower reaches, when a\nKing-crow heard it.  Said the King-crow to himself: \"Who can it be\ncoming up-stream that exclaims so loudly at the rapids?  One might say\nit was a man, but that there is nothing to be seen.\"  So the King-crow\nsettled on a tree to watch, but as he could see nothing from his perch\non the tree he flew down to the ground, and walked along by the\nwater-side.  And when he thought to see some man exclaiming, he caught\nsight of the Water-snail.\n\n\"Hullo, you there,\" said he, \"where do you come from?\"  \"I come from\nthe eddy below the rapids,\" said the Water-snail, \"and I only want to\nget as far as the head-waters of this river.\"  Said the King-crow:\n\"Wait a bit.  Suppose you go down to the river-mouth as quickly as you\ncan and we will have a wager on it.\"  (Now rivers are the Water-snail's\ndomain, in which he has many comrades.)\n\n\"What is to be the stake?\" asked the Water-snail.  \"If I am beaten I\nwill be your slave, and look after your aroids and wild caladiums on\nwhich all Water-snails feed.\"  Then the King-crow asked: \"And what will\nyou stake?\"  The Water-snail replied, \"If I am beaten, the river shall\nbe handed over to you and you shall be King of the River.\"  But the\nWater-snail begged for a delay of twice seven days, saying that he felt\nknocked up after ascending the rapids, and the delay was granted\naccordingly.\n\nMeanwhile, however, the Water-snail hunted up a great number of his\nfriends and instructed them to conceal themselves in each of the higher\nreaches of the river, and to reply immediately when the King-crow\nchallenged them.\n\nThe day arrived, and the King-crow flew off, and in each of the higher\nreaches the Water-snail's friends replied to the challenge, while at\nthe river-mouth the Water-snail replied in person.  So the King-crow\nwas defeated and has ever since remained the slave of the Water-snail.\n\n\n\nThe Elephant Has a Bet with the Tiger\n\nIn the beginning Gajah the Elephant and Rimau the Tiger were sworn\nfriends.  But one day they came to a clearing and presently encountered\nLotong, the long-tailed Spectacle-monkey.  And when he saw the Monkey,\nthe Elephant said, \"Mr. Lotong yonder is far too noisy; let us try and\nshake him off; if he falls to me I am to eat you; and if he falls to\nyou, you are to eat me--we will make a wager of it.\"  The Tiger said,\n\"Agreed\"; and the Elephant replied, \"Agreed.\"  \"Very well!\" said the\nTiger; \"you shall try and menace him first.\"  So the Elephant tried to\nmenace the Monkey.  \"AU! AU! AU!\" he trumpeted, and each time he\ntrumpeted the Monkey was scared.  But the Monkey went jumping head\nforemost through the branches and never fell to the ground at all.\n\nPresently, therefore, the Tiger asked the Elephant, \"Well, Friend\nElephant, would you like to try your luck again?\"  But the Elephant\nsaid, \"No, thank you.  It shall be your turn now; and if he falls to\nyou, you shall eat me--if you really can make him fall!\"  Then the\nTiger went and roared his longest and loudest, and shortened his body\nas for a spring and growled and menaced the Monkey thrice.  And the\nMonkey leaped and fell at the Tiger's feet, for his feet and hands were\nparalyzed and would not grip the branches any more.  Then the Tiger\nsaid: \"Well, Friend Elephant, I suppose I may eat you now.\"  But the\nElephant said: \"You have, I admit, won the wager; but I beg you to\ngrant me just seven days' respite, to enable me to visit my wife and\nchildren and to make my will.\"  The Tiger granted the request, and the\nElephant went home, bellowing and sobbing every foot of the way.\n\nNow the Elephant's wife heard the sound of her husband's voice, and\nsaid to her children, \"What can be the matter with your Father that he\nkeeps sobbing so?\"  And the children listened to make sure, and said,\n\"Yes, it really is Father's voice, the sobbing, and not that of anybody\nelse.\"  Presently Father Elephant arrived, and Mother Elephant asked:\n\"What were you sobbing for, Father?  What have you done to yourself?\"\nFather Elephant replied: \"I made a wager with Friend Tiger about\nshaking down a Monkey, and Friend Tiger beat me; I menaced the Monkey,\nbut he did not fall; if he had fallen to me, I was to have eaten Friend\nTiger, but if he fell to Friend Tiger, Friend Tiger was to eat me.  I\nwas beaten, and now Friend Tiger says he is going to eat me.  So I\nbegged leave to come home and see you, and he has given me just seven\ndays' respite.\"\n\nNow for the seven days Father Elephant kept sobbing aloud, and neither\nate nor slept.  And the thing came to the hearing of Friend Mouse-deer.\n\"What can be the matter with Friend Elephant that he keeps bellowing\nand bellowing; neither does he sleep, so that night is turned into day,\nand day into night?  What on earth is the matter with him?  Suppose I\ngo and see,\" said the Mouse-deer.  Then the Mouse-deer went to see what\nwas wrong, and asked: \"What is the matter with you, Friend Elephant,\nthat we hear you bellowing and bellowing every single day and every\nsingle night, just now, too, when the Rains are upon us? You are far\ntoo noisy.\"\n\nBut the Elephant said: \"It is no mere empty noise, Friend Mouse-deer; I\nhave got into a dreadful scrape.\"  \"What sort of a scrape?\" inquired\nthe Mouse-deer.  \"I made a wager with Friend Tiger about shaking down a\nMonkey, and he beat me.\"  \"What was the stake?\" asked the Mouse-deer.\n\"The stake was that Friend Tiger might eat me if Friend Tiger\nfrightened it down; and if I frightened it down, I might eat Friend\nTiger.  It fell to Friend Tiger, and now Friend Tiger wants to eat me.\nAnd my reason for not eating or sleeping any more is that I have got\nonly just seven days' respite to go home and visit my wife and children\nand to make my will.\"  Then the Mouse-deer said: \"If it came to Friend\nTiger's eating you, I should feel exceedingly sorrowful, exceedingly\ndistressed; but things being only as you say, I feel neither.\"  \"If you\nwill assist me,\" said the Elephant, \"I will become your slave, and my\ndescendants shall be your slaves forever.\"  \"Very well, it that is the\ncase, I will assist you,\" said the Mouse-deer.  \"Go and look for a jar\nfull of molasses.\"  Friend Elephant promised to do so, and went to look\nfor it at the house of a maker of palm-wine.  The owner of the house\nfled for his life, and the jar fell into Friend Elephant's possession,\nwho bore it back to the Mouse-deer.\n\nThen Friend Mouse-deer said, \"When does your promise expire?\" and\nFriend Elephant replied, \"To-morrow.\"  So when next morning arrived\nthey started, and the Mouse-deer said, \"Now pour the molasses over your\nback and let it spread and spread and run down your legs.\"  Friend\nElephant did as he was ordered.  Friend Mouse-deer then instructed the\nElephant as follows: \"As soon as I begin to lick up the molasses on\nyour back, bellow as loud as you can and make believe to be hurt, and\nwrithe and wriggle this way and that.\"\n\nAnd presently Friend Mouse-deer commenced to lick hard, and Friend\nElephant writhed and wriggled and made believe to be hurt, and made a\nprodigious noise of trumpeting.  In this way they proceeded and Friend\nMouse-deer got up and sat astride upon Friend Elephant's back.  And the\nElephant trumpeted and trumpeted all the way till they met with Friend\nTiger.  At this Friend Mouse-deer exclaimed, \"A single Elephant is very\nshort commons; if I could only catch that big and fat old Tiger there,\nit would be just enough to satisfy my hunger.\"\n\nNow when Friend Tiger heard these words of the Mouse-deer, he said to\nhimself, \"So I suppose if you catch me, you'll eat me into the bargain,\nwill you?\"  And Friend Tiger stayed not a moment longer, but fled for\nhis life, fetching very lofty bounds.\n\nAnd soon he met with the Black Ape, and Friend Ape asked, \"Why running\nso hard, Friend Tiger?  Why so much noise, and why, just when the Rains\nare upon us, too, do you go fetching such lofty bounds?\"  Friend Tiger\nreplied, \"What do you mean by 'so much noise'?  What was the Thing that\nwas got upon Friend Elephant's back, that had caught Friend Elephant\nand was devouring him so that he went writhing and wriggling for the\npain of it, and the blood went streaming down in floods?  Moreover the\nThing that was got on Friend Elephant's back said, to my hearing, that\na single Elephant was very short commons: but if It could catch a fat\nold Tiger like myself that would be just enough to satisfy Its hunger.\"\nFriend Ape said, \"What was that Thing, Friend Tiger?\" \"I don't know,\"\nsaid the Tiger.  \"Ah,\" mused the Ape, \"I wonder if it _could_ be Friend\nMouse-deer!\"  \"Certainly not,\" said the Tiger; \"why, how in the world\ncould Friend Mouse-deer swallow _Me_?  To say nothing of his not being\nused to meat food.\"  \"Come and let us go back again,\" said the Ape.\n\nThen they went back again to find the Elephant, and first the Ape went\nthe faster, and then the Tiger went the faster, and then the Ape got in\nfront again.  But Friend Mouse-deer sitting on Friend Elephant's back\nsaw them coming and shouted.  \"Hullo, Father Ape,\" said he, \"this is a\ndog's trick indeed; you promised to bring me two tigers and you only\nbring me one.  I refuse to accept it, Father Ape.\"\n\nNow when Friend Tiger heard this, he ran off at first as fast as he\ncould, but presently he slackened his pace and said, \"It is too bad of\nyou, Friend Ape, to try to cozen me in order to pay your own debts.\nFor shame, Father Ape!  It was only through good luck that he refused\nto accept me; if he had accepted, I should have been dead and done\nwith.  So now, if you come down to the ground, you shall die the death\nyourself, just for your trying to cheat me.\"\n\nThus the Tiger and the Ape were set at enmity, and to this day the\nTiger is very wroth with the Ape for trying to cheat him.  And here the\nstory ends.\n\n\n\n\nMOORISH FABLES\n\n  \"While watching man in all his phases,\n  And seeing that, in many cases,\n    He acts just like the brute creation--\n  I've thought the lord of all these races\n  Of no less failings showed the traces\n    Than do his lieges in relation.\"\n\n\nMOORISH FABLES\n\nThe Wagtail and the Jackal\n\nAt a time when the animals spoke, a Wagtail laid her eggs on the\nground.  The little ones grew up.  A Jackal and a Fox came to them.\nThe Jackal said to the Fox:\n\n\"Swear to me that the Wagtail owes me a pound of butter.\"\n\nThe Fox swore to it.  The Bird began to weep.  A Greyhound came to her\nand asked her what was the matter.  She answered him:\n\n\"The Fox has calumniated me.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the Hound, \"put me in this sack of skin.\"\n\nShe put him in the sack.  \"Tie up the top well,\" said the Hound.  When\nthe Jackal returned she said to him,\n\n\"Come and measure out the butter.\"\n\nThe Jackal advanced and unfastened the sack.  He saw the Hound, who\nstretched out his paws and said to the Fox,\n\n\"I am ill; come and measure, Fox.\"\n\nThe Fox approached.  The Hound seized him.  The Jackal said:\n\n\"Remember your false testimony.\"\n\n\n\nThe Wren\n\nA Wren had built its nest on the side of a road.  When the eggs were\nhatched, a Camel passed that way.  The little Wrens saw it and said to\ntheir father when he returned from the fields:\n\n\"O papa, a gigantic animal passed by.\"\n\nThe Wren stretched out his foot.  \"As big as this, my children?\"\n\n\"O papa, much bigger.\"\n\nHe stretched out his foot and his wing.  \"As big as this?\"\n\n\"O papa, much bigger.\"\n\nFinally he stretched out fully his feet and legs.\n\n\"As big as this then?\"\n\n\"Much bigger.\"\n\n\"That is a lie; there is no animal bigger than I am.\"\n\n\"Well, wait,\" said the little ones, \"and you will see.\"\n\nThe Camel came back while browsing the grass of the roadside.\n\nThe Wren stretched himself out near the nest.  The Camel seized the\nbird, which passed through its teeth safe and sound.\n\n\"Truly,\" he said to them, \"the Camel is a gigantic animal, but I am not\nashamed of myself.\"\n\nOn the earth it generally happens that the vain are as if they did not\nexist; but sooner or later a rock falls and crushes them.\n\n\n\nMule, Jackal, and Lion\n\nThe Mule, the Jackal, and the Lion went in company.\n\n\"We will eat the one whose race is bad,\" they said to each other.\n\n\"Lion, who is your father?\"\n\n\"My father is a lion, and my mother is a lioness.\"\n\n\"And you, Jackal, what is your father?\"\n\n\"My father is a jackal, and my mother too.\"\n\n\"And you, Mule, what is your father?\"\n\n\"My father is an ass, and my mother is a mare.\"\n\n\"Your race is bad; we will eat you.\"\n\nHe answered them: \"I will consult an old man.  If he says that my race\nis bad, you may devour me.\"\n\nHe went to a farrier, and said to him, \"Shoe my hind feet, and make the\nnails stick out well.\"\n\nHe went back home.  He called the Camel and showed him his feet,\nsaying, \"See what is written on this tablet.\"\n\n\"The writing is difficult to decipher,\" answered the Camel.  \"I do not\nunderstand it, for I only know three words--_outini_, _ouzatini_,\n_ouazakin_.\"\n\nHe called the Lion, and said to him, \"I do not understand these\nletters; I only know three words--_outini_, _ouzatini_, _ouazakin_.\"\n\n\"Show it to me,\" said the Lion.  He approached.  The Mule struck him\nbetween the eyes and stretched him out level.\n\nHe who goes with a knave is betrayed by him.\n\n\n\n\nAFRICAN FABLES\n\n  \"The world is old, they say; I don't deny it;\n    But, infant still\n    In taste and will,\n  Whoe'er would teach, must gratify it.\"\n\n\nAFRICAN FABLES\n\nThe Hen and the Cat\n\nA Cat arose in her house, went to a Hen and said to her: \"Let us make\nfriendship!\"\n\nThe Hen replied to the Cat: \"Dost thou like me for a friend?\"\n\nThe Cat said, \"Yes,\" and went away, and after having been at home for a\nwhile, she sent her child to the Hen, saying, \"Go and tell the Hen to\nrise up early to-morrow morning, and to come and accompany me to a\nneighbouring town.\"\n\nThe child arose, went to the Hen's house and saluted her.\n\nThe Hen arose, and asked it: \"Thou child of the Cat, dost thou come to\nme in peace?\"\n\nThe Cat's child replied, \"I come in peace; my mother has sent me to\nthee.\"\n\nThe Hen said to the Cat's child, \"Say what thy mother has sent thee\nfor; let me know.\"\n\nAfter the Cat's child had told it to the Hen, it said: \"I will go,\" and\nset out and went home.\n\nWhen it was gone the Hen arose, called a child of hers, and said: \"Go\nand ask the Cat at what time we shall go to the neighbouring town?\"\nWhen the child had already started, she called it back again, saying,\n\"Come back, I will tell thee something.\"\n\nThe child returned, and when it had come to its mother, she said to it,\n\"When thou goest to the Cat, open thy ears and hear well what she says,\nand come and tell me.\"\n\nThe child went to the Cat, and saluted her, and when the Cat arose and\ncame out to it, the Hen's child was standing there.  The Cat asked the\nHen's child, \"Why did thy mother send thee to me?\"\n\nThe Hen's child said, \"My mother said I must come and ask thee how\nearly shall we go to the neighbouring town?\"\n\nThe Cat said to the Hen's child, \"Go and tell thy mother to arise and\ncome at the cockcrowing; for what should eat her?\"\n\nThe Hen's child returned to its mother, and said to her, \"Behold I went\nto the Cat's place where thou sentest me, and am come back.\"\n\nThe Hen said to her child, \"What did the Cat say?  Let me hear what\nword she spoke?\"\n\nHer child answered and said to her, \"My mother, the word which the Cat\nspoke is this: 'Go and tell thy mother to come to me when the cock\ncrows, that we may go; for what should eat her?'\"\n\nIts mother, the Hen, said to her child, \"My child, lie down in your\nhouse, for I have heard what the Cat said.\"\n\nThe child of the Hen obeyed her mother, went and lay down, and also her\nmother lay down.  They slept their sleep until the cock crew, which\nwhen the Cat heard, she arose, got ready and waited for the Hen,\nthinking, \"May she come that we may go!\"  The cock crew the second\ntime, and the Cat looked out on the way whence the Hen was to come,\nthinking, \"May she come that we may go!\"\n\nThe Hen did not get up at home and day came on.  When it became day,\nthe Cat arose in her house, went to the Hen's home, and said to her,\n\"Hen, thou sentest thy child to me, and asked at what time thou\nshouldst rise up, and I said to thy child, 'Go and tell thy mother to\ncome when the cock crows, that we may go.'  Did it not tell thee what\nit was told by me, that thou art still sitting at home although it has\nbecome day?\"\n\nThe Hen said to the Cat, \"Sister Cat, if thou wishest to have me for a\nfriend, I must never get up in my house and come out at night.\"\n\nThe Cat said to the Hen, \"What art thou afraid of that thou sayest, 'I\nwill never come out at night'?  What is there in the way?\"\n\nThe Hen listened to what the Cat said, got herself ready and called her\nchildren, saying, \"Come and let us accompany the Cat to a neighbouring\ntown!\"  All the children arose and when they had set out on their way,\nthe Cat went before, and having gone on a little, she seized two of the\nchildren of the Hen; and the Hen saw that the cat was seizing two of\nher children; so she said to the Cat, \"Sister Cat, we have scarcely set\nout on our way and dost thou seize two of my children?\"\n\nThe Cat replied, \"Thy two children which I took have not strength\nenough to walk; therefore did I take them to my bosom that we may go\non.\"\n\nThe Hen said to the Cat, \"If thou actest thus, I and thou must dissolve\nour friendship.\"\n\nThe Cat replied, \"If thou wilt not have a friend, I shall let thee go\nhome.\"  So, as the Hen began to go home, the Cat made a bound, and\nseized the Hen's head, whereupon the Hen cried for help.  All the\npeople of the town heard her, arose, ran, and when they were come, the\nCat was holding the Hen's head tight.  When the Cat saw the people of\nthe town, she left the Hen, ran away, and entered the forest.\n\nThere the Hen was standing and the people of the town said to her:\n\"Foolish one, didst thou, a Hen, arise and go to befriend a Cat?  If we\nhad not heard thy screams, and come to thee, she would have killed thee\nand carried away all thy children into her forest.\"\n\nThe Hen said to the people of the town: \"God bless you: you have taken\nme out of the Cat's mouth.\"\n\nThe people of the town said to her: \"To-day our Lord has delivered\nthee, but for the future do thou no more make friendship with the Cat.\nThe Cat is too cunning for thee: beware of the Cat in future!\"\n\nI have heard old people say, that on that day the cats and the fowls\ndissolved their friendship.  This is finished.\n\n\n\nThe Stork and the Toad\n\nA Stork went and laid eggs in a tree, brooded and hatched young ones.\nThen she left and went to seek food for her little ones; but she did\nnot get any food, and all her little ones were crying for hunger.  The\nStork did not know what to do.  So she arose one day, went to her\nfriend, and said, \"My friend, I am come to thee.\"\n\nHer friend said: \"What dost thou want that thou art come to me?\"\n\nShe replied to her friend: \"My children are hungry, and I have no food;\ntherefore, am I come to thee; teach me a device!\"\n\nHer friend said to her: \"Arise in the morning, go to the brook, and see\nwhether there are Toads in it; then come back, and on the following\nmorning go again, and lie down by the side of the brook; stretch out\nthy legs and thy wings, shut thine eyes, keep quite silent, and lie in\none place until the Toads come out in the morning, and, after seeing\nthee, go home and call all their people to come, to take thee by the\nwing and to drag thee away.  But do not thou speak to them--be\nperfectly quiet.\"\n\nShe listened to what her friend said, and at night-quiet she arose, and\nwent to the brook, when all the Toads were singing; but as soon as they\nsaw her, they went and hid themselves at the bottom of the water.  So\nthe Stork went home and slept, and having slept she arose up early and\nwent back again to the brook, without being observed by the Toads; she\nwent softly, and lay down by the side of the water, pretending to be\ndead, stretched out her legs, her wings, and her mouth, and shut her\neyes.  Thus she lay, until at break of day when one Toad arose, and,\nfinding that it was day, came forth and saw the Stork lying.  He went\nback, and called all the Toads:\n\n\"Come, behold, I have seen something dead, lying at the door of our\nhouse, and when I had seen it I came back to call you.\"\n\nSo all the Toads arose and followed him, and having come out, they all\nsaw a Stork lying at the door of their house; but they did not know\nthat the Stork was more cunning than themselves.  They returned home,\ncalled a council together and said: \"What shall we do?  Some one who\ncame, we do not know whence, has died before the gate of our town.\"\nAll their great men answered, and said, \"Arise all of you, go out, drag\nthis dead body far away, and leave it there.\"\n\nSo they all arose, went, and, taking the Stork by its wings and legs,\ndragged it away.\n\nThe Stork was cunning; she saw them without their knowing it.  They\nsang, as they dragged her away:\n\n\"Drag her and leave her!  Drag her and leave her!\"\n\nThe Stork did not speak to them, as they all dragged her away, although\nshe saw them.  Now when they had carried her far away, the Stork opened\nher eyes, which when they saw they all began to run away.  As soon as\nthe Stork saw that the Toads had begun to run away, she arose, and\npursued them; having overtaken one, she took and swallowed it, and went\non taking and swallowing them.  The Toads kept running, but by the time\nthey would have got home the Stork had swallowed them all, one by one.\nShe had filled her bag, and then started on her way home.  As soon as\nher children saw her, they all ran to their mother, saying, \"Our mother\nhas brought us food.\"  When they came their mother threw all the Toads\nin her bag down to her children, and her children ate them, so that\ntheir hunger was appeased.\n\nThe Stork arose, went to her friend, and said:\n\n\"My friend, what thou toldest me yesterday is excellent: I went and lay\ndown by the side of the brook, and when the Toads saw me in the\nmorning, they thought I was dead; they came, dragged me along, and when\nthey had carried me far away, not knowing that I was wiser than they\nand thinking that I was dead, I opened mine eyes to look at them; but\non seeing me open mine eyes, they all began to run away.  Then I arose,\npursued them, and when I had overtaken one, I took and swallowed it;\nand when I had overtaken a second I took and swallowed it; so by the\ntime they would have reached home I had swallowed them all, and filled\nmy bag with them.  I brought them to my children, and when my children\nwere around me, I threw the Toads before them out of the bag and they\nate them, that their hunger was appeased.\"\n\nShe also thanked her friend, saying: \"God bless thee; thou hast taught\nme an excellent device.\"\n\nThus the Stork and her friend devised a plan, and thus they were able\nto maintain their children while the Toads were sitting in their house.\n\nSo now, when the Toads are croaking in a brook, and they see any one\ncome, they are all quite silent, supposing that a Stork is coming.\n\nThis fable of the Stork and Toads, which I heard, is now finished.\n\n\n\nThe Rat and the Toad\n\nThe Toad said to the Rat, \"I can do more than thou.\"\n\nThe Rat replied to the Toad: \"Thou dost not know how to run; having\nflung thyself anywhere thou stoppest there.  This is all thy run; and\nwilt thou say that thou canst do more than I?\"\n\nWhen the Toad had heard the words of the Rat he said to him: \"If,\naccording to thy opinion, I cannot do more than thou, thou shalt see\nwhat I will begin to do to-morrow; and if thou beginnest and doest the\nsame, without anything happening to thee, thou canst do more than I.\"\n\nThe Rat agreed to the Toad's proposal, and went to see the Toad.\n\nThe Toad prepared himself, and when the sun reached about the middle,\nbetween the horizon and the zenith, the great men felt its heat, and\nwent to sit down in the shade of a tree.  The Toad on seeing this,\narose, went to where the men were sitting, and passed through the midst\nof them.  When the men observed him they said: \"If you touch him, your\nhand will become bitter.\"  So no one touched him, and the Toad passed\nthrough and went home.\n\nThen the Toad said to the Rat, \"Didst thou see me?  Now if thou canst\ndo what I do, arise, and begin to do it.  I will see!\"\n\nThe Rat, attending to what the toad said, got ready and the following\nmorning, when the sun had gained strength and the great men had stood\nup and got under the shade of a tree, the Rat saw them sitting there,\nand went to do what the Toad had done; but when he came to where the\nmen were sitting, and just went to pass through the midst of them, they\nsaw him, and they all took sticks, and sought to kill him: one man\nattempting to kill him with a stick, struck at him, but did not hit him\nwell, the stick touching him only a little on the back; so he ran away\nto the Toad.\n\nOn his arrival the Rat said to the Toad:\n\n\"Brother Toad, as thou wentest to where the people were sitting no one\nsaid a word to thee, and thou camest home again with a sound skin; but\nwhen I went, and they saw me, just as I went to pass through them they\nall took sticks, and sought to kill me; and one man taking a stick and\nstriking at me to kill me, our Lord helped me, that the stick hit me\nonly a little on the back; so I ran away, and came to thee.  I disputed\nwith thee, thinking that I could do what thou doest: now to-day I have\nexperienced something; to-morrow let us begin again and when I have the\nexperience of to-morrow, I shall be able to give thee an answer.\"\n\nThe Toad said to the Rat: \"The things of today are passed; to-morrow,\nwhen the great men have gone and sat down under the tree, I will get\nready and when thou hast seen that, on observing me come to them and\npass through the midst of them, they will not say a word to me, thou\nalso shalt do what I did.\"  So the Rat then went to see the Toad.\n\nAs soon as the Toad saw the great men sitting under the tree, he again\nbegan, saying to the Rat, \"Look at me, as I go to the place where the\ngreat men are sitting, with a sound skin: but if, on my return from\nthem, if thou seest the wale of a stick on any part of my body, thou\nhast spoken the truth, and canst do more than I.\"\n\nThe Toad got ready, and on coming to where the men were sitting no one\nsaid anything to him; so he passed through the midst of them, and went\nagain to the Rat, saying: \"Look at me!  Look at my whole body!  Canst\nthou see the wale of a stick?  If thou seest one, then tell me of it!\"\n\nWhen the Rat had looked at the Toad's whole body and not seen any wale\nof a stick he said to the Toad:\n\n\"Brother Toad, I have looked at thy whole body, and not seen any wale\nof a stick: thou art right.\"\n\nThe Toad said to the Rat.  \"As thou disputest with me, and maintainest\nthat thou canst do what I do, get up again, and go to where the great\nmen are sitting; and if on seeing thee, these men do not say anything\nto thee, so that I see thee come back to me again with a sound skin,\nthen I know that thou canst do more than I.\"\n\nThe Rat, attending to what the Toad said, arose, got himself ready, and\nwhen he saw the great men sitting under the tree, he went toward them;\nbut on observing him, they said: \"Here comes a Rat,\" and they every one\ntook a stick, and pursued him in order to kill him; so he ran away, and\nas he ran, a man with a stick pursued him; saying, \"I will not let this\nRat escape.\"\n\nThe Rat ran until his strength failed him.  The man pursued him with\nhis stick, to kill him; and having come near to him, he took his stick,\nand struck at him, with the purpose of killing him; but the stick did\nnot hit him, and God saved him, his time being not yet arrived, by\nshowing him a hole into which he crept.  When the man saw that he had\ngotten into the hole, he went back and returned home.  The Rat, on\nseeing that the man had gone home, came again out of the hole, and went\nto the Toad, saying to him:\n\n\"Brother Toad, I indeed at first disputed with thee, saying that I\ncould do more than thou; but, as for my disputing with thee, thou in\ntruth canst do more than I: when the people saw thee, they did not say\na word to thee, but when they saw me, they wished to kill me; if our\nLord had not helped me and showed me a hole, they, on seeing me, would\nnot have left, but killed me; thou surpassest me in greatness.\"\n\nAt that time the Rat entreated our Lord and he placed it in a hole, but\nthe Toad he placed in the open air.  The Rat does not come out by day,\nbefore any one; as to the time when it comes out at night, it stretches\nits head out of the hole, and when it does not see anybody it comes out\nto seek its food.\n\nAs for the Toad, it comes out by day and by night, at any time,\nwhenever it likes; it comes out and goes about, not anything likes to\nmolest it; it is bitter, no one eats it on account of its bitterness;\nthe Toad is left alone; therefore it goes about wherever it likes.\n\nThe Rat does not come out of its hole and walk about except at night.\n\nWhat the Toad and the Rat did, this I heard, and have told to thee.\nThis fable of the Toad and the Rat is now finished.\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Wild Dog\n\nThe Lion said to the Wild Dog that he did not fear any one in the\nforest except these four, viz., tree-leaves, grass, flies, and earth,\nand when the Wild Dog said, \"There is certainly one stronger than\nthou,\" the Lion replied to the Wild Dog, \"I kill the young ones of the\nelephant, the wild cow, and the leopard, and bring them to my children\nto be eaten.  If I give one roar, all the beasts of the forest tremble,\nevery one of them, on hearing me roar; none is greater than I within\nthis forest.\"\n\nThe Wild Dog said to the Lion, \"As thou sayest that thou fearest not\nany one in this forest, so let us go and show me thy house; and I will\ncome and call thee, in order to show thee a place where a black bird\ncomes to eat, as soon as I shall see him again.\"\n\nThe Lion took the Wild Dog with him and showed him his house; and then\nthe Wild Dog went home.\n\nThe next day, when a hunter was come to the forest the Wild Dog, on\nseeing him, went to the Lion's house, and said to the Lion:\n\n\"Brother Lion, come, and follow me, and I will show thee something\nwhich I have seen.\"\n\nThe Lion arose and followed the Wild Dog, and when they were come to\nwhere the hunter was, the hunter prepared himself: he had put on his\nforest garment, had sewn the bill of a long bird to his cap, and put it\non his head, and he walked as a bird.  The Wild Dog, seeing him, said\nto the Lion:\n\n\"Brother Lion, yonder is that black bird.  Go and catch him, and when\nthou hast caught him, please give me one of his legs, for I want it for\na charm.\"\n\nThe Lion attended to what the Wild Dog said, and went softly to where\nthe bird was; but the Wild Dog ran back.\n\nThe Lion went, thinking, \"I will kill the bird,\" but he did not know\nthat on seeing him the hunter had prepared himself, and taken out his\narrow; so, as he thought, \"I will go and seize the bird,\" and was come\nclose to the hunter, the hunter shot an arrow at the Lion and hit him.\nThen the Lion fell back, and having got up and fallen down three times,\nthe arrow took effect and he felt giddy.  In the same moment the hunter\nhad disappeared[1] so that he saw him no more.  Then the Lion recovered\nhis courage and went very gently home.\n\nOn his arrival at home the Wild Dog said to him:\n\n\"Brother Lion, as thou saidst to me that thou art not afraid of any one\nin the world except our Lord, tree-leaves, grass, flies, and dirt, why\ndidst thou not catch that black bird which I showed thee, and bring it\nto thy children?\"\n\nThe Lion replied, \"This man's strength is greater than mine.\"\n\nThen the Wild Dog said again, \"Thou saidst that thou fearest no one,\nexcept grass, flies, earth and tree-leaves; thou fearest, lest when\nthou enterest the forest, the leaves of trees should touch thee, or\nlest grass should touch thy body, or lest flies should sit on thy skin;\nthou also fearest to lie upon the bare earth, and thou fearest our\nLord, who created thee: all these thou fearest, 'but not any other I\nfear within this forest,' thou saidst; and yet I showed thee a bird,\nthe which thou couldst not kill, but thou leftest it, and rannest home;\nnow tell me how this bird looks?\"\n\nThe Lion answered and said to the Wild Dog: \"Wild Dog, what thou saidst\nis true, and I believe it; a black man is something to be feared; if we\ndo not fear a black man neither shall we fear our Lord who created us.\"\n\nNow all the wild beasts which God has created hunt for their food in\nthe forest, and eat it; but as soon as they see one black man standing,\nthey do not stop and wait, but run away.  Now the following beasts are\ndangerous in the forest: viz., the leopard, the lion, the wild cow, the\nwild dog and the hyena; but when they see a black man, they do not stop\nand wait.  As for the dispute which the Lion and the Wild Dog had, the\nWild Dog was right, and the Lion gave him his right; then they shook\nhands again, and each went and ran to his own home.  This fable, which\nI heard, respecting the Wild Dog and the Lion, is now finished.\n\n[1]This refers to the universal belief that hunters are able to render\nthemselves invisible, in moments of danger, by the operation of charms\nand witchcraft.\n\n\n\nHow Sense Was Distributed\n\nIn the beginning not one of all the beasts of the forest was endowed\nwith sense: when they saw a hunter come to them intending to kill them,\nthey stood and looked at the hunter, and so the hunter killed them; day\nafter day he killed them.  Then our Lord sent one who put all the sense\ninto a bag, tied it, carried it, and put it down under a large tree.\n\nThe Weasel saw the man put the bag down, and afterward went, called the\nHare, and said to him:\n\n\"Brother Hare, I saw a man put something down under a tree, but as I\nwent to take it, I could not; so let us go and if thou wilt take it I\nwill show it to thee that thou mayest do so.\"\n\nWhen the Weasel and the Hare had gone together to where the bag was,\nthe Weasel said to the Hare, \"Behold, here is the thing which I could\nnot take and for which I called thee here.\"\n\nBut as the Hare went and attempted to take it, he could not, so he left\nit and went away.\n\nWhen he was gone the Weasel went again to take hold of the bag, but as\nhe attempted to take it, it was too heavy; so the Weasel did not know\nwhat to do.  Then came a Pigeon, who sat upon a tree, and said\nsomething to the Weasel.  The Weasel heard it say: \"Lean it over and\ntake it.\"  And again, \"Bend it and take it.\"\n\nAs soon as he had heard this, he dragged the bag along and thus brought\nit and leaned it against a tree, and caused it to stand in an inclined\nposition; then having gone to the bottom of it, he bowed down, put his\nhead to the bag, and as he drew the bag toward him it went upon his\nhead; this being done, he pressed himself upon the ground, rose up and\nstood there.  After this he went his way home, and on putting the bag\ndown upon the ground and untying it, the Weasel saw that there was no\nother thing in the bag, but pure sense.\n\nSo he went and called the Hare again, and when the Hare was come, he\nsaid to him:\n\n\"Brother Hare, there was not a single other thing in that bag but pure\nsense: God has loved us so that to-day we have obtained sense; but do\nnot tell it to anybody, then I will give thee a little, and what\nremains I will hide in my hole until some one comes and begs of me, and\nthen I will give him also a little.\"\n\nSo he took one sense and gave to the Hare, saying, \"If thou takest home\nthis one sense, which I give thee, it will preserve thee.  When thou\nsleepest by day open thy eyes; then if one comes to thee, thinking, 'I\nhave got meat, I will take it,' and sees that thine eyes are open, he\nwill think that thou art not asleep, will leave thee alone and go; but\nwhen thou goest and liest down without sleeping, then shut thine eyes,\nand if one sees thee, and sees that thine eyes are shut, when he comes\nclose to thee, saying, 'I have got meat, I will take it,' then thou\nwilt see him, rise up and run away into thy forest.  This one sense\nwill be enough for thee; but what remains I will keep in mine own\nhouse.\"  The Hare took his one sense and went home.\n\nNow if one sees a Hare lying with his eyes open, it sleeps, but if its\neyes are closed it is awake, and does not sleep.  By this one sense\nwhich it has got the Hare is preserved.\n\nThe Weasel took all the sense that was left and hid it in his house.\nThe Weasel surpasses all the beasts of the field in sense.  When you\nsee the Weasel, and say, \"There the King of Sense has come out,\" and\ndrive it before you, saying, \"I will catch it,\" it runs into its hole;\nand if you begin to dig up the hole, it comes out behind you, and runs\nuntil you see it no more.  This is why now if one sees a Weasel, one\ncalls it \"The King of Sense.\"\n\nAmongst all the beasts of the field he distributed sense only little by\nlittle, and this is what they now have.\n\nThis word, showing how sense came abroad in the world, and the meaning\nof which I have heard, is now finished.\n\n\n\nWhat Employment Our Lord Gave to Insects\n\nAll the Insects assembled and went to our Lord to seek employment.  On\ntheir arrival they said to our Lord, \"Thou hast given every one his\nwork; now give us also a work to do, that we may have something to eat.\"\n\nOur Lord attended to the request of the Insects, and said to them, \"Who\nwill give notice that to-morrow all the Insects are to come?\"\n\nThe Merchant-insect arose and said to our Lord, \"The Cricket can give\nnotice well.\"\n\nSo our Lord called the Cricket and said to him when he was come, \"Go\nand give notice this evening, when the sun has set, that to-morrow\nmorning all the Insects are to come to me, for I wish to see them.\"\n\nThe Cricket, obeying our Lord's command, went back to his house, waited\nuntil evening, until the sun set, and as soon as he had seen the\nsetting of the sun, he prepared and arose to give notice.  So when the\nCricket had given notice until midnight, our Lord sent a man to him\nsaying: \"Go and tell the Cricket, that there has been much notice, and\nthat it is now enough; else he will have the headache.\"  But the\nCricket would not hear, he said: \"If I am out they will see me.\"  So he\nwent into his hole, stretched only his head out, and began to give\nnotice.  The Cricket went on giving notice until the day dawned; but\nwhen it was day he became silent and stopped giving notice.  Then all\nthe Insects arose and went to the prayer-place of our Lord, the\nMerchant alone being left behind.  To all the Insects who came first,\nour Lord gave their employment, which they all took and went home.\n\nAfterward also the Merchant-insect went to our Lord, and our Lord said\nto him: \"To all thy people who came before, I have given their work,\nand they are gone; now what kept thee back that thou camest to me last?\"\n\nThe Merchant-insect replied to our Lord, \"My bags are many and on the\nday when I took my bags and bound them up in my large travelling sacks\nto load them upon my asses, then my people left me behind and came to\nthee first.\"\n\nOur Lord said to him: \"All other employments are assigned; the people\nwho came first took them and went away; but stop, I will also give one\nto thee.  Go, and having arrived at the entrance of the black ants,\nwhere are a great many ant-heads, when thou seest these many heads of\nthe black ants, take them, and fill thy bags with them; then load thy\nbags upon thy ass, carry them to market, spread mats there, and sell\nthem.\"\n\nSo the Merchant-insect obtained his employment, drove his ass, and went\nfrom our Lord, picked up ant-heads at the entrance of the black ants,\nloaded his ass, and went his way to the market.  As he went the ass\nthrew off the large bag.  Then, he alone not being able to lift the\nbag, he called people, saying: \"Come, be so good as to help me; let us\ntake the sacks and load mine ass;\" but not any of the people would do\nso.  Then the little red ants came after him, and when they were come\nto where he was, he said to them, \"Please come and help me to load mine\nass\".  The little red Ants said to the Merchant-insect, \"We will not\nhelp thee for nothing.\"\n\nThe Merchant-insect said to the little red Ants, \"If you will not help\nme for nothing, then come and help me, and when I have come back from\nthe market, I will pay you.\"\n\nThe little red Ants helped him to load his ass, and the Merchant-insect\ndrove his ass to the market, put down his sacks in the midst of the\nmarket-place, prepared the ground, spread his mat there, and having\nsold his ant-heads, he bought his things, and the market people began\nto disperse.\n\nThen the Merchant-insect started on his way home, and as he went the\nlittle red Ants saw him, and said to him, \"Father-merchant, give us\nwhat thou owest us.\"\n\nThe Merchant, however, refused them their due, and went on his way.\nNow as he went he got fever so that he sat down under a tree, tied his\nass fast, and took off the sacks from his ass's back.   As he sat there\nthe fever overpowered him, and he lay down.  On seeing him lying the\nlittle red Ants assembled and came to him.  Now the fever was consuming\nthe Merchant-insect's strength, and when the little red Ants saw this\nthey assembled together and killed him.\n\nThere was one Insect who saw them kill him, and he ran to our Lord, and\nsaid to him, \"All the little red Ants assembled together and killed a\nman in the midst of the town--that I saw it.\"\n\nWhen our Lord heard what the Insect said he called a man and sent him,\nsaying: \"Go and call the little red Ants which kill people and bring\nthem to me.\"\n\nThe messenger arose, went, called all the little red Ants and brought\nthem before our Lord.  On seeing the little red Ants, our Lord asked\nthem, \"Why did you kill the man?\"  The little red Ants answered, and\nsaid to our Lord, \"The reason why we killed this man is this: When he\nwent to market and his ass had thrown off the sacks, those sacks were\ntoo heavy for him to take alone, so he called us, and when we came to\nhim, he said to us, 'Please help me to take my large bag and load it\nupon mine ass, that I may go to market.  When I have sold my things and\ncome back, I will pay you.'  Accordingly we helped him to load his ass;\nbut when he had gone to market and sold all his things there, we saw\nhim on his return home, and went to him, to ask him for what he owed\nus; but he refused it, drove his ass, and went homeward.  However, he\nwas only gone a little while, when he got fever, sat down under a tree,\ntied his ass fast, took off his sacks and laid them down; and on the\nsame spot where he sat down, the fever overpowered him that he lay\ndown.  Then on seeing him lying we went, assembled ourselves and killed\nhim, because he had refused what he owed us.\"\n\nOur Lord gave them right.\n\nOur Lord said to the Merchant, \"Thou goest to market until thy life\nstands still.\"  Our Lord said to the Cricket, \"Do thou give notice\nwhenever it is time!  This is thy work.\"\n\nOur Lord said to the little red Ants, \"Whenever ye see any Insect\nunwell and lying down in a place, then go, assemble yourselves and\nfinish it.\"\n\nNow the Cricket begins to give notice as soon as it is evening and does\nnot keep silence in his hole until the morning comes; this is its\nemployment.  The Merchant has no farm and does not do any work, but\nconstantly goes to market; this is its employment, given to it by the\nLord.  Now the little red Ants, whenever they see an Insect unwell and\nlying down they go and assemble themselves against that Insect, and,\neven if that Insect has not yet expired they finish it.  This our Lord\ngave to the little red Ants for their employment.\n\nI have now told thee the fable of the Insects, which I have heard of\nOmar Pesami.  This is finished.\n\n\n\nMan and Turtle\n\nLet me tell of Turtle of Koka.\n\nMan of Lubi la Suku caught a Turtle in the bush; he came with it to the\nvillage.  They said: \"Let us kill it!\"\n\nSome people said: \"How shall we kill it?\"  They said: \"We shall cut it\nwith hatchets.\" Turtle replied, saying:\n\n  \"Turtle of Koka,\n  And hatchet of Koka;\n  Hatchet not kill me a bit.\"\n\nThe people said: \"What shall we kill him with?\"  Some said: \"We shall\nkill him with stones.\"  Turtle, fear grasped him, he said: \"I am going\nto die.\"  He says by mouth:\n\n  \"Turtle of Koka,\n  And stone of Koka;\n  Stone will not kill me a bit.\"\n\nThe people said: \"Let us cast him into the fire!\"  Turtle said:\n\n  \"Turtle of Koka,\n  And fire of Koka;\n  Fire will not kill me a bit.\n  On my back,\n  It is like stone;\n  Not there can\n  Catch on fire.\"\n\nThe people said: \"We will kill him with knives.\"  Turtle said:\n\n  \"Turtle of Koka,\n  And knife of Koka;\n  Knife will not kill me a bit.\"\n\nThe people said: \"This fellow, how shall we do?  How shall we kill\nhim?\"  These said: \"Let us cast him into the depth of water.\"  Turtle\nsaid: \"Woe!  I shall die there!  How shall I do?\"  The people said: \"We\nhave it!  We have found the way we can kill him!\"\n\nThey carry him; they arrive with him at the river.  They cast him into\nthe depth.  Turtle dives; after a while he emerges.  There he is\nswimming and singing:\n\n  \"In water, in my home!\n  In water, in my home!\"\n\nThe people said: \"Oh!  Turtle has fooled us.  We were going to kill him\nwith hatchets; he says, 'Hatchet will not kill me a bit.'  We spoke of\ncasting him into the water; he says, 'I am going to die.'  We came; we\ncast him into the water; but we saved him.\"\n\nThis is what caused the Turtle to live in the water: the people were\ngoing to kill him; but he was shrewd.\n\n\n\nNianga Dia Ngenga and Leopard\n\nNianga Dia Ngenga takes up his gun, saying: \"I will go a-hunting.\"  He\nhas reached the bush; he has hunted; he saw not game; he says: \"I will\ngo.\"\n\nWhen he returns home, he finds Mr. Leopard, whom they have stuck up in\nthe fork of a tree.  When he sees Nianga, he says: \"Father Nianga, help\nme out!\"  Nianga says: \"What has done this to thee?\"  He says: \"Unfork\nme first; I shall tell thee.\"\n\nNianga took him out; he set him on the ground.  He says: \"Elephant has\nstuck me up in the fork of the tree.  Sir, to whom one has given life,\none gives more.  I have been two days on the tree; give me a little\nfood.\"  Nianga says: \"Where shall I find food?\"  He says: \"Anywhere.\"\n\nNianga takes up his dog; he gives it to Mr. Leopard.  Mr. Leopard ate\nit and said, \"I am not satisfied.\"  Nianga takes up also the other dog;\nhe gives it to Mr. Leopard.  He has eaten, says, \"Still I have not\nenough.\"  Nianga dia Ngenga took up his cartridge-box; he gives him it.\nMr. Leopard, when he had eaten it, said, \"Still I have not enough.\"\n\nHare comes; he finds them talking; says: \"Why are you quarrelling?\"\nNianga says: \"Mr.  Leopard, I found him in the fork of a tree.  Says\nhe, 'Take me out!'  I took him out.  Says he, 'Give me to eat!'  I gave\nhim both my dogs and my cartridge-box.  He says, 'Give me more to eat.'\nThat is what we are quarrelling about.\"\n\nHare says: \"Mr. Leopard, let him be again on the tree, where he was;\nthat I may see.\" Mr. Leopard returns to the tree, where he was.  Hare\nmoves off to a distance; he calls Nianga.  He says: \"Thou, Nianga, art\nunwise.  Mr. Leopard is a wild beast, he is wont to catch people.\nThou, who didst get him out of there, he wanted to devour thee.  Shoot\nhim.\"\n\nNianga then shoots Mr. Leopard.\n\nThe end . . . \"is with God.\"\n\n\n\nLeopard and the Other Animals\n\nMr. Leopard lived.  One day hunger grasps him.  He says: \"How shall I\ndo?  I will call all the animals in the world, saying, 'Come ye, let us\nhave a medical consultation.'  When the animals come then I may catch\nand eat.\"\n\nHe sends at once to call Deer, Antelope, Soko, Hare, and Philantomba.\nThey gather, saying: \"Why didst thou send for us?\"  He says: \"Let us\nconsult medicine, that we get health.\"\n\nThe sun is broken down.  They begin the drums outside with the songs.\nMr. Leopard himself is beating the drum; he is saying, saying:\n\n  \"O Antelope! O Deer!\n  Your friend is sick;\n  Do not shun him!\n  O Antelope! O Deer!\n  Your friend is sick;\n  Do not shun him!\n  O Antelope! O Deer!\n  Your friend is sick;\n  Do not shun him'\"\n\nDeer says: \"Chief, the drum, how art thou playing it?  Bring it here;\nthat I play it.\"  Mr. Leopard gives him it.  Deer takes the drum, says:\n\n  \"Not sickness;\n  Wiliness holds thee\n  Not sickness;\n  Wiliness holds thee!\n  Not sickness;\n  Wiliness holds thee!\"\n\nMr. Leopard stood up from ground, said: \"Thou, Deer, knowest not how to\nplay the drum.\"\n\nThe animals all then ran away, saying, \"Mr. Leopard has a scheme to\ncatch us.\"\n\n\n\nElephant and Frog\n\nI often tell of Mr. Elephant and Mr. Frog, who were courting at one\nhouse.\n\nOne day Mr. Frog spake to the sweetheart of Mr. Elephant, saying: \"Mr.\nElephant is my horse.\"  Mr. Elephant, when he came at night, then the\ngirls tell him, saying: \"Thou art the horse of Mr. Frog!\"\n\nMr. Elephant then goes to Mr. Frog's, saying: \"Didst thou tell my\nsweetheart that I am thy horse?\"  Mr. Frog says, saying: \"No; I did not\nsay so.\"  They go together to find the sweetheart of Mr. Elephant.\n\nOn the way, Mr. Frog told Mr. Elephant, saying: \"Grandfather, I have\nnot strength to walk.  Let me get up on thy back!\"  Mr. Elephant said:\n\"Get up, my grandson.\"  Mr. Frog then goes up.\n\nWhen a while passed, he told Mr. Elephant: \"Grandfather, I am going to\nfall.  Let me seek small cords to bind thee in mouth.\"  Mr. Elephant\nconsents.  Mr. Frog then does what he has asked.\n\nWhen passed a little while, he told again Mr. Elephant, saying: \"Let me\nseek a green twig to fan the mosquitoes off thee.\"  Mr. Elephant says:\n\"Go.\"  He then fetches the twig.\n\nThen, when they were about to arrive, the girls saw them, and they went\nto meet them with shouting, saying: \"Thou, Mr. Elephant, art the horse\nindeed of Mr. Frog!\"\n\n\n\nDog and the Kingship\n\nMr. Dog, they wanted to invest him with the kingship.  They sought all\nthe things of royalty: the cap, the sceptre, the rings, the skin of\nmulkaka.  The things are complete; they say: \"The day has come to\ninstall.\"\n\nThe headmen all came in full; they sent for the players of drum and\nmarimba; they have come.  They spread coarse mats and fine mats.  Where\nthe lord is going to sit, they laid a coarse mat; they spread on it a\nfine mat; they set a chair on.  They say: \"Let the lord sit down.\"  He\nsat down.  The people begin to divide the victuals.\n\nHe, Mr. Dog, on seeing the breast of a fowl, greed grasped him.  He\nstood up in haste; took the breast of the fowl; ran into the bush.  The\npeople said: \"The lord, whom we are installing, has run away with the\nbreast of the fowl into the bush!\"  The people separated.\n\nMr. Dog, who was going to be invested with the kingship, because of his\nthievery, the kingship he lost it.\n\nI have told my little tale.  Finished.\n\n\n\nThe Builder of Ability and the Builder of Haste\n\nTwo men called themselves one name.  This one said: \"I am Ndala, the\nbuilder of ability.\"  The other one said: \"I am Ndala, the builder of\nhaste.\"\n\nThey say: \"We will go to trade.\"  They start; they arrive in middle of\nroad.  A storm comes.  They stop, saying: \"Let us build grass-huts!\"\nNdala, the builder of haste, built in haste; he entered into his hut.\nNdala, the builder of ability is building carefully.  The storm comes;\nit kills him outside.  Ndala, the builder of haste escaped, because his\nhut was finished; it sheltered him when the storm came on.\n\n\n\n\nFABLES FROM KRILOF\n\n    \"Shall not my fable censure vice,\n  Because a Knave is over-nice?\n    And, lest the guilty hear and dread,\n  Shall not the decalogue be read?\"\n\n      JOHN GAY\n\n\nFABLES FROM KRILOF\n\n\nThe Education of the Lion\n\nTo the Lion, king of the forests, was given a son.\n\nAmong us, a child a year old, even if it belong to a royal family, is\nsmall and weak.  But, by the time it has lived a twelve-month, a\nlion-cub has long ago left off its baby-clothes.\n\nSo, at the end of a year, the Lion began to consider that he must not\nallow his royal son to remain ignorant, that the dignity of the kingdom\nbe not degraded, and that when the son's turn should come to govern the\nkingdom the nation should have no cause to reproach the father on his\naccount.\n\nBut whom should he entreat, or compel, or induce by rewards, to\ninstruct the czarevitch to become a czar?\n\nThe Fox is clever, but it is terribly addicted to lying, and a liar is\nperpetually getting into trouble.  \"No,\" thought the Lion, \"the science\nof falsehood is not one which princes ought to study.\"\n\nShould he trust him to the Mole?  All who speak of that animal say that\nit is an extreme admirer of order and regularity; that it never takes a\nstep till it has examined the ground before it, and that it cleans and\nshells with its own paws every grain of corn that comes to its table.\nIn fact, the Mole has the reputation of being very great in small\naffairs; but, unfortunately, it cannot see anything at a distance.  The\nMole's love of order is an excellent thing for animals of its own kind,\nbut the Lion's kingdom is considerably more extensive than a mole-run.\n\nShould he choose the Panther?  The Panther is brave and strong, and is,\nbesides, a great master of military tactics; but the Panther knows\nnothing of politics, is ignorant of everything that belongs to civil\naffairs.  A king must be a judge and a minister as well as a warrior.\nThe Panther is good for nothing but fighting; so it, too, is unfit to\neducate royal children.\n\nTo be brief, not a single beast, not even the Elephant himself, who was\nas much esteemed in the forest as Plato used to be in Greece, seemed\nwise enough to satisfy the Lion.\n\nBy good fortune, or the opposite--we shall find out which--another\nking, the king of birds, the Eagle, an old acquaintance and friend of\nthe Lion, heard of that monarch's difficulty, and, wishing to do his\nfriend a great kindness, offered to educate the young Lion himself.\n\nThe Lion felt a great weight removed from his shoulders.  What could be\nbetter than a king as the tutor for a prince?  So the Lion-cub was got\nready, and sent off to the Eagle's court, there to learn how to govern.\n\nAnd now two or three years go by.  Ask whom you will, meanwhile, you\nhear nothing but praise of the young Lion; and all the birds scatter\nthroughout the forests the wonderful stories of his merits.\n\nAt last the appointed time comes, and the Lion sends for his son.  The\nprince arrives, and all the people are gathered together, great and\nsmall alike.\n\nThe king embraces his son before them all, and thus addresses him: \"My\nbeloved son, you are my only heir.  I am looking forward to the grave,\nbut you are just entering upon life.  Before I make over my sceptre to\nyou, tell me, in the presence of this assembly, what you have been\ntaught, and in what manner you propose to make your people happy.\"\n\n\"Papa,\" exclaimed the prince, \"I know what no one here knows.  I can\ntell where each bird, from the Eagle to the Quail, can most readily\nfind water, on what each of them lives, and how many eggs it lays; and\nI can count up the wants of every bird, without missing one.  Here is\nthe certificate my tutor gave me.  It was not for nothing that the\nbirds used to say that I could pick the stars out of the sky.  When you\nhave made up your mind to transfer the kingdom to me, I will\nimmediately begin to teach the beasts how to make nests.\"\n\nOn this the king and all his beasts howled aloud; the members of the\ncouncil hung their heads; and, too late, the Lion perceived that the\nyoung Lion had learned nothing of what was wanted, that he was\nacquainted with birds only, not knowing anything of the nature of\nbeasts, although he was destined to rule over them, and that he was\ndestitute of that which is most requisite in kings--the knowledge of\nthe wants of their own people and the interests of their own country.\n\n\n\nThe Pebble and the Diamond\n\nA Diamond, which some one had lost, lay for some time on the high road.\nAt last it happened that a merchant picked it up.  By him it was\noffered to the king, who bought it, had it set in gold, and made it one\nof the ornaments of the royal crown.  Having heard of this, a Pebble\nbegan to make a fuss.  The brilliant fate of the Diamond fascinated it;\nand, one day, seeing a Moujik passing, it besought him thus:\n\n\"Do me a kindness, fellow-countryman, and take me with you to the\ncapital.  Why should I go on suffering here in rain and mud, while our\nDiamond is, men say, in honour there?  I don't understand why it has\nbeen treated with such respect.  Side by side with me here it lay so\nmany years; it is just such a stone as I am--my close companion.  Do\ntake me!  How can one tell?  If I am seen there, I too, perhaps, may be\nfound worthy of being turned to account.\"\n\nThe Moujik took the stone into his lumbering cart, and conveyed it to\nthe city.  Our stone tumbled into the cart, thinking that it would soon\nbe sitting by the side of the Diamond.  But a quite different fate\nbefell it.  It really was turned to account, but only to mend a hole in\nthe road.\n\n\n\nThe Pike and the Cat\n\nA conceited Pike took it into its head to exercise the functions of a\ncat.  I do not know whether the Evil One had plagued it with envy, or\nwhether, perhaps, it had grown tired of fishy fare; but, at all events,\nit thought fit to ask the Cat to take it out to the chase, with the\nintention of catching a few mice in the warehouse.  \"But, my dear\nfriend,\" Vaska says to the Pike, \"do you understand that kind of work?\nTake care, gossip, that you don't incur disgrace.  It isn't without\nreason that they say: 'The work ought to be in the master's power.'\"\n\n\"Why really, gossip, what a tremendous affair it is!  Mice, indeed!\nWhy, I have been in the habit of catching perches!\"\n\n\"Oh, very well.  Come along!\"\n\nThey went; they lay each in ambush.  The Cat thoroughly enjoyed itself;\nmade a hearty meal; then went to look after its comrade.  Alas! the\nPike, almost destitute of life, lay there gasping, its tail nibbled\naway by the mice.  So the Cat, seeing that its comrade had undertaken a\ntask quite beyond its strength, dragged it back, half dead, to its pond.\n\n\n\nTrishka's Caftan\n\nTrishka's caftan was out at the elbows.  But why should he ponder long\nover it?  He took to his needle, cut a quarter off each sleeve: so\nmended the elbows.\n\nThe caftan was all right again, only his arms were bare for a quarter\nof their length.  That is no great matter, but every one is always\nlaughing at Trishka.  So Trishka says:\n\n\"I'm not a fool.  I'll set this affair straight also.  I'll make the\nsleeves longer than they were before.  They shall see Trishka is no\nmere commonplace fellow.\"\n\nSo he cut off the skirts of his caftan, and used them to lengthen his\nsleeves.\n\nThen Trishka was happy, though he had a caftan which was as short as a\nwaistcoat.\n\nIn a similar way I have sometimes seen other embarrassed people set\nstraight their affairs.  Take a look at them as they dash away.  They\nhave all got on Trishka's caftan.\n\n\n\nThe Elephant as Governor\n\nAn Elephant was once appointed ruler of a forest.  Now it is well known\nthat the race of elephants is endowed with great intelligence; but\nevery family has its unworthy scion.  Our Governor was as stout as the\nrest of his race are, but as foolish as the rest of his race are not.\nAs to his character, he would not intentionally hurt a fly.  Well, the\nworthy Governor becomes aware of a petition laid before him by the\nSheep, stating that their skins are entirely torn off their backs by\nthe Wolves.\n\n\"Oh, rogues!\" cries the Elephant, \"what a crime!  Who gave you leave to\nplunder?\"\n\nBut the Wolves say:\n\n\"Allow us to explain, O father.  Did not you give us leave to take from\nthe Sheep a trifling contribution for our pelisses in winter?  It is\nonly because they are stupid sheep that they cry out.  They have only a\nsingle fleece taken from each of them, but they grumble about giving\neven that!\"\n\n\"Well, well,\" says the Elephant, \"take care what you do.  I will not\npermit any one to commit injustice.  As it must be so, take a fleece\nfrom each of them.  But do not take from them a single hair besides.\"\n\n\n\nThe Quartette\n\nThe tricksy Monkey, the Goat, the Ass, and bandy-legged Mishka the\nBear, determine to play a quartette.  They provide themselves with the\nnecessary pieces of music--with two fiddles, and with an alto and a\ncounter-bass.  Then they sit down on a meadow under a lime-tree,\nprepared to enchant the world by their skill.  They work away at their\nfiddlesticks with a will; and they make a noise, but there is no music\nin it.\n\n\"Stop, brothers, stop!\" cries the Monkey, \"wait a little!  How can we\nget our music right?  It's plain, you mustn't sit as you are.  You,\nMishka, with your counter-bass, face the alto.  I will sit opposite the\nsecond fiddle.  Then a different sort of music will begin: we shall set\nthe very hills and forests dancing.\"\n\nSo they change places, and recommence; but the music is just as\ndiscordant as before.\n\n\"Stop a little,\" exclaims the Ass; \"I have found out the secret.  We\nshall be sure to play in tune if we sit in a row.\"\n\nThey follow its advice, and form in an orderly line.  But the quartette\nis as unmusical as ever.  Louder than before there arose among them\nsquabbling and wrangling as to how they ought to be seated.  It\nhappened that a Nightingale came flying that way, attracted by their\nnoise.  At once they all entreated it to solve their difficulty.\n\n\"Be so kind,\" they say, \"as to bear with us a little, in order that our\nquartette may come off properly.  Music we have; instruments we have:\ntell us only how we ought to place ourselves.\"\n\nBut the Nightingale replies,\n\n\"To be a musician, one must have a quicker intelligence and a finer ear\nthan you possess.  You, my friends, may place yourselves just as you\nlike, but you will never become musicians.\"\n\n\n\nDemian's Fish Soup\n\n\"Neighbour, light of mine eyes! do eat a little more!\"\n\n\"Dear neighbour, I am full to the throat.\"\n\n\"No matter; just a little plateful.  Believe me, the soup is cooked\ngloriously.\"\n\n\"But I've had three platefuls already.\"\n\n\"Well, what does that matter?  If you like it, and it does you good,\nwhy not eat it all up?  What a soup it is!  How rich!  It looks as if\nit had been sprinkled with amber.  Here is a bream; there a lump of\nsterlet.  Take a little more, dear, kind friend.  Just another\nspoonful.  Wife, come and entreat him!\"\n\nThus does Demian feast his neighbour Phocas, not giving him a moment's\nbreathing time.\n\nPhocas feels the moisture trickling down his forehead.  Still he takes\nthe soup, attacks it with all the strength he has left, and somehow\nmanages to swallow the whole of it.\n\n\"That's the sort of friend I like!\" cries Demian.  \"I can't bear people\nwho require pressing.  But now, dear friend, take just this one little\nplateful more.\"\n\nBut, on hearing this, our poor Phocas, much as he liked fish soup,\ncatching hold of his cap and sash, runs away home, not once looking\nbehind him.\n\nNor from that day to this has he crossed Demian's threshold.\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and Its Cub\n\nA Wolf, which had begun to accustom its Cub to support itself by its\nfather's profession, sent it one day to prowl about the skirts of the\nwood.  At the same time it ordered it to give all its attention to\nseeing whether it would not be possible, even at the cost of sinning a\nlittle, for them both to make their breakfast or dinner at the expense\nof some shepherd or other.  The pupil returns home, and says:\n\n\"Come along, quick! Our dinner awaits us: nothing could possibly be\nsafer.  There are sheep feeding at the foot of yon hill, each one\nfatter than the other.  We have only to choose which to carry off and\neat; and the flock is so large that it would be difficult to count it\nover again----\"\n\n\"Wait a minute,\" says the Wolf.  \"First of all I must know what sort of\na man the shepherd of this flock is.\n\n\"It is said that he is a good one--painstaking and intelligent.  But I\nwent round the flock on all sides, and examined the dogs: they are not\nat all fat, and seem to be spiritless and indolent.\"\n\n\"This description,\" says the old Wolf, \"does not greatly attract me to\nthe flock.  For, decidedly, if the shepherd is good, he will not keep\nbad dogs about him.  One might very soon get into trouble there.  But\ncome with me: I will take you to a flock where we shall be in less\ndanger of losing our skins.  Over that flock it is true that a great\nmany dogs watch; but the shepherd is himself a fool.  And where the\nshepherd is a fool there the dogs too are of little worth.\"\n\n\n\nThe Pike\n\nAn appeal to justice was made against the Pike, on the ground that it\nhad rendered the pond uninhabitable.  A whole cart-load of proofs was\ntendered as evidence; and the culprit, as was beseeming, was brought\ninto court in a large tub.  The judges were assembled not far off,\nhaving been set to graze in a neighbouring field.  Their names are\nstill preserved in the archives.  There were two Donkeys, a couple of\nold Horses, and two or three Goats.  The Fox also was added to their\nnumber, as assessor, in order that the business might be carried on\nunder competent supervision.\n\nNow, popular report said that the Pike used to supply the table of the\nFox with fish.  However this might be, there was no partiality among\nthe judges; and it must also be stated that it was impossible to\nconceal the Pike's roguery in the affair in question.  So there was no\nhelp for it.  Sentence was passed, condemning the Pike to an\nignominious punishment.  In order to frighten others, it was to be hung\nfrom a tree.\n\n\"Respected judges,\" thus did the Fox begin to speak, \"hanging is a\ntrifle.  I should have liked to have sentenced the culprit to such a\npunishment as has never been seen here among us.  In order that rogues\nmay in future live in fear, and run a terrible risk, I would drown it\nin the river.\"\n\n\"Excellent!\" cry the judges, and unanimously accept the proposition.\n\nSo the Pike was flung--into the river.\n\n\n\nThe Cuckoo and the Eagle\n\nThe Eagle promoted a Cuckoo to the rank of a Nightingale.  The Cuckoo,\nproud of its new position, seated itself proudly on an aspen, and began\nto exhibit its musical talents.  After a time, it looks round.  All the\nbirds are flying away, some laughing at it, others abusing it.  Our\nCuckoo grows angry, and hastens to the Eagle with a complaint against\nthe birds.\n\n\"Have pity on me!\" it says.  \"According to your command, I have been\nappointed Nightingale to these woods, and yet the birds dare to laugh\nat my singing.\"\n\n\"My friend,\" answers the Eagle, \"I am a king, but I am not God.  It is\nimpossible for me to remedy the cause of your complaint.  I can order a\nCuckoo to be styled a Nightingale; but to make a Nightingale out of a\nCuckoo--that I cannot do.\"\n\n\n\nThe Peasant and the Sheep\n\nA Peasant summoned a Sheep into courts charging the poor thing with a\ncriminal offence.  The judge was--the Fox.\n\nThe case was immediately in full swing.  Plaintiff and defendant were\nequally adjured to state, point by point, and without both speaking at\nonce, how the affair took place, and in what their proof consisted.\n\nSays the Peasant: \"On such and such a day, I missed two of my fowls\nearly in the morning.  Nothing was left of them but bones and leathers;\nand no one had been in the yard but the Sheep.\"\n\nThen the Sheep depones that it was fast asleep all the night in\nquestion, and it calls all its neighbours to testify that they had\nnever known it guilty either of theft or any roguery; and besides this,\nit states that it never touches flesh-meat.\n\nHere is the Fox's decision, word for word:\n\n\"The explanation of the Sheep cannot, under any circumstances, be\naccepted, for all rogues are notoriously clever at concealing their\nreal designs; and it appears manifest, on due inquiry, that, on the\naforesaid night, the Sheep was not separated from the fowls.  Fowls are\nexceedingly savoury, and opportunity favoured.  Therefore I decide,\naccording to my conscience, that it is impossible that the Sheep should\nhave forborne to eat the fowls.  The Sheep shall accordingly be put to\ndeath.  Its carcass shall be given to the court, and its fleece be\ntaken by the Plaintiff.\"\n\n\n\nThe Elephant in Favour\n\nOnce upon a time the Elephant stood high in the good graces of the\nLion.  The forest immediately began to talk of the matter, and, as\nusual, many guesses were made as to the means by which the Elephant had\ngained such favour.\n\n\"It is no beauty,\" say the beasts to each other, \"and it is not\namusing; and what habits it has! what manners!\"\n\nSays the Fox, whisking about his brush, \"If it had possessed such a\nbushy tail as mine, I should not have wondered.\"\n\n\"Or, sister,\" says the Bear, \"if it had gotten into favour on account\nof its claws, no one would have found the matter at all extraordinary;\nbut it has no claws at all, as we all know well.\"\n\n\"Isn't it its tusks that have gotten it into favour?\" thus the Ox broke\nin upon their conversation.  \"Haven't they, perhaps, been mistaken for\nhorns.\"\n\n\"Is it possible,\" said the Ass, shaking its ears, \"that you don't know\nhow it has succeeded in making itself liked, and in becoming\ndistinguished?  Why, I have guessed the reason!  If it hadn't been\nremarkable for its long ears, it would never in the world have gotten\ninto favour.\"\n\n\n\nThe Sword-blade\n\nThe keen blade of a Sword, made of Damascus steel, which had been\nthrown aside on a heap of old iron, was sent to market with the other\npieces of metal, and sold for a trifle to a Moujik.  Now, a Moujik's\nideas move in a narrow circle.  He immediately set to work to turn the\nblade to account.  Our Moujik fitted a handle to the blade, and began\nto strip lime-trees in the forest with it, of the bark he wanted for\nshoes, while at home he unceremoniously splintered fir chips with it.\nSometimes, also, he would lop off twigs with it, or small branches for\nmending his wattled fences, or would shape stakes with it for his\ngarden paling.  And the result was that, before the year was out, our\nblade was notched and rusted from one end to the other, and the\nchildren used to ride astride of it.  So one day a Hedgehog, which was\nlying under a bench in the cottage, close by the spot where the blade\nhad been flung, said to it:\n\n\"Tell me, what do you think of this life of yours?  If there is any\ntruth in all the fine things that are said about Damascus steel, you\nsurely must be ashamed of having to splinter fir chips, and square\nstakes, and of being turned, at last, into a plaything for children.\"\n\nBut the Sword-blade replied:\n\n\"In the hands of a warrior, I should have been a terror to the foe; but\nhere my special faculties are of no avail.  So in this house I am\nturned to base uses only.  But am I free to choose my employment?  No,\nnot I, but he, ought to be ashamed who could not see for what I was fit\nto be employed.\"\n\n\n\nThe Cuckoo and the Turtle-dove\n\nA Cuckoo sat on a bough, bitterly complaining.\n\n\"Why art thou so sad, dear friend?\" sympathizingly cooed the\nTurtle-dove to her, from a neighbouring twig.  \"Is it because spring\nhas passed away from us, and love with it; that the sun has sunk lower,\nand that we are nearer to the winter?\"\n\n\"How can I help grieving, unhappy one that I am?\" replied the Cuckoo:\n\"thou shalt thyself be the judge.  This spring my love was a happy one,\nand, after a while, I became a mother.  But my offspring utterly\nrefused even to recognize me.  Was it such a return that I expected\nfrom them?  And how can I help being envious when I see how ducklings\ncrowd around their mother--how chickens hasten to the hen when she\ncalls to them.  Just like an orphan I sit here, utterly alone, and know\nnot what filial affection means.\"\n\n\"Poor thing!\" says the Dove, \"I pity you from my heart.  As for me,\nthough I know such things often occur, I should die outright it my\ndovelets did not love me.  But tell me, have you already brought up\nyour little ones?  When did you find time to build a nest?  I never saw\nyou doing anything of the kind: you were always flying and fluttering\nabout.\"\n\n\"No, indeed!\" says the Cuckoo.  \"Pretty nonsense it would have been if\nI had spent such fine days in sitting on a nest!  That would, indeed,\nhave been the highest pitch of stupidity!  I always laid my eggs in the\nnests of other birds.\"\n\n\"Then how can you expect your little ones to care for you?\" says the\nTurtle-dove.\n\n\n\nThe Peasant and the Horse\n\nA Peasant was sowing oats one day.  Seeing the work go on, a young\nHorse began to reason about it, grumbling to himself:\n\n\"A pretty piece of work, this, for which he brings such a quantity of\noats here!  And yet they are all the time saying that men are wiser\nthan we are.  Can anything possibly be more foolish or ridiculous than\nto plough up a whole field like this in order to scatter one's oats\nover it afterward to no purpose.  Had he given them to me, or to the\nbay there, or had he even thought fit to fling them to the fowls, it\nwould have been more like business.  Or even if he had hoarded them up,\nI should have recognized avarice in that.  But to fling them uselessly\naway--why, that is sheer stupidity!\"\n\nMeanwhile time passed; and in the autumn the oats were garnered, and\nthe Peasant fed this very Horse upon them all the winter.\n\nThere can be no doubt, Reader, that you do not approve of the opinions\nof the Horse.  But from the oldest times to our own days has not man\nbeen equally audacious in criticising the designs of a Providence of\nwhose means or ends he sees and knows nothing?\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Cat\n\nA Wolf ran out of the forest into a village--not to pay a visit, but to\nsave its life; for it trembled for its skin.\n\nThe huntsmen and a pack of hounds were after it.  It would fain have\nrushed in through the first gateway; but there was this unfortunate\ncircumstance against the scheme that all the gateways were closed.\n\nThe Wolf sees a Cat on a partition fence, and says pleadingly, \"Vaska,\nmy friend, tell me quickly, which of the moujiks here is the kindest,\nso that I may hide myself from my evil foes?  Listen to the cry of the\ndogs and the terrible sound of the horns?  All that noise is actually\nmade in chase of me!\"\n\n\"Go quickly, and ask Stefan,\" says Vaska, the Cat; \"he is a very kind\nman.\"\n\n\"Quite true; only I have torn the skin off one of his sheep.\"\n\n\"Well, then, you can try Demian.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid he's angry with me, too; I carried off one of his kids.\"\n\n\"Run over there, then; Trofim lives there.\"\n\n\"Trofim!  I should be afraid of even meeting him.  Ever since the\nspring he has been threatening me about a lamb.\"\n\n\"Dear me, that's bad!  But perhaps Klim will protect you.\"\n\n\"Oh, Vaska, I have killed one of his calves.\"\n\n\"What do I hear, friend?  You've quarrelled with all the village,\"\ncried Vaska to the Wolf.  \"What sort of protection can you hope for\nhere?  No, no; our moujiks are not so destitute of sense as to be\nwilling to save you to their own hurt.  And, really, you have only\nyourself to blame.  What you have sown, that you must now reap.\"\n\n\n\nThe Eagle and the Mole\n\nAn Eagle and his mate flew into a deep forest and determined to make it\ntheir permanent abode.  So they chose an oak, lofty and wide-spreading,\nand began to build themselves a nest on the top of it, hoping there to\nrear their young in the summer.\n\nA Mole, who heard about all this, plucked up courage enough to inform\nthe Eagles that the oak was not a proper dwelling-place for them; that\nit was almost entirely rotten at the root, and was likely soon to fall,\nand that therefore the Eagles ought not to make their nest upon it.\n\nBut is it becoming that an Eagle should accept advice coming from a\nMole in a hole?  Where then would be the glory of an Eagle having such\nkeen eyes?  And how comes it that Moles dare to meddle in the affairs\nof the king of Birds?\n\nSo, saying very little to the Mole, whose counsel he despised, the\nEagle set to work quickly--and the King soon got ready the new dwelling\nfor the Queen.\n\nAll goes well, and now the Eagles have little ones.  But what happens?\nOne day, when at early dawn the Eagle is hastening back from the chase,\nbringing a rich breakfast to his family, as he drops down from the sky\nhe sees--his oak has fallen, and has crushed beneath it his mate and\nhis little ones!\n\n\"Wretched creature that I am!\" he cries, anguish blotting out from him\nthe light; \"for my pride has fate so terribly punished me, and because\nI gave no heed to wise counsel.  But could one expect that wise counsel\ncould possibly come from a miserable Mole?\"\n\nThen from its hole the Mole replies: \"Had not you despised me, you\nwould have remembered that I burrow within the earth, and that, as I\nlive among the roots, I can tell with certainty whether a tree be sound\nor not.\"\n\n\n\nThe Spider and the Bee\n\nA Merchant brought some linen to a fair.  That's a thing everybody\nwants to buy, so it would have been a sin in the Merchant if he had\ncomplained of his sale.  There was no keeping the buyers back: the shop\nwas at times crammed full.\n\nSeeing how rapidly the goods went off, an envious Spider was tempted by\nthe Merchant's gains.  She took it into her head to weave goods for\nsale herself, and determined to open a little shop for them in a window\ncorner, seeking thereby to undermine the Merchant's success.\n\nShe commenced her web, spun the whole night long, and then set out her\nwares on view.  From her shop she did not stir, but remained sitting\nthere, puffed up with pride, and thinking, \"So soon as the day shall\ndawn will all buyers be enticed to me.\"\n\nWell, the day did dawn.  But what then?  There came a broom, and the\ningenious creatures and her little shop were swept clean away.\n\nOur Spider went wild with vexation.\n\n\"There!\" she cried, \"what's the good of expecting a just reward?  And\nyet I ask the whole world--Whose work is the finer, mine or that\nMerchant's?\"\n\n\"Yours, to be sure,\" answered the Bee.  \"Who would venture to deny the\nfact?  Every one knew that long ago.  But what is the good of it if\nthere's neither warmth nor wear in it?\"\n\n\n\nThe Cuckoo and the Cock\n\n\"How proudly and sonorously you sing, my dear Cock!\"\n\n\"But you, dear Cuckoo, my light, how smoothly flows your long drawn-out\nnote!  There is no such singer in all the rest of our forest.\"\n\n\"To you, dear friend, I could listen forever.\"\n\n\"And as for you, my beauty, I protest that when you are silent I\nscarcely know how to wait till you begin again.  Where do you get such\na voice?--so clear, so soft, so high!  But no doubt you were always\nlike that: not very large in stature, but in song--a nightingale.\"\n\n\"Thanks, friend.  As for you, I declare on my conscience you sing\nbetter than the birds in the Garden of Eden.  I appeal to public\nopinion for a proof of this.\"\n\nAt this moment a Sparrow, who had overheard their conversation, said to\nthem:\n\n\"You may go on praising each other till you are hoarse, my friends; but\nyour music is utterly worthless.\"\n\nWhy was it, that, not fearing to sin, the Cuckoo praised the Cock?\nSimply because the Cock praised the Cuckoo.\n\n\n\nThe Peasant and the Robber\n\nA Peasant who was beginning to stock his little farm had bought a cow\nand a milk-pail at the fair, and was going quietly home by a lonely\npath through the forest, when he suddenly fell into the hands of a\nRobber.  The Robber stripped him as bare as a lime-tree.\n\n\"Have mercy!\" cried the Peasant.  \"I am utterly ruined.  You have\nreduced me to beggary.  For a whole year I have worked to buy this dear\nlittle cow.  I could hardly bear to wait for this day to arrive.\"\n\n\"Very good,\" replied the Robber, touched with compassion; \"Don't cry\nout so against me.  After all, I shall not want to milk your cow; so\nI'll give you back your milk-pail.\"\n\n\n\n\nFABLES FROM THE CHINESE\n\n\"Why have some more power than others?  Only one knows.  Why have some\nlonger life than others?  Only one knows.  Why do some try and not\nsucceed; while others do not try and yet they do succeed?  Only one\nknows.\"\n\n\nFABLES PROM THE CHINESE\n\nThe Animals' Peace Party\n\nThe ancient books say that the pig is a very unclean animal and of no\ngreat use to the world or man, and one of them contains this story:\n\nOnce upon a time the Horses and Cattle gave a party.  Although the Pigs\nwere very greedy, the Horses said: \"Let us invite them, and it may be\nwe can settle our quarrels in this way and become better friends.  We\nwill call this a Peace Party.\n\n\"Generations and generations of pigs have broken through our fences,\ntaken our food, drunk our water, and rooted up our clean green grass;\nbut it is also true that the cattle children have hurt many young pigs.\n\n\"All this trouble and fighting is not right, and we know the Master\nwishes we should live at peace with one another.  Do you not think it a\ngood plan to give a Peace Party and settle this trouble?\"\n\nThe Cattle said: \"Who will be the leader of our party and do the\ninviting?  We should have a leader, both gentle and kind, to go to the\nPig's home and invite them.\"\n\nThe next day a small and very gentle Cow was sent to invite the Pigs.\nAs she went across to the pigs' yard, all the young ones jumped up and\ngrunted, \"What are you coming here for?  Do you want to fight?\"\n\n\"No, I do not want to fight,\" said the Cow.  \"I was sent here to invite\nyou to our party.  I should like to know if you will come, so that I\nmay tell our leader.\"\n\nThe young Pigs and the old ones talked together and the old ones said:\n\"The New Year feast will soon be here.  Maybe they will have some good\nthings for us to eat at the party.  I think we should go.\"\n\nThen the old Pigs found the best talker in all the family, and sent\nword by him that they would attend the party.\n\nThe day came, and the Pigs all went to the party.  There were about\nthree hundred all together.\n\nWhen they arrived they saw that the leader of the cows was the most\nbeautiful of all the herd and very kind and gentle to her guests.\n\nAfter a while the leader spoke to them in a gentle voice and said to\nthe oldest Pigs: \"We think it would be a good and pleasant thing if\nthere were no more quarrels in this pasture.\n\n\"Will you tell your people not to break down the fences and spoil the\nplace and eat our food?  We will then agree that the oxen and horses\nshall not hurt your children and all the old troubles shall be\nforgotten from this day.\"\n\nThen one young Pig stood up to talk.  \"All this big pasture belongs to\nthe Master, and not to you,\" he said.  \"We cannot go to other places\nfor food.\n\n\"The Master sends a servant to feed us, and sometimes he sends us to\nyour yard to eat the corn and potatoes.\n\n\"The servants clean our pen every day.  When summer comes, they fill\nthe ponds with fresh water for us to bathe in.\n\n\"Now, friends, can you not see that this place and this food all belong\nto the Master?  We eat the food and go wherever we like.  We take your\nfood only after you have finished.  It would spoil on the ground if we\ndid not do this.\n\n\"Answer this question--Do our people ever hurt your people?  No; even\nthough every year some of our children are killed by bad oxen and cows.\n\n\"What is our food?  It is nothing; but our lives are worth much to us.\n\n\"Our Master never sends our people to work as he does the horses and\noxen.  He sends us food and allows us to play a year and a year the\nsame, because he likes us best.\n\n\"You see the Horses and Oxen are always at work.  Some pull wagons,\nothers plough land for rice; and they must work--sick or well.\n\n\"Our people never work.  Every day at happy time we play; and do you\nsee how fat we are?\n\n\"You never see our bones.  Look at the old Horses and the old Oxen.\nTwenty years' work and no rest!\n\n\"I tell you the Master does not honour the Horses and Oxen as he does\nthe Pigs.\n\n\"Friends, that is all I have to say.  Have you any questions to ask?\nIs what I have said not the truth?\"\n\nThe old Cow said, \"Moo, Moo,\" and shook her head sadly.  The tired old\nHorses groaned, \"Huh, Huh,\" and never spoke a word.\n\nThe leader said, \"My friends, it is best not to worry about things we\ncannot know.  We do not seem to understand our Master.\n\n\"It will soon be time for the New Year feast day; so, good night.  And\nmay the Pig people live in the world as long and happily as the Horses\nand the Oxen, although our Peace Party did not succeed.\"\n\nOn their way home the little Pigs made a big noise, and every one said,\n\"We, we!  We win, we win!\"\n\nThen the old Horses and Oxen talked among themselves.  \"We are\nstronger, wiser, and more useful than the Pigs,\" they said.  \"Why does\nthe Master treat us so?\"\n\nEE-SZE (Meaning): Why have some more power than others?  Only one\nknows.  Why have some longer life than others?  Only one knows.  Why do\nsome try and not succeed; while others do not try and yet they do\nsucceed?  Only one knows.\n\n\n\nThe Proud Chicken\n\nA Widow named Hong-Mo lived in a little house near the market place.\nEvery year she raised many hundreds of chickens, which she sold to\nsupport herself and her two children.\n\nEach day the Chickens went to the fields near by and hunted bugs, rice,\nand green things to eat.\n\nThe largest one was called the King of the Chickens, because of all the\nhundreds in the flock he was the strongest.  And for this reason he was\nthe leader of them all.\n\nHe led the flock to new places for food.  He could crow the loudest,\nand as he was the strongest, none dared oppose him in any way.\n\nOne day he said to the flock, \"Let us go to the other side of the\nmountain near the wilderness to-day, and hunt rice, wheat, corn, and\nwild silkworms.  There is not enough food here.\"\n\nBut the other Chickens said, \"We are afraid to go so far.  There are\nfoxes and eagles in the wilderness, and they will catch us.\"\n\nThe King of the Chickens said, \"It is better that all the old hens and\ncowards stay at home.\"\n\nThe King's secretary said, \"I do not know fear.  I will go with you.\"\nThen they started away together.\n\nWhen they had gone a little distance, the Secretary found a beetle, and\njust as he was going to swallow it, the King flew at him in great\nanger, saying, \"Beetles are for kings, not for common chickens.  Why\ndid you not give it to me?\"  So they fought together, and while they\nwere fighting, the beetle ran away and hid under the grass where he\ncould not be found.\n\nAnd the Secretary said, \"I will not fight for you, neither will I go to\nthe wilderness with you.\"  And he went home again.\n\nAt sunset the King came home.  The other Chickens had saved the best\nroosting place for him; but he was angry because none of them had been\nwilling to go to the wilderness with him, and he fought first with one\nand then with another.\n\nHe was a mighty warrior, and therefore none of them could stand up\nagainst him.  And he pulled the feathers out of many of the flock.\n\nAt last the Chickens said, \"We will not serve this king any longer.  We\nwill leave this place.  If Hong-Mo will not give us another home, we\nwill stay in the vegetable garden.  We will do that two or three\nnights, and see if she will give us another place to live.\"\n\nSo the next day, when Hong-Mo waited at sunset for the Chickens to come\nhome, the King was the only one who came.\n\nAnd she asked the King, \"Where are all my Chickens?\"\n\nBut he was proud and angry, and said, \"They are of no use in the world.\nI would not care if they always stayed away.\"\n\nHong-Mo answered, \"You are not the only Chicken in the world.  I want\nthe others to come back.  If you drive them all away, you will surely\nsee trouble.\"\n\nBut the King laughed and jumped up on the fence and crowed.\n\"Nga-Un-Gan-Yu-Na\" (cock-a-doodle-doo-oo) in a loud voice.  \"I don't\ncare for you!  I don't care for you!\"\n\nHong-Mo went out and called the Chickens, and she hunted long through\nthe twilight until the dark night came, but she could not find them.\nThe next morning early she went to the vegetable garden, and there she\nfound her Chickens.  They were glad to see her, and bowed their heads\nand flew to her.\n\nHong-Mo said, \"What are you doing?  Why do you children stay out here,\nwhen I have given you a good house to live in?\"\n\nThe Secretary told her all about the trouble with the King.\n\nHong-Mo said, \"Now you must be friendly to each other.  Come with me,\nand I will bring you and your King together.  We must have peace here.\"\n\nWhen the Chickens came to where the King was he walked about, and\nscraped his wings on the ground, and sharpened his spurs.  His people\nhad come to make peace, and they bowed their heads and looked happy\nwhen they saw their King.  But he still walked about alone and would\nnot bow.\n\nHe said, \"I am a King--always a King.  Do you know that?  You bow your\nheads and think that pleases me.  But what do I care?  I should not\ncare if there was never another Chicken in the world but myself.  I am\nKing.\"\n\nAnd he hopped up on a tree and sang some war songs.  But suddenly an\neagle who heard him, flew down and caught him in his talons and carried\nhim away.  And the Chickens never saw their proud, quarrelsome King\nagain.\n\nEE-SZE (Meaning): No position in life is so high that it gives the\nright to be proud and quarrelsome.\n\n\n\nThe Hen and the Chinese Mountain Turtle\n\nFour hundred and fifty years ago in Lze-Cheung Province, Western China,\nthere lived an old farmer named Ah-Po.\n\nThe young farmers all said Ah-Po knew everything.  If they wanted to\nknow when it would rain, they asked Ah-Po, and when he said: \"It will\nnot rain to-morrow,\" or, \"You will need your bamboo-hat this time\nto-morrow,\" it was as he said.  He knew all about the things of nature\nand how to make the earth yield best her fruits and seeds, and some\nsaid he was a prophet.\n\nOne day Ah-Po caught a fine Mountain Turtle.  It was so large that it\ntook both of Ah-Po's sons to carry it home.  They tied its legs\ntogether and hung it on a strong stick, and each son put an end of the\nstick on his shoulder.\n\nAh-Po said, \"We will not kill the Turtle.  He is too old to eat, and I\nthink we will keep him and watch the rings grow around his legs each\nyear.\"  So they gave him a corner in the barnyard and fed him rice and\nwater.\n\nAh-Po had many Chickens, and for three months the Turtle and Chickens\nlived in peace with each other.  But one day all the young Chickens\ncame together and laughed at the Turtle.  Then they said to him, \"Why\ndo you live here so long?  Why do you not go back to your own place?\nThis small barnyard corner is not so good as your cave in the\nwilderness.  You have only a little sand and grass to live on here.\nThe servant feeds you, but she never gives you any wilderness fruits.\nYou are very large, and you take up too much room.  We need all the\nroom there is here.  You foolish old thing, do you think our fathers\nand mothers want you?  No.  There is not one of our people who likes\nyou.  Besides, you are not clean.  You make too much dirt.  The servant\ngirl gave you this water to drink, and your water bowl is even now\nupside down.  You scatter rice on our floor.  Too many flies come here\nto see you, and we do not like flies.\"\n\nThe Turtle waited until they had all finished scolding.  Then he said,\n\"Do you think I came here myself?  Who put me here, do you know?  Do\nyou suppose I like to be in jail?  You need not be jealous.  I never\nate any rice that belonged to you or your family.  I am not living in\nyour house.  What are you complaining about?  If our master should take\nyour whole family and sell it, he would only get one piece of silver.\nWho and what are you to talk so much?  Wait and see; some day I may\nhave the honoured place.\"\n\nSome of the Chickens went home and told their mother, \"We had an\nargument with the Turtle to-day and he had the last word.  To-morrow we\nwant you to go with us and show him that a Chicken can argue as well as\na Turtle.\"\n\nThe next day all the Chickens of the barnyard went to see the Turtle.\nAnd the old Hen said, \"My children came here to play yesterday, and you\nscolded them and drove them away.  You said all my family was not worth\none piece of silver.  You think you are worth many pieces of gold, I\nsuppose.  No one likes you.  Your own master would not eat you.  And\nthe market people would never buy a thing so old and tough as you are.\nBut I suppose you will have to stay here in our yard a thousand years\nor so, until you die.  Then they will carry you to the wilderness and\nthrow you into the Nobody-Knows Lake.\"\n\nThen the Turtle answered and said, \"I am a Mountain Turtle.  I come\nfrom a wise family, and it is not easy for even man to catch me.\nEducated men, doctors, know that I am useful for sickness, but if all\nthe people knew the many ways they could use me, I think there would\nsoon be no more turtles in the world.  Many Chinese know that my skin\nis good for skin disease, and my forefeet are good for the\ndevil-sickness in children, as they drive the devil away; and then my\nshells are good for sore throat, and my stomach is good for\nstomach-ache, and my bones are good for tooth-ache.  Do you remember\nthat not long ago our master brought three turtle eggs to feed your\nchildren?  I heard him say: 'Those little Chickens caught cold in that\ndamp place, and so I must give them some turtle eggs.'  I saw your\nchildren eat those three eggs, and in two or three days they were well.\n\n\"So you see the Turtle is a useful creature in the world, even to\nChickens.  Why do you not leave me in peace?  As I must stay here\nagainst my will, it is not right that your children should trouble me.\nSometimes they take all my rice and I go hungry, for our master will\nnot allow me to go outside of this fence to hunt food for myself.  I\nnever come to your house and bother you, but your children will not\neven let me live in peace in the little corner our master gave me.  If\nI had a few of my own people here with me, as you have, I think you\nwould not trouble me.  But I have only myself, while you are many.\n\n\"Yesterday your children scolded me and disturbed my peace.  To-day you\ncome again; and to-morrow and many to-morrows will see generations and\nstill more unhatched generations of Chickens coming here to scold me, I\nfear; for the length of life of a cackling hen is as a day to me--a\nMountain Turtle.  I know the heaven is large, I know the earth is large\nand made for all creatures alike.  But you think the heavens and the\nearth were both made for you and your Chickens only.  If you could\ndrive me away to-day you would try to-morrow to drive the dog away, and\nin time you would think the master himself ought not to have enough of\nyour earth and air to live in.  This barnyard is large enough for\nbirds, chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs.  It makes our master happy to\nhave us all here.\"\n\nThe Chickens went away ashamed.  Talking to each other about it, they\nsaid: \"The Turtle is right.  It is foolish to want everything.  We\nbarnyard creatures must live at peace with each other until we die.\nThe barnyard is not ours; we use it only a little while.\"\n\nEE-SZE (Meaning): The Creator made the world for all to use, and, while\nusing it, the strong should not try to drive out the weak.\n\n\n\nThe Proud Fox and the Crab\n\nOne day a Fox said to a Crab: \"Crawling thing, did you ever run in all\nyour life?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said the Crab, \"I run very often from the mud to the grass and\nback to the river.\"\n\n\"Oh, shame!\" said the Fox, \"that is no distance to run.  How many feet\nand legs have you?  I have only four.  Why, if I had as many feet as\nyou have, I would run at least six times as fast as you do.  Did you\nknow that you are really a very slow, stupid creature?  Though I have\nonly four feet I run ten times as far as you do.  I never heard of any\none with so many feet as you have, running so slowly.\"\n\nThe Crab said: \"Would you like to run a race with a stupid creature\nlike me?  I will try to run as fast as you.  I know I am small, so\nsuppose we go to the scales and see how much heavier you are.  As you\nare ten times larger than I, of course you will have to run ten times\nfaster.\n\n\"Another reason why you can run so fast is because you have such a fine\ntail and hold it so high.  If you would allow me to put it down, I do\nnot think you would run any faster than I.\"\n\n\"Oh, very well,\" said the Fox, contemptuously, \"do as you like, and\nstill the race will be so easy for me that I will not even need to try.\nYour many legs and your stupid head do not go very well together.  Now,\nif I had my sense and all of your legs, no creature in the forest could\noutrun me.  As it is, there are none that can outwit me.  I am known as\nthe sharp-witted.  Even man says, 'Qui-kwat-wui-lai' (sly as a fox).\nSo do what you will, stupid one.\"\n\n\"If you will let me tie your beautiful tail down so it will stay,\" said\nthe Crab, \"I am sure I can win the race.\"\n\n\"Oh, no, you cannot,\" said the Fox.  \"But I will prove to even your\nstupid, slow brain that it will make no difference.  Now, how do you\nwish that I should hold my tail?\"\n\nSaid the Crab: \"If you will allow me to hang something on your tail to\nhold it down, I am sure you cannot run faster than I.\"\n\n\"Do as you like,\" said the Fox.\n\n\"Allow me to come nearer,\" said the Crab, \"and when I have it fastened\nto your tail, I will say 'Ready!'  Then you are to start.\"\n\nSo the Crab crawled behind and caught the Fox's tail with his pincers\nand said, \"Ready!\" The Fox ran and ran until he was tired.  And when he\nstopped, there was the Crab beside him.\n\n\"Where are you now?\" said the Crab.  \"I thought you were to run ten\ntimes faster than I.  You are not even ahead of me with all your\nboasting.\"\n\nThe Fox, panting for breath, hung his head in shame and went away where\nhe might never see the crab again.\n\nEE-SZE (Meaning): A big, proud, boastful mouth, is a worse thing for a\nman than it is for a fox.\n\n\n\nThe Mule and the Lion\n\nOne night the Lion was very hungry, but as the creatures of the\nwilderness knew and feared him even from afar, he could not find food.\nSo he went to visit the young Mule that lived near the farmer's house,\nand when he saw him he smiled blandly and asked, \"What do you eat, fair\nLii, to make you so sleek and fat?  What makes your hair so smooth and\nbeautiful?  I think your master gives you tender fresh grass and fat\nyoung pig to eat.\"\n\nThe Mule answered, \"No, I am fat because I am gentle.  My hair is\nbeautiful because I do not fight with other creatures.  But why do you\ncome here, Sii?  Are you hungry?  I believe you are seeking for food.\"\n\nThe Lion said, \"Oh, no, I am not hungry.  I only walk around to get the\ncool, fresh air.  And then the night is very beautiful.  The moon hangs\nup in the clear sky with the stars and makes a soft light, and so I\ncame to visit you.  Would you not like to take a walk with me?  I will\ntake you to visit my friend, the Pig.  I never go to his house alone; I\nalways take a friend with me.\"\n\nThe Mule asked, \"Shall we go to any other place?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered the Lion, \"I think we will go to visit another friend\nof mine who lives not far away.\"\n\nThen the Mule asked his mother, \"Will you allow me to go with Sii to\nsee his friend?\"\n\n\"Who is his friend?\" asked the mother.\n\n\"The farmer's Pig.\" said the Mule.\n\n\"I think it is no harm if you go only there,\" said the mother Mule.\n\"But you must not go anywhere else with Sii.  The hunter is looking for\nhim, I hear, and you must be careful.  Do not trust him fully, for I\nfear he will tempt you to go to some other place or into some wrong\nthing.  If I allow you to go, you must come home before midnight.  The\nmoon will not be gone then and you can see to find your way.\"\n\nSo the Lion and the Mule went to visit the Pig, who lived in a house in\nthe farmer's yard.  But as soon as the Pig saw the Lion, he called out\nin a loud voice to his mother.\n\nThe Lion said, \"He is afraid of me.  I will hide and you may go in\nfirst.\"\n\nWhen the Pig saw that the Mule was alone, he thought the Lion had gone.\nHe opened his door wide and was very friendly to the Mule, saying,\n\"Come in.\"\n\nBut the Lion jumped from his hiding place and caught the Pig as he came\nto the door.  The Pig called to his mother in great fear, and the Mule\nbegged the Lion, saying, \"Let the poor little creature go free.\"\n\nBut the Lion said, \"No, indeed; I have many Pigs at my house.  It is\nbetter for him to go with me.\"\n\nThen the Lion carried the Pig, while the Mule followed.  Soon they came\nto where a fine looking dog lay on some hay behind a net.  The Lion did\nnot seem to see the net, for he dropped the Pig and tried to catch the\nDog, who cried loudly for mercy.\n\nBut the Lion said to the foolish Mule, \"See how rude the Dog is to us.\nWe came to visit him and he makes a loud noise and tries to call the\nhunter so that he will drive us away.  I have never been so insulted.\nCome here, Lii-Tsze, at once and help me!\"\n\nThe Mule went to the Lion and the net fell and caught them both.  At\nsunrise the Hunter came and found the Mule and the Lion in his net.\nThe Mule begged earnestly and said, \"Hunter, you know me and you know\nmy mother.  We are your friends and we do no wrong.  Set me free, oh,\nhunter, set me free!\"\n\nThe Hunter said, \"No, I will not set you free.  You may be good, but\nyou are in bad company and must take what it brings.  I will take you\nand the Lion both to the market place and sell you for silver.  That is\nmy right.  I am a hunter.  If you get in my net, that is your business.\nIf I catch you, that is my business.\"\n\nEE-SZE (Meaning): Bad company is a dangerous thing for man or beast.\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Mosquitoes\n\nOne day Ah-Fou's father said to him, \"Come here, my boy, and I will\ntell you a story.  Do you remember the great lion we saw one day, which\nAh-Kay caught?  You know a strong rope held him, and he roared and\ntried to free himself until he died.  Then when Ah-Kay took him from\nthe net, he looked at the rope and the bamboo carefully, and found five\nof the great ropes broken.\n\n\"How strong is the lion?  Twenty children like you could not break one\nstrand of that great rope.  But the lion broke five complete ropes.  He\nis the strongest of all animals.  He catches many creatures for his\nfood, but once he lost a battle with one of the least of the wilderness\ncreatures.  Do you know what it was?\"\n\n\"A bird could fight and then fly away.  Was it a bird?\"\n\n\"No, my son.\"\n\n\"A man is stronger than a lion.\"\n\n\"No; do you not remember the woodcutter who could put down five strong\nmen?  One night a wilderness lion caught and killed him.\"\n\n\"Then what was the smallest of all creatures of the wilderness that\nbattled with a lion?\"\n\nThe father said, \"I will tell you the story: Once in the summer time\nthe Lion was very thirsty.  But the sun had taken all the water near\nthe Lion's home and he went to many places seeking for it.  In time he\nfound an old well, but the water was not fresh.  As the Lion was very\nthirsty, he said, 'I must drink, even though the water is stale.'\n\n\"But when he reached down into the old well, he found that it was the\nhome of all the Mosquitoes of the wilderness.\n\n\"The Mosquitoes said to the Lion, 'Go away, we do not want you.  This\nis our home and we are happy.  We do not wish the lion, the fox, or the\nbear to come here.  You are not our friend.  Why do you come?\"\n\n\"The Lion roared and said, 'Weak and foolish things!  I am the Lion.\nIt is you that should go away, for I have come to drink.  This is my\nwilderness, and I am king.   Do you know, weak things, that when I come\nout from my place and send forth my voice, all the creatures of the\nwilderness shake like leaves and bow their heads to me?  What are you\nthat you should have a place you call your home and tell me that I may\nor I may not?'\n\n\"Then the Mosquitoes answered, 'You are only one.  You speak as if you\nwere many.  Our people had this old well for a home before your roar\nwas heard in the wilderness.  And many generations of us have been born\nhere.  This home is ours, and we are they that say who shall come or\ngo.  And yet you come and tell us to go out of our own door.  If you do\nnot leave us, we will call our people, and you shall know trouble.'\n\n\"But the Lion held his head high with pride and anger and said, 'What\nare you, oh, small of the small?  I will kill every one of your useless\npeople.  When I drink, I will open my mouth only a little wider, and\nyou shall be swallowed like the water.  And to-morrow I shall forget\nthat I drank to-day.'\n\n\"'Boastful one,' said the Mosquitoes, 'we do not believe that you have\nthe power to destroy all our people.  If you wish battle, we shall see.\nWe know your name is great and that all animals bow their heads before\nyou; but our people can kill you.'\n\n\"The Lion jumped high in his rage and said, 'No other creature in the\nwilderness has dared to say these things to me--the king.  Have I come\nto the vile well of the silly Mosquitoes for wisdom?'  And he held his\nhead high, and gave the mighty roar of battle, and made ready to kill\nall the Mosquitoes.\n\n\"Then the Mosquitoes, big and little, flew around him.  Many went into\nhis ears, and the smallest ones went into his nose, and the big old\nones went into his mouth to sting.  A thousand and a thousand hung in\nthe air just over his head and made a great noise, and the Lion soon\nknew that he could not conquer.\n\n\"He roared and jumped, and two of his front feet went down into the\nwell.  The well was narrow and deep and he could not get out, for his\ntwo hind feet were in the air and his head hung downward.  And as he\ndied, he said to himself:\n\n\"'My pride and anger have brought me this fate.  Had I used gentle\nwords, the Mosquitoes might have given me water for my thirst.  I was\nwise and strong in the wilderness, and even the greatest of the animals\nfeared my power.  But I fought with the Mosquitoes and I die--not\nbecause I have not strength to overcome, but because of the foolishness\nof anger.\"\n\nEE-SZE (Meaning): The wise can conquer the foolish.  Power is nothing,\nstrength is nothing.  The wise, gentle and careful can always win.\n\n\n\n\nFABLES OF LA FONTAINE*\n\n  \"Of Fables judge not by their face;\n  They give the simplest brute a teacher's place.\n  Bare precepts were inert and tedious things;\n  The story gives them life and wings.\"\n\n      JEAN DE LA FONTAINE\n\n*Translated by Elizur Wright, Jr.\n\n\n  FABLES OF LA FONTAINE\n\n  The Grasshopper and the Ant\n\n  A Grasshopper gay\n    Sang the summer away,\n    And found herself poor\n  By the winter's first roar.\n  Of meat or of bread,\n  Not a morsel she had!\n  So a-begging she went,\n  To her neighbour the Ant,\n    For the loan of some wheat,\n    Which would serve her to eat,\n  Till the season came round.\n    \"I will pay you,\" she saith,\n    \"On an animal's faith,\n  Double weight in the pound\n  Ere the harvest be bound.\"\n    The Ant is a friend--\n    (And here she might mend)\n    Little given to lend.\n  \"How spent you the summer?\"\n    Quoth she, looking shame\n    At the borrowing dame.\n  \"Night and day to each comer\n    I sang, if you please.\"\n    \"You sang!  I'm at ease,\n  For 'tis plain at a glance,\n  Now, ma'am, you must dance.\"\n\n\n\n  The Swan and the Cook\n\n  The pleasures of a poultry yard\n  Were by a Swan and Gosling shared.\n  The Swan was kept there for his looks,\n  The thrifty Gosling for the Cooks;\n  The first the garden's pride, the latter\n  A greater favourite on the platter.\n  They swam the ditches, side by side,\n  And oft in sports aquatic vied,\n  Plunging, splashing far and wide,\n  With rivalry ne'er satisfied.\n    One day the Cook, named Thirsty John,\n    Sent for the Gosling, took the Swan,\n      In haste his throat to cut,\n      And put him in the pot.\n    The bird's complaint resounded\n      In glorious melody;\n    Whereat the Cook, astounded\n      His sad mistake to see,\n  Cried, \"What! make soup of a musician!\n  Please God, I'll never set such dish on.\n  No, no; I'll never cut a throat\n  That sings so passing sweet a note.\"\n\n  _'Tis thus, whatever peril may alarm us,\n  Sweet words will surely never harm us_.\n\n\n\n  The Hornets and the Bees\n\n  \"The artist by his work is known.\"\n    A piece of honey-comb, one day,\n    Discovered as a waif and stray,\n  The Hornets treated as their own.\n  Their title did the Bees dispute,\n  And brought before a Wasp the suit.\n  The judge was puzzled to decide,\n  For nothing could be testified\n  Save that around this honey-comb\n  There had been seen, as if at home,\n  Some longish, brownish, buzzing creatures,\n  Much like the Bees in wings and features.\n  But what of that? for marks the same,\n  The Hornets, too, could truly claim.\n  Between assertion and denial,\n  The Wasp, in doubt, proclaimed new trial;\n  And, hearing what an ant-hill swore,\n  Could see no clearer than before.\n  \"What use, I pray, of this expense?\"\n  At last exclaim'd a Bee of sense.\n    \"We've laboured months in this affair,\n    And now are only where we were.\n  Meanwhile the honey runs to waste:\n  'Tis time the judge should show some haste.\n  Both sides have had sufficient bleeding,\n  Without more fuss of scrawls and pleading.\n  Let's set to work, these drones and we,\n  And then all eyes the truth may see,\n    Whose art it is that can produce\n    The magic cells, the nectar juice.\"\n      The Hornets, flinching on their part,\n      Show that the work transcends their art.\n      The Wasp at length their title sees,\n      And gives the honey to the Bees.\n\n      _Oh, would that suits at law with us\n      Might every one be managed thus!_\n\n\n\n  The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg\n\n  Two Rats in foraging fell on an Egg--\n    For gentry such as they\n    A genteel dinner every way;\n  They needed not to find an ox's leg.\n    Brimful of joy and appetite,\n      They were about to sack the box,\n      So tight without the aid of locks,\n    When suddenly there came in sight\n  A personage--Sir Slyboots Fox.\n    Sure, luck was never more untoward\n    Since Fortune was a vixen froward!\n  How should they save their Egg--and bacon?\n    Their plunder couldn't then be bagg'd.\n  Should it in forward paws be taken,\n    Or roll'd along, or dragg'd?\n    Each method seem'd impossible,\n    And each was then of danger full.\n  Necessity, ingenious mother,\n  Brought forth what help'd them from their pother.\n  As still there was a chance to save their prey,\n  The sponger yet some hundred yards away--\n  One seized the Egg, and turned upon his back,\n  And then, in spite of many a thump and thwack,\n  That would have torn, perhaps, a coat of mail,\n  The other dragg'd him by the tail.\n    Who dares the inference to blink,\n    That beasts possess wherewith to think?\n\n    _Were I commission'd to bestow\n    This power on creatures here below,\n    The beasts should have as much of mind\n    As infants of the human kind._\n\n\n\n  The Lion's Share\n\n  The Heifer, the Goat, and their sister the Sheep,\n  Compacted their earnings in common to keep,\n  'Tis said, in time past, with a Lion, who swayed\n  Full lordship o'er neighbours, of whatever grade.\n  The Goat, as it happened, a Stag having snared,\n  Sent off to the rest, that the beast might be shared.\n  All gathered; the Lion first counts on his claws,\n  And says, \"We'll proceed to divide with our paws\n  The stag into pieces, as fix'd by our laws.\"\n    This done, he announces part first as his own;\n    \"'Tis mine,\" he says, \"truly, as Lion alone.\"\n    To such a decision there's nought to be said,\n    As he who has made it is doubtless the head.\n  \"Well, also, the second to me should belong;\n  'Tis mine, be it known, by the right of the strong.\n  Again, as the bravest, the third must be mine.\n  To touch but the fourth whoso maketh a sign,\n        I'll choke him to death\n        In the space of a breath!\"\n\n\n\n  The Shepherd and His Dog\n\n  A Shepherd, with a single Dog,\n  Was ask'd the reason why\n  He kept a Dog, whose least supply\n  Amounted to a loaf of bread\n  For every day.  The people said\n  He'd better give the animal\n  To guard the village seignior's hall;\n  For him, a Shepherd, it would be\n  A thriftier economy\n  To keep small curs, say two or three,\n  That would not cost him half the food,\n  And yet for watching be as good.\n  The fools, perhaps, forgot to tell\n  If they would fight the wolf as well.\n  The silly Shepherd, giving heed,\n  Cast off his Dog of mastiff breed,\n  And took three dogs to watch his cattle,\n  Which ate far less, but fled in battle.\n\n  _Not vain our tale, if it convinces\n    Small states that 'tis a wiser thing\n    To trust a single powerful king,\n  Than half a dozen petty princes._\n\n\n\n  The Old Man and the Ass\n\n  An Old Man, riding on his Ass,\n  Had found a spot of thrifty grass,\n  And there turn'd loose his weary beast.\n  Old Grizzle, pleased with such a feast,\n  Flung up his heels, and caper'd round,\n  Then roll'd and rubb'd upon the ground,\n  And frisk'd and browsed and bray'd,\n  And many a clean spot made.\n  Arm'd men came on them as he fed:\n  \"Let's fly!\" in haste the Old Man said.\n  \"And wherefore so?\" the Ass replied;\n  \"With heavier burdens will they ride?\"\n    \"No,\" said the man, already started,\n    \"Then,\" cried the Ass, as he departed.\n    \"I'll stay, and be--no matter whose;\n    Save you yourself, and leave me loose,\n    But let me tell you, ere you go\n    (I speak plain English, as you know),\n    My master is my only foe.\"\n\n\n\n  The Lion Going to War\n\n  The Lion had an enterprise in hand;\n    Held a war-council, sent his provost-marshal,\n    And gave the animals a call impartial--\n  Each, in his way, to serve his high command.\n  The Elephant should carry on his back\n  The tools of war, the mighty public pack,\n  And fight in elephantine way and form;\n  The Bear should hold himself prepared to storm;\n  The Fox all secret stratagems should fix;\n  The Monkey should amuse the foe by tricks.\n  \"Dismiss,\" said one, \"the blockhead Asses,\n    And Hares, too cowardly and fleet.\"\n  \"No,\" said the King; \"I use all classes;\n    Without their aid my force were incomplete.\n  The Ass shall be our trumpeter, to scare\n  Our enemy.  And then the nimble Hare\n  Our royal bulletins shall homeward bear.\"\n\n    _A monarch provident and wise\n  Will hold his subjects all of consequence,\n    And know in each what talent lies.\n  There's nothing useless to a man of sense._\n\n\n\n  The Ass and the Lap-dog\n\n  One's native talent from its course\n  Cannot be turned aside by force;\n  But poorly apes the country clown\n  The polish'd manners of the town.\n    Their Maker chooses but a few\n    With power of pleasing to imbue;\n    Where wisely leave it we, the mass,\n    Unlike a certain fabled Ass,\n  That thought to gain his master's blessing\n  By jumping on him and caressing.\n    \"What!\" said the Donkey in his heart;\n    \"Ought it to be that Puppy's part\n      To lead his useless life\n        In full companionship\n      With master and his wife,\n        While I must bear the whip?\n  What doth the Cur a kiss to draw\n  Forsooth, he only gives his paw!\n  If that is all there needs to please,\n  I'll do the thing myself, with ease.\"\n    Possess'd with this bright notion--\n  His master sitting on his chair,\n  At leisure in the open air--\n    He ambled up, with awkward motion,\n  And put his talents to the proof;\n  Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof,\n  And, with an amiable mien,\n  His master patted on the chin,\n  The action gracing with a word--\n  The fondest bray that e'er was heard!\n  Oh, such caressing was there ever?\n  Or melody with such a quaver?\n  \"Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!\"\n    Out cried the master, sore offended.\n  So Martin gave the Ass a drubbing--\n    And so the comedy was ended.\n\n\n\n  The Hare and the Partridge\n\n  A field in common share\n  A Partridge and a Hare,\n  And live in peaceful state,\n  Till, woeful to relate!\n  The hunters mingled cry\n  Compels the Hare to fly.\n  He hurries to his fort,\n  And spoils almost the sport\n  By faulting every hound\n  That yelps upon the ground.\n  At last his reeking heat\n  Betrays his snug retreat.\n  Old Tray, with philosophic nose,\n  Snuffs carefully, and grows\n  So certain, that he cries,\n  \"The Hare is here; bow wow!\"\n  And veteran Ranger now--\n  The dog that never lies--\n  \"The Hare is gone,\" replies.\n  Alas! poor, wretched Hare,\n  Back comes he to his lair,\n  To meet destruction there!\n  The Partridge, void of fear,\n  Begins her friend to jeer:--\n  \"You bragg'd of being fleet;\n  How serve you, now, your feet?\"\n  Scarce has she ceased to speak--\n  The laugh yet in her beak--\n  When comes her turn to die,\n  From which she could not fly.\n  She thought her wings, indeed,\n  Enough for every need;\n  But in her laugh and talk,\n  Forgot the cruel hawk!\n\n\n  The Weasel in the Granary\n\n  A Weasel through a hole contrived to squeeze,\n      (She was recovering from disease),\n      Which led her to a farmer's hoard.\n  There lodged, her wasted form she cherish'd;\n    Heaven knows the lard and victuals stored\n      That by her gnawing perish'd!\n      Of which the consequence\n      Was sudden corpulence.\n      A week or so was past,\n    When having fully broken fast,\n      A noise she heard, and hurried\n    To find the hole by which she came,\n    And seem'd to find it not the same;\n      So round she ran, most sadly flurried;\n    And, coming back, thrust out her head,\n    Which, sticking there, she said,\n    \"This is the hole, there can't be blunder:\n    What makes it now so small, I wonder,\n  Where, but the other day, I pass'd with ease?\"\n      A Rat her trouble sees,\n    And cries, \"But with an emptier belly;\n    You entered lean, and lean must sally.\"\n\n\n\n  The Wolf Turned Shepherd\n\n    A Wolf, whose gettings from the flocks\n      Began to be but few,\n    Bethought himself to play the fox\n      In character quite new.\n  A Shepherd's hat and coat he took,\n      A cudgel for a crook,\n      Nor e'en the pipe forgot:\n    And more to seem what he was not,\n    Himself upon his hat he wrote,\n    \"I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep.\"\n      His person thus complete,\n      His crook in upraised feet,\n    The impostor Willie stole upon the keep.\n    The proper Willie, on the grass asleep,\n      Slept there, indeed, profoundly,\n    His dog and pipe slept, also soundly;\n      His drowsy sheep around lay.\n      As for the greatest number,\n    Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber\n    And hoped to drive away the flock,\n    Could he the Shepherd's voice but mock.\n      He thought undoubtedly he could.\n    He tried: the tone in which he spoke,\n      Loud echoing from the wood,\n      The plot and slumber broke;\n      Sheep, dog, and man awoke.\n      The Wolf, in sorry plight,\n      In hampering coat bedight,\n      Could neither run nor fight.\n\n    _There's always leakage of deceit\n    Which makes it never safe to cheat,\n    Whoever is a Wolf had better\n    Keep clear of hypocritic fetter._\n\n\n\n  The Lion and the Ass Hunting\n\n  The King of animals, with royal grace,\n  Would celebrate his birthday in the chase.\n    Twas not with bow and arrows,\n    To slay some wretched sparrows;\n  The Lion hunts the wild boar of the wood,\n  The antlered deer and stags, the fat and good.\n    This time, the King, t' insure success,\n    Took for his aide-de-camp an Ass,\n    A creature of stentorian voice,\n    That felt much honoured by the choice.\n  The Lion hid him in a proper station,\n  And ordered him to bray, for his vocation,\n    Assured that his tempestuous cry\n    The boldest beasts would terrify,\n    And cause them from their lairs to fly.\n  And, sooth, the horrid noise the creature made\n  Did strike the tenants of the wood with dread;\n    And, as they headlong fled,\n  All fell within the Lion's ambuscade.\n    \"Has not my service glorious\n    Made both of us victorious?\"\n    Cried out the much-elated Ass.\n  \"Yes,\" said the Lion; \"bravely bray'd!\n    Had I not known yourself and race,\n  I should have been myself afraid!\"\n    The Donkey, had he dared,\n    With anger would have flared\n  At this retort, though justly made;\n    For who could suffer boasts to pass\n    So ill-befitting to an Ass?\n\n\n\n  The Oak and the Reed\n\n  The Oak one day address'd the Reed:\n  \"To you ungenerous indeed\n  Has nature been, my humble friend,\n  With weakness aye obliged to bend.\n  The smallest bird that flits in air\n  Is quite too much for you to bear;\n  The slightest wind that wreathes the lake\n  Your ever-trembling head doth shake.\n  The while, my towering form\n    Dares with the mountain top\n    The solar blaze to stop,\n  And wrestle with the storm.\n  What seems to you the blast of death,\n  To me is but a zephyr's breath.\n  Beneath my branches had you grown,\n  Less suffering would your life have known,\n    Unhappily you oftenest show\n      In open air your slender form,\n    Along the marshes wet and low,\n      That fringe the kingdom of the storm.\n    To you, declare I must,\n    Dame Nature seems unjust.\"\n  Then modestly replied the Reed:\n  \"Your pity, sir, is kind indeed,\n  But wholly needless for my sake.\n  The wildest wind that ever blew\n  Is safe to me compared with you.\n  I bend, indeed, but never break.\n  Thus far, I own, the hurricane\n  Has beat your sturdy back in vain;\n  But wait the end.\"  Just at the word,\n  The tempest's hollow voice was heard.\n  The North sent forth her fiercest child,\n  Dark, jagged, pitiless, and wild.\n  The Oak, erect, endured the blow;\n  The Reed bow'd gracefully and low.\n  But, gathering up its strength once more,\n  In greater fury than before,\n  The savage blast o'erthrew, at last,\n  That proud, old, sky-encircled head,\n  Whose feet entwined the empire of the dead!\n\n\n\n  The Bat and the Two Weasels\n\n  A blundering Bat once stuck her head\n  Into a wakeful Weasel's bed;\n  Whereat the mistress of the house,\n    A deadly foe of rats and mice,\n    Was making ready in a trice\n  To eat the stranger as a mouse.\n  \"What! do you dare,\" she said, \"to creep in\n  The very bed I sometimes sleep in,\n  Now, after all the provocation\n  I've suffered from your thievish nation?\n  It's plain to see you are a mouse,\n  That gnawing pest of every house,\n  Your special aim to do the cheese ill.\n  Ay, that you are, or I'm no Weasel.\"\n    \"I beg your pardon,\" said the Bat;\n    \"My kind is very far from that.\n  What!  I a mouse!  Who told you such a lie?\n    Why, ma'am, I am a bird;\n    And, if you doubt my word,\n  Just see the wings with which I fly.\n  Long live the mice that cleave the sky!\"\n    These reasons had so fair a show,\n    The Weasel let the creature go.\n\n  By some strange fancy led,\n  The same wise blunderhead,\n  But two or three days later,\n    Had chosen for her rest\n    Another Weasel's nest,\n  This last, of birds a special hater.\n  New peril brought this step absurd:\n    Without a moment's thought or puzzle,\n    Dame Weasel, oped her peaked muzzle\n  To eat th' intruder as a bird.\n    \"Hold! do not wrong me,\" cried the Bat;\n    \"I'm truly no such thing as that.\n  Your eyesight strange conclusions gathers.\n  What makes a bird, I pray?  Its feathers.\n    I'm cousin of the mice and rats.\n    Great Jupiter confound the cats!\"\n  The Bat, by such adroit replying,\n  Twice saved herself from dying.\n\n  _And many a human stranger\n  Thus turns his coat in danger;\n  And sings, as suits, where'er he goes,\n  \"God save the king!\"--or \"save his foes!_\"\n\n\n\n  The Dove and the Ant\n\n  A Dove came to a brook to drink,\n  When, leaning o'er its crumbling brink,\n  An Ant fell in, and vainly tried,\n  In this, to her, an ocean tide,\n  To reach the land; whereat the Dove,\n  With every living thing in love,\n  Was prompt a spire of grass to throw her,\n  By which the Ant regained the shore.\n\n  A barefoot scamp, both mean and sly,\n  Soon after chanced this Dove to spy;\n  And, being arm'd with bow and arrow,\n    The hungry codger doubted not\n    The bird of Venus, in his pot,\n  Would make a soup before the morrow.\n  Just as his deadly bow he drew,\n    Our Ant just bit his heel.\n    Roused by the villain's squeal,\n  The Dove took timely hint, and flew\n    Far from the rascal's coop--\n    And with her flew his soup.\n\n\n\n  The Cock and the Fox\n\n  Upon a tree there mounted guard\n      A veteran Cock, adroit and cunning;\n    When to the roots a Fox up running,\n  Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard:\n    \"Our quarrel, brother, 's at an end;\n    Henceforth I hope to live your friend;\n        For peace now reigns\n      Throughout the animal domains.\n    I bear the news--come down, I pray,\n      And give me the embrace fraternal;\n    And please, my brother, don't delay.\n      So much the tidings do concern all,\n    That I must spread them far to-day.\n    Now you and yours can take your walks\n    Without a fear or thought of hawks.\n  And should you clash with them or others,\n  In us you'll find the best of brothers;\n    For which you may, this joyful night,\n    Your merry bonfires light.\n      But, first, let's seal the bliss\n      With one fraternal kiss.\"\n    The Cock replied, \"Upon my word,\n    A better thing I never heard;\n      And doubly I rejoice\n      To hear it from your voice;\n    There really must be something in it,\n  For yonder come two greyhounds, which I flatter\n  Myself are couriers on this very matter.\n    They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute.\n  I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessing\n    With general kissing and caressing.\"\n    \"Adieu,\" said Fox; \"my errand's pressing;\n      I'll hurry on my way,\n      And we'll rejoice some other day.\"\n  So off the fellow scampered, quick and light,\n  To gain the fox-holes of a neighbouring height,\n  Less happy in his stratagem than flight.\n    The Cock laugh'd sweetly in his sleeve--\n    'Tis doubly sweet deceiver to deceive.\n\n\n\n  The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid\n\n  As went a Goat of grass to take her fill,\n  And browse the herbage of a distant hill,\n      She latch'd her door, and bid,\n      With matron care, her Kid;\n      \"My daughter, as you live,\n        This portal don't undo\n        To any creature who\n      This watchword does not give:\n    'Deuce take the Wolf and all his race'!\"\n    The Wolf was passing near the place\n  By chance, and heard the words with pleasure,\n      And laid them up as useful treasure;\n    And hardly need we mention,\n    Escaped the Goat's attention.\n        No sooner did he see\n        The matron off, than he,\n    With hypocritic tone and face,\n    Cried out before the place,\n    \"Deuce take the Wolf and all his race!\"\n      Not doubting thus to gain admission.\n      The Kid, not void of all suspicion,\n      Peer'd through a crack, and cried,\n    \"Show me white paw before\n    You ask me to undo the door.\"\n  The Wolf could not, if he had died,\n    For wolves have no connection\n    With paws of that complexion.\n  So, much surprised, our gourmandiser\n  Retired to fast till he was wiser.\n\n  _How would the Kid have been undone\n    Had she but trusted to the word\n    The Wolf by chance had overheard!\n  Two sureties better are than one;\n    And cautions worth its cost,\n    Though sometimes seeming lost._\n\n\n  The Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals\n\n    Left kingless by the lion's death,\n    The beasts once met, our story saith,\n    Some fit successor to install.\n  Forth from a dragon-guarded, moated place,\n  The crown was brought and, taken from its case,\n    And being tried by turns on all,\n    The heads of most were found too small;\n    Some horned were, and some too big;\n      Not one would fit the regal gear.\n    Forever ripe for such a rig,\n    The Monkey, looking very queer,\n    Approached with antics and grimaces,\n    And, after scores of monkey faces,\n  With what would seem a gracious stoop,\n  Pass'd through the crown as through a hoop.\n    The beasts, diverted with the thing,\n    Did homage to him as their king.\n    The Fox alone the vote regretted,\n    But yet in public never fretted.\n    When he his compliments had paid\n    To royalty, thus newly made,\n    \"Great sire, I know a place,\" said he,\n      \"Where lies conceal'd a treasure,\n    Which, by the right of royalty,\n      Should bide your royal pleasure.\"\n    The King lack'd not an appetite\n      For such financial pelf,\n    And, not to lose his royal right,\n      Ran straight to see it for himself.\n    It was a trap, and he was caught.\n    Said Reynard, \"Would you have it thought,\n    You Ape, that you can fill a throne,\n    And guard the rights of all, alone.\n    Not knowing how to guard your own?\"\n\n    _The beasts all gathered from the farce,\n    That stuff for kings is very scarce._\n\n\n  The Rat and the Oyster\n\n  A country Rat of little brains,\n    Grown weary of inglorious rest,\n  Left home with all its straws and grains,\n    Resolved to know beyond his nest.\n  When peeping through the nearest fence,\n  \"How big the world is, how immense!\"\n  He cried; \"there rise the Alps, and that\n  Is doubtless famous Ararat.\"\n  His mountains were the works of moles,\n  Or dirt thrown up in digging holes!\n  Some days of travel brought him where\n  The tide had left the Oysters bare.\n  Since here our traveller saw the sea,\n  He thought these shells the ships must be.\n  \"My father was, in truth,\" said he,\n    \"A coward, and an ignoramus;\n  He dared not travel: as for me,\n    I've seen the ships and ocean famous;\n  Have cross'd the deserts without drinking,\n  And many dangerous streams, unshrinking.\"\n  Among the shut-up shell-fish, one\n  Was gaping widely at the sun;\n  It breathed, and drank the air's perfume,\n  Expanding, like a flower in bloom.\n    Both white and fat, its meat\n    Appear'd a dainty treat.\n  Our Rat, when he this shell espied,\n  Thought for his stomach to provide.\n  \"If not mistaken in the matter,\"\n  Said he, \"no meat was ever fatter,\n  Or in its flavour half so fine,\n  As that on which to-day I dine.\"\n  Thus full of hope, the foolish chap\n    Thrust in his head to taste,\n  And felt the pinching of a trap--\n    The Oyster closed in haste.\n\n  _Now those to whom the world is new\n  Are wonder-struck at every view;\n  And the marauder finds his match\n  When he is caught who thinks to catch._\n\n\n\n  The Ass and the Dog\n\n  Along the road an Ass and Dog\n  One master following, did jog.\n  Their master slept: meanwhile, the Ass\n  Applied his nippers to the grass,\n  Much pleased in such a place to stop,\n  Though there no thistle he could crop.\n  He would not be too delicate,\n  Nor spoil a dinner for a plate,\n  Which, but for that, his favourite dish,\n  Were all that any Ass could wish.\n    \"My dear companion,\" Towser said--\n  \"'Tis as a starving Dog I ask it--\n  Pray lower down your loaded basket,\n    And let me get a piece of bread.\"\n  No answer--not a word!--indeed,\n  The truth was, our Arcadian steed\n  Fear'd lest, for every moment's flight,\n  His nimble teeth should lose a bite.\n  At last, \"I counsel you,\" said he, \"to wait\n    Till master is himself awake,\n    Who then, unless I much mistake,\n  Will give his Dog the usual bait.\"\n  Meanwhile, there issued from the wood\n  A creature of the wolfish brood,\n  Himself by famine sorely pinch'd.\n  At sight of him the Donkey flinch'd,\n  And begg'd the Dog to give him aid.\n  The Dog budged not, but answer made,\n  \"I counsel thee, my friend, to run,\n  Till master's nap is fairly done;\n  There can, indeed, be no mistake\n  That he will very soon awake;\n  Till then, scud off with all your might;\n  And should he snap you in your flight,\n  This ugly Wolf--why, let him feel\n  The greeting of your well-shod heel.\n  I do not doubt, at all, but that\n  Will be enough to lay him flat.\"\n    But ere he ceased it was too late;\n    The Ass had met his cruel fate.\n\n\n\n  The Monkey and the Leopard\n\n  A Monkey and a Leopard were\n    The rivals at a country fair.\n  Each advertised his own attractions.\n    Said one, \"Good sirs, the highest place\n    My merit knows; for, of his grace,\n    The King hath seen me face to face;\n  And, judging by his looks and actions,\n  I gave the best of satisfactions.\n  When I am dead, 'tis plain enough,\n  My skin will make his royal muff.\n  So richly is it streak'd and spotted,\n  So delicately waved and dotted,\n  Its various beauty cannot fail to please.\"\n  And, thus invited, everybody sees;\n  But soon they see, and soon depart.\n  The Monkey's show-bill to the mart\n  His merits thus sets forth the while,\n  All in his own peculiar style:\n  \"Come, gentlemen, I pray you, come;\n  In magic arts I am at home.\n  The whole variety in which\n  My neighbour boasts himself so rich\n  Is to his simple skin confined,\n  While mine is living in the mind.\n  For I can speak, you understand;\n  Can dance, and practise sleight-of-hand;\n  Can jump through hoops, and balance sticks;\n  In short, can do a thousand tricks;\n  One penny is my charge to you,\n  And, if you think the price won't do,\n  When you have seen, then I'll restore,\n  Each man his money at the door.\"\n\n    _The Ape was not to reason blind;\n    For who in wealth of dress can find\n    Such charms as dwell in wealth of mind?\n    One meets our ever-new desires,\n    The other in a moment tires.\n    Alas! how many lords there are,\n      Of mighty sway and lofty mien,\n    Who, like this Leopard at the fair,\n      Show all their talents on the skin!_\n\n\n\n  The Rat and the Elephant\n\n  A Rat, of quite the smallest size,\n  Fix'd on an Elephant his eyes,\n  And jeer'd the beast of high descent\n  Because his feet so slowly went.\n  Upon his back, three stories high,\n  There sat, beneath a canopy,\n  A certain sultan of renown,\n    His Dog, and Cat, and wife sublime,\n    His parrot, servant, and his wine,\n  All pilgrims to a distant town.\n  The Rat profess'd to be amazed\n  That all the people stood and gazed\n  With wonder, as he pass'd the road,\n  Both at the creature and his load.\n      \"As if,\" said he, \"to occupy\n      A little more of land or sky\n  Made one, in view of common sense,\n  Of greater worth and consequence!\n  What see ye, men, in this parade,\n  That food for wonder need be made?\n  The bulk which makes a child afraid?\n  In truth, I take myself to be,\n  In all aspects, as good as he.\"\n  And further might have gone his vaunt;\n      But, darting down, the Cat\n      Convinced him that a Rat\n  Is smaller than an elephant.\n\n\n\n  The Acorn and the Pumpkin\n\n  God's works are good.  This truth to prove\n  Around the world I need not move;\n    I do it by the nearest Pumpkin.\n  \"This fruit so large, on vine so small,\"\n    Surveying once, exclaim'd a bumpkin--\n  \"What could He mean who made us all?\n  He's left this Pumpkin out of place.\n  If I had order'd in the case,\n  Upon that oak it should have hung----\n  A noble fruit as ever swung\n  To grace a tree so firm and strong.\n  Indeed, it was a great mistake,\n      As this discovery teaches,\n  That I myself did not partake\n  His counsels whom my curate preaches.\n  All things had then in order come;\n    This Acorn, for example,\n      Not bigger than my thumb,\n  Had not disgraced a tree so ample.\n  The more I think, the more I wonder\n  To see outraged proportion's laws,\n  And that without the slightest cause;\n  God surely made an awkward blunder.\"\n  With such reflections proudly fraught,\n  Our sage grew tired of mighty thought,\n  And threw himself on Nature's lap,\n  Beneath an oak, to take his nap.\n  Plump on his nose, by lucky hap,\n  An Acorn fell: he waked, and in\n  The scarf he wore beneath his chin,\n  He found the cause of such a bruise\n  As made him different language use.\n  \"Oh!  Oh!\" he cried; \"I bleed!  I bleed!\n  And this is what has done the deed!\n  But, truly, what had been my fate,\n  Had this had half a Pumpkin's weight!\n  I see that God had reasons good,\n  And all His works were understood.\"\n  Thus home he went in humbler mood.\n\n\n\n  The Cat and the Fox\n\n  The Cat and Fox, when saints were all the rage\n  Together went upon pilgrimage.\n  Our Pilgrims, as a thing of course,\n  Disputed till their throats were hoarse.\n    Then, dropping to a lower tone,\n  They talk'd of this, and talk'd of that,\n  Till Reynard whisper'd to the Cat,\n    \"You think yourself a knowing one:\n  How many cunning tricks have you?\n  For I've a hundred, old and new,\n  All ready in my haversack.\"\n  The Cat replied, \"I do not lack,\n    Though with but one provided;\n  And, truth to honour, for that matter,\n  I hold it than a thousand better.\"\n    In fresh dispute they sided;\n  And loudly were they at it, when\n  Approach'd a mob of dogs and men.\n  \"Now,\" said the Cat, \"your tricks ransack,\n  And put your cunning brains to rack,\n  One life to save; I'll show you mine--\n  A trick, you see, for saving nine.\"\n  With that, she climb'd a lofty pine.\n  The Fox his hundred ruses tried,\n    And yet no safety found.\n  A hundred times he falsified.\n    The nose of every hound\n  Was here, and there, and everywhere,\n    Above, and under ground;\n  But yet to stop he did not dare,\n  Pent in a hole, it was no joke,\n  To meet the terriers or the smoke.\n  So, leaping into upper air,\n  He met two dogs, that choked him there.\n\n  _Expedients may be too many,\n    Consuming time to choose and try.\n  On one, but that as good as any,\n    'Tis best in danger to rely._\n\n\n\n  The City Rat and the Country Rat\n\n  A city Rat, one night\n    Did with a civil stoop\n  A Country Rat invite\n    To end a turtle soup.\n\n  Upon a Turkey carpet\n    They found the table spread,\n  And sure I need not harp it\n    How well the fellows fed.\n\n  The entertainment was\n    A truly noble one;\n  But some unlucky cause\n    Disturbed it when begun\n\n  It was a slight rat-tat,\n    That put their Joys to rout;\n  Out ran the City Rat;\n    His guest, too, scampered out.\n\n  Our rats but fairly quit,\n    The fearful knocking ceased,\n  \"Return we,\" said the cit,\n    \"To finish there our feast.\"\n\n  \"No,\" said the Rustic Rat;\n    \"To-morrow dine with me.\n  I'm not offended at\n    Your feast so grand and free,\n\n  \"For I've no fare resembling;\n    But then I eat at leisure,\n  And would not swap for pleasure\n    So mixed with fear and trembling.\"\n\n\n\n  The Ploughman and His Sons\n\n  A wealthy Ploughman drawing near his end\n  Call'd in his Sons apart from every friend,\n  And said, \"When of your sire bereft,\n  The heritage our fathers left\n  Guard well, nor sell a single field.\n  A treasure in it is conceal'd:\n  The place, precisely, I don't know,\n  But industry will serve to show.\n  The harvest past.  Time's forelock take,\n  And search with plough, and spade, and rake;\n  Turn over every inch of sod,\n  Nor leave unsearch'd a single clod.\"\n  The father died.  The Sons in vain--\n  Turn'd o'er the soil, and o'er again;\n  That year their acres bore\n  More grain than e'er before.\n  Though hidden money found they none,\n  Yet had their Father wisely done,\n    To show by such a measure\n    That toil itself is treasure.\n\n  _The farmer's patient care and toil\n  Are oftener wanting than the soil._\n\n\n\n  The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse\n\n  A Fox, though young, by no means raw,\n    Had seen a Horse, the first he ever saw:\n  \"Ho! neighbour Wolf,\" said he to one quite green,\n  \"A creature in our meadow I have seen--\n      Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet--\n      The finest beast I ever met.\"\n      \"Is he a stouter one than we?\"\n      The Wolf demanded, eagerly;\n      \"Some picture of him let me see.\"\n  \"If I could paint,\" said Fox, \"I should delight\n  T' anticipate your pleasure at the sight;\n  But come; who knows? perhaps it is a prey\n      By fortune offer'd in our way.\"\n    They went.  The Horse, turn'd loose to graze,\n    Not liking much their looks and ways,\n        Was just about to gallop off.\n  \"Sir,\" said the Fox, \"your humble servants, we\n  Make bold to ask you what your name may be.\"\n    The Horse, an animal with brains enough,\n  Replied, \"Sirs, you yourselves may read my name;\n  My shoer round my heel hath writ the same.\"\n  The Fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge:\n    \"Me, sir, my parents did not educate,\n    So poor, a hole was their entire estate.\n  My friend, the Wolf, however, taught at college,\n      Could read it, were it even Greek.\"\n        The Wolf, to flattery weak,\n      Approached to verify the boast;\n      For which four teeth he lost.\n  The high raised hoof came down with such a blow\n  As laid him bleeding on the ground full low.\n  \"My brother,\" said the Fox, \"this shows how just\n    What once was taught me by a fox of wit--\n    Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ--\n  'All unknown things the wise mistrust.'\"\n\n\n\n  The Woodman and Mercury\n\n  A Man that laboured in the wood\n    Had lost his honest livelihood;\n      That is to say,\n  His axe was gone astray.\n  He had no tools to spare;\n  This wholly earn'd his fare.\n  Without a hope beside,\n  He sat him down and cried,\n  \"Alas, my axe! where can it be?\n  O Jove! but send it back to me,\n  And it shall strike good blows for thee.\"\n  His prayer in high Olympus heard,\n  Swift Mercury started at the word.\n  \"Your axe must not be lost,\" said he:\n  \"Now, will you know it when you see?\n  An axe I found upon the road.\"\n  With that an axe of gold he show'd.\n  \"Is't this?\"  The Woodman answer'd, \"Nay.\"\n  An axe of silver, bright and gay,\n  Refused the honest Woodman too.\n  At last the finder brought to view\n  An axe of iron, steel, and wood.\n  \"That's mine,\" he said, in joyful mood;\n  \"With that I'll quite contented be.\"\n  The god replied, \"I give the three,\n  As due reward of honesty.\"\n  This luck when neighbouring choppers knew,\n  They lost their axes, not a few,\n  And sent their prayers to Jupiter\n  So fast, he knew not which to hear.\n  His winged son, however, sent\n  With gold and silver axes, went.\n  Each would have thought himself a fool\n  Not to have own'd the richest tool.\n  But Mercury promptly gave, instead\n  Of it, a blow upon the head.\n\n    _With simple truth to be contented,\n    Is surest not to be repented:\n    But still there are who would\n    With evil trap the good,\n    Whose cunning is but stupid,\n    For Jove is never duped._\n\n\n\n  The Eagle and the Owl\n\n    The Eagle and the Owl, resolved to cease\n    Their war, embraced in pledge of peace.\n  On faith of King, on faith of Owl, they swore\n  That they would eat each other's chicks no more.\n    \"But know you mine?\" said Wisdom's bird.\n      \"Not I, indeed,\" the Eagle cried.\n      \"The worse for that,\" the Owl replied:\n    \"I fear your oath's a useless word;\n      I fear that you, as king, will not\n      Consider duly who or what:\n    Adieu, my young, if you should meet them!\"\n  \"Describe them, then, and I'll not eat them,\"\n  The Eagle said.  The Owl replied:\n  \"My little ones, I say with pride,\n  For grace of form cannot be match'd--\n  The prettiest birds that e'er were hatch'd;\n  By this you cannot fail to know them;\n  'Tis needless, therefore, that I show them.\"\n  At length God gives the Owl some heirs,\n  And while at early eve abroad he fares,\n    In quest of birds and mice for food,\n    Our Eagle haply spies the brood,\n    As on some craggy rock they sprawl,\n    Or nestle in some ruined wall,\n    (But which it matters not at all,)\n    And thinks them ugly little frights,\n    Grim, sad, with voice like shrieking sprites.\n  \"These chicks,\" says he, \"with looks almost infernal,\n  Can't be the darlings of our friend nocturnal.\n  I'll sup of them.\"  And so he did, not slightly:\n  He never sups, if he can help it, lightly.\n    The Owl return'd; and, sad, he found\n    Nought left but claws upon the ground.\n  He pray'd the gods above and gods below\n  To smite the brigand who had caused his woe.\n  Quoth one, \"On you alone the blame must fall;\n  Thinking your like the loveliest of all,\n  You told the Eagle of your young ones' graces;\n    You gave the picture of their faces:\n    Had it of likeness any traces?\"\n\n\n\n  The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot\n\n  An Iron Pot proposed\n    To an Earthen Pot a journey.\n  The latter was opposed,\n    Expressing the concern he\n  Had felt about the danger\n  Of going out a ranger.\n  He thought the kitchen hearth\n  The safest place on earth\n  For one so very brittle.\n  \"For thee, who art a kettle,\n  And hast a tougher skin,\n  There's nought to keep thee in.\"\n  \"I'll be thy bodyguard,\"\n    Replied the Iron Pot;\n  \"If anything that's hard\n    Should threaten thee a jot,\n  Between you I will go,\n  And save thee from the blow.\"\n    This offer him persuaded.\n    The Iron Pot paraded\n    Himself as guard and guide\n    Close at his cousin's side.\n    Now, in their tripod way,\n    They hobble as they may;\n    And eke together bolt\n    At every little jolt--\n    Which gives the crockery pain;\n      But presently his comrade hits\n      So hard, he dashes him to bits,\n    Before he can complain.\n\n  _Take care that you associate\n  With equals only, lest your fate\n  Between these pots should find its mate._\n\n\n\n  The Wolf and the Lean Dog\n\n  A Troutling, some time since,\n      Endeavoured vainly to convince\n    A hungry fisherman\n  Of his unfitness for the frying-pan.\n    The fisherman had reason good--\n    The troutling did the best he could--\n      Both argued for their lives.\n    Now, if my present purpose thrives,\n  I'll prop my former proposition\n  By building on a small addition.\n    A certain Wolf, in point of wit\n    The prudent fisher's opposite,\n    A Dog once finding far astray,\n    Prepared to take him as his prey.\n      The Dog his leanness plead;\n      \"Your lordship, sure,\" he said,\n      \"Cannot be very eager\n      To eat a dog so meagre.\n    To wait a little do not grudge:\n  The wedding of my master's only daughter\n  Will cause of fatted calves and fowls a slaughter;\n      And then, as you yourself can judge,\n      I cannot help becoming fatter.\"\n      The Wolf, believing, waived the matter,\n      And so, some days therefrom,\n        Return'd with sole design to see\n        If fat enough his Dog might be.\n      The rogue was now at home:\n      He saw the hunter through the fence.\n          \"My friend,\" said he, \"please wait;\n      I'll be with you a moment hence,\n        And fetch our porter of the gate.\"\n      This porter was a dog immense,\n      That left to wolves no future tense.\n        Suspicion gave our Wolf a jog--\n        It might not be so safely tamper'd.\n      \"My service to your porter dog,\"\n    Was his reply, as off he scampered.\n    His legs proved better than his head,\n    And saved him life to learn his trade.\n\n\n\n  The Ears of the Hare\n\n  Some beast with horns did gore\n      The Lion; and that sovereign dread,\n  Resolved to suffer so no more,\n    Straight banish'd from his realm, 'tis said,\n  All sorts of beasts with horns--\n  Rams, bulls, goats, stags, and unicorns.\n    Such brutes all promptly fled.\n  A Hare, the shadow of his ears perceiving,\n    Could hardly help believing\n  That some vile spy for horns would take them,\n  And food for accusation make them.\n    \"Adieu,\" said he, \"my neighbour cricket;\n    I take my foreign ticket.\n      My ears, should I stay here,\n      Will turn to horns, I fear;\n    And were they shorter than a bird's,\n    I fear the effect of words.\"\n  \"These horns!\" the cricket answered; \"why,\n  God made them ears who can deny?\"\n  \"Yes,\" said the coward, \"still they'll make them horns,\n  And horns, perhaps, of unicorns!\n    In vain shall I protest,\n  With all the learning of the schools:\n    My reasons they will send to rest\n      In th' Hospital of Fools.\"\n\n\n\n  The Ass Carrying Relics\n\n  An Ass, with relics for his load,\n  Supposed the worship on the road\n  Meant for himself alone,\n    And took on lofty airs,\n  Receiving as his own\n    The incense and the prayers.\n  Some one, who saw his great mistake,\n  Cried, \"Master Donkey, do not make\n    Yourself so big a fool.\n  Not you they worship, but your pack;\n  They praise the idols on your back,\n    And count yourself a paltry tool.\"\n\n    _'Tis thus a brainless magistrate\n    Is honoured for his robe of state._\n\n\n  The Two Mules\n\n  Two Mules were bearing on their backs,\n  One, oats; the other, silver of the tax.\n    The latter glorying in his load,\n    March'd proudly forward on the road;\n  And, from the jingle of his bell,\n  'Twas plain he liked his burden well.\n    But in a wild-wood glen\n    A band of robber men\n  Rush'd forth upon the twain.\n    Well with the silver pleased,\n    They by the bridle seized\n  The treasure Mule so vain.\n  Poor Mule! in struggling to repel\n  His ruthless foes, he fell\n  Stabb'd through; and with a bitter sighing,\n    He cried: \"Is this the lot they promised me?\n    My humble friend from danger free,\n  While, weltering in my gore, I'm dying?\"\n    \"My friend,\" his fellow-mule replied,\n  \"It is not well to have one's work too high.\n  If thou hadst been a miller's drudge, as I,\n    Thou wouldst not thus have died.\"\n\n\n\n  The Lion and the Gnat\n\n  \"Go, paltry insect, nature's meanest brat!\"\n  Thus said the royal Lion to the Gnat.\n      The Gnat declared immediate war.\n  \"Think you,\" said he, \"your royal name\n        To me worth caring for?\n  Think you I tremble at your power or fame?\n    The ox is bigger far than you;\n    Yet him I drive, and all his crew.\"\n    This said, as one that did no fear owe,\n      Himself he blew the battle charge,\n    Himself both trumpeter and hero.\n      At first he play'd about at large,\n  Then on the Lion's neck, at leisure, settled,\n  And there the royal beast full sorely nettled.\n    With foaming mouth, and flashing eye,\n    He roars.  All creatures hide or fly--\n      Such mortal terror at\n      The work of one poor Gnat!\n  With constant change of his attack,\n  The snout now stinging, now the back,\n  And now the chambers of the nose;\n  The pigmy fly no mercy shows.\n    The Lion's rage was at its height;\n    His viewless foe now laugh'd outright,\n    When on his battle-ground he saw,\n    That every savage tooth and claw\n      Had got its proper beauty\n      By doing bloody duty;\n  Himself, the hapless Lion tore his hide,\n  And lash'd with sounding tail from side to side.\n    Ah! bootless blow, and bite, and curse!\n    He beat the harmless air, and worse;\n      For, though so fierce and stout,\n      By effort wearied out,\n    He fainted, fell, gave up the quarrel;\n    The Gnat retires with verdant laurel.\n\n        _We often have the most to fear\n          From those we most despise;\n        Again, great risks a man may clear\n          Who by the smallest dies._\n\n\n\n  The Countryman and the Serpent\n\n  A Countryman, as Aesop certifies,\n  A charitable man, but not so wise,\n    One day in winter found,\n    Stretched on the snowy ground,\n    A chill'd or frozen Snake,\n    As torpid as a stake,\n    And, if alive, devoid of sense.\n  He took him up, and bore him home,\n    And, thinking not what recompense\n  For such a charity would come,\n        Before the fire stretch'd him,\n        And back to being fetch'd him.\n    The Snake scarce felt the genial heat\n    Before his heart with native malice beat.\n  He raised his head, thrust out his forked tongue,\n  Coil'd up, and at his benefactor sprung.\n  \"Ungrateful wretch!\" said he, \"is this the way\n      My care and kindness you repay?\n  Now you shall die.\"  With that his axe he takes,\n  And with two blows three serpents makes.\n  Trunk, head, and tail were separate snakes;\n    And, leaping up with all their might,\n    They vainly sought to reunite.\n\n    _'Tis good and lovely to be kind;\n    But charity should not be blind;\n    For as to wretchedness ingrate,\n    You cannot raise it from its wretched state._\n\n\n\n  The Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk\n\n  A Pot of Milk upon her cushioned crown,\n  Good Peggy hastened to the market town;\n  Short-clad and light, with step she went,\n  Not fearing any accident;\n    Indeed to be the nimbler tripper,\n      Her dress that day,\n      The truth to say,\n    Was simply petticoat and slipper.\n      And, thus bedight,\n      Good Peggy, light,\n    Her gains already counted,\n      Laid out the cash\n      At single dash,\n  Which to a hundred eggs amounted.\n        Three nests she made,\n        Which, by the aid\n  Of diligence and care, were hatched.\n        \"To raise the chicks,\n        We'll easily fix,\"\n  Said she, \"beside our cottage thatched.\n        The fox must get\n        More cunning yet,\n  Or leave enough to buy a pig.\n        With little care,\n        And any fare,\n  He'll grow quite fat and big;\n        And then the price\n        Will be so nice\n  For which the pork will sell!\n        'Twill go quite hard\n        But in our yard\n  I'll bring a cow and calf to dwell--\n    A calf to frisk among the flock!\"\n  The thought made Peggy do the same;\n  And down at once the milk pot came,\n    And perished with the shock.\n  Calf, cow, and pig, and chicks, adieu!\n  Your mistress' face is sad to view--\n  She gives a tear to fortune spilt;\n  Then, with the down-cast look of guilt,\n  Home to her husband empty goes,\n  Somewhat in danger of his blows.\n\n  Who buildeth not, sometimes, in air,\n  His cots, or seats, or castles fair?\n  From kings to dairywomen--all--\n  The wise, the foolish, great and small--\n  Each thinks his waking dream the best.\n  Some flattering error fills the breast:\n  The world, with all its wealth, is ours,\n  Its honours, dames, and loveliest bowers.\n  Instinct with valour, where alone,\n  I hurl the monarch from his throne;\n  The people glad to see him dead,\n  Elect me monarch in his stead,\n  And diadems rain on my head.\n  Some accident then calls me back,\n  And I'm no more than simple Jack!\n\n\n\n  The Monkey and the Cat\n\n  Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat,\n  (The one was a Monkey, the other a Cat,)\n    Co-servants and lodgers:\n    More mischievous codgers\n  Ne'er mess'd from a platter, since platters were flat.\n  Was anything wrong in the house or about it,\n  The neighbours were blameless--no mortal could doubt it;\n  For Bertrand was thievish, and Ratto so nice,\n  More attentive to cheese than he was to the mice.\n  One day the two plunderers sat by the fire,\n  Where chestnuts were roasting, with looks of desire.\n  To steal them would be a right noble affair.\n  A double inducement our heroes drew there--\n  'Twould benefit them, could they swallow their fill,\n  And then 'twould occasion to somebody ill.\n  Said Bertrand to Ratto, \"My brother, to-day\n  Exhibit your powers in a masterly way,\n    And take me these chestnuts, I pray.\n    Which were I but otherwise fitted\n    (As I am ingeniously wilted)\n    For pulling things out of the flame,\n    Would stand but a pitiful game.\"\n  \"'Tis done,\" replied Ratto, all prompt to obey;\n  And thrust out his paw in a delicate way.\n    First giving the ashes a scratch,\n    He open'd the coveted batch;\n    Then lightly and quickly impinging,\n    He drew out, in spite of the singeing,\n  One after another, the chestnuts at last--\n  While Bertrand contrived to devour them as fast.\n    A servant girl enters.  Adieu to the fun.\n    Our Ratto was hardly contented, says one.\n\n    _No more are the princes, by flattery paid\n    For furnishing help in a different trade,\n      And burning their fingers to bring\n      More power to some mightier king._\n\n\n\n  The Lioness and the Bear\n\n  The Lioness had lost her young;\n    A hunter stole it from the vale;\n  The forests and the mountains rung\n    Responsive to her hideous wail.\n  Nor night, nor charms of sweet repose,\n  Could still the loud lament that rose\n      From that grim forest queen.\n    No animal, as you might think,\n    With such a noise could sleep a wink.\n      A Bear presumed to intervene.\n        \"One word, sweet friend,\" quoth she,\n        \"And that is all, from me.\n  The young that through your teeth have passed,\n  In file unbroken by a fast,\n        Had they nor dam nor sire?\"\n        \"They had them both.\"  \"Then I desire,\n  Since all their deaths caused no such grievous riot,\n  While mothers died of grief beneath your fiat,\n  To know why you yourself cannot be quiet?\"\n        \"I quiet!--I!--a wretch bereaved!\n        My only son!--such anguish be relieved!\n        No, never!  All for me below\n        Is but a life of tears and woe!\"--\n  \"But say, why doom yourself to sorrow so?\"\n  \"Alas! 'tis Destiny that is my foe.\"\n\n    _Such language, since the mortal fall,\n    Has fallen from the lips of all.\n    Ye human wretches, give your heed;\n    For your complaints there's little need.\n  Let him who thinks his own the hardest case,\n    Some widowed, childless Hecuba behold,\n    Herself to toil and shame of slavery sold,\n  And he will own the wealth of heavenly grace._\n\n\n\n  The Cat and the Two Sparrows\n\n  Contemporary with a Sparrow tame\n    There lived a Cat; from tenderest age,\n    Of both, the basket and the cage\n  Had household gods the same.\n  The Bird's sharp beak full oft provoked the Cat,\n  Who play'd in turn, but with a gentle pat,\n  His wee friend sparing with a merry laugh,\n  Not punishing his faults by half.\n    In short, he scrupled much the harm,\n    Should he with points his ferule arm.\n    The Sparrow, less discreet than he,\n    With dagger beak made very free.\n    Sir Cat, a person wise and staid,\n    Excused the warmth with which he play'd:\n      For 'tis full half of friendship's art\n      To take no joke in serious part.\n      Familiar since they saw the light,\n    Mere habit kept their friendship good;\n  Fair play had never turn'd to fight,\n    Till, of their neighbourhood,\n  Another sparrow came to greet\n  Old Ratto grave and Saucy Pete.\n  Between the birds a quarrel rose,\n    And Ratto took his side.\n  \"A pretty stranger, with such blows\n    To beat our friend!\" he cried.\n  \"A neighbour's sparrow eating ours!\n  Not so, by all the feline powers.\"\n  And quick the stranger he devours.\n    \"Now, truly,\" saith Sir Cat,\n    \"I know how sparrows taste by that.\n  Exquisite, tender, delicate!\"\n  This thought soon seal'd the other's fate.\n  But hence what moral can I bring?\n  For, lacking that important thing,\n  A fable lacks its finishing:\n  I seem to see of one some trace,\n  But still its shadow mocks my chase.\n\n\n\n  The Sick Stag\n\n  A Stag, where stags abounded,\n  Fell sick and was surrounded\n  Forthwith by comrades kind,\n    All--pressing to assist,\n    Or see, their friend, at least,\n  And ease his anxious mind--\n    An irksome multitude.\n  \"Ah, sirs!\" the sick was fain to cry,\n  \"Pray leave me here to die,\n    As others do, in solitude.\n  Pray, let your kind attentions cease,\n  Till death my spirit shall release.\"\n  But comforters are not so sent:\n  On duty sad full long intent,\n  When Heaven pleased, they went:\n  But not without a friendly glass;\n  That is to say, they cropp'd the grass\n  And leaves which in that quarter grew,\n  From which the sick his pittance drew.\n  By kindness thus compell'd to fast,\n  He died for want of food at last.\n\n    _The men take off no trifling dole\n    Who heal the body, or the soul.\n    Alas the times! do what we will,\n    They have their payment, cure or kill._\n\n\n\n  The Wolf and the Fox\n\n  \"Dear Wolf,\" complain'd a hungry Fox,\n  \"A lean chick's meat, or veteran cock's,\n    Is all I get by toil or trick:\n    Of such a living I am sick.\n    With far less risk, you've better cheer;\n    A house you need not venture near,\n    But I must do it, spite of fear.\n    Pray, make me master of your trade.\n    And let me by that means be made\n    The first of all my race that took\n    Fat mutton to his larder's hook:\n    Your kindness shall not be repented.\"\n    The Wolf quite readily consented.\n    \"I have a brother, lately dead:\n    Go fit his skin to yours,\" he said.\n  'Twas done; and then the wolf proceeded:\n    \"Now mark you well what must be done\n    The dogs that guard the flock to shun.\"\n  The Fox the lessons strictly heeded.\n    At first he boggled in his dress;\n    But awkwardness grew less and less,\n    Till perseverance gave success.\n    His education scarce complete,\n    A flock, his scholarship to greet,\n      Came rambling out that way.\n    The new-made Wolf his work began,\n    Amidst the heedless nibblers ran,\n      And spread a sore dismay.\n    The bleating host now surely thought\n    That fifty wolves were on the spot:\n      Dog, shepherd, sheep, all homeward fled,\n    And left a single sheep in pawn,\n    Which Reynard seized when they were gone.\n      But, ere upon his prize he fed,\n    There crow'd a cock near by, and down\n    The scholar threw his prey and gown,\n  That he might run that way the faster--\n  Forgetting lessons, prize and master.\n\n      _Reality, in every station,\n      Will burst out on the first occasion._\n\n\n\n  The Woods and the Woodman\n\n  A certain Wood-chopper lost or broke\n  From his axe's eye a bit of oak.\n  The forest must needs be somewhat spared\n  While such a loss was being repair'd.\n  Came the man at last, and humbly pray'd\n    That the Woods would kindly lend to him--\n    A moderate loan--a single limb,\n  Whereof might another helve be made,\n  And his axe should elsewhere drive its trade.\n  Oh, the oaks and firs that then might stand,\n  A pride and a joy throughout the land,\n  For their ancientness and glorious charms!\n  The innocent Forest lent him arms;\n  But bitter indeed was her regret;\n  For the wretch, his axe new-helved and whet,\n  Did nought but his benefactress spoil\n  Of the finest trees that graced her soil;\n  And ceaselessly was she made to groan,\n  Doing penance for that fatal loan.\n\n  _Behold the world-stage and its actors,\n  Where benefits hurt benefactors!\n    A weary theme, and full of pain;\n  For where's the shade so cool and sweet,\n  Protecting strangers from the heat,\n    But might of such a wrong complain?\n      Alas! I vex myself in vain;\n      Ingratitude, do what I will,\n      Is sure to be the fashion still._\n\n\n\n  The Shepherd and the Lion\n\n  The Fable Aesop tells is nearly this:\n  A Shepherd from his flock began to miss,\n  And long'd to catch the stealer of his sheep.\n      Before a cavern, dark and deep,\n      Where wolves retired by day to sleep,\n      Which he suspected as the thieves,\n      He set his trap among the leaves;\n      And, ere he left the place,\n      He thus invoked celestial grace:\n      \"O king of all the powers divine,\n  Against the rogue but grant me this delight,\n  That this my trap may catch him in my sight,\n      And I, from twenty calves of mine,\n      Will make the fattest thine.\"\n    But while the words were on his tongue,\n    Forth came a Lion great and strong.\n    Down crouch'd the man of sheep, and said.\n    With shivering fright half dead,\n  \"Alas! that man should never be aware\n  Of what may be the meaning of his prayer!\n      To catch the robber of my flocks,\n    O king of gods, I pledged a calf to thee:\n    If from his clutches thou wilt rescue me,\n      I'll raise my offering to an ox.\"\n\n\n\n  The Animals Sick of the Plague\n\n  The sorest ill that Heaven hath\n  Sent on this lower world in wrath--\n  The Plague (to call it by its name)\n      One single day of which\n      Would Pluto's ferryman enrich--\n  Waged war on beasts, both wild and tame.\n  They died not all, but all were sick:\n  No hunting now, by force or trick,\n  To save what might so soon expire,\n  No food excited their desire;\n  Nor wolf nor fox now watch'd to slay\n  The innocent and tender prey.\n          The turtles fled;\n  So love and therefore joy were dead.\n  The Lion council held, and said:\n  \"My friends, I do believe\n  This awful scourge, for which we grieve,\n  Is for our sins a punishment\n  Most righteously by Heaven sent.\n  Let us our guiltiest beast resign,\n  A sacrifice to wrath divine.\n  Perhaps this offering, truly small,\n  May gain me life and health of all.\n  By history we find it noted\n  That lives have been just so devoted.\n  Then let us all turn eyes within,\n  And ferret out the hidden sin.\n  Himself let no one spare nor flatter,\n  But make clean conscience in the matter.\n  For me, my appetite has play'd the glutton\n  Too much and often upon mutton.\n  What harm had e'er my victims done?\n      I answer, truly, None.\n  Perhaps, sometimes, by hunger pressed,\n  I've eat the shepherd with the rest.\n  I yield myself, if need there be;\n  And yet I think, in equity,\n  Each should confess his sins with me;\n  For laws of right and justice cry,\n  The guiltiest alone should die.\"\n  \"Sire,\" said the Fox, \"your majesty\n  Is humbler than a king should be,\n  And over-squeamish in the case.\n    What! eating stupid sheep a crime?\n    No, never, sire, at any time.\n  It rather was an act of grace,\n  A mark of honour to their race.\n  And as to shepherds, one may swear,\n    The fate your majesty describes\n  Is recompense less full than fair\n    For such usurpers o'er our tribes.\"\n\n    Thus Reynard glibly spoke,\n  And loud applause from flatterers broke,\n  Of neither tiger, boar, nor bear,\n  Did any keen inquirer dare\n  To ask for crimes of high degree;\n    The fighters, biters, scratchers, all\n  From every mortal sin were free;\n    The very dogs, both great and small,\n  Were saints, as far as dogs could be.\n\n    The Ass, confessing in his turn,\n  Thus spoke in tones of deep concern:\n  \"I happen'd through a mead to pass;\n  The monks, its owners, were at mass;\n  Keen hunger, leisure, tender grass,\n    And add to these the devil too,\n    All tempted me the deed to do.\n  I browsed the bigness of my tongue;\n  Since truth must out, I own it wrong.\"\n\n  On this, a hue and cry arose,\n  As if the beasts were all his foes:\n  A Wolf, haranguing lawyer-wise,\n  Denounced the Ass for sacrifice--\n  The bald-pate, scabby, ragged lout,\n  By whom the plague had come, no doubt.\n  His fault was judged a hanging crime.\n    \"What? eat another's grass?  O shame!\n  The noose of rope and death sublime,\n    For that offence, were all too tame!\"\n    And soon poor Grizzle felt the same.\n\n    _Thus human courts acquit the strong,\n    And doom the weak, as therefore wrong._\n\n\n\n  The Fowler, the Hawk, and the Lark\n\n  From wrongs of wicked men we draw\n    Excuses for our own;\n  Such is the universal law.\n    Would you have mercy shown,\n    Let yours be clearly known.\n\n  A Fowler's mirror served to snare\n  The little tenants of the air.\n  A Lark there saw her pretty face,\n  And was approaching to the place.\n    A Hawk, that sailed on high,\n    Like vapour in the sky,\n  Came down, as still as infant's breath,\n  On her who sang so near her death.\n  She thus escaped the Fowler's steel,\n  The Hawk's malignant claws to feel.\n    While in his cruel way,\n    The pirate plucked his prey,\n  Upon himself the net was sprung.\n    \"O Fowler,\" prayed he in the hawkish tongue,\n    \"Release me in thy clemency!\n  I never did a wrong to thee.\"\n  The man replied, \"'Tis true;\n  And did the Lark to you?\"\n\n\n\n  Phoebus and Boreas\n\n  Old Boreas and the Sun, one day,\n  Espied a traveller on his way,\n  Whose dress did happily provide\n  Against whatever might betide.\n  The time was autumn, when, indeed,\n  All prudent travellers take heed.\n  The rains that then the sunshine dash,\n  And Iris with her splendid sash,\n  Warn one who does not like to soak\n  To wear abroad a good thick coat.\n  Our man was therefore well bedight\n  With double mantle, strong and tight.\n  \"This fellow,\" said the Wind, \"has meant\n  To guard from every ill event;\n  But little does he wot that I\n    Can blow him such a blast\n    That, not a button fast,\n  His cloak shall cleave the sky.\n  Come, here's a pleasant game.  Sir Sun!\n    Wilt play?\"  Said Phoebus, \"Done!\n    We'll bet between us here\n    Which first will take the gear\n    From off this cavalier.\n    Begin, and shut away\n    The brightness of my ray.\"\n  \"Enough.\"  Our blower, on the bet,\n    Swelled out his pursy form\n    With all the stuff for storm--\n  The thunder, hail, and drenching wet,\n  And all the fury he could muster;\n  Then, with a very demon's bluster,\n  He whistled, whirled, and splashed,\n  And down the torrents dashed,\n    Full many a roof uptearing\n      He never did before,\n    Full many a vessel bearing\n      To wreck upon the shore--\n    And all to doff a single cloak.\n    But vain the furious stroke;\n      The traveller was stout,\n      And kept the tempest out,\n      Defied the hurricane,\n      Defied the pelting rain;\n  And as the fiercer roared the blast,\n  His cloak the tighter held he fast.\n  The Sun broke out, to win the bet;\n    He caused the clouds to disappear,\n    Refreshed and warmed the cavalier,\n  And through his mantle made him sweat,\n    Till off it came, of course,\n  In less than half an hour;\n  And yet the Sun saved half his power--\n    So much does mildness more than force.\n\n\n\n  The Stag and the Vine\n\n  A Stag, by favour of a Vine,\n  Which grew where suns most genial shine,\n  And formed a thick and matted bower\n  Which might have turned a summer shower,\n  Was saved by ruinous assault.\n  The hunters thought their dogs at fault,\n  And called them off.  In danger now no more\n    The Stag, a thankless wretch and vile,\n  Began to browse his benefactress o'er.\n    The hunters listening the while,\n  The rustling heard, came back,\n  With all their yelping pack,\n    And seized him in that very place.\n  \"This is,\" said he, \"but justice, in my case.\n    Let every black ingrate\n    Henceforward profit by my fate.\"\n  The dogs fell to--'twere wasting breath\n  To pray those hunters at the death.\n  They left, and we will not revile 'em,\n  A warning for profaners of asylum.\n\n\n\n  The Peacock Complaining to Juno\n\n  The Peacock to the Queen of heaven\n    Complained in some such words:\n  \"Great goddess, you have given\n    To me, the laughing stock of birds,\n  A voice which fills, by taste quite just,\n      All nature with disgust;\n  Whereas that little paltry thing,\n    The nightingale, pours from her throat\n    So sweet and ravishing a note;\n  She bears alone the honours of the spring.\"\n    In anger Juno heard,\n  And cried, \"Shame on you, jealous bird!\n  Grudge you the nightingale her voice,\n  Who in the rainbow neck rejoice,\n  Than costliest silks more richly tinted,\n  In charms of grace and form unstinted--\n    Who strut in kingly pride,\n    Your glorious tail spread wide\n  With brilliants which in sheen do\n  Outshine the jeweller's bow window?\n  Is there a bird beneath the blue\n  That has more charms than you?\n  No animal in everything can shine.\n  By just partition of our gifts divine,\n  Each has its full and proper share.\n  Among the birds that cleave the air\n  The hawk's a swift, the eagle is a brave one,\n  For omens serves the hoarse old raven,\n  The rook's of coming ills the prophet;\n    And if there's any discontent,\n      I've heard not of it.\n  Cease, then, your envious complaint;\n  Or I, instead of making up your lack,\n  Will take your boasted plumage from your back.\"\n\n\n\n  The Eagle and the Beetle\n\n  John Rabbit, by Dame Eagle chased,\n  Was making for his hole in haste,\n  When, on his way, he met a Beetle's burrow.\n    I leave you all to think\n    If such a little chink\n  Could to a rabbit give protection thorough;\n    But, since no better could be got,\n    John Rabbit, there was fain to squat.\n    Of course, in an asylum so absurd,\n    John felt ere long the talons of the bird.\n    But first the Beetle, interceding, cried,\n    \"Great queen of birds, it cannot be denied\n  That, maugre my protection, you can bear\n  My trembling guest, John Rabbit, through the air,\n    But do not give me such affront, I pray;\n      And since he craves your grace,\n      In pity of his case,\n  Grant him his life, or take us both away;\n  For he's my gossip, friend and neighbour.\"\n  In vain the Beetle's friendly labour;\n  The Eagle clutched her prey without reply,\n  And as she flapped her vasty wings to fly,\n    Struck down our orator and stilled him--\n    The wonder is she hadn't killed him.\n  The Beetle soon, of sweet revenge in quest\n    Flew to the old, gnarled mountain oak,\n  Which proudly bore that haughty Eagle's nest.\n      And while the bird was gone,\n    Her eggs, her cherished eggs, he broke,\n          Not sparing one.\n  Returning from her flight, the Eagle's cry\n  Of rage and bitter anguish filled the sky,\n    But, by excess of passion blind,\n    Her enemy she failed to find.\n  Her wrath in vain, that year it was her fate\n  To live a mourning mother, desolate.\n  The next, she built a loftier nest; 'twas vain;\n  The Beetle found and dashed her eggs again.\n\n    John Rabbit's death was thus avenged anew.\n  The second mourning for her murdered brood\n  Was such that through the giant mountain wood,\n    For six long months, the sleepless echo flew.\n      The bird, once Ganymede, now made\n      Her prayer to Jupiter for aid;\n  And, laying them within his godship's lap,\n  She thought her eggs now safe from all mishap;\n  The god his own could not but make them--\n  No wretch would venture there to break them.\n      And no one did.  Their enemy, this time,\n      Upsoaring to a place sublime,\n    Let fall upon his royal robes some dirt,\n    Which Jove just shaking, with a sudden flirt,\n    Threw out the eggs, no one knows whither.\n      When Jupiter informed her how th' event\n      Occurred by purest accident,\n  The Eagle raved; there was no reasoning with her;\n    She gave out threats of leaving court,\n    To make the desert her resort,\n    And other brav'ries of this sort.\n      Poor Jupiter in silence heard\n      The uproar of his favourite bird.\n    Before his throne the Beetle now appeared,\n    And by a clear complaint the mystery cleared.\n    The god pronounced the Eagle in the wrong.\n    But still, their hatred was so old and strong,\n  These enemies could not be reconciled;\n  And, that the general peace might not be spoiled--\n  The best that he could do--the god arranged\n  That thence the Eagle's pairing should be changed,\n  To come when Beetle folks are only found\n  Concealed and dormant under ground.\n\n\n\n\nFABLES FROM THE SPANISH\n\nOF\n\nCARLOS YRIARTE*\n\n\n\"_As the impressions made upon a new vessel are not easily to be\neffaced, so here youth are taught prudence through the allurement of\nfable._\"\n\n\n*Translated by Richard Andrew\n\n\n  FABLES FROM THE SPANISH\n\n  The Bee and the Cuckoo\n\n  A Cuckoo, near a hive, one day,\n  Was chaunting in his usual way,\n  When to the door the Queen-bee ran,\n  And, humming angrily, began:\n\n  \"Do cease that tuneless song I hear--\n  How can we work while thou art near?\n  There is no other bird, I vow,\n  Half so fantastical as thou,\n  Since all that ugly voice can do,\n  Is to sing on--'Cuckoo! cuckoo'!\"\n\n  \"If my monotony of song\n  Displeases you, shall I be wrong,\"\n  The Cuckoo answered, \"if I find\n  Your comb has little to my mind?\n  Look at the cells--through every one\n  Does not unvaried sameness run?\n  Then if in me there's nothing new,\n  Dear knows, all's old enough in you.\"\n  The Bee replied: \"Hear me, my friend.\n  In works that have a useful end\n  It is not always worth the while\n  To seek variety in style,\n  But if those works whose only views\n  Are to give pleasure and amuse,\n  Want either fancy or invention,\n  They fail of gaining their intention.\"\n\n\n\n  The Rope Dancer and His Pupil\n\n  A Tight-rope Dancer who, they say,\n  Was a great master in his way,\n  Was tutoring a Youth to spring\n  Upon the slight and yielding string,\n  Who, though a novice in the science,\n  Had in his talents great reliance,\n  And, as on high his steps he tried,\n  Thus to his sage instructor cried:\n  \"This pole you call the counterpoise\n  My every attitude annoys;\n  I really cannot think it good\n  To use this cumbrous piece of wood\n  In such a business as ours,\n  An art requiring all our powers.\n  Why should I with this burden couple?\n  Am I not active, strong and supple?\n  So--see me try this step without it,\n  I'll manage better, do not doubt it--\n  See, 'tis not difficult at all,\"\n  He said, and let the balance fall,\n  And, taking fearlessly a bound,\n  He tumbled headlong on the ground,\n  With compound fracture of the shin,\n  And six or seven ribs crushed in.\n\n  \"Unhappy youth!\" the Master said,\n  \"What was your truest help and aid\n  Impediment you thought to be--\n  For art and method if you flee,\n  Believe me, ere your life is past,\n  This tumble will not be your last.\"\n\n\n\n  The Squirrel and the Horse\n\n  A Squirrel, on his hind legs raised,\n  Upon a noble Charger gazed,\n  Who docile to the spur and rein,\n  Went through his menage on the plain;\n  Now seeming like the wind to fly,\n  Now gracefully curvetting by.\n  \"Good Sir,\" the little Tumbler said,\n  And with much coolness, scratched his head,\n  \"In all your swiftness, skill and spirit,\n  I do not see there's much of merit,\n  For, all you seem so proud to do,\n  I can perform, and better too;\n  I'm light and nimble, brisk and sprightly,\n  I trot, and skip, and canter lightly,\n  Backward and forward--here and there,\n  Now on the earth--now in the air--\n  From bough to bough--from hill to hill,\n  And never for a moment still.\"\n  The Courser tossed his head on high;\n  And made the Squirrel this reply:\n  \"My little nimble jealous friend,\n  Those turns and tumbles without end--\n  That hither, thither, restless springing--\n  Those ups and downs and leaps and swinging--\n  And other feats more wondrous far,\n  Pray tell me, of what use they are?\n  But what I do, this praise may claim--\n  My master's service is my aim,\n  And laudably I use for him\n  My warmth of blood and strength of limb.\"\n\n\n\n  The Bear, the Monkey, and the Pig\n\n  A Bear with whom a Piedmontese\n  Had voyaged from the Polar seas,\n  And by whose strange unwieldy gambols\n  He earned a living in his rambles,\n  One day, upon his hind legs set,\n  Began to dance a minuet.\n  At length, being tired, as well he might,\n  Of standing such a time upright,\n  He to a Monkey near advancing,\n  Exclaimed: \"What think you of my dancing?\"\n  \"Really,\" he said, \"ahem!\" (I'm sure\n  This Monkey was a connoisseur)\n  \"To praise it, I'd indeed be glad,\n  Only it is so very bad!\"\n  \"How!\" said the Bear, not over pleased,\n  \"Surely, your judgment is diseased,\n  Or else you cannot well have seen\n  My elegance of step and mien;\n  Just look again, and say what graces\n  You think are wanting in my paces.\"\n  \"Indeed, his taste is quite amazing,\"\n  Replied a Pig with rapture gazing;\n  \"Bravo! encore! well done! Sir Bear,\n  By heaven, you trip as light as air;\n  I vow that Paris never knew\n  A dancer half so fine as you.\"\n\n  With some confusion, Bruin heard\n  Such praises by a Pig conferred;\n  He communed with himself a while,\n  And muttered thus, in altered style:\n  \"I must confess the Monkey's blame\n  Made me feel doubtful of my fame;\n  But since the Pigs their praise concede,\n  My dancing must be bad, indeed!\"\n\n\n\n  The Muff, the Fan, and the Parasol\n\n  \"It sounds presumptuous and ill\n  To boast of universal skill,\n  But 'tis a scarce less fault, I own,\n  To serve one sort of use alone.\"\n  An idle Parasol, one day,\n  Within a lady's chamber lay,\n  And having nothing else to do,\n  Addressing his companions two,\n  Reclining near, a Muff and Fan,\n  He thus insultingly began,\n  Using a form of dialect,\n  In which, if Aesop is correct,\n  The Brass and Earthern Jars, of old,\n  Conversed as down the stream they rolled.\n  \"Oh! sirs, ye merit mighty praise!\n  Yon Muff may do for wintry days,\n  A corner is your lot in spring;\n  While you, Fan, are a useless thing\n  When cold succeeds to heat; for neither\n  Can change yourself to suit the weather\n  Learn, if you're able to possess,\n  Like me a double usefulness,\n  From winter's rain I help to shun\n  And guard in summer from the sun.\"\n\n\n\n  The Duck and the Serpent\n\n  A self-conceited Duck, one day,\n  Was waddling from her pond away:\n  \"What other race can boast,\" she cried,\n  \"The many gifts to ours allied?\n  Earth--water--air--are all for us.\n  When I am tired of walking thus,\n  I fly, if so I take the whim,\n  Or if it pleases me I swim.\"\n  A cunning Serpent overheard\n  The boasting of the clumsy bird,\n  And, with contempt and scorn inflamed,\n  Came hissing up, and thus exclaimed:\n  \"It strikes me, ma'am, there's small occasion\n  For your just uttered proclamation;\n  These gifts of yours shine rather dim,\n  Since neither like the trout you swim,\n  Nor like the deer, step swift and light,\n  Nor match the eagle in your flight.\"\n  They err who think that merit clings\n  To knowledge slight of many things;\n  He who his fellows would excel,\n  Whate'er he does should do it well.\n\n\n\n  The Tea and the Sage\n\n  The Tea from China on her way,\n  Met in some sea, or gulf, or bay--\n  (Would to her log I might refer!)\n  The Sage, who thus accosted her:\n  \"Sister--ahoy! ho--whither bound?\"\n  \"I leave,\" she said, \"my native ground\n  For Europe's markets, where, I'm told,\n  They purchase me by weight of gold.\"\n  \"And I,\" the Sage replied, \"am seeking\n  The route to Canton or to Peking;\n  Your Chinese use me largely in\n  Their cookery and medicine;\n  They know my virtues, nor deny\n  The praise I ask, however high,\n  While Europe scorns me, just indeed,\n  As if I was the vilest weed.\n  Go; and good luck t'ye; know full well\n  That you are sure enough to sell,\n  For nations all, (fools that they are!)\n  Value whatever comes from afar,\n  And give their money nothing loth,\n  For anything of foreign growth.\"\n\n\n\n  The Swan and the Linnet\n\n  Piqued at the Linnet's song one day,\n  The Swan exclaimed: \"Leave off!  I say--\n  Be still, you little noisy thing!\n  What!--dare _you_ challenge me to sing,\n  When there's no voice, however fine,\n  Can match the melody of mine?\"\n  (The Linnet warbled on)--\"D'ye hear?\n  This impudence may cost you dear;\n  I could with one harmonious note\n  Forever stop your squeaking throat,\n  And, if I do not choose to try,\n  Respect my magnanimity.\"\n  \"I wish,\" at length the Linnet said,\n  \"I wish, to heaven, the proof were made;\n  You cannot imagine how I long\n  To hear that rich and flowing song\n  Which though so sweet, by fame averred,\n  I know not who has ever heard.\"\n\n  The Swan essayed to sing, but--whew!\n  She screeched and squalled a note or two,\n  Until the Linnet, it appears,\n  Took to her wings to save her ears.\n  'Tis strange when some of learned fame\n  _Will_ prove their title to the name,\n  How often ill-placed praise they mar,\n  And show how ignorant they are.\n\n\n\n  The Flint and the Steel\n\n  The Flint, with language harsh and high,\n  Accused the Steel of cruelty\n  In striking her with all his might,\n  Whene'er he wanted fire and light.\n  The Steel the imputation spurned,\n  And with such warmth the contest burned\n  That both, at last, agreed to slip\n  Their contract of companionship.\n  \"Good-by then, madame,\" said the one;\n  \"And since my company you shun,\n  And to continue with me, doubt,\n  We'll see what use you are without.\"\n  \"About as much as you will be,\n  Good sir,\" she answered, \"without me.\"\n\n\n\n\n FABLES OF GAY, COWPER, AND OTHERS\n\n\n  \"Brutes are my theme.  Am I to blame\n    If men in morals are the same?\n  I no man call or ape or ass;\n    'Tis his own conscience holds the glass.\n  Thus void of all offence I write;\n    Who claims the fable, knows his right.\"\n\n        JOHN GAY\n\n\n  FABLES OF GAY AND COWPER\n\n  The Monkey Who Had Seen the World\n\n  A Monkey, to reform the times,\n  Resolved to visit foreign climes;\n  For men in distant regions roam,\n  To bring politer manners home.\n  So forth he fares, all toil defies;\n  Misfortune serves to make us wise.\n    At length the treacherous snare was laid;\n  Poor Pug was caught, to town conveyed;\n  There sold.  How envied was his doom,\n  Made captive in a lady's room!\n  Proud as a lover of his chains,\n  He day by day her favour gains.\n  Whene'er the duty of the day\n  The toilette calls, with mimic play\n  He twirls her knot, he cracks her fan,\n  Like any other gentleman.\n  In visits, too, his parts and wit,\n  When jests grew dull, were sure to hit.\n  Proud with applause, he thought his mind\n  In every courtly art refined;\n  Like Orpheus, burned with public zeal\n  To civilize the monkey weal:\n  So watched occasion, broke his chain,\n  And sought his native woods again.\n    The hairy sylvans round him press\n  Astonished at his strut and dress.\n  Some praise his sleeve, and others gloat\n  Upon his rich embroidered coat;\n  His dapper periwig commending,\n  With the black tail behind depending;\n  His powdered back above, below,\n  Like hoary frost or fleecy snow:\n  But all, with envy and desire,\n  His fluttering shoulder-knot admire.\n    \"Hear and improve,\" he pertly cries,\n  \"I come to make a nation wise.\n  Weigh your own worth, support your place,\n  The next in rank to human race.\n  In cities long I passed my days,\n  Conversed with men, and learned their ways,\n  Their dress, their courtly manners see;\n  Reform your state, and copy me.\n  Seek ye to thrive? in flatt'ry deal;\n  Your scorn, your hate, with that conceal.\n  Seem only to regard your friends,\n  But use them for your private ends.\n  Stint not to truth the flow of wit;\n  Be prompt to lie whene'er 'tis fit.\n  Bend all your force to spatter merit;\n  Scandal is conversation's spirit.\n  Boldly to everything pretend,\n  And men your talents shall commend.\n  I know the Great.  Observe me right,\n  So shall you grow like man polite.\"\n    He spoke and bowed.  With mutt'ring jaws\n  The wond'ring circle grinned applause.\n  Now, warmed with malice, envy, spite,\n  Their most obliging friends they bite;\n  And, fond to copy human ways,\n  Practise new mischiefs all their days.\n    Thus the dull lad, too tall for school.\n  With travel finishes the fool:\n  Studious of every coxcomb's airs,\n  He gambles, dresses, drinks, and swears;\n  O'er looks with scorn all virtuous arts,\n  For vice is fitted to his parts.\n\n      JOHN GAY\n\n\n\n  The Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf\n\n  A Wolf, with hunger fierce and bold,\n    Ravag'd the plains, and thinn'd the fold:\n  Deep in the wood secure he lay,\n  The thefts of night regal'd the day.\n  In vain the shepherd's wakeful care\n  Had spread the toils, and watch'd the snare;\n  In vain the Dog pursued his pace,\n  The fleeter robber mock'd the chase.\n  As Lightfoot rang'd the forest round,\n  By chance his foe's retreat he found.\n  \"Let us a while the war suspend,\n  And reason as from friend to friend.\"\n    \"A truce?\" replies the Wolf.  \"'Tis done.\"\n  The Dog the parley thus begun.\n    \"How can that strong intrepid mind\n  Attack a weak defenceless kind?\n  Those jaws should prey on nobler food,\n  And drink the boar's and lion's blood,\n  Great souls with generous pity melt,\n  Which coward tyrants never felt.\n  How harmless is our fleecy care!\n  Be brave, and let thy mercy spare.\"\n    \"Friend,\" says the Wolf, \"the matter weigh;\n  Nature designed us beasts of prey;\n  As such, when hunger finds a treat,\n  'Tis necessary Wolves should eat.\n  If mindful of the bleating weal,\n  Thy bosom burn with real zeal,\n  Hence, and thy tyrant lord beseech;\n  To him repeat the moving speech:\n  A Wolf eats sheep but now and then;\n  Ten thousands are devoured by men.\n  An open foe may prove a curse,\n  But a pretended friend is worse.\"\n\n      JOHN GAY\n\n\n\n  The Rat-catcher and Cats\n\n  The rats by night such mischief did,\n  Betty was ev'ry morning chid.\n  They undermin'd whole sides of bacon,\n  Her cheese was sapp'd, her tarts were taken.\n  Her pasties, fenc'd with thickest paste,\n  Were all demolish'd, and laid waste.\n  She curs'd the cat for want of duty,\n  Who left her foes a constant booty.\n  An Engineer, of noted skill,\n  Engag'd to stop the growing ill.\n  From room to room he now surveys\n  Their haunts, their works, their secret ways;\n  Finds where they 'scape an ambuscade.\n  And whence the nightly sally's made.\n  An envious Cat from place to place,\n  Unseen, attends his silent pace.\n  She saw, that if his trade went on,\n  The purring race must be undone;\n  So, secretly removes his baits,\n  And ev'ry stratagem defeats.\n    Again he sets the poisoned toils,\n  And Puss again the labour foils.\n    \"What foe, to frustrate my designs,\n  My schemes thus nightly countermines?\"\n  Incens'd, he cries: \"This very hour\n  This wretch shall bleed beneath my power.\"\n    So said, a ponderous trap he brought,\n  And in the fact poor Puss was caught.\n    \"Smuggler,\" says he, \"thou shalt be made\n  A victim to our loss of trade.\"\n    The captive Cat, with piteous mews,\n  For pardon, life, and freedom sues.\n  \"A sister of the science spare;\n  One int'rest is our common care.\"\n    \"What insolence!\" the man replies;\n  \"Shall Cats with us the game divide?\n  Were all your interloping band\n  Extinguished, or expell'd the land,\n  We Rat-catchers might raise our fees.\n  Sole guardians of a nation's cheese!\"\n    A Cat, who saw the lifted knife,\n  Thus spoke and sav'd her sister's life.\n    \"In ev'ry age and clime we see\n  Two of a trade can ne'er agree.\n  Each hates his neighbour for encroaching;\n  'Squire stigmatizes 'squire for poaching;\n  Beauties with beauties are in arms.\n  And scandal pelts each other's charms;\n  Kings too their neighbour kings dethrone,\n  In hope to make the world their own.\n  But let us limit our desires;\n  Not war like beauties, kings, and 'squires!\n  For though we both one prey pursue,\n  There's game enough for us and you.\"\n\n      JOHN GAY\n\n\n\n  The Farmer's Wife and the Raven\n\n  Between her swaggering pannier's load\n  A Farmer's Wife to market rode,\n  And jogging on, with thoughtful care,\n  Summed up the profits of her ware;\n  When, starting from her silver dream,\n  Thus far and wide was heard her scream:\n  \"That Raven on yon left-hand oak\n  (Curse on his ill-betiding croak)\n  Bodes me no good.\"  No more she said,\n  When poor blind Ball, with stumbling head,\n  Fell prone; o'erturned the panniers lay,\n  And her mashed eggs bestrewed the way.\n  She, sprawling on the yellow road,\n  Railed, cursed, and swore: \"Thou croaking toad,\n  A murrain take thy noisy throat!\n  I knew misfortune in the note.\"\n  \"Dame,\" quoth the Raven, \"spare your oaths,\n  Unclench your fist and wipe your clothes.\n  But why on me those curses thrown?\n  Goody, the fault was all your own;\n  For had you laid this brittle ware\n  On Dun, the old sure-footed mare,\n  Though all the Ravens of the hundred\n  With croaking had your tongue out-thundered,\n  Sure-footed Dun had kept her legs,\n  And you, good woman, saved your eggs.\"\n\n      JOHN GAY\n\n\n  The Council of Horses\n\n  Upon a time, a neighing steed,\n  Who grazed among a numerous breed,\n  With mutiny had fired the train,\n  And spread dissension through the plain.\n  On matters that concerned the state\n  The Council met in grand debate.\n  A Colt, whose eyeballs flamed with ire,\n  Elate with strength and youthful fire,\n  In haste stepped forth before the rest,\n  And thus the listening throng addressed:\n\n    \"Good gods! how abject is our race,\n  Condemned to slavery and disgrace!\n  Shall we our servitude retain\n  Because our sires have borne the chain?\n  Consider, friends, your strength and might;\n  'Tis conquest to assert your right.\n  How cumb'rous is the gilded coach!\n  The pride of man is our reproach.\n  Were we designed for daily toil;\n  To drag the ploughshare through the soil;\n  To sweat in harness through the road;\n  To groan beneath the carrier's load?\n  How feeble are the two-legged kind!\n  What force is in our nerves combined!\n  Shall, then, our nobler jaws submit\n  To foam, and champ the galling bit?\n  Shall haughty man my back bestride?\n  Shall the sharp spur provoke my side?\n  Forbid it, heavens!  Reject the rein;\n  Your shame, your infamy, disdain.\n  Let him the lion first control,\n  And still the tiger's famished growl;\n  Let us, like them, our freedom claim,\n  And make him tremble at our name.\"\n\n    A general nod approved the cause,\n  And all the circle neighed applause,\n  When, lo! with grave and solemn face,\n  A Steed advanced before the race,\n  With age and long experience wise;\n  Around he cast his thoughtful eyes,\n  And to the murmurs of the train\n  Thus spoke the Nestor of the plain:\n    \"When I had health and strength like you,\n  The toils of servitude I knew;\n  Now grateful man rewards my pains,\n  And gives me all these wide domains.\n  At will I crop the year's increase;\n  My latter life is rest and peace.\n  I grant, to man we lend our pains,\n  And aid him to correct the plains;\n  But doth he not divide the care\n  Through all the labours of the year?\n  How many thousand structures rise\n  To fence us from inclement skies!\n  For us he bears the sultry day,\n  And stores up all our winter's hay:\n  He sows, he reaps the harvest's gain,\n  We share the toil and share the grain.\n  Since every creature was decreed\n  To aid each other's mutual need,\n  Appease your discontented mind,\n  And act the part by Heaven assigned.\"\n    The tumult ceased.  The colt submitted,\n  And, like his ancestors, was bitted.\n\n      JOHN GAY\n\n\n\n  The Hare and Many Friends\n\n  Friendship, like love, is but a name,\n  Unless to one you stint the flame;\n  The child whom many fathers share\n  Hath seldom known a father's care.\n  'Tis thus in friendships; who depend\n  On many, rarely find a friend.\n\n    A Hare, who in a civil way\n  Complied with everything, like Gay,\n  Was known by all the bestial train\n  Who haunt the wood or graze the plain;\n  Her care was never to offend,\n  And every creature was her friend.\n    As forth she went at early dawn,\n  To taste the dew-besprinkled lawn,\n  Behind she hears the hunter's cries,\n  And from the deep-mouthed thunder flies.\n  She starts, she stops, she pants for breath;\n  She hears the near advance of death;\n  She doubles to mislead the Hound,\n  And measures back her mazy round,\n  Till, fainting in the public way,\n    Half dead with fear she gasping lay.\n    What transport in her bosom grew\n  When first the Horse appeared in view!\n    \"Let me,\" says she, \"your back ascend.\n  And owe my safety to a friend.\n  You know my feet betray my flight;\n  To friendship every burden's light,\"\n  The Horse replied, \"Poor honest Puss,\n  It grieves my heart to see you thus:\n  Be comforted, relief is near,\n  For all your friends are in the rear.\"\n    She next the stately Bull implored;\n  And thus replied the mighty lord:\n    \"Since every beast alive can tell\n  That I sincerely wish you well,\n  I may without offence pretend\n  To take the freedom of a friend.\n  Love calls me hence; a fav'rite Cow\n  Expects me near the barley-mow,\n  And when a lady's in the case\n  You know all other things give place.\n  To leave you thus might seem unkind;\n  But see, the Goat is just behind.\"\n    The Goat remarked her pulse was high,\n  Her languid head, her heavy eye.\n    \"My back,\" says she, \"may do you harm.\n  The Sheep's at hand, and wool is warm.\"\n    The Sheep was feeble, and complained\n  His sides a load of wool sustained:\n  Said he was slow, confessed his fears;\n  For Hounds eat Sheep as well as Hares.\n    She now the trotting Calf addressed\n  To save from death a friend distressed.\n    \"Shall I,\" says he, \"of tender age,\n  In this important care engage?\n  Older and abler passed you by--\n  How strong are those; how weak am I!\n  Should I presume to bear you hence,\n  Those friends of mine may take offence;\n  Excuse me, then; you know my heart,\n  But dearest friends, alas! must part.\n  How shall we all lament!  Adieu!\n  For see, the Hounds are just in view.\"\n\n      JOHN GAY\n\n\n\n  The Nightingale and the Glowworm\n\n  A Nightingale, that all day long\n  Had cheered the village with his song,\n  Nor had at eve his note suspended,\n  Nor yet when eventide was ended\n  Began to feel, as well he might,\n  The keen demands of appetite;\n  When, looking eagerly around,\n  He spied far off, upon the ground,\n  A something shining in the dark,\n  And knew the Glowworm by his spark;\n  So stepping down from hawthorn top,\n  He thought to put him in his crop.\n  The Worm, aware of his intent,\n  Harangued him thus, right eloquent:\n    \"Did you admire my lamp,\" quoth he,\n  \"As much as I your minstrelsy,\n  You would abhor to do me wrong,\n  As much as I to spoil your song;\n  For, 'twas the self-same Power Divine\n  Taught you to sing and me to shine;\n  That you with music, I with light,\n  Might beautify and cheer the night.\"\n  The Songster heard his short oration,\n  And warbling out his approbation.\n  Released him, as my story tells,\n  And found a supper somewhere else.\n    Hence, jarring sectaries may learn\n  Their real interest to discern,\n  That brother should not war with brother,\n  And worry and devour each other;\n  But sing and shine by sweet consent,\n  Until life's poor transient night is spent.\n  Respecting in each other's case.\n  The gifts of Nature and of Grace.\n\n    Those Christians best deserve the name\n  Who studiously make peace their aim;\n  Peace both the duty and the prize\n  Of him that creeps and him that flies.\n\n      WILLIAM COWPER\n\n\n\n  The Raven\n\n  A Raven, while with glossy breast\n  Her new-laid eggs she fondly pressed,\n  And on her wickerwork high mounted,\n  Her chickens prematurely counted,\n  (A fault philosophers might blame\n  If quite exempted from the same).\n  Enjoyed at ease the genial day;\n  'Twas April, as the bumpkins say;\n  The legislature called it May.\n  But suddenly a wind, as high\n  As ever swept a winter sky,\n  Shook the young leaves about her ears\n  And filled her with a thousand fears,\n  Lest the rude blast should snap the bough,\n  And spread her golden hopes below.\n  But just at eve the blowing weather\n  Changed, and her fears were hushed together:\n  \"And now,\" quoth poor unthinking Ralph,[1]\n  \"'Tis over, and the brood is safe.\"\n  (For Ravens, though, as birds of omen,\n  They teach both conjurers and old women\n  To tell us what is to befall,\n  Can't prophesy themselves at all.)\n  The morning came, when Neighbour Hodge,\n  Who long had marked her airy lodge,\n  And destined all the treasure there\n  A gift to his expecting fair,\n  Climbed, like a squirrel to his dray,\n  And bore the worthless prize away.\n\n\n  Moral\n\n  'Tis Providence alone secures,\n  In every change, both mine and yours:\n  Safety consists not in escape\n  From dangers of a frightful shape;\n  An earthquake may be bid to spare\n  The man that's strangled by a hair.\n  Fate steals along with silent tread\n  Found oftenest in what least we dread,\n  Frowns in the storm with angry brow,\n  But in the sunshine strikes the blow.\n\n      WILLIAM COWPER\n\n  [1]Pronounced Rafe.\n\n\n\n  Pairing Time Anticipated\n\n  I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau\n  If birds confabulate or no;\n  'Tis clear that they were always able\n  To hold discourse, at least in fable;\n  And e'en the child who knows no better\n  Than to interpret by the letter\n  A story of a cock and bull\n  Must have a most uncommon skull.\n  It chanced then on a winter day,\n  But warm and bright and calm as May,\n  The Birds conceiving a design\n  To forestall sweet Saint Valentine,\n  In many an orchard, copse and grove,\n  Assembled on affairs of love,\n  And with much twitter, and much chatter,\n  Began to agitate the matter.\n  At length a Bullfinch, who could boast\n  More years and wisdom than the most,\n  Entreated, opening wide his beak,\n  A moment's liberty to speak;\n  And silence publicly enjoined,\n  Delivered, briefly, thus his mind--\n  \"My friends! Be cautious how ye treat\n  The subject upon which we meet;\n  I fear we shall have winter yet.\"\n\n  A Finch, whose tongue knew no control,\n  With golden wing and satin poll,\n  A last year's bird who ne'er had tried\n  What marriage means, thus pert replied:\n  \"Methinks the gentleman,\" quoth she,\n  \"Opposite in the appletree,\n  By his good will would keep us single,\n  Until yonder heavens and earth shall mingle,\n  Or (which is likelier to befall)\n  Until death exterminate us all.\n  I marry without more ado,\n  My dear Dick Redcap; what say you?\"\n\n  Dick heard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling;\n  With many a strut and many a sidling,\n  Attested, glad, his approbation\n  Of an immediate conjugation.\n  Their sentiments so well expressed\n  Influenced mightily the rest;\n  All paired, and each pair built a nest.\n\n  But though the birds were thus in haste,\n  The leaves came on not quite so fast,\n  And Destiny, that sometimes bears\n  An aspect stern on man's affairs,\n  Not altogether smiled on theirs.\n  The wind, of late breathed gently forth,\n  Now shifted east and east by north;\n  Bare trees and shrubs but ill, you know,\n  Could shelter them from rain or snow;\n  Stepping into their nests, they paddled,\n  Themselves were chilled, their eggs were addled,\n  Soon every father-bird and mother\n  Grew quarrelsome and pecked each other,\n  Parted without the least regret,\n  Except that they had ever met,\n  And learned in future to be wiser\n  Than to neglect a good adviser.\n\n      WILLIAM COWPER\n\n\n\n  The Poet, the Oyster, and Sensitive Plant\n\n  An Oyster cast upon the shore\n  Was heard, though never heard before,\n  Complaining in a speech well worded,\n  And worthy thus to be recorded:\n    \"Ah, hapless wretch comdemn'd to dwell\n  Forever in my native shell,\n  Ordain'd to move when others please,\n  Not for my own content or ease,\n  But toss'd and buffeted about,\n  Now in the water, and now out.\n  'Twere better to be born a stone\n  Of ruder shape and feeling none,\n  Than with a tenderness like mine,\n  And sensibilities so fine!\n  I envy that unfeeling shrub,\n  Fast rooted against every rub.\"\n  The plant he meant grew not far off,\n  And felt the sneer with scorn enough;\n  Was hurt, disgusted, mortified,\n  And with asperity replied.\n    (\"When,\" cry the botanists, and stare,\n  \"Did plants call'd Sensitive grow there?\"\n  No matter when--a poet's muse is\n  To make them grow just where she chooses):\n    \"You shapeless nothing in a dish,\n  You that are but almost a fish,\n  I scorn your coarse insinuation,\n  And have most plentiful occasion\n  To wish myself the rock I view,\n  Or such another dolt as you.\n  For many a grave and learned clerk,\n  And many a gay unlettered spark,\n  With curious touch examines me\n  If I can feel as well as he;\n  And when I bend, retire, and shrink,\n  Says, 'Well--'tis more than one would think.'\n  Thus life is spent! oh fie upon't,\n  In being touched, and crying--'Don't'!\"\n  A poet, in his evening walk,\n  Overheard and checked this idle talk.\n  \"And your fine sense,\" he said, \"and yours,\n  Whatever evil it endures,\n  Deserves not, if so soon offended,\n  Much to be pitied or commended.\n  Disputes, though short, are far too long,\n  Where both alike are in the wrong;\n  Your feelings in their full amount\n  Are all upon your own account.\"\n    \"You, in your grotto-work enclosed,\n  Complain of being thus exposed,\n  Yet nothing feel in that rough coat,\n  Save when the knife is at your throat.\n  Wherever driven by wind or tide,\n  Exempt from every ill beside.\"\n    \"And as for you, my Lady Squeamish,\n  Who reckon every touch a blemish,\n  If all the plants that can be found\n  Embellishing the scene around,\n  Should droop and wither where they grow,\n  You would not feel at all, not you.\n  The noblest minds their virtue prove\n  By pity, sympathy, and love:\n  These, these are feelings truly fine,\n  And prove their owner half divine.\"\n    His censure reached them as he dealt it.\n  And each by shrinking show'd he felt it.\n\n      WILLIAM COWPER\n\n\n\n  The Pineapple and the Bee\n\n  The Pineapples, in triple row,\n  Were basking hot, and all in blow.\n  A Bee of most deserving taste\n  Perceived the fragrance as he pass'd.\n  On eager wing the spoiler came,\n  And searched for crannies in the frame,\n  Urged his attempt on every side,\n  To every pane his trunk applied;\n  But still in vain, the frame was tight,\n  And only pervious to the light:\n  Thus having wasted half the day,\n  He trimm'd his flight another way.\n\n       *     *     *     *     *\n\n    Our dear delights are often such,\n  Exposed to view, but not to touch;\n  The sight our foolish heart inflames,\n  We long for pineapples in frames;\n  With hopeless wish one looks and lingers;\n  One breaks the glass, and cuts his fingers;\n  But they whom Truth and Wisdom lead,\n  Can gather honey from a weed.\n\n      WILLIAM COWPER\n\n\n\n  Amelia and the Spider\n\n    The muslin torn, from tears of grief\n  In vain Amelia sought relief;\n  In sighs and plaints she passed the day,\n  The tattered frock neglected lay:\n  While busied at the weaving trade,\n  A Spider heard the sighing maid,\n  And kindly stopping in a trice,\n  Thus offered (gratis) her advice:\n    \"Turn, little girl, behold in me\n  A stimulus to industry;\n  Compare your woes my dear, with mine,\n  Then tell me who should most repine;\n  This morning, ere you'd left your room,\n  The chambermaid's relentless broom,\n  In one sad moment that destroyed\n  To build which thousands were employed.\n  The shock was great, but as my life\n  I saved in the relentless strife,\n  I knew lamenting was in vain,\n  So patient went to work again;\n  By constant work a day or more\n  My little mansion did restore.\n  And if each tear which you have shed\n  Had been a needleful of thread,\n  If every sigh of sad despair\n  Had been a stitch of proper care,\n  Closed would have been the luckless rent,\n  Nor thus the day have been misspent.\"\n\n      ANONYMOUS\n\n\n\n  The Goose and the Swans\n\n  A Goose, affected, empty, vain,\n  The shrillest of the cackling train,\n  With proud and elevated crest,\n  Precedence claimed above the rest,\n    Says she, \"I laugh at human race,\n  Who say Geese hobble in their pace;\n  Look here--the slander base detect;\n  Not haughty man is so erect.\n  That Peacock yonder, see how vain\n  The creature's of his gaudy train.\n  If both were stripped, I'd pledge my word\n  A Goose would be the finer bird.\n  Nature, to hide her own defects,\n  Her bungled work with finery decks.\n  Were Geese set off with half that show,\n  Would men admire the Peacock?  No!\"\n    Thus vaunting, 'cross the mead she stalks,\n  The cackling breed attend her walks;\n  The sun shot down his noontide beams,\n  The Swans were sporting in the streams.\n  Their snowy plumes and stately pride\n  Provoked her spleen.  \"Why, there,\" she cried,\n  \"Again, what arrogance we see!\n  Those creatures, how they mimic me!\n  Shall every fowl the waters skim\n  Because we Geese are known to swim?\n  Humility they soon shall learn,\n  And their own emptiness discern.\"\n    So saying, with extended wings,\n  Lightly upon the wave she springs;\n  Her bosom swells, she spreads her plumes,\n  And the Swan's stately crest assumes.\n  Contempt and mockery ensued,\n  And bursts of laughter shook the flood.\n  A Swan, superior to the rest,\n  Sprung forth, and thus the fool addressed:\n  \"Conceited thing, elate with pride,\n  Thy affectation all deride;\n  These airs thy awkwardness impart,\n  And show thee plainly as thou art.\n  Among thy equals of the flock,\n  Thou hadst escaped the public mock;\n  And, as thy parts to good conduce,\n  Been deemed an honest, hobbling Goose.\n    Learn hence to study wisdom's rules;\n  Know, foppery's the pride of fools;\n  And, striving nature to conceal,\n  You only her defects reveal.\"\n\n      ANONYMOUS\n\n\n\n  The Rats and the Cheese\n\n    If Bees a government maintain,\n  Why may not Rats, of stronger brain\n  And greater power, as well be thought\n  By Machiavellian axioms taught?\n  And so they are, for thus of late\n  It happened in the Rats' free state.\n    Their prince (his subjects more to please)\n  Had got a mighty Cheshire Cheese,\n  In which his ministers of state\n  Might live in plenty and grow great.\n    A powerful party straight combined,\n  And their united forces joined\n  To bring their measures into play,\n    For none so loyal were as they;\n  And none such patriots to support\n  As well the country as the court.\n  No sooner were those Dons admitted,\n  But (all those wondrous virtues quitted)\n  They all the speediest means devise\n  To raise themselves and families.\n    Another party well observing\n  These pampered were, while they were starving,\n  Their ministry brought in disgrace,\n  Expelled them and supplied their place;\n  These on just principles were known\n  The true supporters of the throne.\n  And for the subjects' liberty,\n  They'd (marry, would they) freely die;\n  But being well fixed in their station,\n  Regardless of their prince and nation,\n  Just like the others, all their skill\n  Was how they might their paunches fill.\n    On this a Rat not quite so blind\n  In state intrigues as human kind,\n  But of more honour, thus replied:\n  \"Confound ye all on either side;\n  All your contentions are but these,\n  Whose arts shall best secure the Cheese.\"\n\n      ANONYMOUS\n\n\n\n  The Drop of Rain\n\n  A little particle of rain\n    That from a passing cloud descended:\n  Was heard thus idly to complain:\n    \"My brief existence now is ended!\n  Outcast alike of earth and sky,\n  Useless to live, unknown to die!\"\n  It chanced to fall into the sea,\n    And there an open shell received it;\n  And after years how rich was he\n    Who from its prison-house released it!\n  The drop of rain had formed a gem\n  To deck a monarch's diadem.\n\n      ANONYMOUS\n\n\n\n  The Lion and the Echo\n\n    A Lion bravest of the wood,\n  Whose title undisputed stood,\n  As o'er the wide domains he prowled,\n  And in pursuit of booty growled,\n  An Echo from a distant cave\n  Re-growled articulately grave.\n  His Majesty, surprised, began\n  To think at first it was a man;\n  But, on reflection sage, he found\n  It was too like a lion's sound.\n  \"Whose voice is that which growls at mine?\"\n  His Highness asked.  Says Echo, \"Mine!\"\n  \"Thine,\" says the Lion; \"who art thou?\"\n  Echo as stern cried, \"Who art thou?\"\n  \"Know I'm a lion, hear and tremble!\"\n  Replied the king.  Cried Echo, \"Tremble!\"\n  \"Come forth,\" says Lion, \"show thyself!\"\n  Laconic Echo answered, \"Elf!\"\n  \"Elf dost thou call me, vile pretender?\"\n  Echo as loud replied, \"Pretender?\"\n  At this, as jealous of his reign,\n  He growled in rage--she growled again.\n  Incensed the more, he chafed and foamed,\n  And round the spacious forest roamed,\n  To find the rival of his throne,\n  Who durst with him dispute the crown.\n    A Fox, who listened all the while,\n  Addressed the monarch with a smile:\n  \"My liege, most humbly I make bold,\n  Though truth may not be always told,\n  That this same phantom that you hear,\n  That so alarms your royal ear,\n  Is not a rival of your throne--\n  The voice and fears are all your own.\"\n\n    Imaginary terrors scare\n  A timorous soul with real fear!\n  Nay, e'en the wise and brave are cowed\n  By apprehensions from the crowd;\n\n  A frog a lion may disarm,\n  And yet how causeless the alarm!\n\n      ANONYMOUS\n\n\n\n  Here check we our career;\n  Long books I greatly fear;\n  I would not quite exhaust my stuff;\n  The flower of subjects is enough.\n\n      JEAN DE LA FONTAINE\n\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n\n\n  INDEX OF TITLES\n\n\n  Acorn and the Pumpkin, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Aesop and His Fellow Servants.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Amelia and the Spider.  Anonymous (English)\n  Animals' Peace Party, The.  (Chinese)\n  Animals Sick of the Plague, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Ant and the Fly, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Ass and His Master, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Ass and His Purchaser, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Ass and His Shadow, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Ass and the Dog, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Ass and the Lap-dog, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Ass Carrying Relics, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Ass in the Lion's Skin, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n\n  Bat and the Two Weasels, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Bear and the Fowls, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Bear, the Monkey and the Pig, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Bee and the Cuckoo, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Belling the Cat.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Birds and the Monkeys, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Blackamoor, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Blue Jackal, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Boasting Traveller, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Boy and the Filberts, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Boy and the Wolf, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Boys and the Frogs, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Brahmin and the Goat, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Buffoon and the Countryman, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Builder of Ability and the Builder of Haste, The.  (African)\n\n  Camel and His Master, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Camel and the Pig, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Cat and the Fox, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Cat and the Mice, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Cat and the Two Sparrows, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Chameleon, The.  Aesop  (Greek)\n  City Rat and the Country Rat, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Cock and the Fox, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Cock and the Jewel, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Council of Horses, The.  Gay (English)\n  Country Fellow and the River, A.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Countryman and the Serpent, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Crab and Its Mother, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Crane and the Fool, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Crow and the Mussel, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Crow and the Partridge, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Crow and the Pitcher, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Cuckoo and the Cock, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Cuckoo and the Eagle, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Cuckoo and the Turtle-dove, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n\n  Dairywoman and the Pot of Milk, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Deer and the Lion, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Demian's Fish Soup.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Despot and the Wag, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Discontented Ass, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Dog and His Shadow, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Dog and the Crocodile, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Dog and the Kingship.  (African)\n  Dog in the Manger, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Dove and the Ant, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Drop of Rain, The.  Anonymous (English)\n  Duck and the Serpent, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Eagle and the Beetle, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Eagle and the Mole, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Eagle and the Owl, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Eagle and the Owl, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Eagle, the Jackdaw and the Magpie, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Ears of the Hare, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Education of the Lion, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Elephant and Frog (African)\n  Elephant and the Jackal, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Elephant as Governor, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Elephant Has a Bet with the Tiger, The.  (Malayan)\n  Elephant in Favour, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n\n  Falcon and the Capon, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Farmer and His Dog, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Farmer and the Stork, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Farmer's Wife and the Raven, The.  Gay (English)\n  Father \"Lime-stick\" and the Flower-pecker (Malayan)\n  Fawn and the Little Tiger, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Flies and the Honey-pot, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Flint and the Steel, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Fowler, the Hawk, and the Lark, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Fox and the Countryman, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Fox and the Crabs, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Fox and the Crow, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Fox and the Drum, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Fox and the Grapes, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Fox and the Stork, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Fox and the Villagers, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Fox in the Well, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Fox in the Well, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Fox, the Monkey, and the Animals, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Fox Without a Tail, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Frog Who Wished to Be as Big as an Ox, The.  (Greek)\n  Frogs Desiring a King, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n\n  Geese and the Tortoise, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Glowworm and the Daw, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Gnat and the Bull, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Goose and the Swans, The.  Anonymous (English)\n  Goose with the Golden Eggs, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Grasshopper and the Ant, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Greedy Jackal, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n\n  Hare and Many Friends, The.  Gay (English)\n  Hare and the Partridge, The, La Fontaine (French)\n  Hare and the Pig, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Hare and the Tortoise, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Hares and the Frogs, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Hen and the Cat, The.  (African)\n  Hen and the Chinese Mountain Turtle, The.  (Chinese)\n  Hen and the Fox, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Hercules and the Wagoner.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Hermit, the Thief, and the Demon, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Hornets and the Bees, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  How Sense Was Distributed.  (African)\n\n  Invalid Lion, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n\n  Jackal and the Cat, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Jackdaw with Borrowed Plumes, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Jupiter's Two Wallets.  Aesop (Greek)\n\n  King and the Hawk, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  King-crow and the Water-snail, The.  (Malayan)\n  Kite and the Pigeons, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n\n  Lark and Her Young Ones, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Leopard and the Other Animals (African)\n  Lion and the Ass Hunting, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Lion and the Echo, The.  Anonymous (English)\n  Lion and the Gadfly, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Lion and the Gnat, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Lion and the Goat, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Lion and the Mosquitoes, The.  (Chinese)\n  Lion and the Mouse, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Lion and the Rabbit, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Lion and the Wild Dog, The.  (African)\n  Lion Going to War, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Lion, the Bear, the Monkey, and the Fox, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Lion, the Fox, and the Story-teller, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Lion, the Mouse, and the Cat, The.  Hitopadesa  (Sanskrit)\n  Lion's Share, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Lioness and the Bear, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n\n  Man and His Piece of Cloth, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Man and the Lion, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Man and Turtle (African)\n  Man of Luck, and the Man of Pluck, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Matter of Arbitration, A.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Monkey and the Cat, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Monkey and the Leopard, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Monkey Who Had Seen the World, The.  Gay (English)\n  Mouse and the Frog, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Mouse Who Became a Tiger, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Mouse-deer's Shipwreck, The.  (Malayan)\n  Muff, the Fan, and the Parasol, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Mule and the Lion, The.  (Chinese)\n  Mule, Jackal and Lion.  (Moorish)\n\n  Nianga Dia Ngenga and Leopard.  (African)\n  Nightingale and the Glowworm, The.  Cowper (English)\n\n  Oak and the Reed, The, La Fontaine (French)\n  Old Man and His Sons, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Old Man and the Ass, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Old Man, His Son, and the Ass, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Old Woman and Her Maids, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Old Woman and the Doctor, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Old Woman's Cat, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n\n  Pairing Time Anticipated.  Cowper (English)\n  Passenger and the Pilot, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Peacock and the Fox, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Peacock Complaining to Juno, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Peasant and the Horse, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Peasant and the Robber, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Peasant and the Sheep, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Pebble and the Diamond, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Phoebus and Boreas.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Pike, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Pike and the Cat, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Pineapple and the Bee, The.  Cowper (English)\n  Playful Ass, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Ploughman and His Sons, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Poet, the Oyster, and Sensitive Plant, The.  Cowper (English)\n  Poor Woman and the Bell, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Porcupine and the Snakes, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Power of Fables, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Proud Chicken, The.  (Chinese)\n  Proud Fox and the Crab, The.  (Chinese)\n\n  Quartette, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n\n  Rabbits and the Elephants, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Rat and the Elephant, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Rat and the Oyster, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Rat and the Toad, The.  (African)\n  Rat-catcher and Cats, The.  Gay (English)\n  Rats and the Cheese, The.  Anonymous (English)\n  Raven, The.  Cowper (English)\n  Rope Dancer and His Pupil, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n\n  Sagacious Snake, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Satyr and the Traveller, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Shepherd and His Dog, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Shepherd and the Lion, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf, The.  Gay.  (English)\n  Sick Stag, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Snake and the Sparrows, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Sparrows and the Falcon, The.  Bidpai (Indian)\n  Spectacles, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Spider and the Bee, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Squirrel and the Horse, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Stag and the Vine, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Stork and the Toad, The.  (African)\n  Sunling, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Swallow and Other Birds, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Swan and the Cook, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Swan and the Linnet, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Sword-blade, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n\n  Tail of the Serpent, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Tea and the Sage, The.  Yriarte (Spanish)\n  Tiger and the Giraffe, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Tiger and the Shadow, The.  (Malayan)\n\n  Tiger Gets His Deserts, The.  (Malayan)\n  Tiger, the Fox, and the Hunters, The.  Raju (Indian)\n  Tinsel and Lightning.  Raju (Indian)\n  Traveller and the Tiger, The.  Hitopadesa (Sanskrit)\n  Travellers and the Bear, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Trishka's Caftan.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Tune that Makes the Tiger Drowsy, The (Malayan)\n  Two Mules, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Two Travellers, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Two Travellers and the Oyster, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n\n  Wagtail and the Jackal, The.  (Moorish)\n  Weasel in the Granary, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  What Employment Our Lord Gave to Insects (African)\n  Wolf and Its Cub, The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Wolf and the Cat.  The.  Krilof (Russian)\n  Wolf and the Crane, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Wolf and the Fox, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Wolf and the Lamb, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Wolf and the Lamb, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Wolf and the Lean Dog, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Wolf and the Mastiff, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Wolf and the Sheep, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Wolf Turned Shepherd, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Woodman and Mercury, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Woods and the Woodman, The.  La Fontaine (French)\n  Wren, The.  (Moorish)\n\n  Young Mouse, the Cock, and the Cat, The.  Aesop (Greek)\n  Young Tiger, The.  Bidpai (Indian)","title":"The Talking Beasts: A Book of Fable Wisdom","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":72482}