{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28","id":"gutenberg_28","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28","summary":null,"tags":["Aesop's fables -- Adaptations","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Fables, Greek -- Adaptations","Harvard Classics"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Fables of Aesop\n\nSELECTED, TOLD ANEW\nAND\nTHEIR HISTORY TRACED\n\nBy\nJOSEPH JACOBS\n\nDONE INTO PICTURES\nBY\nRICHARD HEIGHWAY\n\nLONDON\nMACMILLAN & CO.\n& NEW YORK\n1894\n_All rights reserved_\n\n\n\n\nTo\nPROF. F.J. CHILD\nOF HARVARD\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n PREFACE\n A SHORT HISTORY OF THE \u00c6SOPIC FABLE\n The Cock and the Pearl\n The Wolf and the Lamb\n The Dog and the Shadow\n The Lion\u2019s Share\n The Wolf and the Crane\n The Man and the Serpent\n The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse\n The Fox and the Crow\n The Sick Lion\n The Ass and the Lapdog\n The Lion and the Mouse\n The Swallow and the Other Birds\n The Frogs Desiring a King\n The Mountains in Labour\n The Hares and the Frogs\n The Wolf and the Kid\n The Woodman and the Serpent\n The Bald Man and the Fly\n The Fox and the Stork\n The Fox and the Mask\n The Jay and the Peacock\n The Frog and the Ox\n Androcles\n The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts\n The Hart and the Hunter\n The Serpent and the File\n The Man and the Wood\n The Dog and the Wolf\n The Belly and the Members\n The Hart in the Ox-Stall\n The Fox and the Grapes\n The Horse, Hunter, and Stag\n The Peacock and Juno\n The Fox and the Lion\n The Lion and the Statue\n The Ant and the Grasshopper\n The Tree and the Reed\n The Fox and the Cat\n The Wolf in Sheep\u2019s Clothing\n The Dog in the Manger\n The Man and the Wooden God\n The Fisher\n The Shepherd\u2019s Boy\n The Young Thief and His Mother\n The Man and His Two Wives\n The Nurse and the Wolf\n The Tortoise and the Birds\n The Two Crabs\n The Ass in the Lion\u2019s Skin\n The Two Fellows and the Bear\n The Two Pots\n The Four Oxen and the Lion\n The Fisher and the Little Fish\n Avaricious and Envious\n The Crow and the Pitcher\n The Man and the Satyr\n The Goose With the Golden Eggs\n The Labourer and the Nightingale\n The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog\n The Wind and the Sun\n Hercules and the Waggoner\n The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey\n The Miser and His Gold\n The Fox and the Mosquitoes\n The Fox Without a Tail\n The One-Eyed Doe\n Belling the Cat\n The Hare and the Tortoise\n The Old Man and Death\n The Hare With Many Friends\n The Lion in Love\n The Bundle of Sticks\n The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts\n The Ass\u2019s Brains\n The Eagle and the Arrow\n The Milkmaid and Her Pail\n The Cat-Maiden\n The Horse and the Ass\n The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner\n The Buffoon and the Countryman\n The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar\n The Fox and the Goat\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nIt is difficult to say what are and what are not the Fables of \u00c6sop.\nAlmost all the fables that have appeared in the Western world have been\nsheltered at one time or another under the shadow of that name. I could\nat any rate enumerate at least seven hundred which have appeared in\nEnglish in various books entitled _\u00c6sop\u2019s Fables_. L\u2019Estrange\u2019s\ncollection alone contains over five hundred. In the struggle for\nexistence among all these a certain number stand out as being the most\neffective and the most familiar. I have attempted to bring most of\nthese into the following pages.\n\nThere is no fixed text even for the nucleus collection contained in\nthis book. \u00c6sop himself is so shadowy a figure that we might almost be\nforgiven if we held, with regard to him, the heresy of Mistress\nElizabeth Prig. What we call his fables can in most cases be traced\nback to the fables of other people, notably of Ph\u00e6drus and Babrius. It\nis usual to regard the Greek Prose Collections, passing under the name\nof \u00c6sop, as having greater claims to the eponymous title; but modern\nresearch has shown that these are but medieval prosings of Babrius\u2019s\nverse. I have therefore felt at liberty to retell the fables in such a\nway as would interest children, and have adopted from the various\nversions that which seemed most suitable in each case, telling the\nfable anew in my own way.\n\nMuch has been learnt during the present century about the history of\nthe various apologues that walk abroad under the name of \u201c\u00c6sop.\u201d I have\nattempted to bring these various lines of research together in the\nsomewhat elaborate introductory volume which I wrote to accompany my\nedition of Caxton\u2019s _\u00c6sop_, published by Mr. Nutt in his _Biblioth\u00e8que\nde Carabas_. I have placed in front of the present version of the\n\u201cFables,\u201d by kind permission of Mr. Nutt, the short abstract of my\nresearches in which I there summed up the results of that volume. I\nmust accompany it, here as there, by a warning to the reader, that for\na large proportion of the results thus reached I am myself responsible;\nbut I am happy to say that many of them have been accepted by the\nexperts in America, France, and Germany, who have done me the honour to\nconsider my researches. Here, in England, there does not seem to be\nmuch interest in this class of work, and English scholars, for the most\npart, are content to remain in ignorance of the methods and results of\nliterary history.\n\nI have attached to the \u201cFables\u201d in the obscurity of small print at the\nend a series of notes, summing up what is known as to the _provenance_\nof each fable. Here, again, I have tried to put in shorter and more\nreadable form the results of my researches in the volume to which I\nhave already referred. For more detailed information I must refer to\nthe forty closely-printed pages (vol. i. pp. 225-268) which contain the\nbibliography of the Fables.\n\nJOSEPH JACOBS.\n\n\n\n\nA SHORT HISTORY OF THE \u00c6SOPIC FABLE\n\n\nMost nations develop the Beast-Tale as part of their folk-lore, some go\nfurther and apply it to satiric purposes, and a few nations afford\nisolated examples of the shaping of the Beast-Tale to teach some moral\ntruth by means of the Fable properly so called.[1] But only two peoples\nindependently made this a general practice. Both in Greece[2] and in\nIndia we find in the earliest literature such casual and frequent\nmention of Fables as seems to imply a body of Folk-Fables current among\nthe people. And in both countries special circumstances raised the\nFable from folklore into literature. In Greece, during the epoch of the\nTyrants, when free speech was dangerous, the Fable was largely used for\npolitical purposes. The inventor of this application or the most\nprominent user of it was one \u00c6sop, a slave at Samos whose name has ever\nsince been connected with the Fable. All that we know about him is\ncontained in a few lines of Herodotus: that he flourished 550 B.C.; was\nkilled in accordance with a Delphian oracle; and that _wergild_ was\nclaimed for him by the grandson of his master, Iadmon. When free speech\nwas established in the Greek democracies, the custom of using Fables in\nharangues was continued and encouraged by the rhetoricians, while the\nmirth-producing qualities of the Fable caused it to be regarded as fit\nsubject of after-dinner conversation along with other jests of a\nbroader kind (\u201cMilesian,\u201d \u201cSybaritic\u201d). This habit of regarding the\nFable as a form of the Jest intensified the tendency to connect it with\na well-known name as in the case of our Joe Miller. About 300 B.C.\nDemetrius Phalereus, whilom tyrant of Athens and founder of the\nAlexandria Library, collected together all the Fables he could find\nunder the title of _Assemblies of \u00c6sopic Tales_ (\u039b\u03cc\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd \u0391\u1f30\u03c3\u03c9\u03c0\u03b5\u03af\u03c9\u03bd\n\u03c3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03b1\u03b9). This collection, running probably to some 200 Fables, after\nbeing interpolated and edited by the Alexandrine grammarians, was\nturned into neat Latin iambics by Ph\u00e6drus, a Greek freedman of Augustus\nin the early years of the Christian era. As the modern \u00c6sop is mainly\nderived from Ph\u00e6drus, the answer to the question \u201cWho wrote \u00c6sop?\u201d is\nsimple : \u201cDemetrius of Phaleron.\u201d[3]\n\n [1] _E.g._ Jotham\u2019s Fable, Judges ix., and that of Menenius Agrippa in\n Livy, seem to be quite independent of either Greek or Indian\n influence. But one fable does not make Fable.\n\n\n [2] Only about twenty fables, however, are known in Greece before\n Ph\u00e6drus, 30 A.D. See my Caxton\u2019s _\u00c6sop_ vol. i. pp. 26\u201329, for a\n complete enumeration.\n\n\n [3] For this statement and what follows a reference to the Pedigree of\n the Fables on p. 196 will be found useful.\n\n\nIn India the great ethical reformer, Sakyamuni, the Buddha, initiated\n(or adopted from the Brahmins) the habit of using the Beast-Tale for\nmoral purposes, or, in other words, transformed it into the Fable\nproper. A collection of these seems to have existed previously and\nindependently, in which the Fables were associated with the name of a\nmythical sage, Kasy\u00e2pa. These were appropriated by the early Buddhists\nby the simple expedient of making Kasy\u00e2pa the immediately preceding\nincarnation of the Buddha. A number of his _itih\u00e2sas_ or Tales were\nincluded in the sacred Buddhistic work containing the _J\u0101takas_ or\nprevious-births of the Buddha, in some of which the Bodisat (or future\nBuddha) appears as one of the Dramatis Person\u00e6 of the Fables; the\nCrane, _e.g._, in our _Wolf and Crane_ being one of the incarnations of\nthe Buddha. So, too, the Lamb of our _Wolf and Lamb_ was once Buddha;\nit was therefore easy for him\u2014so the Buddhists thought\u2014to remember and\ntell these Fables as incidents of his former careers. It is obvious\nthat the whole idea of a Fable as an anecdote about a man masquerading\nin the form of a beast could most easily arise and gain currency where\nthe theory of transmigration was vividly credited.\n\nThe Fables of Kasy\u00e2pa, or rather the moral verses (_gathas_) which\nserved as a _memoria technica_ to them, were probably carried over to\nCeylon in 241 B.C. along with the J\u0101takas. About 300 years later (say\n50 A.D.) some 100 of these were brought by a Cingalese embassy to\nAlexandria, where they were translated under the title of \u201cLibyan\nFables\u201d (\u039b\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03b9 \u039b\u03c5\u03b2\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03af), which had been earlier applied to similar\nstories that had percolated to Hellas from India; they were attributed\nto \u201cKybises.\u201d This collection seems to have introduced the habit of\nsumming up the teaching of a Fable in the Moral, corresponding to the\n_gatha_ of the J\u0101takas. About the end of the first century A.D. the\nLibyan Fables of \u201cKybises\u201d became known to the Rabbinic school at\nJabne, founded by R. Jochanan ben Saccai, and a number of the Fables\ntranslated into Aramaic which are still extant in the Talmud and\nMidrash.\n\nIn the Roman world the two collections of Demetrius and \u201cKybises\u201d were\nbrought together by Nicostratus, a rhetor attached to the court of\nMarcus Aurelius. In the earlier part of the next century (c. 230 A.D.)\nthis _corpus_ of the ancient fable, \u00c6sopic and Libyan, amounting in all\nto some 300 members, was done into Greek verse with Latin accentuation\n(choliambics) by Valerius Babrius, tutor to the young son of Alexander\nSeverus. Still later, towards the end of the fourth century, forty-two\nof these, mainly of the Libyan section, were translated into Latin\nverse by one Avian, with whom the ancient history of the Fable ends.\n\nIn the Middle Ages it was naturally the Latin Ph\u00e6drus that represented\nthe \u00c6sopic Fable to the learned world, but Ph\u00e6drus in a fuller form\nthan has descended to us in verse. A selection of some eighty fables\nwas turned into indifferent prose in the ninth century, probably at the\nSchools of Charles the Great. This was attributed to a fictitious\nRomulus. Another prose collection by Ademar of Chabannes was made\nbefore 1030, and still preserves some of the lines of the lost Fables\nof Ph\u00e6drus. The Fables became especially popular among the Normans. A\nnumber of them occur on the Bayeux Tapestry, and in the twelfth century\nEngland, the head of the Angevin empire, became the home of the Fable,\nall the important adaptations and versions of \u00c6sop being made in this\ncountry. One of these done into Latin verse by Walter the Englishman\nbecame the standard \u00c6sop of medieval Christendom. The same history\napplies in large measure to the Fables of Avian, which were done into\nprose, transferred back into Latin verse, and sent forth through Europe\nfrom England.\n\nMeanwhile Babrius had been suffering the same fate as Ph\u00e6drus. His\nscazons were turned into poor Greek prose, and selections of them pass\nto this day as the original Fables of \u00c6sop. Some fifty of these were\nselected, and with the addition of a dozen Oriental fables, were\nattributed to an imaginary Persian sage, Syntipas; this collection was\ntranslated into Syriac, and thence into Arabic, where they passed under\nthe name of the legendary L\u00f4qman (probably a doublet of Balaam). A\nstill larger collection of the Greek prose versions got into Arabic,\nwhere it was enriched by some 60 fables from the Arabic Bidpai and\nother sources, but still passed under the name of \u00c6sop. This\ncollection, containing 164 fables, was brought to England after the\nThird Crusade of Richard I., and translated into Latin by an Englishman\nnamed Alfred, with the aid of an Oxford Jew named Berachyah ha-Nakdan\n(\u201cBenedictus le Puncteur\u201d in the English Records), who, on his own\naccount, translated a number of the fables into Hebrew rhymed prose,\nunder the Talmudic title _Mishle Shu\u2018alim_ (Fox Fables).[4] Part of\nAlfred\u2019s \u00c6sop was translated into English alliterative verse, and this\nagain was translated about 1200 into French by Marie de France, who\nattributed the new fables to King Alfred. After her no important\naddition was made to the medieval \u00c6sop.\n\n [4] I have given specimens of his Fables in my _Jews of Angevin\n England_, pp. 165\u2013173, 278\u2013281.\n\n\nWith the invention of printing the European book of \u00c6sop was compiled\nabout 1480 by Heinrich Stainh\u00f6wel, who put together the Romulus with\nselections from Avian, some of the Greek prose versions of Babrius from\nRanuzio\u2019s translation, and a few from Alfred\u2019s \u00c6sop. To these he added\nthe legendary life of \u00c6sop and a selection of somewhat loose tales from\nPetrus Alphonsi and Poggio Bracciolini, corresponding to the Milesian\nand Sybaritic tales which were associated with the Fable in antiquity.\nStainh\u00f6wel translated all this into German, and within twenty years his\ncollection had been turned into French, English (by Caxton, in 1484),\nItalian, Dutch, and Spanish. Additions were made to it by Brandt and\nWaldis in Germany, by L\u2019Estrange in England, and by La Fontaine in\nFrance; these were chiefly from the larger Greek collections published\nafter Stainh\u00f6wel\u2019s day, and, in the case of La Fontaine, from Bidpai\nand other Oriental sources. But these additions have rarely taken hold,\nand the \u00c6sop of modern Europe is in large measure Stainh\u00f6wel\u2019s, even to\nthe present day. The first three quarters of the present collection are\nStainh\u00f6wel mainly in Stainh\u00f6wel\u2019s order. Selections from it passed into\nspelling and reading books, and made the Fables part of modern European\nfolk-lore.[5]\n\n [5] An episode in the history of the modern \u00c6sop deserves record, if\n only to illustrate the law that \u00c6sop always begins his career as a\n political weapon in a new home. When a selection of the Fables were\n translated into Chinese in 1840 they became favourite reading with the\n officials, till a high dignitary said, \u201cThis is clearly directed\n against _us_,\u201d and ordered \u00c6sop to be included in the Chinese _Index\n Expurgatorius_ (R. Morris, _Cont. Rev_. xxxix. p. 731).\n\n\nWe may conclude this history of \u00c6sop with a similar account of the\nprogress of \u00c6sopic investigation. First came collection; the Greek \u00c6sop\nwas brought together by Neveletus in 1610, the Latin by Nilant in 1709.\nThe main truth about the former was laid down by the master-hand of\nBentley during a skirmish in the Battle of the Books; the equally great\ncritic Lessing began to unravel the many knotty points connected with\nthe medieval Latin \u00c6sop. His investigations have been carried on and\ncompleted by three Frenchmen in the present century, Robert, Du M\u00e9ril,\nand Hervieux; while three Germans, Crusius, Benfey, and Mall, have\nthrown much needed light on Babrius, on the Oriental \u00c6sop, and on Marie\nde France. Lastly, I have myself brought together these various lines\nof inquiry, and by adding a few threads of my own, have been able to\nweave them all for the first time into a consistent pattern.[6]\n\n [6] _The Fables of \u00c6sop, as first printed by William Caxton in_ 1484,\n _now again edited and induced by Joseph Jacobs_ (London, 1889), 2\n vols., the first containing a History of the \u00c6sopic Fable.\n\n\nSo much for the past of the Fable. Has it a future as a mode of\nliterary expression? Scarcely; its method is at once too simple and too\nroundabout. Too roundabout; for the truths we have to tell we prefer to\nspeak out directly and not by way of allegory. And the truths the Fable\nhas to teach are too simple to correspond to the facts of our complex\ncivilisation; its rude _graffiti_ of human nature cannot reproduce the\nsubtle gradations of modern life. But as we all pass through in our\nlives the various stages of ancestral culture, there comes a time when\nthese rough sketches of life have their appeal to us as they had for\nour forefathers. The allegory gives us a pleasing and not too strenuous\nstimulation of the intellectual powers; the lesson is not too\ncomplicated for childlike minds. Indeed, in their grotesque grace, in\ntheir quaint humour, in their trust in the simpler virtues, in their\ninsight into the cruder vices, in their innocence of the fact of sex,\n\u00c6sop\u2019s Fables are as little children. They are as little children, and\nfor that reason they will for ever find a home in the heaven of little\nchildren\u2019s souls.\n\n\n\n\nAesop\u2019s Fables\n\n\n\n\nThe Cock and the Pearl\n\n\nA cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when\nsuddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw. \u201cHo! ho!\u201d quoth\nhe, \u201cthat\u2019s for me,\u201d and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw.\n\u201cWhat did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been\nlost in the yard? \u201cYou may be a treasure,\u201d quoth Master Cock, \u201cto men\nthat prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn\nthan a peck of pearls.\u201d\n\nPrecious things are for those that can prize them.\n\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Lamb\n\n\nOnce upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside, when,\nlooking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a\nlittle lower down. \u201cThere\u2019s my supper,\u201d thought he, \u201cif only I can find\nsome excuse to seize it.\u201d Then he called out to the Lamb, \u201cHow dare you\nmuddle the water from which I am drinking?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, master, nay,\u201d said Lambikin; \u201cif the water be muddy up there, I\ncannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d said the Wolf, \u201cwhy did you call me bad names this time\nlast year?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat cannot be,\u201d said the Lamb; \u201cI am only six months old.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d snarled the Wolf; \u201cif it was not you it was your\nfather;\u201d and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb and\n\nWARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA\n\n\nate her all up. But before she died she gasped out\u2014\n\n\u201cAny excuse will serve a tyrant.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Dog and the Shadow\n\n\nIt happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was carrying it home\nin his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way home he had to cross a\nplank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and\nsaw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was\nanother dog with another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have\nthat also. So he made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as he\nopened his mouth the piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and\nwas never seen more.\n\nBeware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.\n\n\n\n\nThe Lion\u2019s Share\n\n\nThe Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the\nWolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they surprised a Stag,\nand soon took its life. Then came the question how the spoil should be\ndivided. \u201cQuarter me this Stag,\u201d roared the Lion; so the other animals\nskinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion took his stand in\nfront of the carcass and pronounced judgment: The first quarter is for\nme in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter;\nanother share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the\nfourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you\nwill dare to lay a paw upon it.\u201d\n\n\u201cHumph,\u201d grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail between his\nlegs; but he spoke in a low growl\u2014\n\n\u201cYou may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the\nspoil.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Crane\n\n\nA Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when suddenly a\nsmall bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow it.\nHe soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran up and down groaning\nand groaning and seeking for something to relieve the pain. He tried to\ninduce every one he met to remove the bone. \u201cI would give anything,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cif you would take it out.\u201d At last the Crane agreed to try,\nand told the Wolf to lie on his side and open his jaws as wide as he\ncould. Then the Crane put its long neck down the Wolf\u2019s throat, and\nwith its beak loosened the bone, till at last it got it out.\n\n\u201cWill you kindly give me the reward you promised?\u201d said the Crane.\n\nThe Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: \u201cBe content. You have\nput your head inside a Wolf\u2019s mouth and taken it out again in safety;\nthat ought to be reward enough for you.\u201d\n\nGratitude and greed go not together.\n\n\n\n\nThe Man and the Serpent\n\n\nA Countryman\u2019s son by accident trod upon a Serpent\u2019s tail, which turned\nand bit him so that he died. The father in a rage got his axe, and\npursuing the Serpent, cut off part of its tail. So the Serpent in\nrevenge began stinging several of the Farmer\u2019s cattle and caused him\nsevere loss. Well, the Farmer thought it best to make it up with the\nSerpent, and brought food and honey to the mouth of its lair, and said\nto it: \u201cLet\u2019s forget and forgive; perhaps you were right to punish my\nson, and take vengeance on my cattle, but surely I was right in trying\nto revenge him; now that we are both satisfied why should not we be\nfriends again?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no,\u201d said the Serpent; \u201ctake away your gifts; you can never forget\nthe death of your son, nor I the loss of my tail.\u201d\n\nInjuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.\n\n\n\n\nThe Town Mouse and the Country Mouse\n\n\nNow you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a visit to\nhis cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he\nloved his town friend and made him heartily welcome. Beans and bacon,\ncheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely.\nThe Town Mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country fare, and\nsaid: \u201cI cannot understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor\nfood as this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the\ncountry; come you with me and I will show you how to live. When you\nhave been in town a week you will wonder how you could ever have stood\na country life.\u201d No sooner said than done: the two mice set off for the\ntown and arrived at the Town Mouse\u2019s residence late at night. \u201cYou will\nwant some refreshment after our long journey,\u201d said the polite Town\nMouse, and took his friend into the grand dining-room. There they found\nthe remains of a fine feast, and soon the two mice were eating up\njellies and cakes and all that was nice. Suddenly they heard growling\nand barking. \u201cWhat is that?\u201d said the Country Mouse. \u201cIt is only the\ndogs of the house,\u201d answered the other. \u201cOnly!\u201d said the Country Mouse.\n\u201cI do not like that music at my dinner.\u201d Just at that moment the door\nflew open, in came two huge mastiffs, and the two mice had to scamper\ndown and run off. \u201cGood-bye, Cousin,\u201d said the Country Mouse. \u201cWhat!\ngoing so soon?\u201d said the other. \u201cYes,\u201d he replied;\n\n\u201cBetter beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Crow\n\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. \u201cThat\u2019s for me, as I am a Fox,\u201d said\nMaster Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. \u201cGood-day,\nMistress Crow,\u201d he cried. \u201cHow well you are looking to-day: how glossy\nyour feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass\nthat of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song\nfrom you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.\u201d The Crow lifted\nup her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her\nmouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by\nMaster Fox. \u201cThat will do,\u201d said he. \u201cThat was all I wanted. In\nexchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the\nfuture\u2014\n\n\u201cDo not trust flatterers.\u201d\n\n\nThe Flatter doth rob by stealth,\nHis victim, both of Wit and Wealth.\n\n\n\n\nThe Sick Lion\n\n\nA Lion had come to the end of his days and lay sick unto death at the\nmouth of his cave, gasping for breath. The animals, his subjects, came\nround him and drew nearer as he grew more and more helpless. When they\nsaw him on the point of death they thought to themselves: \u201cNow is the\ntime to pay off old grudges.\u201d So the Boar came up and drove at him with\nhis tusks; then a Bull gored him with his horns; still the Lion lay\nhelpless before them: so the Ass, feeling quite safe from danger, came\nup, and turning his tail to the Lion kicked up his heels into his face.\n\u201cThis is a double death,\u201d growled the Lion.\n\nOnly cowards insult dying majesty.\n\n\n\n\nThe Ass and the Lapdog\n\n\nA Farmer one day came to the stables to see to his beasts of burden:\namong them was his favourite Ass, that was always well fed and often\ncarried his master. With the Farmer came his Lapdog, who danced about\nand licked his hand and frisked about as happy as could be. The Farmer\nfelt in his pocket, gave the Lapdog some dainty food, and sat down\nwhile he gave his orders to his servants. The Lapdog jumped into his\nmaster\u2019s lap, and lay there blinking while the Farmer stroked his ears.\nThe Ass, seeing this, broke loose from his halter and commenced\nprancing about in imitation of the Lapdog. The Farmer could not hold\nhis sides with laughter, so the Ass went up to him, and putting his\nfeet upon the Farmer\u2019s shoulder attempted to climb into his lap. The\nFarmer\u2019s servants rushed up with sticks and pitchforks and soon taught\nthe Ass that\n\nClumsy jesting is no joke.\n\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Mouse\n\n\nOnce when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down\nupon him; this soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him,\nand opened his big jaws to swallow him. \u201cPardon, O King,\u201d cried the\nlittle Mouse: \u201cforgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows\nbut what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?\u201d The Lion\nwas so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he\nlifted up his paw and let him go. Some time after the Lion was caught\nin a trap, and the hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King,\ntied him to a tree while they went in search of a waggon to carry him\non. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad\nplight in which the Lion was, went up to him and soon gnawed away the\nropes that bound the King of the Beasts. \u201cWas I not right?\u201d said the\nlittle Mouse.\n\nLittle friends may prove great friends.\n\n\n\n\nThe Swallow and the Other Birds\n\n\nIt happened that a Countryman was sowing some hemp seeds in a field\nwhere a Swallow and some other birds were hopping about picking up\ntheir food. \u201cBeware of that man,\u201d quoth the Swallow. \u201cWhy, what is he\ndoing?\u201d said the others. \u201cThat is hemp seed he is sowing; be careful to\npick up every one of the seeds, or else you will repent it.\u201d The birds\npaid no heed to the Swallow\u2019s words, and by and by the hemp grew up and\nwas made into cord, and of the cords nets were made, and many a bird\nthat had despised the Swallow\u2019s advice was caught in nets made out of\nthat very hemp. \u201cWhat did I tell you?\u201d said the Swallow.\n\nDestroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin.\n\n\n\n\nThe Frogs Desiring a King\n\n\nThe Frogs were living as happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just\nsuited them; they went splashing about caring for nobody and nobody\ntroubling with them. But some of them thought that this was not right,\nthat they should have a king and a proper constitution, so they\ndetermined to send up a petition to Jove to give them what they wanted.\n\u201cMighty Jove,\u201d they cried, \u201csend unto us a king that will rule over us\nand keep us in order.\u201d Jove laughed at their croaking, and threw down\ninto the swamp a huge Log, which came down splashing into the swamp.\nThe Frogs were frightened out of their lives by the commotion made in\ntheir midst, and all rushed to the bank to look at the horrible\nmonster; but after a time, seeing that it did not move, one or two of\nthe boldest of them ventured out towards the Log, and even dared to\ntouch it; still it did not move. Then the greatest hero of the Frogs\njumped upon the Log and commenced dancing up and down upon it,\nthereupon all the Frogs came and did the same; and for some time the\nFrogs went about their business every day without taking the slightest\nnotice of their new King Log lying in their midst. But this did not\nsuit them, so they sent another petition to Jove, and said to him, \u201cWe\nwant a real king; one that will really rule over us.\u201d Now this made\nJove angry, so he sent among them a big Stork that soon set to work\ngobbling them all up. Then the Frogs repented when too late.\n\nBetter no rule than cruel rule.\n\n\n\n\nThe Mountains in Labour\n\n\nOne day the Countrymen noticed that the Mountains were in labour; smoke\ncame out of their summits, the earth was quaking at their feet, trees\nwere crashing, and huge rocks were tumbling. They felt sure that\nsomething horrible was going to happen. They all gathered together in\none place to see what terrible thing this could be. They waited and\nthey waited, but nothing came. At last there was a still more violent\nearthquake, and a huge gap appeared in the side of the Mountains. They\nall fell down upon their knees and waited. At last, and at last, a\nteeny, tiny mouse poked its little head and bristles out of the gap and\ncame running down towards them, and ever after they used to say:\n\n\u201cMuch outcry, little outcome.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Hares and the Frogs\n\n\nThe Hares were so persecuted by the other beasts, they did not know\nwhere to go. As soon as they saw a single animal approach them, off\nthey used to run. One day they saw a troop of wild Horses stampeding\nabout, and in quite a panic all the Hares scuttled off to a lake hard\nby, determined to drown themselves rather than live in such a continual\nstate of fear. But just as they got near the bank of the lake, a troop\nof Frogs, frightened in their turn by the approach of the Hares\nscuttled off, and jumped into the water. \u201cTruly,\u201d said one of the\nHares, \u201cthings are not so bad as they seem:\n\n\u201cThere is always someone worse off than yourself.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Kid\n\n\nA Kid was perched up on the top of a house, and looking down saw a Wolf\npassing under him. Immediately he began to revile and attack his enemy.\n\u201cMurderer and thief,\u201d he cried, \u201cwhat do you here near honest folks\u2019\nhouses? How dare you make an appearance where your vile deeds are\nknown?\u201d\n\n\u201cCurse away, my young friend,\u201d said the Wolf.\n\n\u201cIt is easy to be brave from a safe distance.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Woodman and the Serpent\n\n\nOne wintry day a Woodman was tramping home from his work when he saw\nsomething black lying on the snow. When he came closer he saw it was a\nSerpent to all appearance dead. But he took it up and put it in his\nbosom to warm while he hurried home. As soon as he got indoors he put\nthe Serpent down on the hearth before the fire. The children watched it\nand saw it slowly come to life again. Then one of them stooped down to\nstroke it, but the Serpent raised its head and put out its fangs and\nwas about to sting the child to death. So the Woodman seized his axe,\nand with one stroke cut the Serpent in two. \u201cAh,\u201d said he,\n\n\u201cNo gratitude from the wicked.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Bald Man and the Fly\n\n\nThere was once a Bald Man who sat down after work on a hot summer\u2019s\nday. A Fly came up and kept buzzing about his bald pate, and stinging\nhim from time to time. The Man aimed a blow at his little enemy,\nbut\u2014_whack_\u2014his palm came on his head instead; again the Fly tormented\nhim, but this time the Man was wiser and said:\n\n\u201cYou will only injure yourself if you take notice of despicable\nenemies.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Stork\n\n\nAt one time the Fox and the Stork were on visiting terms and seemed\nvery good friends. So the Fox invited the Stork to dinner, and for a\njoke put nothing before her but some soup in a very shallow dish. This\nthe Fox could easily lap up, but the Stork could only wet the end of\nher long bill in it, and left the meal as hungry as when she began. \u201cI\nam sorry,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cthe soup is not to your liking.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray do not apologise,\u201d said the Stork. \u201cI hope you will return this\nvisit, and come and dine with me soon.\u201d So a day was appointed when the\nFox should visit the Stork; but when they were seated at table all that\nwas for their dinner was contained in a very long-necked jar with a\nnarrow mouth, in which the Fox could not insert his snout, so all he\ncould manage to do was to lick the outside of the jar.\n\n\u201cI will not apologise for the dinner,\u201d said the Stork:\n\n\u201cOne bad turn deserves another.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Mask\n\n\nA Fox had by some means got into the store-room of a theatre. Suddenly\nhe observed a face glaring down on him and began to be very frightened;\nbut looking more closely he found it was only a Mask such as actors use\nto put over their face. \u201cAh,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cyou look very fine; it is\na pity you have not got any brains.\u201d\n\nOutside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.\n\n\n\n\nThe Jay and the Peacock\n\n\nA Jay venturing into a yard where Peacocks used to walk, found there a\nnumber of feathers which had fallen from the Peacocks when they were\nmoulting. He tied them all to his tail and strutted down towards the\nPeacocks. When he came near them they soon discovered the cheat, and\nstriding up to him pecked at him and plucked away his borrowed plumes.\nSo the Jay could do no better than go back to the other Jays, who had\nwatched his behaviour from a distance; but they were equally annoyed\nwith him, and told him:\n\n\u201cIt is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Frog and the Ox\n\n\n\u201cOh Father,\u201d said a little Frog to the big one sitting by the side of a\npool, \u201cI have seen such a terrible monster! It was as big as a\nmountain, with horns on its head, and a long tail, and it had hoofs\ndivided in two.\u201d\n\n\u201cTush, child, tush,\u201d said the old Frog, \u201cthat was only Farmer White\u2019s\nOx. It isn\u2019t so big either; he may be a little bit taller than I, but I\ncould easily make myself quite as broad; just you see.\u201d So he blew\nhimself out, and blew himself out, and blew himself out. \u201cWas he as big\nas that?\u201d asked he.\n\n\u201cOh, much bigger than that,\u201d said the young Frog.\n\nAgain the old one blew himself out, and asked the young one if the Ox\nwas as big as that.\n\n\u201cBigger, father, bigger,\u201d was the reply.\n\nSo the Frog took a deep breath, and blew and blew and blew, and swelled\nand swelled and swelled. And then he said: \u201cI\u2019m sure the Ox is not as\nbig as this. But at this moment he burst.\n\nSelf-conceit may lead to self-destruction.\n\n\n\n\nAndrocles\n\n\nA slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the\nforest. As he was wandering about there he came upon a Lion lying down\nmoaning and groaning. At first he turned to flee, but finding that the\nLion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came\nnear, the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and\nAndrocles found that a huge thorn had got into it, and was causing all\nthe pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the Lion, who\nwas soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then\nthe Lion took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him\nmeat from which to live. But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the\nLion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the\nLion, after the latter had been kept without food for several days. The\nEmperor and all his Court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was\nled out into the middle of the arena. Soon the Lion was let loose from\nhis den, and rushed bounding and roaring towards his victim. But as\nsoon as he came near to Androcles he recognised his friend, and fawned\nupon him, and licked his hands like a friendly dog. The Emperor,\nsurprised at this, summoned Androcles to him, who told him the whole\nstory. Whereupon the slave was pardoned and freed, and the Lion let\nloose to his native forest.\n\nGratitude is the sign of noble souls.\n\n\n\n\nThe Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts\n\n\nA great conflict was about to come off between the Birds and the\nBeasts. When the two armies were collected together the Bat hesitated\nwhich to join. The Birds that passed his perch said: \u201cCome with us\u201d;\nbut he said: \u201cI am a Beast.\u201d Later on, some Beasts who were passing\nunderneath him looked up and said: \u201cCome with us\u201d; but he said: \u201cI am a\nBird.\u201d Luckily at the last moment peace was made, and no battle took\nplace, so the Bat came to the Birds and wished to join in the\nrejoicings, but they all turned against him and he had to fly away. He\nthen went to the Beasts, but soon had to beat a retreat, or else they\nwould have torn him to pieces. \u201cAh,\u201d said the Bat, \u201cI see now,\n\n\u201cHe that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Hart and the Hunter\n\n\nThe Hart was once drinking from a pool and admiring the noble figure he\nmade there. \u201cAh,\u201d said he, \u201cwhere can you see such noble horns as\nthese, with such antlers! I wish I had legs more worthy to bear such a\nnoble crown; it is a pity they are so slim and slight.\u201d At that moment\na Hunter approached and sent an arrow whistling after him. Away bounded\nthe Hart, and soon, by the aid of his nimble legs, was nearly out of\nsight of the Hunter; but not noticing where he was going, he passed\nunder some trees with branches growing low down in which his antlers\nwere caught, so that the Hunter had time to come up. \u201cAlas! alas!\u201d\ncried the Hart:\n\n\u201cWe often despise what is most useful to us.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Serpent and the File\n\n\nA Serpent in the course of its wanderings came into an armourer\u2019s shop.\nAs he glided over the floor he felt his skin pricked by a file lying\nthere. In a rage he turned round upon it and tried to dart his fangs\ninto it; but he could do no harm to heavy iron and had soon to give\nover his wrath.\n\nIt is useless attacking the insensible.\n\n\n\n\nThe Man and the Wood\n\n\nA Man came into a Wood one day with an axe in his hand, and begged all\nthe Trees to give him a small branch which he wanted for a particular\npurpose. The Trees were good-natured and gave him one of their\nbranches. What did the Man do but fix it into the axe head, and soon\nset to work cutting down tree after tree. Then the Trees saw how\nfoolish they had been in giving their enemy the means of destroying\nthemselves.\n\n\n\n\nThe Dog and the Wolf\n\n\nA gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to meet a\nHouse-dog who was passing by. \u201cAh, Cousin,\u201d said the Dog. \u201cI knew how\nit would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruin of you. Why do\nyou not work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly given to\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cI would have no objection,\u201d said the Wolf, \u201cif I could only get a\nplace.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will easily arrange that for you,\u201d said the Dog; \u201ccome with me to my\nmaster and you shall share my work.\u201d\n\nSo the Wolf and the Dog went towards the town together. On the way\nthere the Wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part of the Dog\u2019s\nneck was very much worn away, so he asked him how that had come about.\n\n\u201cOh, it is nothing,\u201d said the Dog. \u201cThat is only the place where the\ncollar is put on at night to keep me chained up; it chafes a bit, but\none soon gets used to it.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d said the Wolf. \u201cThen good-bye to you, Master Dog.\u201d\n\nBetter starve free than be a fat slave.\n\n\n\n\nThe Belly and the Members\n\n\nOne fine day it occurred to the Members of the Body that they were\ndoing all the work and the Belly was having all the food. So they held\na meeting, and after a long discussion, decided to strike work till the\nBelly consented to take its proper share of the work. So for a day or\ntwo, the Hands refused to take the food, the Mouth refused to receive\nit, and the Teeth had no work to do. But after a day or two the Members\nbegan to find that they themselves were not in a very active condition:\nthe Hands could hardly move, and the Mouth was all parched and dry,\nwhile the Legs were unable to support the rest. So thus they found that\neven the Belly in its dull quiet way was doing necessary work for the\nBody, and that all must work together or the Body will go to pieces.\n\n\n\n\nThe Hart in the Ox-Stall\n\n\nA Hart hotly pursued by the hounds fled for refuge into an ox-stall,\nand buried itself in a truss of hay, leaving nothing to be seen but the\ntips of his horns. Soon after the Hunters came up and asked if any one\nhad seen the Hart. The stable boys, who had been resting after their\ndinner, looked round, but could see nothing, and the Hunters went away.\nShortly afterwards the master came in, and looking round, saw that\nsomething unusual had taken place. He pointed to the truss of hay and\nsaid: \u201cWhat are those two curious things sticking out of the hay?\u201d And\nwhen the stable boys came to look they discovered the Hart, and soon\nmade an end of him. He thus learnt that\n\nNothing escapes the master\u2019s eye.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Grapes\n\n\nOne hot summer\u2019s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he\ncame to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been\ntrained over a lofty branch. \u201cJust the thing to quench my thirst,\u201d\nquoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just\nmissed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped\nup, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the\ntempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with\nhis nose in the air, saying: \u201cI am sure they are sour.\u201d\n\nIt is easy to despise what you cannot get.\n\n\n\n\nThe Peacock and Juno\n\n\nA Peacock once placed a petition before Juno desiring to have the voice\nof a nightingale in addition to his other attractions; but Juno refused\nhis request. When he persisted, and pointed out that he was her\nfavourite bird, she said:\n\n\u201cBe content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Horse, Hunter, and Stag\n\n\nA quarrel had arisen between the Horse and the Stag, so the Horse came\nto a Hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the Stag. The Hunter\nagreed, but said: \u201cIf you desire to conquer the Stag, you must permit\nme to place this piece of iron between your jaws, so that I may guide\nyou with these reins, and allow this saddle to be placed upon your back\nso that I may keep steady upon you as we follow after the enemy.\u201d The\nHorse agreed to the conditions, and the Hunter soon saddled and bridled\nhim. Then with the aid of the Hunter the Horse soon overcame the Stag,\nand said to the Hunter: \u201cNow, get off, and remove those things from my\nmouth and back.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so fast, friend,\u201d said the Hunter. \u201cI have now got you under bit\nand spur, and prefer to keep you as you are at present.\u201d\n\nIf you allow men to use you for your own purposes, they will use you\nfor theirs.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Lion\n\n\nWhen first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran\naway and hid himself in the wood. Next time however he came near the\nKing of Beasts he stopped at a safe distance and watched him pass by.\nThe third time they came near one another the Fox went straight up to\nthe Lion and passed the time of day with him, asking him how his family\nwere, and when he should have the pleasure of seeing him again; then\nturning his tail, he parted from the Lion without much ceremony.\n\nFamiliarity breeds contempt.\n\n\n\n\nThe Lion and the Statue\n\n\nA Man and a Lion were discussing the relative strength of men and lions\nin general. The Man contended that he and his fellows were stronger\nthan lions by reason of their greater intelligence. \u201cCome now with me,\u201d\nhe cried, \u201cand I will soon prove that I am right.\u201d So he took him into\nthe public gardens and showed him a statue of Hercules overcoming the\nLion and tearing his mouth in two.\n\n\u201cThat is all very well,\u201d said the Lion, \u201cbut proves nothing, for it was\na man who made the statue.\u201d\n\nWe can easily represent things as we wish them to be.\n\n\n\n\nThe Ant and the Grasshopper\n\n\nIn a field one summer\u2019s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping\nand singing to its heart\u2019s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along\nwith great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.\n\n\u201cWhy not come and chat with me,\u201d said the Grasshopper, \u201cinstead of\ntoiling and moiling in that way?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am helping to lay up food for the winter,\u201d said the Ant, \u201cand\nrecommend you to do the same.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy bother about winter?\u201d said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of\nfood at present.\u201d But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.\nWhen the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying\nof hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain\nfrom the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper\nknew:\n\nIt is best to prepare for the days of necessity.\n\n\n\n\nThe Tree and the Reed\n\n\n\u201cWell, little one,\u201d said a Tree to a Reed that was growing at its foot,\n\u201cwhy do you not plant your feet deeply in the ground, and raise your\nhead boldly in the air as I do?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am contented with my lot,\u201d said the Reed. \u201cI may not be so grand,\nbut I think I am safer.\u201d\n\n\u201cSafe!\u201d sneered the Tree. \u201cWho shall pluck me up by the roots or bow my\nhead to the ground?\u201d But it soon had to repent of its boasting, for a\nhurricane arose which tore it up from its roots, and cast it a useless\nlog on the ground, while the little Reed, bending to the force of the\nwind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over.\n\nObscurity often brings safety.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Cat\n\n\nA Fox was boasting to a Cat of its clever devices for escaping its\nenemies. \u201cI have a whole bag of tricks,\u201d he said, \u201cwhich contains a\nhundred ways of escaping my enemies.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have only one,\u201d said the Cat; \u201cbut I can generally manage with\nthat.\u201d Just at that moment they heard the cry of a pack of hounds\ncoming towards them, and the Cat immediately scampered up a tree and\nhid herself in the boughs. \u201cThis is my plan,\u201d said the Cat. \u201cWhat are\nyou going to do?\u201d The Fox thought first of one way, then of another,\nand while he was debating the hounds came nearer and nearer, and at\nlast the Fox in his confusion was caught up by the hounds and soon\nkilled by the huntsmen. Miss Puss, who had been looking on, said:\n\n\u201cBetter one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Wolf in Sheep\u2019s Clothing\n\n\nA Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the\nvigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin\nof a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over\nits own pelt and strolled down among the sheep. The Lamb that belonged\nto the sheep, whose skin the Wolf was wearing, began to follow the Wolf\nin the Sheep\u2019s clothing; so, leading the Lamb a little apart, he soon\nmade a meal off her, and for some time he succeeded in deceiving the\nsheep, and enjoying hearty meals.\n\nAppearances are deceptive.\n\n\n\n\nThe Dog in the Manger\n\n\nA Dog looking out for its afternoon nap jumped into the Manger of an Ox\nand lay there cosily upon the straw. But soon the Ox, returning from\nits afternoon work, came up to the Manger and wanted to eat some of the\nstraw. The Dog in a rage, being awakened from its slumber, stood up and\nbarked at the Ox, and whenever it came near attempted to bite it. At\nlast the Ox had to give up the hope of getting at the straw, and went\naway muttering:\n\n\u201cAh, people often grudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Man and the Wooden God\n\n\nIn the old days men used to worship sticks and stones and idols, and\nprayed to them to give them luck. It happened that a Man had often\nprayed to a wooden idol he had received from his father, but his luck\nnever seemed to change. He prayed and he prayed, but still he remained\nas unlucky as ever. One day in the greatest rage he went to the Wooden\nGod, and with one blow swept it down from its pedestal. The idol broke\nin two, and what did he see? An immense number of coins flying all over\nthe place.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fisher\n\n\nA Fisher once took his bagpipes to the bank of a river, and played upon\nthem with the hope of making the fish rise; but never a one put his\nnose out of the water. So he cast his net into the river and soon drew\nit forth filled with fish. Then he took his bagpipes again, and, as he\nplayed, the fish leapt up in the net. \u201cAh, you dance now when I play,\u201d\nsaid he.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said an old Fish:\n\n\u201cWhen you are in a man\u2019s power you must do as he bids you.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Shepherd\u2019s Boy\n\n\nThere was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of\na mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so\nhe thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some\nexcitement. He rushed down towards the village calling out \u201cWolf,\nWolf,\u201d and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped\nwith him for a considerable time. This pleased the boy so much that a\nfew days afterwards he tried the same trick, and again the villagers\ncame to his help. But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out\nfrom the forest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course\ncried out \u201cWolf, Wolf,\u201d still louder than before. But this time the\nvillagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again\ndeceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. So the Wolf\nmade a good meal off the boy\u2019s flock, and when the boy complained, the\nwise man of the village said:\n\n\u201cA liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Young Thief and His Mother\n\n\nA young Man had been caught in a daring act of theft and had been\ncondemned to be executed for it. He expressed his desire to see his\nMother, and to speak with her before he was led to execution, and of\ncourse this was granted. When his Mother came to him he said: \u201cI want\nto whisper to you,\u201d and when she brought her ear near him, he nearly\nbit it off. All the bystanders were horrified, and asked him what he\ncould mean by such brutal and inhuman conduct. \u201cIt is to punish her,\u201d\nhe said. \u201cWhen I was young I began with stealing little things, and\nbrought them home to Mother. Instead of rebuking and punishing me, she\nlaughed and said: \u201cIt will not be noticed.\u201d It is because of her that I\nam here to-day.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is right, woman,\u201d said the Priest; \u201cthe Lord hath said:\n\n\u201cTrain up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will\nnot depart therefrom.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Man and His Two Wives\n\n\nIn the old days, when men were allowed to have many wives, a\nmiddle-aged Man had one wife that was old and one that was young; each\nloved him very much, and desired to see him like herself. Now the Man\u2019s\nhair was turning grey, which the young Wife did not like, as it made\nhim look too old for her husband. So every night she used to comb his\nhair and pick out the white ones. But the elder Wife saw her husband\ngrowing grey with great pleasure, for she did not like to be mistaken\nfor his mother. So every morning she used to arrange his hair and pick\nout as many of the black ones as she could. The consequence was the Man\nsoon found himself entirely bald.\n\nYield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.\n\n\n\n\nThe Nurse and the Wolf\n\n\n\u201cBe quiet now,\u201d said an old Nurse to a child sitting on her lap. \u201cIf\nyou make that noise again I will throw you to the Wolf.\u201d\n\nNow it chanced that a Wolf was passing close under the window as this\nwas said. So he crouched down by the side of the house and waited. \u201cI\nam in good luck to-day,\u201d thought he. \u201cIt is sure to cry soon, and a\ndaintier morsel I haven\u2019t had for many a long day.\u201d So he waited, and\nhe waited, and he waited, till at last the child began to cry, and the\nWolf came forward before the window, and looked up to the Nurse,\nwagging his tail. But all the Nurse did was to shut down the window and\ncall for help, and the dogs of the house came rushing out. \u201cAh,\u201d said\nthe Wolf as he galloped away,\n\n\u201cEnemies\u2019 promises were made to be broken.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Tortoise and the Birds\n\n\nA Tortoise desired to change its place of residence, so he asked an\nEagle to carry him to his new home, promising her a rich reward for her\ntrouble. The Eagle agreed and seizing the Tortoise by the shell with\nher talons soared aloft. On their way they met a Crow, who said to the\nEagle: \u201cTortoise is good eating.\u201d \u201cThe shell is too hard,\u201d said the\nEagle in reply. \u201cThe rocks will soon crack the shell,\u201d was the Crow\u2019s\nanswer; and the Eagle, taking the hint, let fall the Tortoise on a\nsharp rock, and the two birds made a hearty meal of the Tortoise.\n\nNever soar aloft on an enemy\u2019s pinions.\n\n\n\n\nThe Two Crabs\n\n\nOne fine day two Crabs came out from their home to take a stroll on the\nsand. \u201cChild,\u201d said the mother, \u201cyou are walking very ungracefully. You\nshould accustom yourself, to walking straight forward without twisting\nfrom side to side.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray, mother,\u201d said the young one, \u201cdo but set the example yourself,\nand I will follow you.\u201d\n\nExample is the best precept.\n\n\n\n\nThe Ass in the Lion\u2019s Skin\n\n\nAn Ass once found a Lion\u2019s skin which the hunters had left out in the\nsun to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village. All fled\nat his approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud Ass that day.\nIn his delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then every one\nknew him, and his owner came up and gave him a sound cudgelling for the\nfright he had caused. And shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and\nsaid: \u201cAh, I knew you by your voice.\u201d\n\nFine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool.\n\n\n\n\nThe Two Fellows and the Bear\n\n\nTwo Fellows were travelling together through a wood, when a Bear rushed\nout upon them. One of the travellers happened to be in front, and he\nseized hold of the branch of a tree, and hid himself among the leaves.\nThe other, seeing no help for it, threw himself flat down upon the\nground, with his face in the dust. The Bear, coming up to him, put his\nmuzzle close to his ear, and sniffed and sniffed. But at last with a\ngrowl he shook his head and slouched off, for bears will not touch dead\nmeat. Then the fellow in the tree came down to his comrade, and,\nlaughing, said \u201cWhat was it that Master Bruin whispered to you?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe told me,\u201d said the other,\n\n\u201cNever trust a friend who deserts you at a pinch.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Two Pots\n\n\nTwo Pots had been left on the bank of a river, one of brass, and one of\nearthenware. When the tide rose they both floated off down the stream.\nNow the earthenware pot tried its best to keep aloof from the brass\none, which cried out: \u201cFear nothing, friend, I will not strike you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I may come in contact with you,\u201d said the other, \u201cif I come too\nclose; and whether I hit you, or you hit me, I shall suffer for it.\u201d\n\nThe strong and the weak cannot keep company.\n\n\n\n\nThe Four Oxen and the Lion\n\n\nA Lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell.\nMany a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they\nturned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached\nthem he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they\nfell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone\nin a separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by\none and soon made an end of all four.\n\nUnited we stand, divided we fall.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fisher and the Little Fish\n\n\nIt happened that a Fisher, after fishing all day, caught only a little\nfish. \u201cPray, let me go, master,\u201d said the Fish. \u201cI am much too small\nfor your eating just now. If you put me back into the river I shall\nsoon grow, then you can make a fine meal off me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nay, my little Fish,\u201d said the Fisher, \u201cI have you now. I may not\ncatch you hereafter.\u201d\n\nA little thing in hand is worth more than a great thing in prospect.\n\n\n\n\nAvaricious and Envious\n\n\nTwo neighbours came before Jupiter and prayed him to grant their\nhearts\u2019 desire. Now the one was full of avarice, and the other eaten up\nwith envy. So to punish them both, Jupiter granted that each might have\nwhatever he wished for himself, but only on condition that his\nneighbour had twice as much. The Avaricious man prayed to have a room\nfull of gold. No sooner said than done; but all his joy was turned to\ngrief when he found that his neighbour had two rooms full of the\nprecious metal. Then came the turn of the Envious man, who could not\nbear to think that his neighbour had any joy at all. So he prayed that\nhe might have one of his own eyes put out, by which means his companion\nwould become totally blind.\n\nVices are their own punishment.\n\n\n\n\nThe Crow and the Pitcher\n\n\nA Crow, half-dead with thirst, came upon a Pitcher which had once been\nfull of water; but when the Crow put its beak into the mouth of the\nPitcher he found that only very little water was left in it, and that\nhe could not reach far enough down to get at it. He tried, and he\ntried, but at last had to give up in despair. Then a thought came to\nhim, and he took a pebble and dropped it into the Pitcher. Then he took\nanother pebble and dropped it into the Pitcher. Then he took another\npebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble\nand dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and\ndropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped\nthat into the Pitcher. At last, at last, he saw the water mount up near\nhim, and after casting in a few more pebbles he was able to quench his\nthirst and save his life.\n\nLittle by little does the trick.\n\n\n\n\nThe Man and the Satyr\n\n\nA Man had lost his way in a wood one bitter winter\u2019s night. As he was\nroaming about, a Satyr came up to him, and finding that he had lost his\nway, promised to give him a lodging for the night, and guide him out of\nthe forest in the morning. As he went along to the Satyr\u2019s cell, the\nMan raised both his hands to his mouth and kept on blowing at them.\n\u201cWhat do you do that for?\u201d said the Satyr.\n\n\u201cMy hands are numb with the cold,\u201d said the Man, \u201cand my breath warms\nthem.\u201d\n\nAfter this they arrived at the Satyr\u2019s home, and soon the Satyr put a\nsmoking dish of porridge before him. But when the Man raised his spoon\nto his mouth he began blowing upon it. \u201cAnd what do you do that for?\u201d\nsaid the Satyr.\n\n\u201cThe porridge is too hot, and my breath will cool it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOut you go,\u201d said the Satyr. \u201cI will have nought to do with a man who\ncan blow hot and cold with the same breath.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Goose With the Golden Eggs\n\n\nOne day a countryman going to the nest of his Goose found there an egg\nall yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead\nand he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been\nplayed upon him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found\nto his delight that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the same\nthing occurred, and he soon became rich by selling his eggs. As he grew\nrich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose\ncould give, he killed it and opened it only to find nothing.\n\nGreed oft o\u2019er reaches itself.\n\n\n\n\nThe Labourer and the Nightingale\n\n\nA Labourer lay listening to a Nightingale\u2019s song throughout the summer\nnight. So pleased was he with it that the next night he set a trap for\nit and captured it. \u201cNow that I have caught thee,\u201d he cried, \u201cthou\nshalt always sing to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe Nightingales never sing in a cage.\u201d said the bird.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll eat thee.\u201d said the Labourer. \u201cI have always heard say that\na nightingale on toast is dainty morsel.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, kill me not,\u201d said the Nightingale; \u201cbut let me free, and I\u2019ll\ntell thee three things far better worth than my poor body.\u201d The\nLabourer let him loose, and he flew up to a branch of a tree and said:\n\u201cNever believe a captive\u2019s promise; that\u2019s one thing. Then again: Keep\nwhat you have. And third piece of advice is: Sorrow not over what is\nlost forever.\u201d Then the song-bird flew away.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox, the Cock, and the Dog\n\n\nOne moonlight night a Fox was prowling about a farmer\u2019s hen-coop, and\nsaw a Cock roosting high up beyond his reach. \u201cGood news, good news!\u201d\nhe cried.\n\n\u201cWhy, what is that?\u201d said the Cock.\n\n\u201cKing Lion has declared a universal truce. No beast may hurt a bird\nhenceforth, but all shall dwell together in brotherly friendship.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, that is good news,\u201d said the Cock; \u201cand there I see some one\ncoming, with whom we can share the good tidings.\u201d And so saying he\ncraned his neck forward and looked afar off.\n\n\u201cWhat is it you see?\u201d said the Fox.\n\n\u201cIt is only my master\u2019s Dog that is coming towards us. What, going so\nsoon?\u201d he continued, as the Fox began to turn away as soon as he had\nheard the news. \u201cWill you not stop and congratulate the Dog on the\nreign of universal peace?\u201d\n\n\u201cI would gladly do so,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cbut I fear he may not have heard\nof King Lion\u2019s decree.\u201d\n\nCunning often outwits itself.\n\n\n\n\nThe Wind and the Sun\n\n\nThe Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly\nthey saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: \u201cI see a\nway to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to\ntake off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin.\u201d So\nthe Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as\nit could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely\ndid the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had\nto give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory\nupon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak\non.\n\nKindness effects more than severity.\n\n\n\n\nHercules and the Waggoner\n\n\nA Waggoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At\nlast he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into\nthe mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels.\nSo the Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to\nHercules the Strong. \u201cO Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress,\u201d\nquoth he. But Hercules appeared to him, and said:\n\n\u201cTut, man, don\u2019t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the\nwheel.\u201d\n\nThe gods help them that help themselves.\n\n\n\n\nThe Miser and His Gold\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Miser who used to hide his gold at the\nfoot of a tree in his garden; but every week he used to go and dig it\nup and gloat over his gains. A robber, who had noticed this, went and\ndug up the gold and decamped with it. When the Miser next came to gloat\nover his treasures, he found nothing but the empty hole. He tore his\nhair, and raised such an outcry that all the neighbours came around\nhim, and he told them how he used to come and visit his gold. \u201cDid you\never take any of it out?\u201d asked one of them.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said he, \u201cI only came to look at it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen come again and look at the hole,\u201d said a neighbour; \u201cit will do\nyou just as much good.\u201d\n\nWealth unused might as well not exist.\n\n\n\n\nThe Man, the Boy, and the Donkey\n\n\nA Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they\nwere walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: \u201cYou\nfools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?\u201d\n\nSo the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But\nsoon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: \u201cSee that lazy\nyoungster, he lets his father walk while he rides.\u201d\n\nSo the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they\nhadn\u2019t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the\nother: \u201cShame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge\nalong.\u201d\n\nWell, the Man didn\u2019t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up\nbefore him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and\nthe passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and\nasked what they were scoffing at. The men said: \u201cAren\u2019t you ashamed of\nyourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours and your hulking\nson?\u201d\n\nThe Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and\nthey thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey\u2019s feet\nto it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went\nalong amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market\nBridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and\ncaused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey\nfell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was\ndrowned.\n\n\u201cThat will teach you,\u201d said an old man who had followed them:\n\n\u201cPlease all, and you will please none.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Mosquitoes\n\n\nA Fox after crossing a river got its tail entangled in a bush, and\ncould not move. A number of Mosquitoes seeing its plight settled upon\nit and enjoyed a good meal undisturbed by its tail. A hedgehog\nstrolling by took pity upon the Fox and went up to him: \u201cYou are in a\nbad way, neighbour,\u201d said the hedgehog; \u201cshall I relieve you by driving\noff those Mosquitoes who are sucking your blood?\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, Master Hedgehog,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cbut I would rather not.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, how is that?\u201d asked the hedgehog.\n\n\u201cWell, you see,\u201d was the answer, \u201cthese Mosquitoes have had their fill;\nif you drive these away, others will come with fresh appetite and bleed\nme to death.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox Without a Tail\n\n\nIt happened that a Fox caught its tail in a trap, and in struggling to\nrelease himself lost all of it but the stump. At first he was ashamed\nto show himself among his fellow foxes. But at last he determined to\nput a bolder face upon his misfortune, and summoned all the foxes to a\ngeneral meeting to consider a proposal which he had to place before\nthem. When they had assembled together the Fox proposed that they\nshould all do away with their tails. He pointed out how inconvenient a\ntail was when they were pursued by their enemies, the dogs; how much it\nwas in the way when they desired to sit down and hold a friendly\nconversation with one another. He failed to see any advantage in\ncarrying about such a useless encumbrance. \u201cThat is all very well,\u201d\nsaid one of the older foxes; \u201cbut I do not think you would have\nrecommended us to dispense with our chief ornament if you had not\nhappened to lose it yourself.\u201d\n\nDistrust interested advice.\n\n\n\n\nThe One-Eyed Doe\n\n\nA Doe had had the misfortune to lose one of her eyes, and could not see\nany one approaching her on that side. So to avoid any danger she always\nused to feed on a high cliff near the sea, with her sound eye looking\ntowards the land. By this means she could see whenever the hunters\napproached her on land, and often escaped by this means. But the\nhunters found out that she was blind of one eye, and hiring a boat\nrowed under the cliff where she used to feed and shot her from the sea.\n\u201cAh,\u201d cried she with her dying voice,\n\n\u201cYou cannot escape your fate.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBelling the Cat\n\n\nLong ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures they\ncould take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and\nsome said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a\nproposal to make, which he thought would meet the case. \u201cYou will all\nagree,\u201d said he, \u201cthat our chief danger consists in the sly and\ntreacherous manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could\nreceive some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I\nventure, therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and\nattached by a ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should\nalways know when she was about, and could easily retire while she was\nin the neighbourhood.\u201d\n\nThis proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up and\nsaid: \u201cThat is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?\u201d The mice\nlooked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said:\n\n\u201cIt is easy to propose impossible remedies.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Hare and the Tortoise\n\n\nThe Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. \u201cI\nhave never yet been beaten,\u201d said he, \u201cwhen I put forth my full speed.\nI challenge any one here to race with me.\u201d\n\nThe Tortoise said quietly, \u201cI accept your challenge.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a good joke,\u201d said the Hare; \u201cI could dance round you all the\nway.\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep your boasting till you\u2019ve beaten,\u201d answered the Tortoise. \u201cShall\nwe race?\u201d\n\nSo a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out\nof sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the\nTortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded\non, and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise just near\nthe winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race. Then\nsaid the Tortoise:\n\n\u201cPlodding wins the race.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Old Man and Death\n\n\nAn old labourer, bent double with age and toil, was gathering sticks in\na forest. At last he grew so tired and hopeless that he threw down the\nbundle of sticks, and cried out: \u201cI cannot bear this life any longer.\nAh, I wish Death would only come and take me!\u201d\n\nAs he spoke, Death, a grisly skeleton, appeared and said to him: \u201cWhat\nwouldst thou, Mortal? I heard thee call me.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease, sir,\u201d replied the woodcutter, \u201cwould you kindly help me to\nlift this faggot of sticks on to my shoulder?\u201d\n\nWe would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.\n\n\n\n\nThe Hare With Many Friends\n\n\nA Hare was very popular with the other beasts who all claimed to be her\nfriends. But one day she heard the hounds approaching and hoped to\nescape them by the aid of her many Friends. So, she went to the horse,\nand asked him to carry her away from the hounds on his back. But he\ndeclined, stating that he had important work to do for his master. \u201cHe\nfelt sure,\u201d he said, \u201cthat all her other friends would come to her\nassistance.\u201d She then applied to the bull, and hoped that he would\nrepel the hounds with his horns. The bull replied: \u201cI am very sorry,\nbut I have an appointment with a lady; but I feel sure that our friend\nthe goat will do what you want.\u201d The goat, however, feared that his\nback might do her some harm if he took her upon it. The ram, he felt\nsure, was the proper friend to apply to. So she went to the ram and\ntold him the case. The ram replied: \u201cAnother time, my dear friend. I do\nnot like to interfere on the present occasion, as hounds have been\nknown to eat sheep as well as hares.\u201d The Hare then applied, as a last\nhope, to the calf, who regretted that he was unable to help her, as he\ndid not like to take the responsibility upon himself, as so many older\npersons than himself had declined the task. By this time the hounds\nwere quite near, and the Hare took to her heels and luckily escaped.\n\nHe that has many friends, has no friends.\n\n\n\n\nThe Lion in Love\n\n\nA Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden and proposed marriage\nto her parents. The old people did not know what to say. They did not\nlike to give their daughter to the Lion, yet they did not wish to\nenrage the King of Beasts. At last the father said: \u201cWe feel highly\nhonoured by your Majesty\u2019s proposal, but you see our daughter is a\ntender young thing, and we fear that in the vehemence of your affection\nyou might possibly do her some injury. Might I venture to suggest that\nyour Majesty should have your claws removed, and your teeth extracted,\nthen we would gladly consider your proposal again.\u201d The Lion was so\nmuch in love that he had his claws trimmed and his big teeth taken out.\nBut when he came again to the parents of the young girl they simply\nlaughed in his face, and bade him do his worst.\n\nLove can tame the wildest.\n\n\n\n\nThe Bundle of Sticks\n\n\nAn old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give\nthem some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a faggot\nof sticks, and said to his eldest son: \u201cBreak it.\u201d The son strained and\nstrained, but with all his efforts was unable to break the Bundle. The\nother sons also tried, but none of them was successful. \u201cUntie the\nfaggots,\u201d said the father, \u201cand each of you take a stick.\u201d When they\nhad done so, he called out to them: \u201cNow, break,\u201d and each stick was\neasily broken. \u201cYou see my meaning,\u201d said their father.\n\nUnion gives strength.\n\n\n\n\nThe Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts\n\n\nThe Lion once gave out that he was sick unto death and summoned the\nanimals to come and hear his last Will and Testament. So the Goat came\nto the Lion\u2019s cave, and stopped there listening for a long time. Then a\nSheep went in, and before she came out a Calf came up to receive the\nlast wishes of the Lord of the Beasts. But soon the Lion seemed to\nrecover, and came to the mouth of his cave, and saw the Fox, who had\nbeen waiting outside for some time. \u201cWhy do you not come to pay your\nrespects to me?\u201d said the Lion to the Fox.\n\n\u201cI beg your Majesty\u2019s pardon,\u201d said the Fox, \u201cbut I noticed the track\nof the animals that have already come to you; and while I see many\nhoof-marks going in, I see none coming out. Till the animals that have\nentered your cave come out again I prefer to remain in the open air.\u201d\n\nIt is easier to get into the enemy\u2019s toils than out again.\n\n\n\n\nThe Ass\u2019s Brains\n\n\nThe Lion and the Fox went hunting together. The Lion, on the advice of\nthe Fox, sent a message to the Ass, proposing to make an alliance\nbetween their two families. The Ass came to the place of meeting,\noverjoyed at the prospect of a royal alliance. But when he came there\nthe Lion simply pounced on the Ass, and said to the Fox: \u201cHere is our\ndinner for to-day. Watch you here while I go and have a nap. Woe betide\nyou if you touch my prey.\u201d The Lion went away and the Fox waited; but\nfinding that his master did not return, ventured to take out the brains\nof the Ass and ate them up. When the Lion came back he soon noticed the\nabsence of the brains, and asked the Fox in a terrible voice: \u201cWhat\nhave you done with the brains?\u201d\n\n\u201cBrains, your Majesty! it had none, or it would never have fallen into\nyour trap.\u201d\n\nWit has always an answer ready.\n\n\n\n\nThe Eagle and the Arrow\n\n\nAn Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whizz\nof an Arrow, and felt itself wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down\nto the earth, with its life-blood pouring out of it. Looking down upon\nthe Arrow with which it had been pierced, it found that the shaft of\nthe Arrow had been feathered with one of its own plumes. \u201cAlas!\u201d it\ncried, as it died,\n\n\u201cWe often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Cat-Maiden\n\n\nThe gods were once disputing whether it was possible for a living being\nto change its nature. Jupiter said \u201cYes,\u201d but Venus said \u201cNo.\u201d So, to\ntry the question, Jupiter turned a Cat into a Maiden, and gave her to a\nyoung man for a wife. The wedding was duly performed and the young\ncouple sat down to the wedding-feast. \u201cSee,\u201d said Jupiter, to Venus,\n\u201chow becomingly she behaves. Who could tell that yesterday she was but\na Cat? Surely her nature is changed?\u201d\n\n\u201cWait a minute,\u201d replied Venus, and let loose a mouse into the room. No\nsooner did the bride see this than she jumped up from her seat and\ntried to pounce upon the mouse. \u201cAh, you see,\u201d said Venus,\n\n\u201cNature will out.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Milkmaid and Her Pail\n\n\nPatty the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a Pail on\nher head. As she went along she began calculating what she would do\nwith the money she would get for the milk. \u201cI\u2019ll buy some fowls from\nFarmer Brown,\u201d said she, \u201cand they will lay eggs each morning, which I\nwill sell to the parson\u2019s wife. With the money that I get from the sale\nof these eggs I\u2019ll buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and\nwhen I go to market, won\u2019t all the young men come up and speak to me!\nPolly Shaw will be that jealous; but I don\u2019t care. I shall just look at\nher and toss my head like this. As she spoke she tossed her head back,\nthe Pail fell off it, and all the milk was spilt. So she had to go home\nand tell her mother what had occurred.\n\n\u201cAh, my child,\u201d said the mother,\n\n\u201cDo not count your chickens before they are hatched.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Horse and the Ass\n\n\nA Horse and an Ass were travelling together, the Horse prancing along\nin its fine trappings, the Ass carrying with difficulty the heavy\nweight in its panniers. \u201cI wish I were you,\u201d sighed the Ass; \u201cnothing\nto do and well fed, and all that fine harness upon you.\u201d Next day,\nhowever, there was a great battle, and the Horse was wounded to death\nin the final charge of the day. His friend, the Ass, happened to pass\nby shortly afterwards and found him on the point of death. \u201cI was\nwrong,\u201d said the Ass:\n\n\u201cBetter humble security than gilded danger.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Trumpeter Taken Prisoner\n\n\nA Trumpeter during a battle ventured too near the enemy and was\ncaptured by them. They were about to proceed to put him to death when\nhe begged them to hear his plea for mercy. \u201cI do not fight,\u201d said he,\n\u201cand indeed carry no weapon; I only blow this trumpet, and surely that\ncannot harm you; then why should you kill me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may not fight yourself,\u201d said the others, \u201cbut you encourage and\nguide your men to the fight.\u201d\n\nWords may be deeds.\n\n\n\n\nThe Buffoon and the Countryman\n\n\nAt a country fair there was a Buffoon who made all the people laugh by\nimitating the cries of various animals. He finished off by squeaking so\nlike a pig that the spectators thought that he had a porker concealed\nabout him. But a Countryman who stood by said: \u201cCall that a pig\u2019s\nsqueak! Nothing like it. You give me till tomorrow and I will show you\nwhat it\u2019s like.\u201d The audience laughed, but next day, sure enough, the\nCountryman appeared on the stage, and putting his head down squealed so\nhideously that the spectators hissed and threw stones at him to make\nhim stop. \u201cYou fools!\u201d he cried, \u201csee what you have been hissing,\u201d and\nheld up a little pig whose ear he had been pinching to make him utter\nthe squeals.\n\nMen often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.\n\n\n\n\nThe Old Woman and the Wine-Jar\n\n\nYou must know that sometimes old women like a glass of wine. One of\nthis sort once found a Wine-jar lying in the road, and eagerly went up\nto it hoping to find it full. But when she took it up she found that\nall the wine had been drunk out of it. Still she took a long sniff at\nthe mouth of the Jar. \u201cAh,\u201d she cried,\n\n\u201cWhat memories cling \u2019round the instruments of our pleasure.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Goat\n\n\nBy an unlucky chance a Fox fell into a deep well from which he could\nnot get out. A Goat passed by shortly afterwards, and asked the Fox\nwhat he was doing down there. \u201cOh, have you not heard?\u201d said the Fox;\n\u201cthere is going to be a great drought, so I jumped down here in order\nto be sure to have water by me. Why don\u2019t you come down too?\u201d The Goat\nthought well of this advice, and jumped down into the well. But the Fox\nimmediately jumped on her back, and by putting his foot on her long\nhorns managed to jump up to the edge of the well. \u201cGood-bye, friend,\u201d\nsaid the Fox, \u201cremember next time,\n\n\u201cNever trust the advice of a man in difficulties.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nAnd this is the end of \u00c6sop\u2019s Fables. HURRAH!","title":"The Fables of Aesop: Selected, Told Anew, and Their History Traced","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":14854}