Chapter II: Part 2

A kite had built her nest at the top of an old oak, and in a hole half way up the tree, a wild cat had found a home; while the foot of the tree made a sty for a sow and her young pigs. For some time they all went on in peace, and might have done so to this day, but for the spite of the cat. For, first of all, she crept up to the kite, and said, “Good friend, I have news to tell you, which will plunge us both in grief. The old sow does naught else than grub at the foot of the tree, and we all know what that will come to. It is clear that she means to root it up, that she may kill your young ones. For my part, I will take care of my own, and you can do as you please; but you may be sure I shall watch her well, though I were to stay at home for a month for it.” When she had said this to the kite, she went down and made a call on the sow at the foot of the tree. She put on a grave face, and said, “I hope you do not mean to go out?” “Why not?” said the sow. “Nay,” said she, “you may do as you please; but I heard the kite say to her brood that she would treat them with a pig the first time she saw you go out; and I do not feel sure that she may not take one of _my_ young ones at the same time. So good day to you, for I must look at home, you see.” With these words she went back to her hole.

The scheme that puss had in her head was to steal out at night for her prey, and peep all day at her hole, that the sow and the kite might think she was in great dread. This plan put them both in such a fright, that the kite did not dare to stir out in search of food, for fear of the sow, nor the sow for fear of the kite; and the end of it was that they and their young ones were all kept in their homes to starve, and so were made a prey of by the cat.

THE MAN AND THE PERCH.

A man went to fish in a fresh stream, and caught a small perch, who said, “I pray of you to save my life, and put me in the stream once more, for as I am but young and small now, it is not so well worth your while to take me as it will be some time hence, when I am grown a large fish.” “So you think,” said the man; “but I am not one of those who give up that which is at hand for that which is far off; nor do I make sure of fish, flesh, or fowl till I have got it, for one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

All is fish that comes to the net.

THE ROSE AND THE CLAY.

A man in the East by chance took up a piece of clay which lay in his path, and was much struck to find it smell so sweet. “It is but a poor piece of clay,” said he, “a mean clod of earth, yet how sweet is it! How fresh! But whence has it this scent?” The clay said, “I have dwelt with the rose.”

Make friends with the good if you wish to be like them.

THE OX AND THE CALF.

In days of old, a calf that ran wild in some fields near Rome, and had not yet felt the yoke, said to an old ox, “Dull slave! How can you drudge on in this way from day to day with a plough at your tail? Look at me, see how I skip and play!” The ox said not a word, but went on with his work. The next day there was a great feast held at Rome, so the ox did not go to the plough; but his friend the calf, was led off in great pomp to be slain, with a wreath round his neck. “If this is the last scene of your gay life,” said the ox, “let me drudge on at the plough, for the yoke is more to my mind than the ax.”

Of two ills, choose the least.

THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP.

The wolves and the sheep had been for a long time at war. At last the wolves said, “It is the dogs that are the cause of it all; they bark if we do but come near you. Now, if you will but send them off from your heels, we, on our part, will give up our young ones to you.” The poor sheep thought it a fair thing; but as soon as the change was made, the young cubs set up a howl for want of their dams. On this the old wolves gave out that the peace was at an end; so they fell on the sheep, who, as they had lost their best friends, the dogs, had none now to help them, and were torn to death by the wolves.

THE COCK, THE FOX, AND THE SPRINGE.

A fox, who came to a farm at break of day, was caught in a springe, which had been put there for that end. A cock, who sat on the bough of a tree, did not at first dare to go near so dire a foe; but when he saw that the fox could not stir from the spot, he came down from the tree to greet him. The fox said, “Dear bird, you see what has come to me, and all for your sake; for as I crept through the hedge, on my way home, I felt I must come to ask how you are. And now I will beg of you to fetch me a knife to cut this wire.” The cock spoke not, but flew off as fast as he could to tell the news to the men on the farm, who soon came up with a knife with which to cut the wire, and kill the fox. The cock said that he thought those who spoke doves’ words should lead doves’ lives. “Ha!” cries the fox, “he gives twice who gives in a trice.”

THE KID AND THE WOLF.

A young kid who stood on the roof of a house, out of harm’s way, saw a wolf pass by, and set to work to taunt and tease his foe. But the wolf said, “I hear you. Yet it is not you who mock me, but the roof on which you stand.”

Time and place will give to the weak more strength than the strong.

THE ASS AND THE LAMB.

An ass once lay down in a shed that he might shirk his work, and make known to those who were near what toil was put on him. All the beasts, great and small, came to lend him help. At the same time a poor meek lamb lay at the point of death from want, but none came to give her their aid. “How is it,” said she, “that I lie here in so much need of care, whilst the ass gets all this help?” A fox, who heard her, said, “The ass knows well that the loud bray which he gives by way of thanks, makes the kind acts of his friends well known, and so it swells their pride to help him.”

A good deed may spring from a bad source.

THE BEES AND THE SNAIL.

A snail, one day, made his way through the hole of a bee hive, where, in a great rage, the bees flew round him, and stung him to death. But soon they found that the snail, when dead, was all the more a foe than when he had life, for the air in the hive was not fit to breathe. What was to be done? He was of too great bulk for the bees to turn him out, so they had to leave the hive; and they found, to their cost, that they ought to have let the poor snail just crawl out as he had come in. The bees made a long search for a new home, but in vain, so they went back to their old hive, to see what could be done with the dead snail. And, in the end, they all set to work to build a case of wax round the shell of their guest, so as to close him in a sort of tomb, and thus they made the hive as sweet as the stores that were laid up in the combs.

When things come to the worst, they must mend.

THE OLD DAME AND HER MAIDS.

In the good old times, when there were no clocks, an old dame kept a cock in her yard, which at dawn of day gave a loud crow, and then she got up to rouse her maids, that they might go to their work. But they thought it hard to be woke out of their sweet sleep at such an hour, so, one day, they wrung the cock’s neck. The next night the old dame slept till late, as she had not heard the cock crow; but when she found that he was dead, and that there was now no means by which to tell the time, she went at all hours of the night to wake up her maids, for fear they should sleep too long.

Strive to mend, and you will oft times mar what’s well.

THE TWO GOATS ON THE BRIDGE.

Two goats that had been brought up in the same glen, left it, and by chance met on a bridge, which was a mere plank, and would not hold them both side by side. One of the fair ones set her foot on it, and her friend was not slow to do the same. They came up, step by step, till they met half way, and as they could not pass, and were both too proud to give in, each did her best to push by with a skip and jump, till at last the plank broke, and they both fell in, and were borne off by the stream.

It is not so bad to clear the way as to fall in the ditch.

THE AX AND THE TREES.

Once on a time a man came to a wood to ask the trees if they would give him a stick for his ax. This was so small a boon to ask, that the chief trees said at once, “By all means, give him what he wants from a good tough ash.” But as soon as the man had made the stick fit the ax, he fell to work with it to hack and hew down all the best trees in the wood. The oak was heard to say, in sad tones to the beech, “The first step has lost us all. We gave up our poor friend the ash to the foe. But for this we might all have stood for an age to come; now we must take our sad fate for our pains.”

THE DOG AND THE THIEF.

One dark night a thief came to a man’s house to rob it, and when the dog heard him he gave a loud bark. At this the man sprang from his bed to look out, but saw no one, nor did he hear the least sound, so he bade the dog be still, and then went back to sleep. The thief in the mean time had hid in the shed in a state of great fear; but when he found that the dog was bound by a chain, and did not now bark, he crept to the door of the house, and took out his bunch of false keys to try the lock. The dog saw him, and set up his loud bark, so the man of the house put his head out once more to look round him, but as he saw no one, and found that all was now quite still, in a great rage he cries out, “Down, you brute! Down, I tell you! You will not let me have a wink of sleep!” So the dog left off, and in the mean time the thief made his way to the house, and took all that he could find. The next day when the man saw what had been done, he said, “This will teach me to give ear to the voice of a warm and true friend when he warns me.”

THE FLY AND THE ANT.

A fly and an ant came to words as to which stood first in rank. The fly said, “How can you place your mean state by the side of mine? Look how I soar up in the air, skip round the head of a king, and kiss the lips of a queen! I toil not, nor stoop to work, but live a life of ease. What is there you can have to say to this?” “Why,” quoth the ant, in a sharp tone, “to be made much of by kings and queens is a great thing, I grant, if they send for you, but not if they deem you a pest. In good sooth, I think it is but your small size that screens you from their wrath; and as to work, you will learn the use of it when the frost and snow pinch, and the cold winds blow, while I shall reap the fruits of my toil. To be free with you, I think you will find no pains, no gains.”

One tale is good, till the next is told.

THE WOLF, AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.

A fox fell down a deep well, in the sides of which he stuck his claws, and so, for a while, kept his head up. A wolf came to take a peep down the well, and when the fox saw him, he said, “Oh, I beg of you to run for a rope, or some such thing, to pull me out, for I am at the point of death!” “Poor friend! you are in a sad strait,” said the wolf; “I grieve for you, with all my heart! How long have you been here?” “Nay,” said the fox, “if you wish me well, don’t stand there to say soft words to me, but get me some help, and that soon, or I must die.” The wolf then gave one more sigh, and went home, and the poor fox sank, to rise no more.

A long tongue hath a short hand.

THE CAT AND THE MICE.

An old dame dwelt in a house that had such swarms of mice in it that she got a cat, who caught and ate them one by one. But in course of time all the mice kept on the top shelves to be out of the cat’s reach, and puss saw that at this rate she should starve. So she hit on a plan, which was to hang in a bag, by her hind legs, from a peg in the shelf, that she might pass for dead. The young mice took no heed of her, but the old ones gave a peep round the edge of the shelf, and said, “Ah, you sly thing! We see you! Hang there as long as you please, but we would not trust a child of ours to go near you, though you were full of straw.”

Old birds are not caught with chaff.

THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLD EGG.

In the good old times, a man and his wife had a goose that each day of her life laid a gold egg; but they thought that one egg from the time the sun rose till he set was slow work, and in the hopes that they should seize all the eggs at once, they put the goose to death. But to their great grief they found that their goose was just the same as all geese. “Ah, my dear,” quoth the old man, “he who has much would have more.” “True,” said his wife, with a sigh, “and so comes to lose all.”

THE FOX AND THE STORK.

One day the fox had a mind to play the wag with the stork, and said, “You must come and dine with me to day, for I have had good luck, and the soup will be rich.” When the time came for them to dine, the stork found to her grief, that the dish in which the soup was put was so flat that she could but dip in the point of her bill, while the fox could lap it up with his tongue. “It grieves me,” said he, “to see you make so poor a meal; I fear it is not to your mind.” The stork did not say much, but told her host that it was now his turn to come and dine with her. So he came, true to the hour. “Good day,” quoth the stork. “Now I hope you will feel that you are quite at home.” The smell of the stew was fine, but it was put in a jar with a thin neck, down which the stork thrust her long bill with ease, but all the fox could do was to lick the brim of it; and when the time came for him to take his leave, he made his bow with a bad grace. The stork told him that she had but paid him off in his own coin.

Tit for tat.

Good cat, good rat.

THE DAW AND THE JAY.

Once on a time there was a daw, who was so vain that he must needs leave his old friends (the jacks), and go quite out of his sphere to pass for a jay. So he stuck the bright plumes that fell from those gay birds on his own back, that he might look like them. But they soon found him out, took off his plumes, fell on him with their sharp bills, and made him smart for his pride. Full of shame, he hung down his head, and once more went to flock with those of his own tribe, but they knew his vain ways too well, and told him they did not now choose to own him; and one of them said, “If you had been true to your own friends, you would not have had such hard cuts from those whom you have just left, nor would you have had to bear the slights which we now feel we must put on you.”

THE HART AND THE VINE.

Some men sought out a hart for the chase, when one made a rush out of the wood, and hid from them in the shade of a thick vine, so that they quite lost sight of him. It was the best hide and seek that could be, and so thought the stag, but he hid not for sport, but for dear life. There he lay, still as a mouse. In a short time he took heart to browse on the leaves of the vine, which hung so green and fresh just at his nose. He saw no harm in one more crop, and then one more, till he quite lost sight of what he had come there for. More than this, he so shook the tree when he took a bite, that he drew the eyes of the men to the spot, and as the vine was now too thin of leaves to hide him, they shot at him, and he fell down dead.

Where the hedge is thin, men will see through it.

THE OWLS AND THE WREN.

Two owls sat on the branch of a tree. “How strange is it,” said one of them, “that in the old days of Greece, men best knew our worth, for owls were then thought to be the type of all that is wise.” “Not so,” said the wren, who heard them, “and if you were less vain, you would know well that in those days men wore owls on their shields to show that they should not judge by mere looks. If they did, they would take an owl to be a wise bird; for, though he has but a small wit, he has a large head.”

THE LEAP AT RHODES.

A man who had been in all parts of the world told his old friends when he came home of the great feats he had done. These tales they at first heard with great glee; but in time they found out that he shot with a long bow, nay, more than this, that he told lies, and when he once did that, he set less and less guard on his tongue, till he made those who heard him stare. “How comes it,” said they, “that this man, who when at home could boast of no great feats, should, when he goes to strange lands, do such great things?” One day he told them that there was no place in the world where men leapt like the men at Rhodes; “but I beat them all,” said he, “for I took a leap there of two score yards.” A grave old man, who sat near him, said with a sneer, “Sir, if your tale be true, think this place to be Rhodes, and, to prove your words, take the leap once more.” The man kept his seat, and had no more to say.

THE DOG IN THE OX’S STALL.

A dog once made his bed on some hay in a stall, and an ox, who was much in want of food, came near to eat some of it. Up sprang the fierce cur, with a growl and a snarl, and would not let him touch it. At this the ox said, “Fie on thee, thou cur! Thou dost not feed on hay, yet, in thy spite, thou must needs stand in the way of those who do.” With this, a man on the farm took the dog up by the neck, and laid his whip on his back till he ran off in shame.

THE NURSE AND THE WOLF.

A wolf that was in search of food, was seen to prowl near a house where he heard a child cry, and its nurse chide it in these words--“Now leave off at once, or I will throw you out of doors to the wolf!” So the wolf sat near the house for a long time in the hopes that he should see her words made good. At last the child, worn out by its cries, fell off to sleep. In a short time the wolf heard the nurse say, “There’s a good dear then; if the fierce old wolf comes for my babe, we will beat him to death, we will.” The wolf now thought it high time to be off, and said, as he went, “If folk say that which they do not mean at one hour, and mean that which they do not say the next, what can a child or a wolf think of it?”

THE OLD BLIND DAME.

Once on a time an old dame that was blind sent for Dr. Dash to cure her. She told him that if he brought back her sight he should have a large fee, but that if he did not cure her, he was to have no fee at all. Well, day by day Dr. Dash made his call on the dame, and one by one he took off all her goods. At last, when he had swept the house clear of them, he set to work on the case, and made a cure of it; so once more, to her great joy, the old dame could see. “I must ask you for my fee,” said Dr. Dash; but the dame put him off from time to time, and did not pay him. At last he went to law; and when she came to the court, she spoke thus to the judge: “What Dr. Dash tells you is quite true, in so far as I said I would give him a large fee if he brought back my sight. Now, then, he tells me my eyes are well, but I say they are not; for till my bad sight had come on, I could see all sorts of goods in my house, while now, when he tells me he has made a cure of my eyes, I can see none there; and I think, my lord, that he who plays tricks ought to take a joke!”

THE COCK, THE DOG, AND THE FOX.

A dog and a cock had been in a wood, and as night came on, they went to rest. The cock flew on the bough of a tree to roost, while the dog slept in a hole in the trunk of it. At break of day the cock set up a loud shrill crow, which was heard by a fox, who soon ran to the place whence the sound came, and said, “Let me beg of you to fly down, that I may greet you, and praise you for so sweet a song.” “I would first ask you,” said the cock, “to wake up my friend, who lies in the trunk of this tree.” “By all means,” quoth the fox, who thought he should find a nest, with the hen and her young chicks in it; so he thrust his head in the hole, and was torn to death by the dog, who said, with a loud bark, “Paid in his own coin.”

THE BOAR AND THE HORSE.

In days of old a horse came to drink at a pond, when he saw that a boar lay in the mud at the edge, which made the pool thick and foul. Fierce neighs and grunts were soon heard, and but for the fear the horse had of the boar’s huge tusks, they would have fought. At last the horse found a man to help him, who soon made a bit and a rein, took his bow, got on his back, and off they both set. The boar, struck with awe at so strange a sight, ran off as fast as he could, but the horse soon came up to him, and the man shot him dead. Now that there was no cause for fear, the horse would fain be once more free; so he said, “I pray thee take off this rein.” “Nay, that I will not do, my friend,” quoth the man; “for now that I have found out thy use, I will keep thee to ride on.”

A man may beat the bush, and his friend catch the bird.

THE APE MADE KING.

The beasts once chose an ape for their king. From morn till night he would play all his droll tricks to please them, and they could not rest till they had put him on a throne, with a king’s crown on his head. They did all they could to swell his pomp, and the beasts took him to be as wise as he was great--all but the fox, who knew what a bad choice they had made. One day, as the fox was on his way to the court, he saw a trap in a ditch with nuts, figs, and dates for a bait. He told the ape of all these good things, and said that as they were found on a piece of waste land, they were the king’s by right. The ape, who did not dream of fraud, went to claim them; but as soon as he had laid his paw on the bait, he was caught in the trap. Stung with rage and pain, he gave the fox all the hard names he could think of; but all the fox said was, “Are you a king, and not up to trap?”

THE FROG, THE MOUSE, AND THE HAWK.

By chance a mouse made friends with a frog, who spent his life for the most part in a pool. The frog one day, by way of sport, bound the foot of the mouse to his own, and step by step led him to the pool in which he spent most of his time, till at last he got to the brink, when he gave a leap which took them both in the midst of the pond. The frog, who was fond of a swim, went now here, now there, with a croak which would seem to say that all was right, and that he thought he had done a great feat. But the poor mouse could not stand it long, as the dry ground was his home, and he was soon seen to float on the pool quite dead, but still bound fast to the frog. By and by a hawk stuck his claws in the mouse, and flew off with him; but the frog, who could not get loose from the mouse, had to share the same fate, and the hawk made a meal of both.

Harm hatch, harm catch.

THE JUDGE AND THE POOR MAN.

A man who kept a small farm came to the house of a judge. “Well, my man,” said the judge, “what do you come to me for?” “If you please, my lord, I have a sad tale to tell.” “Ha, the old tale! You folk with your small farms fall out, and then you come to plague me.” “Nay, my lord, this time it is with you and me. I have a bull that breaks out of his bounds, and he has got to your best field of corn, and has spoilt half of it; now I want to know what you would have me do in this case?” “Well, I must say you are a staunch old man to come and tell me of it, and I shall send my man John to look at the waste, and what he says it comes to you must pay. As to your bull, as you say he breaks out of his bounds, you must kill him, and that at once.” “Bless my heart!” said the man, “what was it I told you? I have but two small cows in the world. No, it was that red bull of yours, my lord, which locks and bars will not keep in; it is he that breaks through the fence of my corn field, and fine work he has made of it; but as you say you will send your man to make things right, I thank you, and take my leave.” “No,” said the judge, “you must not play me such a trick as this. I would not part with that red bull for all the world, and as to the field of corn, of course you must take your chance.”

The law will catch small flies, but wasps will break through.

We weigh not in the same scale the ills we do and the ills we feel.

THE STAG IN THE OX’S STALL.

A pack of hounds drove a poor stag out of a wood, and in a great fright he made off to a farm that was near, and hid in a heap of straw in an ox’s stall. “What can have brought you to such a place as this, where you are sure to meet with your doom?” said the ox. “Oh,” cries the stag, “if you will but help to hide me for a while, I shall do well, and by and by I will move off.” It grew dusk, and the men on the farm came in and out, but did not see the stag, so he now thought it time to leave. “Nay,” quoth the ox, “wait a while; there is the man who owns the farm to come yet, and should he pass this way, I would not give the straw you hide in for your life.” While the ox spoke, the man came up and cast his eyes on the stag, and made a prize of him. “That is a bad game,” said he, “where none wins.”

THE GOAT AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.

A fox, who was a great rogue, fell down a deep well. Just then, a goat came up who had a mind to slake his thirst, so he said to the fox, “Is the well a sweet one?” “Sweet!” says the fox; “it is the best well I have drunk from for along time. Come and try it.” At this the goat leapt in; and the fox--who put his feet on the goat’s horns--sprang out, and said, “If you had as much brain as you have beard, you would ‘Look ere you leap,’ for

‘Those who trust ere they try,
They will grieve ere they die.’”

The poor goat put his head up, and said, “True, I see too late that I have lent you a stick to break my own head with.”

THE APE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX.

A wolf one day brought a fox up to the Bench for theft. The ape, who was the judge, knew well that both were knaves; so he said, “I know you well of old, my friends; and as I wish to be just, I shall lay the same fine on both of you: on you, Sir Wolf, for you have no right to bring the charge; and on you, Sir Fox, for there can be no doubt that the charge is a true one.”

Set a thief to catch a thief.

THE FOX AND THE CAT.

A fox and a cat once met on a heath, and had a long chat on things of state. The fox said, “Let the war turn out as bad as it may, it is all one to me, for I have lots of plans by which to save my life. But now, pray tell me, puss, if the foe should come, what course do you mean to take?” “Nay,” says the cat, “I have but one shift, and if that will not do, I am lost.” Just then a pack of hounds came on them in full cry. Puss, by the help of her one trick, ran up a tree, from the top branch of which she saw that the fox, who had not the skill to get out of sight, was torn to death by the hounds. “Great boast, small roast,” quoth the cat, “but he plays well that wins.”

Illustration: The Fox and the Cat.--Page 67.
_Æsop._]

THE MULES AND THE THIEVES.

Two mules were once on the road, one of which had bags of gold on his back, and rang his bells with a proud toss of the neck, as if he felt vain of his load; and one took but sacks of grain, and hung down his head as he trod the way. They had not gone far, when three thieves, who lay in wait for them in a wood close by, ran out, took the bags of gold from off the back of the mule, and put him to death, as well as the men with him. But the mule who was the drudge stood quite safe, and said he should count the scorn in which he was held as so much gain, for he was best off in the end.

THE BALD KNIGHT.

In the good old times there was a brave knight who had lost all his hair, and wore a wig. As he rode in the hunt a gust of wind blew his wig off, and a loud laugh rang forth from those who saw his bald pate. When the knight found his wig was in the air, he, of course, felt much put out, for it was his false hair that made him look young; but he thought the best way to pass it off would be to take the laugh in his own hands; so he said, “How could I hope to keep strange hair on my head, when my own would not stay there!”

He must stoop that has a low door.

THE WAR HORSE.

There was a man who in time of war took great pains with his horse, and fed him on as much corn and hay as he could eat. But when the war was at an end all he gave him was chaff, and he put him to draw great loads of wood; in short, made a slave and a drudge of him. When the war broke out once more, and there was a call to arms, the man, clad in his coat of mail, sprang on the back of his steed, and went off to join the fight. But soon the horse fell down with all his weight of steel. “You must now go to the war on foot,” said he; “for if you turn me from a horse to an ass, how can you think that I can all at once turn from an ass to a horse?”

THE WOLF IN A SHEEP’S SKIN.

Once on a time a wolf put on a sheep’s skin, by which means he got shut in the fold at night. By and by the man of the farm came in to kill one of his flock for food, and as luck would have it, he chose out the wolf. But when he saw how it was, he put a rope round his neck, and hung him to the branch of a tree. Some folks who came by said, “What! do you hang sheep?” “No,” said the man, “but I hang a wolf when I can catch him, though in the garb of a sheep.”

You may find more than one face in a hood.

THE DOG WHO WENT OUT TO SUP.

A man made a great feast, and his dog Tray said to Gyp, who was a great friend of his, “Come and sup with us to-night. Eight o’clock is the time; but if you are there an hour too soon, you will find there is much to be done.” Gyp lay in the sun a while, to wink and wait. He thought of fish, flesh, and fowl, tripe and toast, and made a feast in his heart that might grace a bill of fare for a king. At length the time came, and he set off to the cook’s room, where he found all hands hard at work. Gyp went with a skulk, now here, now there; gave a peep at this dish, and smelt at that, and with a wag of his tail, as much as to say, “O rare! What a feast have I in store!” This wag of the tail brought the eyes of the cook on him, and he said, “How now? what’s this I spy? A cur! who let him in? A nice sort of guest, to be sure. I shall soon pack you off.” The cook then brought poor Gyp to view, and threw him out at the back door.

There’s oft a slip ’twixt cup and lip.

THE WIND AND THE SUN.

The wind and the sun once came to high words as to which had the most strength. Just then by chance a man came by, so they let the point rest on this, that he who got this man’s cloak off first, should win the day. The wind was the first to try, and he blew with all his might and main a fierce blast; but the man wrapt his cloak all the more close round him. Next came the sun, who broke out with his warm beams, and cast his bright rays on the man, till at length he grew faint with the heat, and was glad to part with his cloak, which he flung to the ground.

Kind means are best.

THE MAN, THE HORSE, AND THE ASS.

Once on a time a horse and an ass went on the high road, side by side, and the man who kept them went on foot. The poor ass had told the horse that if he would share the load with him he should soon get well; but that if he did not lend him some help, the weight of it would kill him. But the horse took no heed of this, and bade him go on, till from the weight of the load he fell down dead. When the man found the poor ass was dead, he put the load on the back of the horse, and the dead ass too.

One may bear till his back break.

THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN.

Once on a time, as a blind man went on his way, he came to a bad part of the road, and knew not how to get on. By chance a lame man sat on a bank near, so the blind man said to him, “Hark you to what I say. I have thought of a plan which will help us both on our way--my feet shall be thy feet, and thine eyes shall be mine.” “With all my heart,” said the lame man; and off they set. “Stop,” said he, “I see a purse that lies on the road, and if you go straight on, and then turn to the left, you will come to it.” This the blind man did, and at last he took it up. “Give it to me,” said the lame man, who was on the blind man’s back. “Not so,” said his friend; “but for my feet you would not have come so far, so now I shall keep it.” “Nay,” said the lame man; “but for my sight you would not have known it was there.”

All keys hang not on one bunch.

THE HOG, OX, COW, DOG, AND SHEEP.

One day a hog, an ox, a cow, a dog, and a sheep all met in a straw yard. The hog told the rest that he thought that beast stood first in rank who was kept most for his own sake, and not for the sake of the work that he did. “Now, which of you,” said he, “can boast of this so well as I can?” To the horse he spoke first. “As for you, though you are well fed, and have grooms to wait on you, and make you sleek and clean, yet all this is for the sake of your work. Do not I see the man on the farm take you out at break of day, put you in chains, or bind you fast to the shafts of a cart with a load in it, and keep you out till noon? Then, in the space of an hour does he not take you to work once more till dusk? I may say just the same of the ox, save that he does not work for such good fare.” To the cow he spoke next: “You, who are so fond of your straw and grains, you are thought worth your cost for your milk, which they drain from you twice a day; and your young ones, who should by right have the milk, are torn from you to go no one knows where.” Then thus spoke he to the sheep: “They turn you out to shift as well as you can on the bare hills. You pay dear for your keep, for you have to part with your warm coats once a year, and at night starve with the cold. As for the dog, he has to keep watch all the live long night, while the rest of us are wrapt in soft sleep. In short, you are all slaves, kept for use; while I, on my part, have a warm sty, with food close to my snout, all day and free of cost. All they want from me is to see me eat my food from the trough, bask in the sun, and live at my ease.” Thus spoke the hog. But in a short time the frost set in, and, as it was a bad time for all kinds of food, the man was in great straits to keep his live stock till the spring. “How can I feed them all?” thought he. “I must part with those I can best spare. As for my horse and ox, I shall have _work_ for them--they must be kept, cost what it will. My cows will not give much milk in the frost, it may be, but they will calve in the spring, and will thrive in the new grass; the sheep will do as long as there is a blade on the hills; and if a deep fall of snow should come, I must give them hay, for I count on their wool to make out my rent with. But my hog will eat me out of house and home; so, as he _yields_ naught, I must kill him at once.”

THE DRUM AND THE VASE.

A drum was heard to boast, in these words, to a vase of sweet herbs, “Hark at my loud, strong tone which rends the sky. When men hear my voice they march to arms, and join the fight with joy!” “Be not too proud,” said the vase; “as for me, I grant you there is a chain on my lips. I speak not, but I am full of good things, while thou hast naught in thee but noise, and must be struck to give it out.”

THE FROGS AND THEIR KING.

In the days of yore the frogs met to beg of Jove to send them a king. So he threw them a log, and said, “There’s a king for you--a good, mild one!” Well, King Log came on the pond with such a splash, that the frogs took fright at him. Some sought the mud, and some the reeds; and, for a long time, there was not one that would dare to take a peep. By and by, when they saw that King Log lay quite still, they said, “See, he sleeps!” Some came round him, and up to him, till, one by one they leapt on his back, and at last held him quite in scorn. So, with harsh croaks, they beg of Jove to change him for one with more life; in short, a king that would move. Jove then sent them an eel, and he, too, was too tame for them; and, a third time, they ask of Jove to choose for them a king with more strength of will. This time, he sent them a stork, who, day by day, made the frogs his prey, till there were none left to croak on the lake, save one, and he shook his head, and said, “If we had had the sense to keep well, there would have been no need to mend our state. Now we have found to our loss what we did not seek.”

Set not the Fox to keep the Geese.

THE STAG, THE CROW, AND THE WOLF.

A wolf saw a plump stag, and thought, How can I feast on his flesh? Then he drew near, and said, “All hail be to thee!” and made friends with the stag. “Hey day! whom have you here?” quoth a crow that flew by. The stag told him that he was a good wolf. “Have a care!” said the crow; “trust him not.” Yet the stag took no heed of his words, but let the wolf lead him at night to feed in a field that had a crop of ripe wheat in it. Now, there was a trap in the field, and the poor stag was caught by the feet. “This is well,” thought the wolf; “for when his flesh is cut up, the bones, and what is left, will be for me.” The crow flew to the spot, but could give his friend no aid. The next day the man who set the snare came with a knife in his hand to kill the stag. “If you care for your life,” quoth the crow, “lie quite still, and seem to be dead; but when I give a caw, start up at once, and take to your heels as fast as you can.” So the stag lay down quite stiff, held his breath, and shut his eyes. When the man came up, he thought the stag was dead, and took him from the toils, and went a few steps off to fold up the net, when the crow’s voice was heard, and the stag ran off at full speed. In the mean time the wolf came up to seek for his feast, and was slain by the man.

Bad faith is like to fall back on the head of those who make use of it.

THE FIELD OF CORN.

An old man had a field, and when he fell ill, he sent for his three sons, that he might take leave of them, and give them his last charge. “My sons,” said he, “there is one thing which, with my last breath, I charge you to do, and that is, to seek out a rich gift which I have left you, and which you will find in my field--” Here the poor old man’s voice grew faint, and his head sank down on his breast in death. The sons were in too much grief for their loss to put in force that which the old man had bade them do, till want drove them to seek for what they thought must be a hoard of gold in the field; so they made a search from end to end of it, till there was not a clod they did not turn, in the hunt. At last they gave it up. “It is strange that the old man should have set us on this long search for a thing that is not here,” said Jack. “Come,” said Dick, “since we have gone through so much toil on the field, we may as well sow it with corn, and so make the most of it.” At this bright thought they set to work to sow the grain, and in due time a crop sprang up, five times as large as those crops which grew there in the old man’s time. The thought now struck the youths that this was the wealth the old man meant, and that it was his wish that they should earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.

Seek till you find, and you will not lose by the toil.

THE HAWK, THE ROOKS, AND THE CAT.

In the trunk of an old elm tree dwelt a large bird of prey, with claws blunt, and eyes blind with age. The rooks fed him from their own store, while he, on his part, took charge of their young ones when the old birds went in search of food. One day, a cat--“Long Ear” by name--came to prey on the young rooks, who, when they saw her, gave a loud scream. The old hawk heard it, and said, “Who is that?” “I am a cat,” said “Long Ear.” “Ha!” quoth the hawk, “Cats love flesh, and the young rooks dwell here--that’s all I know. Get you gone at once, or I will put you to death!” “Not so,” said the cat. “I eat no meat now; and all the beasts of the field and the birds of the air love me--for I am good. I pray of you to let me stay, for you are old and wise, and can teach me much.” By this praise sly puss made the old hawk put his trust in her, so he let her stay in the trunk of the tree. Day by day she ate some of the young birds, and took all the bones that were left from the feast to a hole in the stem of the old elm tree, that the death of the young rooks might be laid to the charge of the hawk. The old birds were in great grief for the loss of their young ones; and when they saw the bones in the hole of the tree, they of course laid the blame on the hawk, and they all flew at the poor old bird and put him to death. He said with his last breath, “Ah me! How much worse than a foe is a false friend!”

THE COCK AND THE FOX.

A cock stood on the top of a rick, and gave a loud crow. A fox, who saw him, thought he would just do for a meal; but though the cock could fly down to him, he could not climb up to the cock; so he said, “Have you heard the news?”

_Cock._--What news?

_Fox._--Peace has been sworn by bird and beast.

_Cock._--Do you say so? Let me hear how it came to pass.