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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+by Jean de la Fontaine
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+       Rendered into English Prose by Fredk. Colin Tilney
+
+Author: Jean de la Fontaine
+
+Illustrator: Frederick Colin Tilney
+
+Translator: Frederick Colin Tilney
+
+Release Date: May 30, 2005 [EBook #15946]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jason Isbell, Julia Miller and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TALES FOR CHILDREN FROM MANY LANDS
+
+
+      EDITED BY F.C. TILNEY
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The heart of Thyrsis left.]
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE
+
+    RENDERED INTO ENGLISH PROSE
+
+               BY
+
+       FREDK. COLIN TILNEY
+
+
+
+
+WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
+
+
+LONDON: J.M. DENT & SONS LIMITED
+NEW YORK: E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+If deep wisdom, gentle satire, polite cynicism, and, above all,
+irresistible humour are qualities which make a book attractive then La
+Fontaine's _Fables_ should be in the hands of all. Their charm is
+two-fold; for whilst they induce pleasurable reflection in the reader
+they delight him by the gaiety of their subject matter.
+
+Notwithstanding the fact that the spell of La Fontaine's verse
+necessarily disappears when another tongue is employed, his English
+translators, both Elizur Wright and Walter Thornbury, have courageously
+attempted to do him justice in prosody. In this little book no such
+effort has been made, chiefly for the reason that, for any but the
+unusually gifted, to snatch at rhythm and rhyme is often to let drop the
+apt and ready word as Æsop's mastiff dropped his dinner. But there is a
+further excuse for the present writer. Verse has little attraction for
+children unless it jingles merrily, and that is a thing as impossible as
+it is undesirable where the claims of a philosophic original make
+restrictions. Since the spirit is more likely to survive if the letter
+is not exacting, it is difficult to see why custom looks askance upon
+prose versions of poetry. But this little book may escape such censure
+on the ground of its being but a selection from the complete _Fables_ of
+La Fontaine. It presents only those of which the great fabulist was
+himself the originator. A selection of some sort being imperative there
+seemed to be a simple and easy choice in the condition of absolute
+originality; particularly as the older fables are given in another
+volume of this series.
+
+This translation (in which I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of my
+friend Mrs. A.H. Beddoe) is neither "free" nor literal. It sometimes
+amplifies a thought, much as a musician might amplify the harmonies upon
+a master's figured bass. But even this is rarely done, and then only
+with a view to the youthful reader's pleasure and profit. With that
+view, further, the social and political introductions to the fables have
+been omitted, as well as the scientific discourses and the allusions to
+the unfortunate wars of Louis XIV. and other historical matters, all of
+which would have neither meaning nor interest but for "grown-ups" of a
+certain class.
+
+F.C. TILNEY.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+THE TWO MULES                                             13
+
+THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE                                15
+
+THE GARDENER AND HIS LANDLORD                             17
+
+THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE                                     20
+
+THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE                            22
+
+THE UNHAPPILY MARRIED MAN                                 25
+
+THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD                            27
+
+THE MAIDEN                                                29
+
+THE WISHES                                                31
+
+THE DAIRY-WOMAN AND THE PAIL OF MILK                      34
+
+THE PRIEST AND THE CORPSE                                 36
+
+THE MAN WHO RAN AFTER FORTUNE AND THE MAN WHO
+WAITED FOR HER IN HIS BED                                 38
+
+AN ANIMAL IN THE MOON                                     42
+
+THE FORTUNE-TELLERS                                       44
+
+THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER                             47
+
+THE POWER OF FABLE                                        50
+
+THE DOG WHO CARRIED HIS MASTER'S DINNER                   52
+
+THYRSIS AND AMARANTH                                      54
+
+THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT                                  56
+
+THE HOROSCOPE                                             57
+
+JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS                              60
+
+EDUCATION                                                 62
+
+DEMOCRITUS AND THE PEOPLE OF ABDERA                       64
+
+THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN                                 67
+
+THE SCHOOLBOY, THE PEDANT, AND THE OWNER OF A GARDEN      69
+
+THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF JUPITER                    71
+
+THE OYSTER AND THE PLEADERS                               73
+
+THE CAT AND THE FOX                                       75
+
+THE MONKEY AND THE CAT                                    77
+
+THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG                        79
+
+THE DOG WITH HIS EARS CROPPED                             86
+
+THE LIONESS AND THE SHE-BEAR                              88
+
+THE RABBITS                                               90
+
+THE GODS WISHING TO INSTRUCT A SON OF JUPITER             93
+
+THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES                   95
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX IN THE WELL                          98
+
+THE MICE AND THE SCREECH-OWL                             100
+
+THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES                                102
+
+THE QUARREL BETWEEN THE DOGS AND THE CATS AND BETWEEN
+THE CATS AND THE MICE                                    106
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX                                     109
+
+LOVE AND FOLLY                                           111
+
+THE FOREST AND THE WOODCUTTER                            113
+
+THE FOX AND THE YOUNG TURKEYS                            115
+
+THE APE                                                  117
+
+THE SCYTHIAN PHILOSOPHER                                 118
+
+THE ELEPHANT AND JUPITER'S APE                           120
+
+THE LEAGUE OF RATS                                       122
+
+THE ARBITER, THE HOSPITALLER, AND THE HERMIT             124
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE HEART OF THYRSIS LEAPT                      Frontispiece
+
+"YOU BOASTED OF BEING SO SWIFT"            Facing page    14
+
+OVER TOPPLED THE MILK                           "         35
+
+THE GARRET WAS STILL A SIBYL'S DEN              "         46
+
+DELIBERATELY SWALLOWED THE OYSTER               "         74
+
+"WHY CANNOT YOU BE SILENT ALSO?"                "         88
+
+DESCENDED BY HIS GREATER WEIGHT                 "         98
+
+A GUIDE FOR THE FOOTSTEPS OF LOVE               "        111
+
+
+
+
+The poet Jean de la Fontaine was born at Château-Thierry on July 8,
+1621. He was a kindly, merry, and generous man and much beloved. His
+fables were written in verse and were published in three collections at
+different times of his life. Many were new versions of existing fables;
+but those of his later years were more often original inventions.
+
+All in this book are of La Fontaine's own invention, although several
+have since appeared in collections of Æsop's fables without the
+acknowledgment that is La Fontaine's due.
+
+He died on April 13, 1695, at the age of seventy-three.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+I
+
+THE TWO MULES
+
+(BOOK I.--No. 4)
+
+
+There were two heavily-laden mules making a journey together. One was
+carrying oats and the other bore a parcel of silver money collected from
+the people as a tax upon salt. This, we learn, was a tax which produced
+much money for the government, but it bore very hard upon the people,
+who revolted many times against it.
+
+The mule that carried the silver was very proud of his burden, and would
+not have been relieved of it if he could. As he stepped out he took care
+that the bells upon his harness should jingle well as became a mule of
+so much importance.
+
+Suddenly a band of robbers burst into the road, pounced upon the
+treasure mule, seized it by the bridle, and stopped it short.
+Struggling to defend itself the unhappy creature groaned and sighed as
+it cried: "Is this then the fate that has been in store for me: that I
+must fall and perish whilst my fellow traveller escapes free from
+danger?"
+
+
+"My friend," exclaimed the mule that carried only the oats, and whom the
+robbers had not troubled about, "it is not always good to have exalted
+work to do. Had you been like me, a mere slave to a miller, you would
+not have been in such a bad way now!"
+
+[Illustration: You boasted of being so swift.]
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE
+
+(BOOK V.--No. 17)
+
+
+Never mock at other people's misfortune; for you cannot tell how soon
+you yourself may be unhappy. Æsop the sage has given us one or two
+examples of this truth, and I am going to tell you of a similar one now.
+
+A hare and a partridge were living as fellow-citizens very peacefully in
+a field, when a pack of hounds making an onset obliged the hare to seek
+refuge. He rushed into his form and succeeded in putting the hounds at
+fault. But here the scent from his over-heated body betrayed him.
+Towler, philosophising, concluded that this scent came from his hare,
+and with admirable zeal routed him out. Then old Trusty, who never is at
+fault, proclaimed that the hare was gone away. The poor unfortunate
+creature at last died in his form.
+
+The partridge, his companion, thought fit to soothe his last moments
+with some scoffing remarks upon his fate. "You boasted of being so
+swift," she said "What has come to your feet, then?"
+
+
+But even as she was chuckling her own turn came. Secure in the belief
+that her wings would save her whatever happened, she did not reckon upon
+the cruel talons of the hawk.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE GARDENER AND HIS LANDLORD
+
+(BOOK IV.--No. 4)
+
+
+A man who had a great fondness for gardening, being half a countryman
+and half town-bred, possessed in a certain village a fair-sized plot
+with a field attached, and all enclosed by a quickset hedge. Here sorrel
+and lettuce grew freely, as well as such flowers as Spanish jasmine and
+wild thyme, and from these his good wife Margot culled many a posy for
+her high days and holidays.
+
+This happy state of things was soon troubled by the visits of a hare,
+and to such an extent that the man had to go to his landlord and lodge a
+complaint. "This wretched animal," he said, "comes here and stuffs
+himself night and morning, and simply laughs at traps and snares. As for
+stones and sticks they make no difference whatever to him. He must be
+enchanted."
+
+"Enchanted!" cried the landlord. "I defy enchantment! Were he the devil
+himself old Towler would soon rout him out in spite of his tricks. I'll
+rid you of him, my man, never fear!"
+
+"And when?" asked the man.
+
+"Oh, to-morrow, without more delay!"
+
+The affair being thus arranged, on the morrow came the landlord with all
+his following. "First of all," he said, "how about breakfast? Your
+chickens are tender I'll be bound. Come here, my dear," he added,
+addressing the man's daughter, and then, to her father, "When are you
+going to let her marry? Hasn't a son-in-law come on the scene yet? My
+dear fellow, this is a thing that positively must be done you know,
+you'll have to put your hand in your pocket to some purpose." So saying
+he sat down beside the damsel, took her hand, held her by the arm, toyed
+with her fichu, and took other silly and trifling liberties which the
+girl resented with great self-respect, whilst the father grew a little
+uneasy in his mind.
+
+Nevertheless, the cooking went on. There was quite a run on the kitchen.
+
+"How ripe are your hams? They look good."
+
+"Sir," replied the flattered host, "they are yours."
+
+"Oh, really now! Well I'll take them, and that right gladly."
+
+The landlord and his family, his dogs, his horses, and his men-servants,
+all take breakfast with hearty appetites. He assumes the host's place
+and privileges, drinks his wine and caresses his daughter. After this a
+crowd of hunters take seats at the breakfast table.
+
+Now everybody is lively and busy with preparations for the hunt. They
+wind the horns to such purpose that the good man is dumbfounded by the
+din. Worse than that they make terrible havoc in the poor garden.
+Good-bye to all the neat rows and beds! Good-bye to the chickory and the
+leeks! Good-bye to all the pot-herbs!
+
+The hare lies hidden under the leaves of a great cabbage, but being
+discovered is quickly started, whereupon he rushes to a hole--nay, worse
+than a hole, a great and horrible gap in the poor hedge, made by the
+landlord's order, so that they might all burst out of the garden in fine
+style; for it would have looked ridiculous for them to ride out at the
+gate.
+
+The poor man objected. "This is fine fun for princes, no doubt----"; but
+they let him talk, whilst dogs and men together did more harm in one
+hour than all the hares in the province would have done in a century.
+
+
+Little princes, settle your own quarrels amongst yourselves. It is
+madness to have recourse to kings. You should never let them engage in
+your wars, nor even enter your domains.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE
+
+(BOOK I.--No. 11)
+
+
+Once there was a man who loved himself very much, and who permitted
+himself no rivals in that love. He thought his face and figure the
+handsomest in all the world. Anything in the shape of a mirror that
+could show him his own likeness he took care to avoid; for he did not
+want to be reminded that perhaps he was over-rating his beauty. For this
+reason he hated looking-glasses and accused them of being false. He made
+a very great mistake in this respect; but that he did not mind, being
+quite content to live in the happiness the mistake afforded him.
+
+To cure him of so grievous an error, officious Fate managed matters in
+such a way that wherever he turned his eyes they would fall on one of
+those mute little counsellors that ladies carry and appeal to when they
+are anxious about their appearance. He found mirrors in the houses;
+mirrors in the shops; mirrors in the pockets of gallants; mirrors even
+as ornaments on waist-belts of ladies.
+
+What was he to do--this poor Narcissus? He thought to avoid all such
+things by going far away from haunts of mankind, where he should never
+have to face a mirror again. But in the woods to which he retreated a
+clear rivulet ran. Into this he happened to look and--saw himself again.
+Angrily he told himself that his eyes had been deluded by an idle fancy.
+Henceforth he would keep away from the water! This he tried his utmost
+to do; but who can resist the beauty of a woodland stream? There he was
+and remained, always with that which he had determined to shun.
+
+
+My meaning is easily seen. It applies to everybody; for everybody takes
+some joy in harbouring this very error. The man in love with himself
+stands for the soul of each one of us. All the mirrors wherein he saw
+himself reflected stand for the faults of other people, in which we
+really see our own faults though we hate to recognise them as such. As
+for the brook, that, as every one knows, stands for the book of maxims
+which the Duke de la Rochefoucauld[1] wrote.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: This fable was dedicated to the Duke de la Rochefoucauld.]
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 1)
+
+
+One of those dread evils which spread terror far and wide, and which
+Heaven, in its anger, ordains for the punishment of wickedness upon
+earth--a plague in fact; and so dire a one as to make rich in one day
+that grim ferryman who takes a coin from all who cross the river Acheron
+to the land of the dead--such a plague was once waging war against the
+animals. All were attacked, although all did not die. So hopeless was
+the case that not one of them attempted to sustain their sinking lives.
+Even the sight of food did not rouse them. Wolves and foxes no longer
+turned eager and calculating eyes upon their gentle and guileless prey.
+The turtle-doves went no more in cooing pairs, but were content to avoid
+each other. Love and the joy that comes of love were both at an end.
+
+At length the lion called a council of all the beasts and addressed them
+in these words: "My dear friends, it seems to me that it is for our sins
+that Heaven has permitted this misfortune to fall upon us. Would it not
+be well if the most blameworthy among us allowed himself to be offered
+as a sacrifice to appease the celestial wrath? By so doing he might
+secure our recovery. History tells us that this course is usually
+pursued in such cases as ours. Let us look into our consciences without
+self-deception or condoning. For my own part, I freely admit that in
+order to satisfy my gluttony I have devoured an appalling number of
+sheep; and yet what had they done to me to deserve such a fate? Nothing
+that could be called an offence. Sometimes, indeed, I have gone so far
+as to eat the shepherd too! On the whole, I think I had better render
+myself for this act of sacrifice; that is, if we agree that it is a
+thing necessary to the general good. And yet I think it would be only
+fair that every one should declare his sins as well as I; for I could
+wish that, in justice, it were the most culpable that should perish."
+
+"Sire," said the fox, "you are really too yielding for a king, and your
+scruples show too much delicacy of feeling. Eating sheep indeed! What of
+that?--a foolish and rascally tribe! Is that a crime? No! a hundred
+times no! On the contrary your noble jaws did but do them great honour.
+As for the shepherd, it may be fairly said that all the harm he got he
+merited, since he was one of those who fancy they have dominion over the
+animal kingdom." Thus spake the fox and every other flatterer in the
+assembly applauded him. Nor did any seek to inquire deeply into the
+least pardonable offences of the tiger, the bear, and the other mighty
+ones. All those of an aggressive nature, right down to the simple
+watch-dog, were something like saints in their own opinions.
+
+When the ass stood forth in his turn he struck a different note: nothing
+of fangs and talons and blood. "I remember," he said, "that once in
+passing a field belonging to a monastery I was urged by hunger, by
+opportunity, by the tenderness of the grass, and perhaps by the evil one
+egging me on, to enter and crop just a taste, about as much as the
+length of my tongue. I know that I did wrong, having really no right
+there."
+
+At these words all the assembly turned upon him. The wolf took upon
+himself to make a speech proving without doubt that the ass was an
+accursed wretch, a mangy brute, who certainly ought to be told off for
+sacrifice, since through his wickedness all their misfortunes had come
+about. His peccadillo was judged to be a hanging matter. "What! eat the
+grass belonging to another? How abominable a crime! Nothing but death
+could expiate such an outrage!" And forthwith they proved as much to the
+poor ass.
+
+
+Accordingly as your power is great or small, the judgments of a court
+will whiten or blacken your reputation.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+THE UNHAPPILY MARRIED MAN
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 2)
+
+
+If goodness were always the comrade of beauty I would seek a wife
+to-morrow; but as divorce between these two is no new thing, and as
+there are so few lovely forms that enshrine lovely souls, thus uniting
+both one and the other delight, do not take it amiss that I refrain from
+seeking such a rare combination.
+
+
+I have seen many marriages, but not one of them has held out allurements
+for me. Nevertheless, nearly the whole four quarters of mankind
+courageously expose themselves to this the greatest of all hazards,
+and--the whole four quarters usually repent it.
+
+
+I will tell you of one who, having repented, found that there was
+nothing for it but to send home again his quarrelsome, avaricious, and
+jealous spouse. She was one whom nothing pleased; for her, nothing was
+right. For her, one rose too late; one retired too early. First it was
+this, then it was that, and then again 'twas something else. The
+servants raged. The husband was at his wit's end. "You think of nothing,
+sir." "You spend too much." "You gad about, sir." "You are idle."
+Indeed she had so much to say that, in the end, tired of hearing such a
+termagant, he sent her to her parents in the country. There she mixed
+with those who minded the turkeys and pigs until she was thought to be
+somewhat tamed, when the husband sent for her again.
+
+"Well, my dear, how have you been getting on? How did you spend your
+time? Did you like the simple life of the country?"
+
+"Oh, pretty well!" she said, "but what annoyed me was to see the
+laziness of those people. They are worse there than here. They showed no
+care whatever for the herds and flocks they were supposed to mind. I
+didn't forget to let them know what I thought of them. Of course, they
+didn't like it, and they all hated me in the end."
+
+"Ah! my dear. If you fell foul of people whom you saw for but a moment
+or so in the day and when they returned in the evening--if you made them
+tired of you; what will the servants in this house become, who must have
+you railing at them the whole day long? And what will your poor husband
+do whom you expected to have near you all day and night too? Return to
+the village, my dear. Adieu! and if during my life the idea should
+possess me to have you back again, may I, for my sins, have two such as
+you for ever at my elbows in the world to come."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VII
+
+THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 3)
+
+
+The ancients had a legend which told of a certain rat who, weary of the
+anxieties of this world, retired to a cheese, therein to live in peace.
+Profound solitude reigned around the hermit. He worked so hard with his
+feet and his teeth that in a few days he had a spacious dwelling and
+food in plenty. What more could he desire? He thrived well, growing
+large and fat. Blessings are showered upon those who are vowed to
+simplicity and renunciation!
+
+One day a deputation from Rat-land waited upon him, begging that out of
+his abundance he would grant a slight dole towards fitting out a journey
+to a strange country where the rats hoped to get succour in their great
+war against the cat-tribe. Ratopolis was besieged, and owing to the
+poverty of the beleaguered republic they were forced to start with empty
+wallets. They asked but little, believing that in a few days help would
+arrive. "My friends," said the hermit, "earthly affairs no longer
+concern me. In what way could a poor recluse assist you? What could he
+do but pray for the help you need! My best hopes and wishes you may be
+assured of." With these words this latest among the saints shut his
+door.
+
+
+Whom have I in mind, do you think, when I speak of this rat, so sparing
+of his help? A monk?--Oh, no! A dervish rather, for a monk, I suppose,
+is at all times charitable.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+THE MAIDEN
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 5)
+
+
+A certain damsel of considerable pride made up her mind to choose a
+husband who should be young, well-built, and handsome; of agreeable
+manners and--note these two points--neither cold nor jealous. Moreover,
+she held it necessary that he should have means, high birth, intellect;
+in fact, everything. But whoever was endowed with everything?
+
+The fates were evidently anxious to do their best for her, for they sent
+her some most noteworthy suitors. But these the proud beauty found not
+half good enough. "What, men like those! You propose them for me! Why
+they are pitiable! Look at them--fine types, indeed!" According to her
+one was a dullard; another's nose was impossible. With this it was one
+thing; with that it was another; for superior people are disdainful
+above all things.
+
+After these eligible gentlemen had been dismissed, came others of less
+worth, and at these too she mocked. "Why," said she, "I would not bemean
+myself to open the door to such. They must think me very anxious to be
+married. Thank Heaven my single state causes me no regrets."
+
+The maiden contented herself with such notions until advancing age made
+her step down from her pedestal. Adieu then to all suitors. One year
+passed and then another. Her anxiety increased, and after anger came
+grief. She felt that those little smiles and glances which, at the
+bidding of love, lurk in the countenances of fair maidens were day by
+day deserting her. Finally, when love himself departed, her features
+gave pleasure to none. Then she had recourse to those hundred little
+ruses and tricks of the toilet to repair the ravages of time; but
+nothing that she could do arrested the depredations of that despicable
+thief. One may repair a house gone to ruin: but the same thing is not
+possible with a face!
+
+Her refined ladyship now sang to a different tune, for her mirror
+advised her to take a husband without delay. Perhaps also her heart
+harboured the wish. Even superior persons may have longings! This one at
+last made a choice that people would at one time have thought
+impossible; for she was very pleased and happy in marrying an ugly
+cripple.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE WISHES
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 6)
+
+
+When the Great Mogul held empire, there were certain little sprites who
+used to undertake all sorts of tasks helpful to mankind. They would do
+housework, stable-work, and even gardening. But if one interfered with
+them, all would be spoilt.
+
+One of these friendly sprites cultivated the garden of a worthy family
+living near the Ganges. His duties were performed deftly and
+noiselessly. He loved not only his master and mistress, but the garden
+also. Possibly the zephyrs, who are said to be friends of the sprites,
+helped him in his tasks. At any rate he did his very best, and never
+ceased in his efforts to load his hosts with every pleasure. To prove
+his zeal he would have stayed with these people for ever, in spite of
+the natural propensity of his kind for waywardness. But his mischievous
+fellow-sprites fell to plotting. They induced the chief of their band to
+remove him to another field of labour. This the chief promised and,
+either by caprice or by policy, finally brought about. Orders came that
+the devoted worker should set out for the uttermost part of Norway,
+there to take charge of a house which at all times of the year was
+covered with snow. So from being an Indian, the poor thing became a
+Laplander.
+
+"I am forced to leave you," he said to his hosts, "but for what fault of
+mine this has come to pass I cannot tell. I only know that go I must,
+and in a very little while too; a month perhaps, or maybe only a week.
+Make the most of the interval. Fortunately, I can fulfil three wishes
+for you; but not more than three."
+
+To mankind there is nothing very out-of-the-way in merely wishing. These
+good people decided that their first wish should be for abundance, and
+straightway. Abundance, by the double-handful, poured gold into their
+coffers; wheat into their granaries; wine into their cellars. Repletion
+was everywhere. But, alas, what cares of direction, what account
+keeping; what time and anxiety this affluence involved!
+
+Thieves plotted against them. Great lords borrowed from them. The prince
+taxed them. They were, in fact, reduced to misery by this excess of good
+fortune. At last they could endure it no longer. "Take back this awful
+overplus of wealth," they cried. "Even the poor are happy in comparison
+with us, and poverty is more covetable than such riches. Away, then,
+with these treasures! And thou, sweet Moderation, mother of all peace,
+sister of repose, come to us again!" With these words, which made their
+second wish, lo! Moderation returned and they received her with open
+arms, once again enjoying peace.
+
+Thus at the end of these two wishes they were exactly where they were in
+the first place, and so it is with all who are given to wishing, and
+wasting in dreams the time they had better have spent in doing. But
+being philosophical people they laughed, and the sprite laughed with
+them. To profit by his generosity when he had left them, they hazarded
+their third wish and asked for wisdom. Wisdom is a treasure which never
+embarrasses.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE DAIRY-WOMAN AND THE PAIL OF MILK
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 10)
+
+
+A young country woman named Perrette set out one morning from her little
+dairy-farm with a pail of milk which she cleverly balanced upon her head
+over a pad or cushion. She hurried with sprightly steps to the market
+town, and so that she might be the less encumbered, wore a kirtle that
+was short and light--in truth a simple petticoat--and shoes low and
+easy. As she went, her thoughts ran upon the price to be gained for her
+milk, and she schemed a way to lay out the sum in the purchase of one
+hundred eggs. She was sure that with care and diligence these would
+yield three broods. "It would be quite easy to me," she said, "to raise
+the chicks near the house. The fox would be clever who would not leave
+me enough to buy one pig. A pig would fatten at the cost of a little
+bran, and when he had grown a fair size I should make a bargain of him
+for a good round sum. And then, considering the price he will fetch,
+what is to prevent my putting into our stable a cow and a calf? I can
+fancy how the calf will frisk about among the sheep!" Thereupon Perrette
+herself frisked for joy, transported with the picture of her affluence.
+Over toppled the milk! Adieu to calf and cow and pig and broods! This
+lady of wealth had to leave, with tearful eyes, her dissipated fortunes,
+and go straight to her husband framing excuses to avoid a beating.
+
+[Illustration: Overtoppled the milk.]
+
+The farce became known to the whole countryside, and people called
+Perrette by the name of "Milkpail" ever after.
+
+
+Who has never talked wildly? Who has never built castles in Spain? Wise
+men as well as milkmaids; sages and fools, all have waking dreams and
+find them sweet! Our senses are carried away by some flattering
+falsehood, and then wealth, honours, and beauty seem ours to command.
+
+Alone with my thoughts I challenge the bravest. I dethrone monarchs and
+the people rejoicing crown me instead, showering diadems upon my head.
+Then lo! a little accident happens to bring me back to my senses, and I
+am Poor Jack as before.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE PRIEST AND THE CORPSE
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 11)
+
+
+There was a funeral. The dead body was progressing sadly towards its
+last resting place; and following rather gladly, was the priest who
+meant to bury it as soon as possible.
+
+The dead man, in a leaden coffin, was borne in a coach, and was properly
+shrouded in that robe the dead always wear be it summer or winter. As
+for the priest, he sat near it, intoning as hard as he could all sorts
+of orisons, psalms, lessons, verses, and responses, in the hope that the
+more he gave the more would be paid for. "Leave it to me, Mr. Deadman,"
+his actions seemed to say. "I'll give you a nice selection; a little of
+everything. It's only a matter of fees, you know." And the Rev. John
+Crow kept his eye on his silent charge as if he expected some one would
+make off with it. "Mr. Deadman," his looks proclaimed, "by you I shall
+receive so and so much in money, so and so much in wax candles, and,
+possibly, a little more in incidental profits.
+
+On the strength of these calculations he promised himself a quarter-cask
+of the best wine the neighbourhood could offer. Beyond that he settled
+that a certain very attractive niece of his, as well as his housekeeper
+Paquette, should both have new dresses.
+
+Whilst these pleasant and generous thoughts were running in his mind
+there came a terrific shock. The car overturned. The Rev. John Crow's
+head was broken by the coffin which fell upon him. Alas for the poor
+priest! he went to heaven with the parishioner he thought only to bury.
+
+In reality, life over and over again is nothing but the fate of the Rev.
+John Crow who counted on his dead, and of Perrette who counted on her
+chickens.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+THE MAN WHO RAN AFTER FORTUNE AND THE MAN WHO WAITED FOR HER IN HIS BED
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 12)
+
+
+Who does not run after Fortune?
+
+I would I were in some spot whence I could watch the eager crowds
+rushing from kingdom to kingdom in their vain chase after the daughter
+of Chance!
+
+They are indeed but faithful followers of a phantom; for when they think
+they have her, lo! she is gone! Poor wretches! One must pity rather than
+blame their foolishness. "That man," they say with sanguine voice,
+"raised cabbages; and now he is Pope! Are we not as good as he?" Ah!
+yes! a hundred times as good perhaps; but what of that? Fortune has no
+eyes for all your merit. Besides, is Papacy, after all, worth peace,
+which one must leave behind for it? Peace--a treasure that once was the
+possession of gods alone--is seldom granted to the votaries of Dame
+Fortune. Do not seek her; and then she will seek you. That is the way
+with women!
+
+
+There once were two friends, who lived comfortably and prospered
+moderately in a village; but one of them was always wishing to do
+better. One day he said to the other, "Suppose we left this place and
+tried our luck elsewhere? You know that a prophet is never received in
+his own country!"
+
+"You try, by all means," returned his friend, "but as for me, I am
+contented where I am. I desire neither better climate nor better
+possibilities. You please yourself. Follow your unquiet spirit. You'll
+soon return, and I shall sleep soundly enough awaiting you."
+
+So the man of ambition, or the money-grubber, whichever you like to call
+him, took to the road, and arrived next day at a place where, if
+anywhere, Dame Fortune should be found, namely, the court. He stayed at
+court for some long time, never missing an opportunity to put himself in
+the way of favours. He was in evidence when the king went to bed, when
+he arose, and on all other propitious occasions.
+
+"What's amiss?" he said at last. "Fortune, I am convinced, dwells here;
+for I have seen her the guest now of this one and now of that one. How
+is it that I cannot entertain the capricious creature? I must try her
+elsewhere. I have already been told that the people of this place are
+exceedingly ambitious. Evidently there is no room for me here. So,
+adieu! gentleman of the court, and follow to the bitter end this
+will-o'-the-wisp! They tell me that Dame Fortune has temples in Surat.
+Very well! We will go there."
+
+He embarked at once. What hearts of bronze have humankind! The man who
+first attempted this awful route and defied its terrors must have had a
+heart of adamant. Often did our traveller turn his eyes towards his
+little home as first pirates, then contrary winds, then calms, then
+rocks--all agents of death--in turn assailed him. Strange it is that men
+should take such pains to meet death, since it will come only too
+quickly to them in their homes!
+
+Our adventurer arrived in India. There they told him that Japan was the
+place where Fortune dispensed her favours. He hurried there. The sea
+wearied of carrying him about. In the end all the profit his long
+voyages brought him was the lesson which he learnt from savages, and
+that was: "Stop in your own country and let Nature instruct you." Japan,
+India, or anywhere else; no one place was better than another as a
+hunting ground for Fortune; so the conclusion was forced upon him that
+he had been wiser had he stayed in his own village. At last he renounced
+all these ungrateful wanderings and returned to his own country; and as
+he caught sight of his homestead from afar he wept for joy, and cried:
+"Happy is the man who, staying in his home, finds constant occupation in
+adjusting his desires to his surroundings. To him the court, the sea,
+and the land of Fortune are but hearsay. Thou, fickle Dame, flaunting
+before our eyes dignities and wealth, dost cause us to follow after
+these allurements to the ends of the earth, only to find them empty
+shams. Henceforth I wander no more, for here at home a hundred times
+more success shall I find."
+
+Having registered this vow against Fortune the wanderer came to the door
+of his friend, and lo! there sat Fortune, waiting on the threshold,
+whilst his friend slumbered within.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+AN ANIMAL IN THE MOON
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 18)
+
+
+Whilst one philosopher tells us that men are constantly the dupes of
+their own senses, another will swear that the senses never deceive. Both
+are right. Philosophy truly affirms that the senses will deceive so long
+as men are content to take upon trust the evidence the senses bring. But
+if this evidence is weighed, measured, and tested by every available
+resource of science the senses can deceive no one.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In England, not long ago, when a large telescope was levelled to observe
+the moon, the observer was astounded to see what he took to be some new
+animal in this lovely planet. Everybody was excited about the marvellous
+appearance. Something had occurred up above there which, without doubt,
+must betoken great changes of some sort. Who could tell but that all the
+dreadful wars that were then convulsing Europe had not been caused by
+it? The king, who patronised the sciences, hastened to the observatory
+to see the sight, and see it he did. There was the monster right
+enough!
+
+And what was it after all?--Nothing but a poor little mouse that had by
+some unlucky chance got in between the lenses of the telescope. Here was
+the cause of all the devastating wars! Everybody laughed....
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE FORTUNE-TELLERS
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 15)
+
+
+Reputations may be made by the merest chances, and yet reputations
+control the fashions. That is a little prologue that would fit the case
+of all sorts of people. Everywhere around one sees prejudices, scheming,
+and obtuseness; but little or no justice. Nothing can be done to stem
+this torrent of evil. It must run its course. It always has been and
+always will be.
+
+
+A woman in Paris once made it her profession to tell fortunes. She
+became very popular and had great success. Did anybody lose a bit of
+finery; had any one a sweetheart; had any wife a husband she was tired
+of; any husband a jealous wife, to the prophetess such would run simply
+to be told the thing that it was comforting to hear.
+
+The stock-in-trade of this fortune-teller consisted merely of a
+convincing manner, a few words of scientific jargon, a great deal of
+impudence, and much good luck. All these things together so impressed
+the people that as often as not they would cry, "Miraculous!" In short,
+although the woman's ignorance was quite twenty-three carat she passed
+for a veritable oracle.
+
+Notwithstanding the fact that this oracle only lived in a garret, she
+found so many ready to pay her well for her shams that she soon grew
+rich enough to improve the position of her husband, to rent an office,
+and buy a house.
+
+The garret being left empty was shortly tenanted by another woman to
+whom all the town--women, girls, valets, fine gentlemen--everybody in
+fact swarmed, as before, to consult their destiny. The former tenant had
+built up such a reputation that the garret was still a sibyl's den, in
+spite of the fact that quite a different creature dwelt in it. "I tell
+fortunes? Surely you're joking! Why, gentlemen, I cannot read, and as
+for writing, I never learnt more than to make my mark." But these
+disclaimers were useless. People insisted on having their fortunes told,
+and she had to do it. In consequence, she put by plenty of money, being
+able to earn, in spite of herself, quite as much as two lawyers could.
+The poverty of her home was a help rather than a hindrance. Four broken
+chairs and a broom-handle savoured of a witch's frolic.
+
+If this woman had told the truth in a room well-furnished she would have
+been scorned. The fashion for a garret had set in, and garret it must
+be.
+
+In her new chambers the first fortune-teller waited in vain; for it was
+the outward sign alone that brought customers, and the sign was poverty.
+
+
+I have seen in a palace a robe worn awry win much distinction and
+success, such crowds of followers and adherents did it draw. You may
+well ask me why!
+
+[Illustration: The garret was still a sybil's den.]
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 2)
+
+
+There was once a cobbler who was so light hearted that he sang from
+morning to night. It was wonderful to watch him at his work, and more
+wonderful still to hear his runs and trills. He was in fact happier than
+the Seven Sages.
+
+This merry soul had a neighbour who was exactly the reverse. He sang
+little and slept less; for he was a financier, and made of money, as
+they say. Whenever it happened that after a sleepless night he would
+doze off in the early morning, the cobbler, who was always up betimes,
+would wake him up again with his joyful songs. "Ha!" thought the man of
+wealth, "what a misfortune it is that one cannot buy sleep in the open
+market as one buys food and drink!" Then an idea came to him. He
+invited the cobbler to his house, where he asked him some questions.
+
+"Tell me, Master Gregory, what do you suppose your earnings amount to in
+a year?"
+
+"In a year," laughed the cobbler, "that's more than I know. I never keep
+accounts that way, nor even keep one day from another. So long as I can
+make both ends meet, that's good enough for me!"
+
+"Really!" replied the financier. "But what can you earn in one day?"
+
+"Oh, sometimes more and sometimes less. The mischief of it is that there
+are so many fête days and high-days and fast-days crowded into the year,
+on which, as the priest tells us, it is wicked to work at all; and worse
+still he keeps on finding some new saint or other to give weight to his
+sermons. If it were not for that, cobbling would be a fine paying game."
+
+At this the wealthy man laughed. "Look here, my friend, to-day I'll lift
+you to the seats of the mighty! Here is a hundred pounds. Guard them and
+use them with care."
+
+When the cobbler held the bag of money in his hand he imagined that it
+must be as much as would be coined in a hundred years.
+
+Returning home he buried the cash in his cellar. Alas! he buried his joy
+with it, for there were no more songs. From the moment he came into
+possession of this wealth, the love of which is the root of all evil,
+his voice left him, and not only his voice, but his sleep also. And in
+place of these came anxiety, suspicion, and alarms; guests which abode
+with him constantly. All day he kept his eye on the cellar door. Did a
+cat make a noise in the night, then for a certainty that cat was after
+his money.
+
+At last, in despair, the wretched cobbler ran to the financier whom he
+now no longer kept awake. "Oh, give me back my joy in life, my songs, my
+sleep; and take your hundred pounds again."
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+THE POWER OF FABLE
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 4)
+
+
+In the old, vain, and fickle city of Athens, an orator,[2] seeing how
+the light-hearted citizens were blind to certain dangers which
+threatened the state, presented himself before the tribune, and there
+sought, by the very tyranny of his forceful eloquence, to move the heart
+of the republic towards a sense of the common welfare.
+
+But the people neither heard nor heeded. Then the orator had recourse to
+more urgent arguments and stronger metaphors, potent enough to touch
+hearts of stone. He spoke in thunders that might have raised the dead;
+but his words were carried away on the wind. The beast of many heads[3]
+did not deign to hear the launching of these thunderbolts. It was
+engrossed in something quite different. A fight between two urchins was
+what the crowd found so engaging; not the orator's warnings.
+
+What then did the speaker do? He tried another plan. "Ceres," he began,
+"made a voyage one day with an eel and a swallow. After a time the
+three travellers were stopped by a river. This the eel got over by
+swimming and the swallow by flying----"
+
+"Well! what about Ceres? What did she do?" cried the crowd with one
+voice.
+
+"She did what she did!" retorted the speaker in anger. "But first she
+raged against you. What! Does it take a child's story to open your ears,
+you who should be eager for any news of the peril that menaces; you, the
+only state in Greece that takes no heed? You ask what Ceres did. Why do
+you not ask what Philip[4] does?"
+
+At this reproach the assembly was stirred. A mere fable brought them
+open-eared to all the orator would say.
+
+
+We are all Athenians in this respect. I myself am, even as I point this
+moral. I should take the utmost pleasure now in hearing "The Ass's
+Skin"[5] told to me. The world is old, they say: so it is; but,
+nevertheless, it is as greedy of amusement as a child.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 2: Elizur Wright explains that the orator was Demades.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Horace spoke of the Roman people as a beast with many
+heads.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Philip of Macedon, who was at war against the Greeks.]
+
+[Footnote 5: An old French nursery tale.]
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+THE DOG WHO CARRIED HIS MASTER'S DINNER
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 7)
+
+
+Our hands are no more proof against gold than our eyes are proof against
+beauty. There are but few who guard their treasures with care enough.
+
+
+A certain dog who had been taught to carry to his master the mid-day
+meal was one day trotting along with the savoury burden slung around his
+neck. He was tempted to take a taste himself; but knew that it would be
+wrong to do so, and being a temperate, self-governed dog he refrained.
+We of the human race allow ourselves to be tempted by covetable things
+often enough; but, strange as it is, there seems to be more difficulty
+in teaching mankind to resist temptation than there is in teaching dogs
+to do so.
+
+On this particular day the dog was met by a mastiff who at once wanted
+the dinner, but did not find it so easy to capture as he thought; for
+our dog put it down and stood guard over it. There was a mighty tussle.
+Soon others arrived; curs that were used to knocks and kicks while
+picking up a living in the streets. Seeing that he should be badly
+over-matched, and that his master's dinner was in danger of being
+devoured by the crowd, he bethought himself how he too might have his
+share, if shared it must be. So he very wisely exclaimed, "No fighting,
+gentlemen, my bit will suffice me. Do as you please with the rest." With
+these words he snapped up a portion, upon which all the rest began to
+pull and jostle to their utmost and feasted merrily.
+
+
+In this I seem to see the picture of one of those unfortunate towns or
+states which occasionally have suffered from the greed of their
+ministers and officials. Each functionary has an eye to his own
+advantage, and the smartest sets a pattern for the others. The way in
+which the public funds disappear is amusing. If one sheriff or provost,
+having a scruple of conscience, finds a trifling argument in defence of
+the public interest the others show him that he is a fool if he utters
+half a word. So, with a very little trouble, he gives way, and often
+becomes the leading offender.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+THYRSIS AND AMARANTH
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 13)
+
+
+A shepherd who was deeply in love with a shepherdess was sitting one day
+by her side trying to find words to express the emotions her charms
+created in his breast.
+
+"Ah! Amaranth, dear," he sighed, "could you but feel, as I do, a certain
+pain which, whilst it tears the heart, is so delightful that it
+enchants, you would say that nothing under heaven is its equal. Let me
+tell you of it. Believe me, trust me. Would I deceive you? You, for whom
+I am filled with the tenderest sentiments the heart can feel!"
+
+"And what, my Thyrsis, is the name you give this pleasing pain?"
+
+"It is called love," said Thyrsis.
+
+"Ah!" responded the maiden, "that is a beautiful name. Tell me by what
+signs I may know it, if it come to me. What are the feelings it gives
+one?"
+
+Thyrsis, taking heart of grace, replied with much ardour: "One feels an
+anguish beside which the joys of kings are but dull and insipid. One
+forgets oneself, and takes pleasure in the solitudes of the woods. To
+glance into a brook is to see, not oneself, but an ever-haunting image.
+To any other form one's eyes are blind. It may be that there is a
+shepherd in the village at whose voice, at the mention of whose name,
+you will blush; at the thought of whom you will sigh. Why, one knows
+not! To see him will be a burning desire, and yet you would shrink from
+him."
+
+"Oho!" said Amaranth. "Is this then the pain you have preached so much!
+It is hardly new to me. I seem to know something of it." The heart of
+Thyrsis leapt, for he thought that at last he had gained his end; when
+the fair one added, "'Tis just in this way that I feel for Cladimant!"
+
+Imagine the vexation and misery of poor Thyrsis!
+
+
+How many like him, intending to work solely for themselves, prove only
+to have been stepping stones for others.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 15)
+
+
+An uncommonly small rat was watching an uncommonly big elephant and
+sneering at the slowness of his steps.
+
+The enormous animal was heavily laden. On his back rose a three-storied
+howdah, wherein were accommodated a celebrated sultana, her dog, her
+cat, her monkey, her parrot, her old servant, and all her household.
+They were going upon a pilgrimage.
+
+The rat wondered why all the people should express astonishment at
+seeing this enormous bulk--"As if the fact of occupying more or less
+space implied that one was the more or less important accordingly! What
+is it you admire in him, you men? If it is only the weight of his body
+which fills the children with terror, then we rats, small as we are,
+consider ourselves not one grain less than the elephant." He would have
+said more; but the cat, bounding out of her cage, let him see in an
+instant that a rat is not an elephant.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+THE HOROSCOPE
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 16)
+
+
+Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it.
+
+
+A father had an only son whom he loved excessively. His devoted
+affection caused him to be so anxious as to the boy's welfare that he
+sought to learn from astrologers and fortune-tellers what fate was in
+store for the son and heir. One of these soothsayers told him that an
+especial danger lay with lions, from which the youth must be guarded
+until the age of twenty was reached, but not after. The father, to make
+sure of this precaution, upon the issue of which depended the life of
+his loved one, commanded that by no chance should the boy ever be
+permitted to go beyond the threshold of the house. Ample provision was
+made for the satisfaction of all the wishes proper to youth in the way
+of play with his companions, jumping, running, walking, and so forth. As
+the age approached when the spirits of youth yearn for the chase, he was
+taught to hold that sport in abhorrence.
+
+But temperament cannot be changed by persuasion and counsel, nor by
+enlightenment. The young man, eager, ardent, and full of courage, no
+sooner felt the promptings of his years than he sighed for the
+forbidden pleasures. The greater the hindrance the stronger the desire.
+Knowing the reason of his galling restrictions, and viewing day by day
+in his palatial home the hunting scenes pictured in paint and tapestry
+on every wall, his excitement became unrestrained.
+
+Once his eye fell upon a pictured lion. "Ah! Monster!" he exclaimed in a
+transport of indignation. "It is to you that the shade and fetters in
+which I live are due!" With that he struck the lion's form a heavy blow
+with his fist. Hidden under the tapestry a great nail offered its cruel
+point, and upon this his hand was impaled. The wound grew beyond the
+reach of medical skill, and in the end this life, so guarded and
+cherished, was lost by means of the very care taken to preserve it.
+
+
+The same jealous precaution proved fatal to the poet Æschylus. It is
+said that some fortune-teller menaced him with the fall of a house as
+his doom, upon which he at once left the town and made his bed in the
+open fields, far from roofs and beneath the sky. But an eagle flew by
+overhead carrying in its talons a tortoise, and seeing the bald head of
+the poet beneath, which it mistook for a stone, the bird let fall its
+prey in order to break the shell of the tortoise. Thus were the days of
+poor Æschylus ended.
+
+
+From these two examples it would seem that this art of fortune-telling,
+if there be any truth in it, causes one to fall into the very evil one
+would be in dread of when one consulted it. But I will demonstrate and
+maintain that the art is false. I do not believe that Nature would have
+tied her own hands, and ours also, to the extent of marking our fate in
+the heavens. For our fate depends upon certain combinations of time,
+place, and people; not upon the combinations of charlatans. A shepherd
+and a king are born under the same planet: one carries the sceptre; the
+other the crook. The planet Jupiter willed it so! But what is this
+planet Jupiter? A body without senses. Whence comes it then that its
+influence works so differently on these two men? Further, how could its
+influence, if it had any, penetrate through endless voids to our world?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Do not attach too much importance to the two instances I have related.
+This beloved son and the good man Æschylus are beside the mark.
+
+Nevertheless, however blind and lying is the fortuneteller's art, it may
+yet hit home once in a thousand times. That is just a matter of chance.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XXI
+
+JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS
+
+(BOOK VIII--No. 20)
+
+
+One day, as Jupiter seated on high looked down upon the world, he was
+incensed at the faults committed by mankind. "Let us," he said, "have
+some other occupants in the regions of the universe in place of these
+present inhabitants who importune and weary me. Go you to Hades,
+Mercury, and bring hither the cruellest of the furies. This time, O race
+that I have too tenderly nurtured, you shall perish."
+
+After this outburst the temper of the god began to cool.
+
+
+O ye sovereigns of this world, to whom it has been given to be the
+arbiters of our destinies, let a night intervene between your wrath and
+the storm which follow!
+
+
+Mercury, light of wing and sweet of tongue, descended to the abode of
+the dread sisters Tisiphone, Megæra, and Alecto, and his choice fell
+upon the latter, the pitiless one. She, feeling proud of the preference,
+grew so arrogant as to swear by Pluto that the whole of the human brood
+should soon people his domains. But Jupiter did not approve of the vow
+this member of the Eumenides had sworn, and he sent her back to Hades.
+At the same time he launched a thunderbolt upon one particularly
+perfidious race of men. This, however, being hurled by a father's arm,
+mercifully fell in a desert, causing less ruin than alarm. What followed
+from this was simply that the wicked brood took heart at such indulgence
+and did not trouble to mend their ways. Then all the gods in Olympus
+complained, until he who controls the clouds swore by the Styx that
+further storms should be sent and that they should not fail as the other
+had.
+
+The Olympians only smiled at this. They told Jupiter that as he was the
+father it would be better if he left in other hands the making of
+thunderbolts. Vulcan undertook the task. Soon his furnaces glowed with
+bolts of two kinds; one that hits its mark with a deadly unerring--and
+that is the sort which any of the Olympian gods will hurl; whilst the
+other sort was that which becomes scattered on its course and does
+damage only to the mountain tops, or perchance is even lost on the way.
+It is this kind of thunderbolt that Jupiter sends. His fatherly heart
+permits him to use no other.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+EDUCATION
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 24)
+
+
+Once upon a time there were two dogs, one named Lurcher and the other
+Cæsar. They were brothers; handsome, well-built, and plucky, and
+descended from dogs who were famous in their day. These two brothers,
+falling into the hands of different masters, found their destinies
+likewise in different spheres; for whilst one haunted the forests, the
+other lurched about a kitchen.
+
+The names to which they now answered were not, however, the names that
+were first given them. The influence of each one's career upon his
+nature brought about a new name and a new reputation; for Cæsar's nature
+was improved and strengthened by the life he led, whilst Lurcher's was
+made more and more despicable by a degraded existence. A scullion named
+him Lurcher; but the other dog received his noble name on account of his
+life of high adventure. He had held many a stag at bay, killed many a
+hare, and otherwise risen to the position of a Cæsar among dogs. Care
+was taken that he should not mate indiscriminately, so that his
+descendants' blood should not degenerate. On the other hand, poor
+Lurcher bestowed his affections wherever he would and his brood became
+populous. He was the progenitor of all turn-spits in France; a variety
+which became common enough to form at last a race in themselves. They
+show more readiness to flee than to attack, and are the very antipodes
+of the Cæsars.
+
+
+We do not always follow our ancestors, nor even resemble our fathers.
+Want of care, the flight of time, a thousand things, cause us to
+degenerate.
+
+Ah! how many, Cæsars, failing to cultivate their best nature and their
+gifts, become Lurchers!
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+DEMOCRITUS AND THE PEOPLE OF ABDERA
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 26)
+
+
+How I have always hated the opinions of the mob! To me, a mob seems
+profane, unjust, and rash, putting false construction on all things, and
+judging every matter by a mob-made standard.
+
+Democritus had experience of this. His countrymen thought him mad.
+Little minds! But then, no one is a prophet in his own country! The
+people themselves were mad, of course, and Democritus was the wise man.
+Nevertheless the error went so far that the city of Abdera[6] sent a
+messenger to the great physician Hippocrates, requesting him both by
+letter and by spoken word to come and restore the sage's reason.
+
+"Our citizen," said the spokesman with tears in his eyes, "has lost his
+wits, alas! Study has corrupted Democritus. If he were less wise we
+should esteem him much more. He will have it that there is no limit to
+the number of worlds like ours and that possibly they are inhabited with
+numberless Democrituses. Not satisfied with these wild dreams, he talks
+also of atoms--phantoms born only in his own empty brain. Then,
+measuring the very heavens, though he remains here below to do it, he
+claims to know the universe; yet admits that he does not know himself.
+Time was when he could control debates, now he mutters only to himself.
+So come, thou divine mortal, for the patient's case is a bad one."
+
+Hippocrates, though he had little faith in these people, went
+nevertheless. Now mark, I beg of you, what strange meetings fate may
+bring about in this life! Hippocrates arrived just at the time when this
+man, who was supposed to have neither sense nor reason, happened to be
+searching into a question as to whether this very reason was seated in
+the heart or in the head of men and beasts.
+
+Sitting in leafy shade, beside a brook, and with many a volume at his
+feet, he was occupied wholly with a study of the convolutions of the
+brain; and thus absorbed, as his manner was, he scarcely noticed the
+advance of his friend the learned physician. Their greeting was soon
+over as you may imagine, for the sage is at all times chary of time and
+speech. So having put aside mere trifles of conversation, they reasoned
+upon man and his mind, and next fell to talking upon ethics.
+
+It is not necessary that I should here enlarge upon what each had to say
+to the other on these matters.
+
+The little tale suffices to show that we may rightly take exception to
+the judgments of the mob. That being so, in what sense is it true, as I
+have read in a certain passage, that the voice of the people is the
+voice of God?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: A city on the shores of Thracia.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XXIV
+
+THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 4)
+
+
+What God does is done well. Without going round the world to seek a
+proof of that, I can find one in the pumpkin.
+
+A villager was once struck with the largeness of a pumpkin and the
+thinness of the stem upon which it grew. "What could the Almighty have
+been thinking about?" he cried. "He has certainly chosen a bad place for
+a pumpkin to grow. Eh zounds! Now I would have hung it on one of these
+oaks. That would have been just as it should be. Like fruit, like tree!
+What a pity, Hodge," said he, addressing himself, "that you were not on
+the spot to give advice at the Creation which the parson preaches
+about. Everything would have been properly done then. For instance;
+wouldn't this acorn, no bigger than my little finger, be better hanging
+on this frail stem? The Almighty has blundered there surely! The more I
+think about these fruits and their situations, the more it seems to me
+that it is all a mistake."
+
+Becoming worried by so much reflection our Hodge cast himself under an
+oak saying, "A man can't sleep when he has so much brain." Then he at
+once dropped off into a nap.
+
+Presently an acorn fell plump upon his nose. Starting from sleep, he put
+his hand up to see what had happened and found the acorn caught in his
+beard, whilst his nose began to pain and bleed. "Oh, oh!" he cried, "I
+am bleeding. How would it have been if a heavier mass than this had
+fallen from the tree: if this acorn had been a pumpkin? The Almighty did
+not intend that, I see. Doubtless he was right. I understand the reason
+why perfectly now."
+
+So praising God for all things Hodge took his way home.
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+THE SCHOOLBOY, THE PEDANT, AND THE OWNER OF A GARDEN
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 5)
+
+
+A youngster, who was doubly foolish and doubly a rogue--in which perhaps
+he savoured of the school he went to--was given, they say, to robbing a
+neighbour's garden of its fruit and flowers. This may have been because
+he was too young to know better, and perhaps because teachers do not
+always mould the minds of young people in the right way.
+
+The owner of the garden boasted in each season the very best of what was
+due. In spring he could show the most delightful blossoms and in autumn
+the very pick of all the apples.
+
+One day he espied this schoolboy carelessly climbing a fruit tree and
+knocking off the buds, those sweet and fragile forerunners of promised
+fruit in abundance. The urchin even broke off a bough, and did so much
+other damage that the owner sent a message of complaint to the boy's
+schoolmaster. This worthy soon appeared, and behind him a tribe of the
+scholars, who swarmed into the orchard and began behaving worse than the
+first one. The schoolmaster's plan in thus aggravating the injury was
+really to make an opportunity for delivering them all a good lesson,
+which they should remember all their lives. He quoted Virgil and
+Cicero; he made many scientific allusions and ran his discourse to such
+a length that the little wretches were able to get all over the garden
+and despoil it in a hundred places.
+
+
+I hate pompous and pedantic speeches that are out of place and
+never-ending; and I do not know a worse fool in the world than a naughty
+schoolboy--unless indeed it be the schoolmaster of such a boy. The
+better of them would never suit me as a neighbour.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF JUPITER
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 6)
+
+
+Once a sculptor who saw for sale a block of marble was so struck with
+its beauty that he could not resist the temptation to buy it. When it
+was in his studio he thought to himself, "Now what shall my chisel make
+of it? Shall it be a god, a table, or a basin? It shall be a god. And I,
+myself, shall ordain that the god shall poise a thunderbolt in his hand.
+So tremble, mortals, and worship! Behold the lord of the earth!"
+
+The artist set to work and expressed so powerfully the attributes of the
+god that those who saw it averred that it only lacked speech to be
+Jupiter himself. It is said that the sculptor had scarcely completed the
+statue when he became so overawed as to fear and tremble before the work
+of his own hands.
+
+The poet of old, likewise, greatly dreaded the hate and the wrath of the
+gods he himself created: a weakness which left little to choose between
+him and the sculptor.
+
+
+These traits are those of childhood. The minds of children are always
+anxious lest any one should maltreat their dolls. The emotions
+invariably give the lead to the intellect, and this fact accounts for
+the great error of paganism. For that error has been prompted by the
+emotions of men in all the peoples of the earth. Men uphold with fanatic
+zeal the interests of the unreal creatures of their imagination.
+Pygmalion became enamoured of the Venus[7] he had created, and in the
+same way every one tries to turn his dreams into reality. Man remains as
+ice before truth, but catches fire before illusion.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 7: La Fontaine forgets. It was Galatea whose image Pygmalion
+created and whom Venus brought to life.]
+
+
+
+
+XXVII
+
+THE OYSTER AND THE PLEADERS
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 9)
+
+
+One day two pilgrims espied upon the sands of the shore an oyster that
+had been thrown up by the tide. They devoured it with their eyes whilst
+pointing at it with their fingers; but whose teeth should deal with it
+was a matter of dispute.
+
+When one stopped to pick up the prey the other pushed him away saying:
+"It would be just as well first to decide which of us is to have the
+pleasure of it. He who first saw it should swallow it, and let the other
+watch him eat."
+
+"If you settle the affair that way," replied his companion, "I have good
+eyes, thank God."
+
+"But my sight is not bad either," said the other, "and I saw it before
+you did, and that I'll stake my life upon."
+
+"Well, suppose you did see it, I smelt it."
+
+During this lively interlude Justice Nincompoop arrived on the scene,
+and to him they appealed to judge their claims. The justice very gravely
+took the oyster, opened it, and put it into his mouth, whilst the two
+claimants looked on. Having deliberately swallowed the oyster, the
+justice, in the portentous tones of a Lord Chief Justice, said, "The
+court here awards each of you a shell, without costs. Let each go home
+peaceably."
+
+
+Reckon what it costs to go to law in these days. Then count what remains
+to most families. You will see that Justice Nincompoop draws all the
+money and leaves only the empty purse and the shells to the litigants.
+
+[Illustration: Deliberately swallowed the oyster.]
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII
+
+THE CAT AND THE FOX
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 14)
+
+
+The cat and the fox, in the manner of good little saints, started out
+upon a pilgrimage. They were both humbugs, arch-hypocrites, two
+downright highwaymen, who for the expenses of their journey indemnified
+themselves by seeing who could devour the most fowls and gobble the most
+cheese.
+
+The way was long and therefore wearisome, so they shortened it by
+arguing. Argumentation is a great help. Without it one would go to
+sleep. Our pilgrims shouted themselves hoarse. Then having argued
+themselves out, they talked of other things.
+
+At length the fox said to the cat, "You pretend that you're very clever.
+Do you know as much as I? I have a hundred ruses up my sleeve."
+
+"No," answered the cat, "I have but one; but that is always ready to
+hand, and I maintain that it is worth a thousand other dodges."
+
+Then they fell again to disputing one against the other on each side of
+the question, the whys and the wherefores, raising their voices higher
+and higher. Presently the sudden appearance of a pack of hounds stopped
+their noise.
+
+The cat said to the fox, "Now, my friend, ransack that cunning brain of
+yours for one of your thousand ruses. Fetch down from your sleeve one of
+those certain stratagems. As for me, this is my dodge." So saying, he
+bounded to a tall tree and climbed to its top with alacrity.
+
+The fox tried a hundred futile doublings; ran into a hundred holes; put
+the hounds at fault a hundred times; tried everywhere to find a safe
+place of retreat, but everywhere failed between being smoked out of one
+and driven out of another by the hounds. Finally, as he came out of a
+hole two nimble dogs set upon him and strangled him at the first grip.
+
+
+Too many expedients may spoil the business. One loses time in choosing
+between them and in trying too many. Have only one; but let it be a good
+one.
+
+
+
+
+XXIX
+
+THE MONKEY AND THE CAT
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 17)
+
+
+Bertrand was a monkey and Ratter was a cat. They shared the same
+dwelling and had the same master, and a pretty mischievous pair they
+were. It was impossible to intimidate them. If anything was missed or
+spoilt, no one thought of blaming the other people in the house.
+Bertrand stole all he could lay his hands upon, and as for Ratter, he
+gave more attention to cheese than he did to the mice.
+
+One day, in the chimney corner, these two rascals sat watching some
+chestnuts that were roasting before the fire. How jolly it would be to
+steal them they thought: doubly desirable, for it would not only be joy
+to themselves, but an annoyance to others.
+
+"Brother," said Bertrand to Ratter, "this day you shall achieve your
+master-stroke: you shall snatch some chestnuts out of the fire for me.
+Providence has not fitted me for that sort of game. If it had, I assure
+you chestnuts would have a fine time."
+
+No sooner said than done. Ratter delicately stirred the cinders with his
+paw, stretched out his claws two or three times to prepare for the
+stroke, and then adroitly whipped out first one, then two, then three of
+the chestnuts, whilst Bertrand crunched them up between his teeth. In
+came a servant, and there was an end of the business. Farewell, ye
+rogues!
+
+I am told that Ratter was by no means satisfied with the affair.
+
+
+And princes are equally dissatisfied when, flattered to be employed in
+any uncomfortable concern, they burn their fingers in a distant province
+for the profit of some king.
+
+
+
+
+XXX
+
+THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG[8]
+
+(BOOK X.--No. 1)
+
+
+Do not take it ill if, in these fables, I mingle a little of the bold,
+daring, and fine-spun philosophy that is called new.
+
+They say that the lower animals are mere machines: that everything they
+do is prompted, not by choice, but by mechanism, coming about as it were
+by springs. There is, they say, neither feeling nor soul--nothing but a
+mechanical body. It goes just as a watch or clock goes, plodding on with
+even motion, blindly and aimlessly.
+
+Open such a machine and examine it; what do we find? Wheels take the
+place of intelligence. The first wheel moves the second, and that in
+turn moves a third, with the result that, in due time, it strikes the
+hour.
+
+According to these new philosophers, that is exactly the case with an
+animal. It receives a blow in a certain spot, this spot conveys the
+sensation to another spot, and so the message goes on from place to
+place until the brain receives it and the impression is made. That is
+all very well, but how is the impression made?
+
+It is necessarily made, without passion, without will, say these
+philosophers. They tell us that the common idea is that an animal is
+actuated by emotions which we know as sorrow, joy, love, pleasure, pain,
+cruelty, or some other of these states; but that it is not so. Do not
+deceive yourself, they say.
+
+"What is it then?" I ask. A watch, indeed! And pray what of ourselves?
+
+Ah, well! that is perhaps another thing altogether. This is the way
+Descartes expounds the theory--Descartes, that mortal who, if he had
+lived in pagan times, would have been made a god, and who holds a place
+between man and the higher spirits, just as some I could name--beasts of
+burden with long ears--hold a place between man and the oysters. Thus, I
+say, reasons this author: "I have a gift beyond any possessed by others
+of God's creatures, and that is the gift of thought. I know of what I
+think."
+
+But from positive science we know that although animals may think, they
+cannot reflect upon what they think. Descartes goes further and boldly
+states that they do not think at all. That is a statement which need not
+worry us.
+
+Nevertheless, when in the woods the blast of a horn and the baying of
+hounds agitates the fleeing quarry; when he vainly endeavours, with all
+his skill, to confuse and muddle the scent which betrays him to his
+pursuers; when, an aged beast with full-grown antlers, he puts in his
+place a younger stag and forces it to carry on the chase with its
+fresher bait of the scent of its younger body, and thus carry off the
+hounds and preserve his days--then surely this beast has reasoned. All
+the twisting and turning, all the malice, deception, and the hundred
+stratagems to save his life are worthy of the greatest chiefs of war;
+and worthy of a better fate than death by being torn to pieces; for that
+is the supreme honour of the stag.
+
+
+Again; when the partridge sees its young in danger, before their wings
+have strength enough to bear them away from death, she makes a pretence
+of being wounded and flutters along with a trailing wing, enticing the
+huntsman and his dogs to follow her, and thus by turning away the danger
+saves her little ones. And when the huntsman believes that his dog has
+seized her, lo! she rises, laughs at the sportsman, wishes him farewell,
+and leaves him confused and watching her flight with his eyes.
+
+Not far from the northern regions there is a country where life goes on
+as in the early ages, the inhabitants being profoundly ignorant. I speak
+now of the human creatures. The animals are indeed surprisingly
+enlightened; for they can construct works which stop the ravages of
+swollen torrents and make communication possible from bank to bank. The
+structures are safe and lasting, being founded upon wood over which is
+laid a bed of mortar. The beavers are the engineers. Each one works. The
+task is common to all, and the old ones see that the young ones do not
+shirk their labour. There are many taskmasters directing and urging.
+
+To such a colony of cunning amphibians the republic of Plato itself
+would be but an apprentice affair. The beavers erect their houses for
+the winter time, and make bridges of marvellous construction for passing
+over the ponds; whilst the human folk who live there, though this
+wonderful work is always before their eyes, can but cross the water by
+swimming.
+
+
+That these beavers are nothing but bodies without minds nothing will
+make me believe. But here is something better still. Listen to this
+recital which I had from a king great in fame and glory. This king,
+defender of the northern world, whom I now cite, is my guarantee: a
+prince beloved of the goddess of Victory. His name alone is a bulwark
+against the empire of the Turks. I speak of the Polish king.[9] A king,
+it is understood, can never lie.
+
+He says, then, that upon the frontiers of his kingdom there are animals
+that have always been at war among themselves, their passion for
+fighting having been handed down from father to son. These animals, he
+explains, are allied to the fox. Never has the science of war been more
+skilfully pursued among men than it is pursued by these beasts, not even
+in our present century. They have their advanced out-posts, their
+sentinels and spies; their ambuscades, their expedients, and a thousand
+other inventions of the pernicious and accursed science Warfare, a hag
+born, herself, of Styx,[10] but giving birth to heroes.
+
+Properly to sing of the battles of these four-footed warriors Homer
+should return from beyond the shores of Acheron.[11] Ah! could he but do
+so, and bring with him too the rival of old Epicurus,[12] what would the
+latter say as to the examples I have narrated? He would say only what I
+have already said, namely, that in the lower animals natural instinct is
+sufficient to explain all the wonders I have told: that memory leads the
+animal to repeat over and over again the actions it has made before and
+found successful.
+
+We, as human beings, do differently. Our wills decide for us; not the
+bestial aim, nor the instinct. I walk, I speak, I feel in me a certain
+force, an intelligent principle which all my bodily mechanism obeys.
+This force is distinct from anything connected with my body. It is
+indeed more easily conceived than is the body itself, and of all our
+movements it is the supreme controller. But how does the body conceive
+and understand this intelligent force? That is the point! I see the tool
+obeying the hand; but what guides the hand? Who guides the planets in
+their rapid courses? It may be some angel guide controls the whirling
+planets; and in like manner some spirit dwells in us and controls all
+our machinery. The impulse is given--the impression made--but how, I do
+not know! We shall only learn it in the bosom of God; and to speak
+frankly, Descartes himself was no wiser. On that point we all are
+equals. All that I know is that this intelligent controlling spirit does
+not exist in the lower animals. Man alone is its temple.
+
+Nevertheless, we must allow to the beasts a higher plane than that of
+plants, notwithstanding the fact that plants breathe.
+
+
+Is there any explanation to what I shall now relate? Two rats who were
+seeking their living had the good fortune to find an egg. Such a dinner
+was amply sufficient for folks of their species, they had no need to
+look for an ox. With keen delight and an appetite to match they were
+just about to eat up the egg between them, when an unbidden guest
+appeared in the shape of Master Reynard the fox. This was a most awkward
+and vexatious visitation. How was the egg to be saved from the jaws of
+him? To wrap it up carefully and carry it away by the fore paws, or to
+roll it, or to drag it, were methods as impossible as they were
+hazardous. But Necessity, that ingenious mother, furnished the
+never-failing invention. The sponger being as yet far enough away to
+give the rats time to reach their home, one of them lay upon his back
+and took the egg safely between his arms whilst the other, in spite of
+sundry shocks and a few slips, dragged him home by the tail.
+
+
+After this recital, let any one who dare maintain that animals have no
+powers of reason.
+
+
+For my part if I had the portioning of these faculties I would allow as
+much reasoning power in animals as in infants, who evidently think from
+their earliest years, from which fact we may conclude that one can think
+without knowing oneself. I would, similarly, grant the animals a
+reason, not such as we possess, but far above a blind instinct. I would
+refine a speck of matter, a tiny atom--extract of light--something more
+vivid and lively than fire; for since wood can turn to flame, cannot
+flame, being further purified, teach us something of the rarity of the
+soul? And is not gold extracted from lead? My creatures should be
+capable of feeling and judgment; but nothing more. There should be no
+argument from apes.
+
+As to mankind, I would have their lot infinitely better. We men should
+possess a double treasure; firstly, the soul common to us all, just as
+we happen to be, sages or fools, children, idiots, or our dumb
+companions the animals; secondly, another soul in common, in a certain
+degree, with the angels, and this soul, independent of us though
+belonging to us, should be able to reach to heavenly heights, whilst it
+could also dwell within a point's space. Having a beginning it should be
+without end. Things incredible but true. During infancy this soul,
+itself a child of heaven, should appear to us only as a gentle and
+feeble light; but as the faculties grew, the stronger reason would
+pierce the darkness of matter enveloping our other imperfect and grosser
+soul.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 8: At the time when this was written there was much discussion
+among the learned in France as to the powers of reasoning in animals.]
+
+[Footnote 9: The allusion is to Sobieski, whose victory over the Turks
+made him famous throughout Europe in 1673. La Fontaine had frequently
+met him in the salons of the cultured ladies of France.]
+
+[Footnote 10: A nymph of one of the rivers of Hades named after her. She
+became the mother of Zelus (zeal), Nike (victory), Kratos (power), and
+Bia (strength).]
+
+[Footnote 11: Also a river of Hades, the realm of the dead.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Descartes is meant as the rival of the old philosopher
+Epicurus.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXI
+
+THE DOG WITH HIS EARS CROPPED
+
+(BOOK X.--No. 9)
+
+
+"What have I done to be treated in this way? Mutilated by my own master!
+A nice state to be in! Dare I present myself before other dogs? O ye
+kings over the animals, or rather tyrants of them, would any creature do
+the same to you?"
+
+Such were the lamentations of poor Fido, a young house-dog, whilst those
+who were busy cropping his ears remained quite untouched by his piercing
+and dolorous howls.
+
+Fido believed himself to be ruined for life; but he very shortly found
+that he was a gainer by the maiming. For being by nature disposed to
+pilfer from his companions, it would come within his experience to have
+many misadventures wherein his ears would be torn in a hundred places.
+
+Aggressive dogs always have ragged ears. The less they have for other
+dogs' teeth to fasten upon the better.
+
+When one has but a single weak place to defend, one protects it against
+an onset. Witness Master Fido armed with a spiked collar, and having no
+more ears to catch hold of than are on my hand. Even a wolf would not
+have known where to take him.
+
+
+
+
+XXXII
+
+THE LIONESS AND THE SHE-BEAR
+
+(BOOK X--No. 13)
+
+
+Mamma lioness had lost one of her cubs. Some hunter had made away with
+it, and the poor unfortunate mother roared out her wailings to such an
+extent that all the inhabitants of the forest were seriously disturbed.
+The spells of the night, its darkness and its silence, were powerless to
+hush the tumult of the queen of the forest. Sleep was driven from every
+animal within hearing.
+
+At last the she-bear rose up and coming to the wailing lioness said,
+"Good Gossip, just one word with you. All those little ones that have
+passed between your teeth, had they neither fathers nor mothers?"
+
+"To be sure they had."
+
+"Then if that be so, and as none have come to mourn their dead in cries
+which would split our heads: if so many mothers have borne their loss
+silently, why cannot you be silent also?"
+
+"I? I be silent? Unhappy I? Ah! I have lost my son! There is nought for
+me but to drag out a miserable old age."
+
+"But pray tell me what obliges you to do so."
+
+"Alas! Destiny. It is Destiny that hates me."
+
+[Illustration: Why cannot you be silent also?]
+
+Those are the words that are for ever in the mouths of us all.
+
+Unhappy human kind, let this address itself to you. I hear nothing but
+the echoing murmur of trifling complaints. Whoever, in like case,
+believes himself the hated of the gods, let him consider Hecuba,[13] and
+he will render thanks for their clemency.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 13: Hecuba was the wife of Priam, King of Troy. When that city
+fell Hecuba was chosen by Ulysses as part of his share in the spoils.
+She was changed into a dog for avenging the death of her son whose eyes
+had been put out by the King of Thracia, and she finally ended her life
+by casting herself into the sea.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXIII
+
+THE RABBITS
+
+(BOOK X.--No. 15)
+
+
+When I have noticed how man acts at times, and how, in a thousand ways,
+he comports himself just as the lower animals do, I have often said to
+myself that the lord of these lower orders has no fewer faults than his
+subjects.
+
+Nature has allowed every living thing a drop or two from the fount at
+which the spirits of all creatures imbibe.
+
+I will prove what I say.
+
+If at the hour when night has scarcely passed and day hardly begun I
+climb into a tree, on the edge of some wood, and, like a new Jupiter
+from the heights of Olympus, I send a shot at some unsuspecting rabbit,
+then the whole colony of rabbits, who were enjoying their thyme-scented
+meal with open eyes and listening ears upon the heath, immediately
+scamper away. The report sends them all to seek refuge in their
+subterranean city.
+
+But their great fright is soon over; the danger quickly forgotten. Again
+I see the rabbits more light-hearted than ever coming close under my
+death-dealing hand.
+
+
+Does not this give us a picture of mankind? Dispersed by some storm, men
+no sooner reach a haven than they are ready again to risk the same winds
+and the same distress. True rabbits, they run again into the
+death-dealing hands of fortune.
+
+
+Let us add to this example another of a more ordinary kind.
+
+When strange dogs pass through any spot beyond their customary route
+there is a grand to-do. I leave you to picture it. All the dogs of the
+district with one idea in their heads join forces, barking and biting,
+to chase the intruder beyond the bounds of their territory.
+
+So, it may be, a similar joint-interest in property or in glory and
+grandeur leads such people as the governors of states, certain favoured
+courtiers, and people of a trade to behave exactly like these jealous
+dogs. All of us, as a rule, rob the chance-comer and tear him to pieces.
+Vain ladies and men of letters are usually so disposed. Woe betide the
+newly-arrived beauty or a new writer!
+
+As few as possible fighting round the cake! That's the best way!
+
+I could bring a hundred examples to bear upon this subject; but the
+shorter a discourse is the better. I take the masters of literature for
+my model in this and hold that in the best of themes something should be
+left unsaid for the reader to consider about. Therefore this discourse
+shall end.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIV
+
+THE GODS WISHING TO INSTRUCT A SON OF JUPITER
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 2)
+
+
+Jupiter had a son, who, sensible of his lofty origin, showed always a
+god-like spirit. Childhood is not much concerned with loving; yet to the
+childhood of this young god, loving and wishing to be loved was the
+chief concern. In him, love and reason which grow with years, outraced
+Time, that light-winged bearer of the seasons which come, alas! only too
+quickly.
+
+Flora,[14] with laughing looks and winning airs, was the first to touch
+the heart of the youthful Olympian. Everything that passion could
+inspire--delicate sentiments full of tenderness, tears, and sighs--all
+were there: he forgot nothing. As a son of Jupiter he would by right of
+birth be dowered with greater gifts than the sons of other gods; and it
+seemed as though all his behaviour were prompted by the reminiscence
+that he had indeed already been a lover in some former state, so well
+did he play the part.
+
+Nevertheless, it was Jupiter's wish that the boy should be taught, and
+assembling the gods in council he said, "So far, I have never been at
+fault in the conduct of the universe which I have ruled unaided; but
+there are various charges which I now have decided to distribute amongst
+the younger gods. This beloved child of mine I have already counted
+upon. He is of my own blood and many an altar already flames in his
+honour. Yet to merit his rank among the immortals it is necessary that
+he should possess all knowledge."
+
+As the god of the thunders ceased the whole assembly applauded. As for
+the boy himself, he did not appear to be above the wish to learn
+everything.
+
+"I undertake," said Mars, the god of war, "to teach him the art by which
+so many heroes have won the glories of Olympus and extended the empire."
+
+"I will be his master in the art of the lyre," promised the fair and
+learned Apollo.
+
+"And I," said Hercules with the lion's-skin, "will teach him how to
+overcome Vice and quell evil passions, those poisonous monsters which
+like Hydras[15] are ever reborn in the heart. A foe to effeminate
+pleasures, he shall learn from me those too seldom trodden paths that
+lead to honour along the tracks of virtue."
+
+When it came to Cupid, the god of love, to speak he simply said, "I can
+show him everything."
+
+
+And Cupid was right; for what cannot be achieved with wit and the desire
+to please?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 14: The Goddess of Spring and of Flowers, was also regarded by
+the Greeks as the Goddess of Youth and its pleasures.]
+
+[Footnote 15: The Hydra was a monster with one hundred heads. If one was
+cut off two grew in its place unless the wound was stopped by fire.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXV
+
+THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 5)
+
+
+King Lion, thinking that he would govern better if he took a few lessons
+in moral philosophy, had a monkey brought to him one fine day who was a
+master of arts in the monkey tribe. The first lesson he gave was as
+follows:--
+
+"Great King, in order to govern wisely a prince should always consider
+the good of the country before yielding to that feeling which is
+commonly known as self-love, for that fault is the father of all the
+vices one sees in animals. To rid oneself of this sentiment is not an
+easy thing to do, and is not to be done in a day. Indeed, merely to
+moderate it is to achieve a good deal, and if you succeed so far you
+will never tolerate in yourself anything ridiculous or unjust."
+
+"Give me," commanded the king, "an example of each of those faults."
+
+"Every species of creature," continued the philosopher, "esteems itself
+in its heart above all the others. These others it regards as
+ignoramuses, calling them by many hard names which, after all, hurt
+nobody. At the same time this self-love, which sneers at other tribes
+and other kinds of beasts, induces the individual to heap praise upon
+other individuals of his own species, because that is a very good way of
+praising oneself too. From this it is easy to see that many talents here
+below are in reality but empty pretence, assumption, and pose, and a
+certain gift of making the most of oneself, better understood by
+ignorant people than by learned.
+
+"The other day I followed two asses who were offering the incense of
+flattery to each other by turns, and heard one say, 'My Lord, do you not
+think that man, that perfect animal, is both unjust and stupid? He
+profanes our august name by calling every one of his own kind an ass who
+is ignorant, or dull, or idiotic; and he calls our laughter and our
+discourse by the term "braying." It is very amusing that these human
+people pretend to excel us!'
+
+"'My friend,' said his companion, 'it is for you to speak, and for them
+to hold their tongues. They are the true brayers. But let us speak no
+more of them. We two understand each other; that is sufficient. And as
+for the marvels of delight your divine voice lets fall upon our ears,
+the nightingale herself is but a novice in comparison. You surpass the
+court musician.'
+
+"To this the other donkey replied, 'My lord, I admire in you exactly the
+same excellencies.'
+
+"Not content with flattering each other in this way, these two asses
+went about the cities singing aloud each other's praises. Either one
+thought he was doing a good turn to himself in thus lauding his
+companion.
+
+"Well, your majesty, I know of many people to-day, not among asses, but
+among exalted creatures, whom heaven has been pleased to raise to a high
+degree, who would, if they dared, change their title of 'Excellency to
+that of 'Majesty.' I am saying more than I should, perhaps, and I hope
+your majesty will keep the secret. You wished to hear of some incident
+which would show you, among other things, how self-love makes people
+ridiculous, and there I have given you a good instance. Injustice I will
+speak of another time, it would take too long now."
+
+Thus spoke the ape. No one has ever been able to tell me whether he ever
+did speak of injustice to his king. It would have been a delicate
+matter, and our master of arts, who was no fool, regarded the lion as
+too terrible a king to submit to being lectured too far.
+
+
+
+
+XXXVI
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX IN THE WELL
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 6)
+
+
+Why does Æsop give to the fox the reputation of excelling in all tricks
+of cunning? I have sought for a reason, but cannot find one. Does not
+the wolf, when he has need to defend his life or take that of another,
+display as much knowingness as the fox? I believe he knows more, and I
+dare, perhaps with some reason, to contradict my master in this
+particular.
+
+Nevertheless, here is a case where undoubtedly all the honour fell to
+the dweller in burrows.
+
+One evening a fox, who was as hungry as a dog, happened to see the round
+reflection of the moon in a well, and he believed it to be a fine
+cheese. There were two pails which alternately drew up the water. Into
+the uppermost of these the fox leapt, and his weight caused him to
+descend the well, where he at once discovered his mistake about the
+cheese. He became extremely worried and fancied his end approaching, for
+he could see no way to get up again but by some other hungry one,
+enticed by the same reflection, coming down in the same way that he had.
+
+Two days passed without any one coming to the well. Time, which is
+always marching onward, had, during two nights, hollowed the outline
+of the silvery planet, and Reynard was in despair.
+
+[Illustration: Descended by his greater weight.]
+
+At last a wolf, parched with thirst, drew near, to whom the fox called
+from below, "Comrade, here is a treat for you! Do you see this? It is an
+exquisite cheese, made by Faunus[16] from milk of the heifer Io.[17] If
+Jupiter were ill and lost his appetite he would find it again by one
+taste of this. I have only eaten this piece out of it; the rest will be
+plenty for you. Come down in the pail up there. I put it there on
+purpose for you."
+
+A rigmarole so cleverly told was easily believed by the fool of a wolf,
+who descended by his greater weight, which not only took him down, but
+brought the fox up.
+
+
+We ought not to laugh at the wolf, for we often enough let ourselves be
+deluded with just as little cause. Everybody is ready to believe the
+thing he fears and the thing he desires.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 16: The benign spirit of the fields and woods.]
+
+[Footnote 17: A priestess who was changed by Hera, wife of Zeus, into a
+white heifer.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXVII
+
+THE MICE AND THE SCREECH-OWL
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 9)
+
+
+It is not always wise to say to your company, "Just listen to this joke"
+or "What do you think of this for a marvel?" for one can never be sure
+that the listeners will regard the matter in the same way that the
+teller does. Yet here is a case that makes an exception to this good
+rule, and I maintain that it is in truth wonderful, and, although it has
+the appearance of being a fable, it is in reality absolute fact.
+
+There was once an extremely old pine-tree which an owl, that grim bird
+which Atropus[18] takes for her interpreter, had made to serve as his
+palace. But there were other tenants lodging in its cavernous and
+time-rotted trunk. These were mice, well fed, positive balls of fat, but
+not one of them had a foot. They had all been mutilated. The owl had
+nipped their feet off with his beak, whilst feeding and fostering them
+with wheat from neighbouring stacks.
+
+It must be confessed that this bird had reasoned.
+
+Doubtless, in his time, when hunting mice, he had found that after
+bringing them home they escaped again from the trunk, and to prevent
+the recurrence of such a loss the artful rascal had thenceforth nipped
+off the feet of all he caught, keeping them prisoners and eating them
+one to-day and one to-morrow. To eat them all at once would have been
+impossible. He had his health to think of. His forethought, which went
+quite as far as ours, extended to bringing them grain for their
+subsistence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If this is not reasoning, then I do not understand what reasoning is.
+See what arguments he used:--
+
+"When these mice are caught they run away, therefore I must eat them as
+I catch them. What all? Impossible! But would it not be well to keep
+some for a needy future? If so, I must keep them and feed them too,
+without their escaping. But how's that to be done? Happy thought! Nip
+off their feet!"
+
+Now find me among human beings anything better carried out. Did
+Aristotle and his followers do any better thinking, by my faith?
+
+
+NOTE.--This is not a fable. The thing actually occurred, although
+marvellous enough and almost incredible. I have perhaps carried the
+forethought of this owl too far, for I do not pretend to establish in
+animals a line of reasoning; but in this style of literature a little
+exaggeration is pardonable.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 18: One of the three Fates, the first and second being Clotho
+and Lachesis. They spun, measured, and cut off, respectively, the thread
+of life for men at their birth.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XXXVIII
+
+THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 1)
+
+
+That great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his companions driven
+hither and thither at the will of the winds for ten years, never knowing
+what their ultimate fate was to be. At length they disembarked upon a
+shore where Circe, the daughter of Apollo, held her court. Receiving
+them she brewed a delicious but baneful liquor, which she made them
+drink. The result of this was that first they lost their reason, and a
+few moments after, their bodies took the forms and features of various
+animals; some unwieldy, some small. Ulysses alone, having the wisdom to
+withstand the temptation of the treacherous cup, escaped the
+metamorphosis. He, besides possessing wisdom, bore the look of a hero
+and had the gift of honeyed speech, so that it came about that the
+goddess herself imbibed a poison little different from her own; that is
+to say, she became enamoured of the hero and declared her love to him.
+Now was the time for Ulysses to profit by this turn of events, and he
+was too cunning to miss the opportunity, so he begged and obtained the
+boon that his friends should be restored to their natural shapes.
+
+"But will they be willing to accept their own forms again?" asked the
+nymph. "Go to them and make them the offer."
+
+Ulysses, glad and eager, ran to his Greeks and cried, "The poisoned cup
+has its remedy, and I come to offer it to you. Dear friends of mine,
+will you not be glad to have your manly forms again? Speak, for your
+speech is already restored."
+
+The lion was the first to reply. Making an effort to roar he said, "I,
+for one, am not such a fool. What! renounce all the great advantages
+that have just been given me? I have teeth. I have claws. I can pull to
+pieces anything that attacks me. I am, in fact, a king. Do you think it
+would suit me to become a citizen of Ithaca once more? Who knows but
+that you might make of me a common soldier again. Thank you; but I will
+remain as I am."
+
+Ulysses, in sad surprise, turned to the bear. "Ah, brother! what form is
+this you have taken, you who used to be so handsome?"
+
+"Well, really! I like that!" said the bear in his way. "What form is
+this? you ask. Why it is the form that a bear should have. Pray who
+instructed you that one form is more handsome than another? Is it your
+business to judge between us? I prefer to appeal to the sight of the
+gentler sex in our ursine race. Do I displease you? Then pass on. Go
+your ways and leave me to mine. I am free and content as I am, and I
+tell you frankly and flatly that I will not change my state."
+
+The princely Greek then turned to a wolf with the same proposals, and
+risking a similar rebuff said: "Comrade, it overwhelms me that a sweet
+young shepherdess should be driven to complain to the echoing crags of
+the gluttonous appetite that impelled you to devour her sheep. Time was
+when you would have protected her sheepfold. In those days you led an
+honest life. Leave your lairs and become, instead of a wolf, an honest
+man again."
+
+"What is that?" answered the wolf. "I don't see your point. You come
+here treating me as though I were a carnivorous beast. But what are you,
+who are talking in this strain? Would not you and yours have eaten these
+sheep, which all the village is deploring, if I had not? Now say, on
+your oath, do you really think I should have loved slaughter any less if
+I had remained a man? For a mere word, you men are at times ready to
+strangle each other. Are you not, therefore, as wolves one to another?
+All things considered, I maintain as a matter of fact that, rascal for
+rascal, it is better to be a wolf than a man. I decline to make any
+change in my condition."
+
+In this way did Ulysses go from one to another making the same
+representations and receiving from all, large and small alike, the same
+refusals. Liberty, unbridled lust of appetite, the ambushes of the
+woods, all these things were their supreme delight. They all renounced
+the glory attaching to great deeds.
+
+
+They thought that in following their passions they were enjoying
+freedom, not seeing that they were but slaves to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIX
+
+THE QUARREL BETWEEN THE DOGS AND THE CATS AND BETWEEN THE CATS AND THE
+MICE
+
+(BOOK XII--No. 8)
+
+
+Discord has always reigned in the universe; of this our world furnishes
+a thousand different instances, for with us the sinister goddess has
+many subjects.
+
+Let us begin with the four elements. Here you may be astonished to
+observe that they are, throughout, in antagonism to each other. Besides
+these four potentates how many other forces of all descriptions are
+everlastingly at war!
+
+In bygone times there was a house which was full of cats and dogs who
+lived together like amicable cousins, for this reason: Their master had
+made a hundred irrevocable laws and rules, settling their respective
+tasks, their meals, and every other incident of their lives, and at the
+same time he threatened with the whip the first one who should promote a
+quarrel. The kindly, almostly brotherly nature of this union was very
+edifying to the neighbours.
+
+But at last the concord ceased. Some little favouritism in the bestowal
+of a bone, or a dish of food, caused the outraged remainder to raise
+furious protests. I have heard some chroniclers attribute the discord to
+an affair of love and jealousy. At any rate, whatever the origin, the
+altercation speedily fired both hall and kitchen, and divided the
+company into partisans for this cat or for that dog.
+
+A new rule was made, which exasperated the cats, and their complaints
+deafened the whole neighbourhood. Their advocate advised returning
+absolutely to the old rules and decrees. The law books were searched
+for, but could nowhere be found. And that was no wonder, for the books
+which had been hidden in a corner by one set of partisans at first had
+been at last devoured by mice. This gave rise to another law-suit, which
+the mice lost and had to pay for.
+
+Many old cats, cunning, subtle, and sharp, and bearing a grudge against
+the whole race of mice beside, lay in wait for them, caught them, and
+cleared them out of the house, much to the advantage of the master of
+the establishment.
+
+
+So, returning to my moral, one cannot find under heaven any animal, any
+being, any creature who has not his opponent. This appears to be a law
+of nature. It would be time wasted to seek for a reason. God does well
+whatever he does. Beyond that I know nothing; but I do know that people
+come to high words over nothing three times out of four. Ah, ye human
+folk! even at the age of sixty you ought to be sent back to the
+schoolmaster.
+
+
+
+
+XL
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 9)
+
+
+A fox once remarked to a wolf, "Dear friend, do you know that the utmost
+I can get for my meals is a tough old cock or perchance a lean hen or
+two. It is a diet of which I am thoroughly weary. You, on the other
+hand, feed much better than that, and with far less danger. My foraging
+takes me close up to houses; but you keep far away. I beg of you,
+comrade, to teach me your trade. Let me be the first of my race to
+furnish my pot with a plump sheep, and you will not find me ungrateful."
+
+"Very well," replied the obliging wolf. "I have a brother recently dead,
+suppose you go and get his skin and wear it." This the fox accordingly
+did and the wolf commenced to give him lessons. "You must do this and
+act so, when you wish to separate the dogs from the flocks." At first
+Reynard was a little awkward, but he rapidly improved, and with a little
+practice he reached at last the perfection of wolfish strategy. Just as
+he had learned all that there was to know a flock approached. The sham
+wolf ran after it spreading terror all around, even as Patroclus
+wearing[19] the armour of Achilles spread alarm throughout camp and
+city, when mothers, wives, and old men hastened to the temples for
+protection. "In this case, the bleating army made sure there must be
+quite fifty wolves after them, and fled, dog and shepherd with them, to
+the neighbouring village, leaving only one sheep as a hostage.
+
+This remaining sheep our thief instantly seized and was making off with
+it. But he had not gone more than a few steps when a cock crew near by.
+At this signal, which habit of life had led him to regard as a warning
+of dawn and danger, he dropped his disguising wolf-skin and, forgetting
+his sheep, his lesson, and his master, scampered off with a will.
+
+
+Of what use is such shamming? It is an illusion to suppose that one is
+really changed by making the pretence. One resume's one's first nature
+upon the earliest occasion for hiding it.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 19: At the Siege of Troy. He was mistaken for Achilles.]
+
+[Illustration: A guide for the footsteps of love.]
+
+
+
+
+XLI
+
+LOVE AND FOLLY
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 14)
+
+
+Everything to do with love is mystery. Cupid's arrows, his quiver, his
+torch, his boyhood: it is more than a day's work to exhaust this
+science. I make no pretence here of explaining everything. My object is
+merely to relate to you, in my own way, how the blind little god was
+deprived of his sight, and what consequences followed this evil which
+perchance was a blessing after all. On the latter point I will decide
+nothing, but will leave it to lovers to judge upon.
+
+
+One day as Folly and Love were playing together, before the boy had lost
+his vision, a dispute arose. To settle this matter Love wished to lay
+his cause before a council of the gods; but Folly, losing her patience,
+dealt him a furious blow upon the brow. From that moment and for ever
+the light of heaven was gone from his eyes.
+
+Venus demanded redress and revenge, the mother and the wife in her
+asserting themselves in a way which I leave you to imagine. She deafened
+the gods with her cries, appealing to Jupiter, Nemesis, the judges from
+Hades, in fact all who would be importuned. She represented the
+seriousness of the case, pointing out that her son could now not make a
+step without a stick. No punishment, she urged, was heavy enough for so
+dire a crime, and she demanded that the damage should be repaired.
+
+When the gods had each well considered the public interest on the one
+hand and the complainant's demands upon the other, the supreme court
+gave as its verdict that Folly was condemned for ever more to serve as a
+guide for the footsteps of Love.
+
+
+
+
+XLII
+
+THE FOREST AND THE WOODCUTTER
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 16)
+
+
+A woodcutter had broken or lost the handle of his hatchet and found it
+not easy to get it repaired at once. During the time, therefore, that it
+was out of use, the woods enjoyed a respite from further damage. At last
+the man came humbly and begged of the forest to allow him gently to take
+just one branch wherewith to make him a new haft, and promised that then
+he would go elsewhere to ply his trade and get his living. That would
+leave unthreatened many an oak and many a fir that now won universal
+respect on account of its age and beauty.
+
+The innocent forest acquiesced and furnished him with a new handle. This
+he fixed to his blade and, as soon as it was finished, fell at once upon
+the trees, despoiling his benefactress, the forest, of her most
+cherished ornaments. There was no end to her bewailings: her own gift
+had caused her grief.
+
+
+Here you see the way of the world and of those who follow it. They use
+the benefit against the benefactors. I weary of talking about it. Yet
+who would not complain that sweet and shady spots should suffer such
+outrage. Alas! it is useless to cry out and be thought a nuisance:
+ingratitude and abuses will remain the fashion none the less.
+
+
+
+
+XLIII
+
+THE FOX AND THE YOUNG TURKEYS
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 18)
+
+
+Some young turkeys were lucky enough to find a tree which served them as
+a citadel against the assaults of a certain fox. He, one night, having
+made the round of the rampart and seen each turkey watching like a
+sentinel, exclaimed, "What! These people laugh at me, do they? And do
+they think that they alone are exempt from the common rule? No! by all
+the gods! no!"
+
+He accomplished his design.
+
+The moon shining brilliantly seemed to favour the turkey folk against
+the fox. But he was no novice in the laying of sieges, and had recourse
+to his bag of rascally tricks. He pretended to climb the tree; stood
+upon his hind legs; counterfeited death; then came to life again.
+Harlequin himself could not have acted so many parts. He reared his tail
+and made it gleam in the moonshine, and practised a hundred other
+pleasantries, during which no turkey could have dared to go to sleep.
+The enemy tired them out at last by keeping their eyes fixed upon him.
+The poor birds became dazed. One lost its balance and fell. Reynard put
+it by. Then another fell and was caught and laid on one side. Nearly
+half of them at length succumbed and were taken off to the fox's larder.
+
+
+To concentrate too much attention upon a danger may cause us to tumble
+into it.
+
+
+
+
+XLIV
+
+THE APE
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 19)
+
+
+There is an ape in Paris to whom a wife was once given; and he,
+imitating many another husband, beat the poor creature to such an extent
+that she sighed all the breath out of her body and died.
+
+Their son uttered the most doleful howls as a protest to this terrible
+business.
+
+The father laughs now. His wife is dead and he already has found other
+lady companions, whom, no doubt, he beats in the same way; for he haunts
+the taverns and is frequently tipsy.
+
+
+Never expect anything good from people who imitate, whether they be apes
+or authors. Of the two the worst kind is the imitating author.
+
+
+
+
+XLV
+
+THE SCYTHIAN PHILOSOPHER
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 20)
+
+
+A certain austere philosopher of Scythia, wishing to follow a pleasant
+life, travelled through the land of the Greeks, and there he found in a
+quiet spot a sage, one such as Virgil has written of; a man the equal of
+kings, the peer almost of the gods, and like them content and tranquil.
+
+The happiness of this sage lay entirely in his beautiful garden. There
+the Scythian found him, pruning hook in hand, cutting away the useless
+wood from his fruit trees; lopping here, pruning there, trimming this
+and that, and everywhere aiding Nature, who repaid his care with usury.
+
+"Why this wrecking?" asked the philosopher. "Is it wisdom thus to
+mutilate these poor dwellers in your garden? Drop that merciless tool,
+your pruning hook. Leave the work to the scythe of time. He will send
+them, soon enough, to the shores of the river of the departed."
+
+"I am taking away the superfluous," answered the sage, "so that what is
+left may flourish the better."
+
+The Scythian returned to his cheerless abode and, taking a bill-hook,
+cut and trimmed every hour in the day, advising his neighbours to do
+likewise and prescribing to his friends the means and methods. A
+universal cutting-down followed. The handsomest boughs were lopped; his
+orchard mutilated beyond all reason. The seasons were disregarded, and
+neither young moons nor old were noted. In the end everything languished
+and died.
+
+
+This Scythian philosopher resembles the indiscriminating Stoic who cuts
+away from the soul all passions and desires, good as well as bad, even
+to the most innocent wishes. For my own part, I protest against such
+people strongly. They take from the heart its greatest impulses and we
+cease to live before we are dead.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XLVI
+
+THE ELEPHANT AND JUPITER'S APE
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 21)
+
+
+Once in the olden times the elephant and the rhinoceros disputed as to
+which was the more important, and which should, therefore, have empire
+over the other animals. They decided to settle the point by battle in an
+enclosed field.
+
+The day was fixed, and all in readiness, when somebody came and informed
+them that Jupiter's ape, bearing a caduceus, had been seen in the air.
+The fact of his holding a caduceus[20] proved him to be acting as
+official messenger from Olympus, and the elephant immediately took it
+for granted that the ape came as ambassador with greetings to his
+highness. Elated with this idea he waited for Gille, for that was the
+name of the ape, and thought him rather tardy in presenting his
+credentials. But at length Master Gille did salute his excellency as he
+passed, and the elephant prepared himself for the message. But not a
+word was forthcoming.
+
+It was evident that the gods were not giving so much attention to these
+matters as the elephant supposed.
+
+What does it matter to those in high places whether one is an elephant
+or a fly?
+
+The would-be monarch was reduced to the necessity of opening the
+conversation himself. "My cousin Jupiter," he began, "will soon be able
+to watch a rather fine combat from his supreme throne, and his court
+will see some splendid sport."
+
+"What combat?" asked the ape rather severely.
+
+"What! Do you not know that the rhinoceros denies me precedence: that
+the Elephantidæ are at war with the Rhinocerotidæ? You surely know these
+families: they have some reputation."
+
+"I am charmed to learn their names," replied Master Gille. "We are
+little concerned about such matters in our vast halls."
+
+This shamed and surprised the elephant. "Eh! What, then, is the reason
+of your visit amongst us?"
+
+"Oh, it was to divide a blade of grass between two ants. We care for
+all. As for your affair, nothing has been said about it in the council
+of the gods. The little and the great are equal in their eyes."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 20: The wand or official staff of Hermes.]
+
+
+
+
+XLVII
+
+
+THE LEAGUE OF RATS
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 26)
+
+
+There was once a mouse who lived in terrible fear of a cat that had lain
+in wait watching for her. She was in great anxiety to know what she
+could do to escape the threatening danger.
+
+Being prudent and wise she consulted her neighbour, a large and
+important rat. His lordship the rat had taken up his abode in a very
+good inn, and had boasted a hundred times that he had no fear for either
+tom-cat or she-cat. Neither teeth nor claws caused him any anxious
+thought.
+
+"Dame Mouse," said this boaster, "whatever I do, I cannot, upon my word,
+chase away this cat that threatens you without some help. But let me
+call together all the rats hereabouts and I'll play him a sorry trick or
+two."
+
+The mouse curtsied humbly her thanks and the rat ran with speed to the
+head-quarters; that is to say to the larder, where the rats were in the
+habit of assembling. Arriving out of breath and perturbed in mind he
+found them making a great feast at the expense of their host.
+
+"What ails you?" asked one of the feasters. "Speak!"
+
+"In two words," answered he, "the reason for my coming among you in
+this way is simply that it has become absolutely necessary to help the
+mice; for Grimalkin is abroad making terrible slaughter among them.
+This, the most devilish of cats, will, when she has no mice left, turn
+her attention to the eating of rats."
+
+"He says what is true," cried they all. "To arms, to arms!" Nothing
+could stem the tide of their impetuosity; although, it is said, a few
+she-rats shed tears. It was no matter. Every one overhauled his
+equipment, and filled his wallet with cheese. To risk life was the
+determination of all. They set off, as if to a fête, with happy minds
+and joyful hearts.
+
+Alas, for the mouse! These warriors were a moment too late. The cat had
+her already by the head. Advancing at the double the rats ran to the
+succour of their good little friend; but the cat swore, and stalked away
+in front of the enemy, having no intention of surrendering her prey.
+
+At the sound of the cat's defiance, the prudent rats, fearing ill fate,
+beat a safe retreat without carrying any further their intended
+onslaught. Each one ran to his hole, and whenever any ventured out again
+it was always with the utmost caution to avoid the cat.
+
+
+
+
+XLVIII
+
+THE ARBITER, THE HOSPITALLER, AND THE HERMIT
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 28)
+
+
+Three saints, all equally zealous and anxious for their salvation, had
+the same ideal, although the means by which they strove towards it were
+different. But as all roads lead to Rome, these three were each content
+to choose their own path.
+
+One, touched by the cares, the tediousness, and the reverses which seem
+to be inevitably attached to lawsuits, offered, without any reward, to
+judge and settle all causes submitted to him. To make a fortune on this
+earth was not an end he had in view.
+
+Ever since there have been laws, man, for his sins, has condemned
+himself to litigation half his lifetime. Half? three-quarters, I should
+say, and sometimes the whole. This good conciliator imagined he could
+cure the silly and detestable craze for going to law.
+
+The second saint chose the hospitals as his field of labour. I admire
+him. Kindly care taken to alleviate the sufferings of mankind is a
+charity I prefer before all others.
+
+The sick of those days were much as they are now--peevish, impatient,
+and ever grumbling. They gave our poor hospitaller plenty of work. They
+would say, "Ah! he cares very particularly for such and such. They are
+his friends, hence we are neglected."
+
+But bad as were these complaints they were nothing to those which the
+arbiter had to face. He got himself into a sorry tangle. No one was
+content. Arbitration pleased neither one side nor the other. According
+to them the judge could never succeed in holding the balance level. No
+wonder that at last the self-appointed judge grew weary.
+
+He betook himself to the hospitals. There he found that the
+self-sacrificing hospitaller had nothing better to tell of his results.
+Complaints and murmurs were all that either could gain.
+
+With sad hearts they gave up their endeavours and repaired to the silent
+wood, there to live down their sorrows. In these retreats, at a spot
+sheltered from the sun, gently tended by the breezes, and near a pure
+rivulet, they found the third saint, and of him they asked advice.
+
+"Advice," said he, "is only to be sought of yourselves; for who, better
+than yourselves, can know your own needs? The knowledge of oneself is
+the first care imposed upon mankind by the Almighty. Have you obeyed
+this mandate whilst out in the world? If there you did not learn to know
+yourselves, these tranquil shades will certainly help you; for nowhere
+else is it possible. Stir up this stream. Do you now see yourselves
+reflected in it? No! How could you, when the mud is like a thick cloud
+between us and the crystal? But let it settle, my brothers, and then you
+will see your image. The better to study yourselves live in the
+desert."
+
+The lonely hermit was believed and the others followed his wise counsel.
+
+
+It does not follow that people should not be well employed. Since some
+must plead; since men die and fall ill, doctors are a necessity and so
+also are lawyers. These ministers, thank God, will never fail us. The
+wealth and honours to be won make one sure of that. Nevertheless, in
+these general needs one is apt to neglect oneself. And you, judges,
+ministers, and princes, who give all your time to the public weal; you,
+who are troubled by countless annoyances and disappointments,
+disheartened by failure and corrupted by good fortune--you do not see
+yourselves. You see no one. Should some good impulse lead you to think
+over these matters, some flatterer breaks in and distracts you.
+
+
+This lesson is the ending of this work. May the centuries to come find
+it a useful one. I present it to kings. I propose it to the wise. What
+better ending could I make?
+
+
+
+
+LETCHWORTH
+
+THE TEMPLE PRESS
+
+PRINTERS
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+by Jean de la Fontaine
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Original Fables of La Fontaine, by Fredk. Colin Tilney.
+    </title>
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+by Jean de la Fontaine
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+       Rendered into English Prose by Fredk. Colin Tilney
+
+Author: Jean de la Fontaine
+
+Illustrator: Frederick Colin Tilney
+
+Translator: Frederick Colin Tilney
+
+Release Date: May 30, 2005 [EBook #15946]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jason Isbell, Julia Miller and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<h2>TALES FOR CHILDREN FROM MANY LANDS</h2>
+
+<h3>EDITED BY F.C. TILNEY</h3>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img01-full.jpg" name="img01" id="img01"><img src="./images/img01.jpg" alt="The heart of Thyrsis left." title="The heart of Thyrsis left." /></a><br />
+The heart of Thyrsis left.</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img02-full.jpg"><img src="./images/img02.jpg" alt="THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE
+RENDERED INTO ENGLISH PROSE BY FREDK. COLIN TILNEY
+WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
+LONDON: J.M. DENT &amp; SONS LIMITED NEW YORK: E.P. DUTTON &amp; COMPANY" /></a></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">If</span> deep wisdom, gentle satire, polite cynicism, and, above all,
+irresistible humour are qualities which make a book attractive then La
+Fontaine's <i>Fables</i> should be in the hands of all. Their charm is
+two-fold; for whilst they induce pleasurable reflection in the reader
+they delight him by the gaiety of their subject matter.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the fact that the spell of La Fontaine's verse
+necessarily disappears when another tongue is employed, his English
+translators, both Elizur Wright and Walter Thornbury, have courageously
+attempted to do him justice in prosody. In this little book no such
+effort has been made, chiefly for the reason that, for any but the
+unusually gifted, to snatch at rhythm and rhyme is often to let drop the
+apt and ready word as &AElig;sop's mastiff dropped his dinner. But there is a
+further excuse for the present writer. Verse has little attraction for
+children unless it jingles merrily, and that is a thing as impossible as
+it is undesirable where the claims of a philosophic original make
+restrictions. Since the spirit is more likely to survive if the letter
+is not exacting, it is difficult to see why custom looks askance upon
+prose versions of poetry. But this little book may escape such censure
+on the ground of its being but a selection from the complete <i>Fables</i> of
+La Fontaine. It presents only those of which the great fabulist was
+himself the originator. A selection of some sort being imperative there
+seemed to be a simple and easy choice in the condition of absolute
+originality; particularly as the older fables are given in another
+volume of this series.</p>
+
+<p>This translation (in which I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of my
+friend Mrs. A.H. Beddoe) is neither "free" nor literal. It sometimes
+amplifies a thought, much as a musician might amplify the harmonies upon
+a master's figured bass. But even this is rarely done, and then only
+with a view to the youthful reader's pleasure and profit. With that
+view, further, the social and political introductions to the fables have
+been omitted, as well as the scientific discourses and the allusions to
+the unfortunate wars of Louis XIV. and other historical matters, all of
+which would have neither meaning nor interest but for "grown-ups" of a
+certain class.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">F.C. Tilney.</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents" width="630">
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Two Mules</span></td><td align='right'> <a href="#I">13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Hare and the Partridge</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#II">15</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Gardener and His Landlord</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#III">17</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Man and His Image</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#IV">20</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Animals Sick of the Plague</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#V">22</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Unhappily Married Man</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#VI">25</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Rat retired from the World</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#VII">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Maiden</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#VIII">29</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Wishes</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#IX">31</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Dairy-Woman and the Pail of Milk</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#X">34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Priest and the Corpse</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XI">36</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Man Who ran after Fortune and the Man who waited for Her in His Bed</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XII">38</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Animal in the Moon</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XIII">42</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Fortune-Tellers</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XIV">44</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Cobbler and the Financier</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XV">47</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Power of Fable</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XVI">50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Dog Who carried His Master's Dinner</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XVII">52</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Thyrsis and Amaranth</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XVIII">54</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Rat and the Elephant</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XIX">56</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Horoscope</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XX">57</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Jupiter and the Thunderbolts</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXI">60</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Education</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXII">62</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Democritus and the People of Abdera</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXIII">64</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Acorn and the Pumpkin</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXIV">67</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Schoolboy, the Pedant, and the Owner of a Garden</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXV">69</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXVI">71</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Oyster and the Pleaders</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXVII">73</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Cat and the Fox</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXVIII">75</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Monkey and the Cat</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXIX">77</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Two Rats, the Fox, and the Egg</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXX">79</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Dog with His Ears Cropped</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXI">86</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Lioness and the She-Bear</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXII">88</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Rabbits</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXIII">90</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Gods wishing to Instruct a Son of Jupiter</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXIV">93</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Lion, the Monkey, and the Two Asses</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXV">95</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Wolf and the Fox in the Well</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXVI">98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Mice and the Screech-Owl</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXVII">100</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Companions of Ulysses</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXVIII">102</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Quarrel between the Dogs and the Cats and between the Cats and the Mice</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XXXIX">106</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Wolf and the Fox</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XL">109</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Love and Folly</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLI">111</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Forest and the Woodcutter</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLII">113</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Fox and the Young Turkeys</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLIII">115</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Ape</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLIV">117</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Scythian Philosopher</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLV">118</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Elephant and Jupiter's Ape</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLVI">120</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The League of Rats</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLVII">122</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Arbiter, the Hospitaller, and the Hermit</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#XLVIII">124</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Illustrations" width="630">
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Heart of Thyrsis leapt</span></td><td> </td><td align='right'><a href="#img01"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"You boasted of being so Swift"</span></td><td><i>Facing page</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#img04">14</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Over toppled the Milk</span></td><td><i>"</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#img06">35</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Garret was still a Sibyl's Den</span></td><td><i>"</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#img07">46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Deliberately swallowed the Oyster</span></td><td><i>"</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#img10">74</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Why cannot You be Silent also?"</span></td><td><i>"</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#img11">88</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Descended by His greater Weight</span></td><td><i>"</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#img12">98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Guide for the Footsteps of Love</span></td><td><i>"</i> </td><td align='right'><a href="#img14">111</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> poet Jean de la Fontaine was born at Ch&acirc;teau-Thierry on
+July 8, 1621. He was a kindly, merry, and generous man and much beloved.</p>
+<p>His fables were written in verse and were published in three collections
+at different times of his life. Many were new versions of existing
+fables; but those of his later years were more often original
+inventions.</p>
+
+<p>All in this book are of La Fontaine's own invention, although several
+have since appeared in collections of &AElig;sop's fables without the
+acknowledgment that is La Fontaine's due.</p>
+
+<p>He died on April 13, 1695, at the age of seventy-three.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="figcenter"><img src="./images/img03.jpg" alt="Two mules" /></p>
+
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2>
+
+<h2>The Two Mules</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> I.&mdash;No. 4)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> were two heavily-laden mules making a journey together.
+One was carrying oats and the other bore a parcel of silver money
+collected from the people as a tax upon salt. This, we learn, was a tax
+which produced much money for the government, but it bore very hard upon
+the people, who revolted many times against it.</p>
+
+<p>The mule that carried the silver was very proud of his burden, and would
+not have been relieved of it if he could. As he stepped out he took care
+that the bells upon his harness should jingle well as became a mule of
+so much importance.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a band of robbers burst into the road, pounced upon the
+treasure mule, seized it by the bridle, and stopped it short.
+Struggling to defend itself the unhappy creature groaned and sighed as
+it cried: "Is this then the fate that has been in store for me: that I
+must fall and perish whilst my fellow traveller escapes free from
+danger?"</p>
+
+<p><br />
+"My friend," exclaimed the mule that carried only the oats, and whom the
+robbers had not troubled about, "it is not always good to have exalted
+work to do. Had you been like me, a mere slave to a miller, you would
+not have been in such a bad way now!"</p>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img04-full.jpg" name="img04" id="img04"><img src="./images/img04.jpg" alt="You boasted of being so swift." title="You boasted of being so swift." /></a><br />
+You boasted of being so swift.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2>
+
+<h2>THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> V.&mdash;No. 17)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Never</span> mock at other people's misfortune; for you cannot tell
+how soon you yourself may be unhappy. &AElig;sop the sage has given us one or
+two examples of this truth, and I am going to tell you of a similar one
+now.</p>
+
+<p>A hare and a partridge were living as fellow-citizens very peacefully in
+a field, when a pack of hounds making an onset obliged the hare to seek
+refuge. He rushed into his form and succeeded in putting the hounds at
+fault. But here the scent from his over-heated body betrayed him.
+Towler, philosophising, concluded that this scent came from his hare,
+and with admirable zeal routed him out. Then old Trusty, who never is at
+fault, proclaimed that the hare was gone away. The poor unfortunate
+creature at last died in his form.</p>
+
+<p>The partridge, his companion, thought fit to soothe his last moments
+with some scoffing remarks upon his fate. "You boasted of being so
+swift," she said "What has come to your feet, then?"</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+But even as she was chuckling her own turn came. Secure in the belief
+that her wings would save her whatever happened, she did not reckon upon
+the cruel talons of the hawk.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2>
+
+<h2>THE GARDENER AND HIS LANDLORD</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> IV.&mdash;No. 4)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> who had a great fondness for gardening, being half a
+countryman and half town-bred, possessed in a certain village a
+fair-sized plot with a field attached, and all enclosed by a quickset
+hedge. Here sorrel and lettuce grew freely, as well as such flowers as
+Spanish jasmine and wild thyme, and from these his good wife Margot
+culled many a posy for her high days and holidays.</p>
+
+<p>This happy state of things was soon troubled by the visits of a hare,
+and to such an extent that the man had to go to his landlord and lodge a
+complaint. "This wretched animal," he said, "comes here and stuffs
+himself night and morning, and simply laughs at traps and snares. As for
+stones and sticks they make no difference whatever to him. He must be
+enchanted."</p>
+
+<p>"Enchanted!" cried the landlord. "I defy enchantment! Were he the devil
+himself old Towler would soon rout him out in spite of his tricks. I'll
+rid you of him, my man, never fear!"</p>
+
+<p>"And when?" asked the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, to-morrow, without more delay!"</p>
+
+<p>The affair being thus arranged, on the morrow came the landlord with all
+his following. "First of all," he said, "how about breakfast? Your
+chickens are tender I'll be bound. Come here, my dear," he added,
+addressing the man's daughter, and then, to her father, "When are you
+going to let her marry? Hasn't a son-in-law come on the scene yet? My
+dear fellow, this is a thing that positively must be done you know,
+you'll have to put your hand in your pocket to some purpose." So saying
+he sat down beside the damsel, took her hand, held her by the arm, toyed
+with her fichu, and took other silly and trifling liberties which the
+girl resented with great self-respect, whilst the father grew a little
+uneasy in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, the cooking went on. There was quite a run on the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"How ripe are your hams? They look good."</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," replied the flattered host, "they are yours."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, really now! Well I'll take them, and that right gladly."</p>
+
+<p>The landlord and his family, his dogs, his horses, and his men-servants,
+all take breakfast with hearty appetites. He assumes the host's place
+and privileges, drinks his wine and caresses his daughter. After this a
+crowd of hunters take seats at the breakfast table.</p>
+
+<p>Now everybody is lively and busy with preparations for the hunt. They
+wind the horns to such purpose that the good man is dumbfounded by the
+din. Worse than that they make terrible havoc in the poor garden.
+Good-bye to all the neat rows and beds! Good-bye to the chickory and the
+leeks! Good-bye to all the pot-herbs!</p>
+
+<p>The hare lies hidden under the leaves of a great cabbage, but being
+discovered is quickly started, whereupon he rushes to a hole&mdash;nay, worse
+than a hole, a great and horrible gap in the poor hedge, made by the
+landlord's order, so that they might all burst out of the garden in fine
+style; for it would have looked ridiculous for them to ride out at the
+gate.</p>
+
+<p>The poor man objected. "This is fine fun for princes, no doubt&mdash;&mdash;"; but
+they let him talk, whilst dogs and men together did more harm in one
+hour than all the hares in the province would have done in a century.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Little princes, settle your own quarrels amongst yourselves. It is
+madness to have recourse to kings. You should never let them engage in
+your wars, nor even enter your domains.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> I.&mdash;No. 11)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> there was a man who loved himself very much, and who
+permitted himself no rivals in that love. He thought his face and figure
+the handsomest in all the world. Anything in the shape of a mirror that
+could show him his own likeness he took care to avoid; for he did not
+want to be reminded that perhaps he was over-rating his beauty. For this
+reason he hated looking-glasses and accused them of being false. He made
+a very great mistake in this respect; but that he did not mind, being
+quite content to live in the happiness the mistake afforded him.</p>
+
+<p>To cure him of so grievous an error, officious Fate managed matters in
+such a way that wherever he turned his eyes they would fall on one of
+those mute little counsellors that ladies carry and appeal to when they
+are anxious about their appearance. He found mirrors in the houses;
+mirrors in the shops; mirrors in the pockets of gallants; mirrors even
+as ornaments on waist-belts of ladies.</p>
+
+<p>What was he to do&mdash;this poor Narcissus? He thought to avoid all such
+things by going far away from haunts of mankind, where he should never
+have to face a mirror again. But in the woods to which he retreated a
+clear rivulet ran. Into this he happened to look and&mdash;saw himself again.
+Angrily he told himself that his eyes had been deluded by an idle fancy.
+Henceforth he would keep away from the water! This he tried his utmost
+to do; but who can resist the beauty of a woodland stream? There he was
+and remained, always with that which he had determined to shun.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+My meaning is easily seen. It applies to everybody; for everybody takes
+some joy in harbouring this very error. The man in love with himself
+stands for the soul of each one of us. All the mirrors wherein he saw
+himself reflected stand for the faults of other people, in which we
+really see our own faults though we hate to recognise them as such. As
+for the brook, that, as every one knows, stands for the book of maxims
+which the Duke de la Rochefoucauld<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> wrote.</p>
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a> This fable was dedicated to the Duke de la Rochefoucauld.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2>
+
+<h2>THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 1)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> of those dread evils which spread terror far and wide, and
+which Heaven, in its anger, ordains for the punishment of wickedness
+upon earth&mdash;a plague in fact; and so dire a one as to make rich in one
+day that grim ferryman who takes a coin from all who cross the river
+Acheron to the land of the dead&mdash;such a plague was once waging war
+against the animals. All were attacked, although all did not die. So
+hopeless was the case that not one of them attempted to sustain their
+sinking lives. Even the sight of food did not rouse them. Wolves and
+foxes no longer turned eager and calculating eyes upon their gentle and
+guileless prey. The turtle-doves went no more in cooing pairs, but were
+content to avoid each other. Love and the joy that comes of love were
+both at an end.</p>
+
+<p>At length the lion called a council of all the beasts and addressed them
+in these words: "My dear friends, it seems to me that it is for our sins
+that Heaven has permitted this misfortune to fall upon us. Would it not
+be well if the most blameworthy among us allowed himself to be offered
+as a sacrifice to appease the celestial wrath? By so doing he might
+secure our recovery. History tells us that this course is usually
+pursued in such cases as ours. Let us look into our consciences without
+self-deception or condoning. For my own part, I freely admit that in
+order to satisfy my gluttony I have devoured an appalling number of
+sheep; and yet what had they done to me to deserve such a fate? Nothing
+that could be called an offence. Sometimes, indeed, I have gone so far
+as to eat the shepherd too! On the whole, I think I had better render
+myself for this act of sacrifice; that is, if we agree that it is a
+thing necessary to the general good. And yet I think it would be only
+fair that every one should declare his sins as well as I; for I could
+wish that, in justice, it were the most culpable that should perish."</p>
+
+<p>"Sire," said the fox, "you are really too yielding for a king, and your
+scruples show too much delicacy of feeling. Eating sheep indeed! What of
+that?&mdash;a foolish and rascally tribe! Is that a crime? No! a hundred
+times no! On the contrary your noble jaws did but do them great honour.
+As for the shepherd, it may be fairly said that all the harm he got he
+merited, since he was one of those who fancy they have dominion over the
+animal kingdom." Thus spake the fox and every other flatterer in the
+assembly applauded him. Nor did any seek to inquire deeply into the
+least pardonable offences of the tiger, the bear, and the other mighty
+ones. All those of an aggressive nature, right down to the simple
+watch-dog, were something like saints in their own opinions.</p>
+
+<p>When the ass stood forth in his turn he struck a different note: nothing
+of fangs and talons and blood. "I remember," he said, "that once in
+passing a field belonging to a monastery I was urged by hunger, by
+opportunity, by the tenderness of the grass, and perhaps by the evil one
+egging me on, to enter and crop just a taste, about as much as the
+length of my tongue. I know that I did wrong, having really no right
+there."</p>
+
+<p>At these words all the assembly turned upon him. The wolf took upon
+himself to make a speech proving without doubt that the ass was an
+accursed wretch, a mangy brute, who certainly ought to be told off for
+sacrifice, since through his wickedness all their misfortunes had come
+about. His peccadillo was judged to be a hanging matter. "What! eat the
+grass belonging to another? How abominable a crime! Nothing but death
+could expiate such an outrage!" And forthwith they proved as much to the
+poor ass.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Accordingly as your power is great or small, the judgments of a court
+will whiten or blacken your reputation.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE UNHAPPILY MARRIED MAN</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 2)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">If</span> goodness were always the comrade of beauty I would seek a
+wife to-morrow; but as divorce between these two is no new thing, and as
+there are so few lovely forms that enshrine lovely souls, thus uniting
+both one and the other delight, do not take it amiss that I refrain from
+seeking such a rare combination.</p>
+
+<p><br />
+I have seen many marriages, but not one of them has held out allurements
+for me. Nevertheless, nearly the whole four quarters of mankind
+courageously expose themselves to this the greatest of all hazards,
+and&mdash;the whole four quarters usually repent it.</p>
+
+<p><br />
+I will tell you of one who, having repented, found that there was
+nothing for it but to send home again his quarrelsome, avaricious, and
+jealous spouse. She was one whom nothing pleased; for her, nothing was
+right. For her, one rose too late; one retired too early. First it was
+this, then it was that, and then again 'twas something else. The
+servants raged. The husband was at his wit's end. "You think of nothing,
+sir." "You spend too much." "You gad about, sir." "You are idle."
+Indeed she had so much to say that, in the end, tired of hearing such a
+termagant, he sent her to her parents in the country. There she mixed
+with those who minded the turkeys and pigs until she was thought to be
+somewhat tamed, when the husband sent for her again.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my dear, how have you been getting on? How did you spend your
+time? Did you like the simple life of the country?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, pretty well!" she said, "but what annoyed me was to see the
+laziness of those people. They are worse there than here. They showed no
+care whatever for the herds and flocks they were supposed to mind. I
+didn't forget to let them know what I thought of them. Of course, they
+didn't like it, and they all hated me in the end."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! my dear. If you fell foul of people whom you saw for but a moment
+or so in the day and when they returned in the evening&mdash;if you made them
+tired of you; what will the servants in this house become, who must have
+you railing at them the whole day long? And what will your poor husband
+do whom you expected to have near you all day and night too? Return to
+the village, my dear. Adieu! and if during my life the idea should
+possess me to have you back again, may I, for my sins, have two such as
+you for ever at my elbows in the world to come."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="figcenter"><img src="./images/img05.jpg" alt="Rat in cheese." /></p>
+
+<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 3)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> ancients had a legend which told of a certain rat who,
+weary of the anxieties of this world, retired to a cheese, therein to
+live in peace. Profound solitude reigned around the hermit. He worked so
+hard with his feet and his teeth that in a few days he had a spacious
+dwelling and food in plenty. What more could he desire? He thrived well,
+growing large and fat. Blessings are showered upon those who are vowed
+to simplicity and renunciation!</p>
+
+<p>One day a deputation from Rat-land waited upon him, begging that out of
+his abundance he would grant a slight dole towards fitting out a journey
+to a strange country where the rats hoped to get succour in their great
+war against the cat-tribe. Ratopolis was besieged, and owing to the
+poverty of the beleaguered republic they were forced to start with empty
+wallets. They asked but little, believing that in a few days help would
+arrive. "My friends," said the hermit, "earthly affairs no longer
+concern me. In what way could a poor recluse assist you? What could he
+do but pray for the help you need! My best hopes and wishes you may be
+assured of." With these words this latest among the saints shut his
+door.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Whom have I in mind, do you think, when I speak of this rat, so sparing
+of his help? A monk?&mdash;Oh, no! A dervish rather, for a monk, I suppose,
+is at all times charitable.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE MAIDEN</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 5)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A certain</span> damsel of considerable pride made up her mind to
+choose a husband who should be young, well-built, and handsome; of
+agreeable manners and&mdash;note these two points&mdash;neither cold nor jealous.
+Moreover, she held it necessary that he should have means, high birth,
+intellect; in fact, everything. But whoever was endowed with everything?</p>
+
+<p>The fates were evidently anxious to do their best for her, for they sent
+her some most noteworthy suitors. But these the proud beauty found not
+half good enough. "What, men like those! You propose them for me! Why
+they are pitiable! Look at them&mdash;fine types, indeed!" According to her
+one was a dullard; another's nose was impossible. With this it was one
+thing; with that it was another; for superior people are disdainful
+above all things.</p>
+
+<p>After these eligible gentlemen had been dismissed, came others of less
+worth, and at these too she mocked. "Why," said she, "I would not bemean
+myself to open the door to such. They must think me very anxious to be
+married. Thank Heaven my single state causes me no regrets."</p>
+
+<p>The maiden contented herself with such notions until advancing age made
+her step down from her pedestal. Adieu then to all suitors. One year
+passed and then another. Her anxiety increased, and after anger came
+grief. She felt that those little smiles and glances which, at the
+bidding of love, lurk in the countenances of fair maidens were day by
+day deserting her. Finally, when love himself departed, her features
+gave pleasure to none. Then she had recourse to those hundred little
+ruses and tricks of the toilet to repair the ravages of time; but
+nothing that she could do arrested the depredations of that despicable
+thief. One may repair a house gone to ruin: but the same thing is not
+possible with a face!</p>
+
+<p>Her refined ladyship now sang to a different tune, for her mirror
+advised her to take a husband without delay. Perhaps also her heart
+harboured the wish. Even superior persons may have longings! This one at
+last made a choice that people would at one time have thought
+impossible; for she was very pleased and happy in marrying an ugly
+cripple.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE WISHES</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 6)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the Great Mogul held empire, there were certain little
+sprites who used to undertake all sorts of tasks helpful to mankind.
+They would do housework, stable-work, and even gardening. But if one
+interfered with them, all would be spoilt.</p>
+
+<p>One of these friendly sprites cultivated the garden of a worthy family
+living near the Ganges. His duties were performed deftly and
+noiselessly. He loved not only his master and mistress, but the garden
+also. Possibly the zephyrs, who are said to be friends of the sprites,
+helped him in his tasks. At any rate he did his very best, and never
+ceased in his efforts to load his hosts with every pleasure. To prove
+his zeal he would have stayed with these people for ever, in spite of
+the natural propensity of his kind for waywardness. But his mischievous
+fellow-sprites fell to plotting. They induced the chief of their band to
+remove him to another field of labour. This the chief promised and,
+either by caprice or by policy, finally brought about. Orders came that
+the devoted worker should set out for the uttermost part of Norway,
+there to take charge of a house which at all times of the year was
+covered with snow. So from being an Indian, the poor thing became a
+Laplander.</p>
+
+<p>"I am forced to leave you," he said to his hosts, "but for what fault of
+mine this has come to pass I cannot tell. I only know that go I must,
+and in a very little while too; a month perhaps, or maybe only a week.
+Make the most of the interval. Fortunately, I can fulfil three wishes
+for you; but not more than three."</p>
+
+<p>To mankind there is nothing very out-of-the-way in merely wishing. These
+good people decided that their first wish should be for abundance, and
+straightway. Abundance, by the double-handful, poured gold into their
+coffers; wheat into their granaries; wine into their cellars. Repletion
+was everywhere. But, alas, what cares of direction, what account
+keeping; what time and anxiety this affluence involved!</p>
+
+<p>Thieves plotted against them. Great lords borrowed from them. The prince
+taxed them. They were, in fact, reduced to misery by this excess of good
+fortune. At last they could endure it no longer. "Take back this awful
+overplus of wealth," they cried. "Even the poor are happy in comparison
+with us, and poverty is more covetable than such riches. Away, then,
+with these treasures! And thou, sweet Moderation, mother of all peace,
+sister of repose, come to us again!" With these words, which made their
+second wish, lo! Moderation returned and they received her with open
+arms, once again enjoying peace.</p>
+
+<p>Thus at the end of these two wishes they were exactly where they were in
+the first place, and so it is with all who are given to wishing, and
+wasting in dreams the time they had better have spent in doing. But
+being philosophical people they laughed, and the sprite laughed with
+them. To profit by his generosity when he had left them, they hazarded
+their third wish and asked for wisdom. Wisdom is a treasure which never
+embarrasses.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2>
+
+<h2>THE DAIRY-WOMAN AND THE PAIL OF MILK</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 10)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A young</span> country woman named Perrette set out one morning from
+her little dairy-farm with a pail of milk which she cleverly balanced
+upon her head over a pad or cushion. She hurried with sprightly steps to
+the market town, and so that she might be the less encumbered, wore a
+kirtle that was short and light&mdash;in truth a simple petticoat&mdash;and shoes
+low and easy. As she went, her thoughts ran upon the price to be gained
+for her milk, and she schemed a way to lay out the sum in the purchase
+of one hundred eggs. She was sure that with care and diligence these
+would yield three broods. "It would be quite easy to me," she said, "to
+raise the chicks near the house. The fox would be clever who would not
+leave me enough to buy one pig. A pig would fatten at the cost of a
+little bran, and when he had grown a fair size I should make a bargain
+of him for a good round sum. And then, considering the price he will
+fetch, what is to prevent my putting into our stable a cow and a calf? I
+can fancy how the calf will frisk about among the sheep!" Thereupon
+Perrette herself frisked for joy, transported with the picture of her
+affluence. Over toppled the milk! Adieu to calf and cow and pig and
+broods! This lady of wealth had to leave, with tearful eyes, her
+dissipated fortunes, and go straight to her husband framing excuses to
+avoid a beating.</p>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img06-full.jpg" name="img06" id="img06"><img src="./images/img06.jpg" alt="Overtoppled the milk." title="Overtoppled the milk." /></a><br />
+Overtoppled the milk.</p>
+
+<p><br />The farce became known to the whole countryside, and people called
+Perrette by the name of "Milkpail" ever after.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Who has never talked wildly? Who has never built castles in Spain? Wise
+men as well as milkmaids; sages and fools, all have waking dreams and
+find them sweet! Our senses are carried away by some flattering
+falsehood, and then wealth, honours, and beauty seem ours to command.</p>
+
+<p>Alone with my thoughts I challenge the bravest. I dethrone monarchs and
+the people rejoicing crown me instead, showering diadems upon my head.
+Then lo! a little accident happens to bring me back to my senses, and I
+am Poor Jack as before.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE PRIEST AND THE CORPSE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 11)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> was a funeral. The dead body was progressing sadly
+towards its last resting place; and following rather gladly, was the
+priest who meant to bury it as soon as possible.</p>
+
+<p>The dead man, in a leaden coffin, was borne in a coach, and was properly
+shrouded in that robe the dead always wear be it summer or winter. As
+for the priest, he sat near it, intoning as hard as he could all sorts
+of orisons, psalms, lessons, verses, and responses, in the hope that the
+more he gave the more would be paid for. "Leave it to me, Mr. Deadman,"
+his actions seemed to say. "I'll give you a nice selection; a little of
+everything. It's only a matter of fees, you know." And the Rev. John
+Crow kept his eye on his silent charge as if he expected some one would
+make off with it. "Mr. Deadman," his looks proclaimed, "by you I shall
+receive so and so much in money, so and so much in wax candles, and,
+possibly, a little more in incidental profits.</p>
+
+<p>On the strength of these calculations he promised himself a quarter-cask
+of the best wine the neighbourhood could offer. Beyond that he settled
+that a certain very attractive niece of his, as well as his housekeeper
+Paquette, should both have new dresses.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst these pleasant and generous thoughts were running in his mind
+there came a terrific shock. The car overturned. The Rev. John Crow's
+head was broken by the coffin which fell upon him. Alas for the poor
+priest! he went to heaven with the parishioner he thought only to bury.</p>
+
+<p>In reality, life over and over again is nothing but the fate of the Rev.
+John Crow who counted on his dead, and of Perrette who counted on her
+chickens.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE MAN WHO RAN AFTER FORTUNE AND <br />
+THE MAN WHO WAITED FOR HER IN HIS BED</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 12)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Who</span> does not run after Fortune?</p>
+
+<p>I would I were in some spot whence I could watch the eager crowds
+rushing from kingdom to kingdom in their vain chase after the daughter
+of Chance!</p>
+
+<p>They are indeed but faithful followers of a phantom; for when they think
+they have her, lo! she is gone! Poor wretches! One must pity rather than
+blame their foolishness. "That man," they say with sanguine voice,
+"raised cabbages; and now he is Pope! Are we not as good as he?" Ah!
+yes! a hundred times as good perhaps; but what of that? Fortune has no
+eyes for all your merit. Besides, is Papacy, after all, worth peace,
+which one must leave behind for it? Peace&mdash;a treasure that once was the
+possession of gods alone&mdash;is seldom granted to the votaries of Dame
+Fortune. Do not seek her; and then she will seek you. That is the way
+with women!</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+There once were two friends, who lived comfortably and prospered
+moderately in a village; but one of them was always wishing to do
+better. One day he said to the other, "Suppose we left this place and
+tried our luck elsewhere? You know that a prophet is never received in
+his own country!"</p>
+
+<p>"You try, by all means," returned his friend, "but as for me, I am
+contented where I am. I desire neither better climate nor better
+possibilities. You please yourself. Follow your unquiet spirit. You'll
+soon return, and I shall sleep soundly enough awaiting you."</p>
+
+<p>So the man of ambition, or the money-grubber, whichever you like to call
+him, took to the road, and arrived next day at a place where, if
+anywhere, Dame Fortune should be found, namely, the court. He stayed at
+court for some long time, never missing an opportunity to put himself in
+the way of favours. He was in evidence when the king went to bed, when
+he arose, and on all other propitious occasions.</p>
+
+<p>"What's amiss?" he said at last. "Fortune, I am convinced, dwells here;
+for I have seen her the guest now of this one and now of that one. How
+is it that I cannot entertain the capricious creature? I must try her
+elsewhere. I have already been told that the people of this place are
+exceedingly ambitious. Evidently there is no room for me here. So,
+adieu! gentleman of the court, and follow to the bitter end this
+will-o'-the-wisp! They tell me that Dame Fortune has temples in Surat.
+Very well! We will go there."</p>
+
+<p>He embarked at once. What hearts of bronze have humankind! The man who
+first attempted this awful route and defied its terrors must have had a
+heart of adamant. Often did our traveller turn his eyes towards his
+little home as first pirates, then contrary winds, then calms, then
+rocks&mdash;all agents of death&mdash;in turn assailed him. Strange it is that men
+should take such pains to meet death, since it will come only too
+quickly to them in their homes!</p>
+
+<p>Our adventurer arrived in India. There they told him that Japan was the
+place where Fortune dispensed her favours. He hurried there. The sea
+wearied of carrying him about. In the end all the profit his long
+voyages brought him was the lesson which he learnt from savages, and
+that was: "Stop in your own country and let Nature instruct you." Japan,
+India, or anywhere else; no one place was better than another as a
+hunting ground for Fortune; so the conclusion was forced upon him that
+he had been wiser had he stayed in his own village. At last he renounced
+all these ungrateful wanderings and returned to his own country; and as
+he caught sight of his homestead from afar he wept for joy, and cried:
+"Happy is the man who, staying in his home, finds constant occupation in
+adjusting his desires to his surroundings. To him the court, the sea,
+and the land of Fortune are but hearsay. Thou, fickle Dame, flaunting
+before our eyes dignities and wealth, dost cause us to follow after
+these allurements to the ends of the earth, only to find them empty
+shams. Henceforth I wander no more, for here at home a hundred times
+more success shall I find."</p>
+
+<p>Having registered this vow against Fortune the wanderer came to the door
+of his friend, and lo! there sat Fortune, waiting on the threshold,
+whilst his friend slumbered within.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII</h2>
+
+<h2>AN ANIMAL IN THE MOON</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 18)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Whilst</span> one philosopher tells us that men are constantly the
+dupes of their own senses, another will swear that the senses never
+deceive. Both are right. Philosophy truly affirms that the senses will
+deceive so long as men are content to take upon trust the evidence the
+senses bring. But if this evidence is weighed, measured, and tested by
+every available resource of science the senses can deceive no one.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>In England, not long ago, when a large telescope was levelled to observe
+the moon, the observer was astounded to see what he took to be some new
+animal in this lovely planet. Everybody was excited about the marvellous
+appearance. Something had occurred up above there which, without doubt,
+must betoken great changes of some sort. Who could tell but that all the
+dreadful wars that were then convulsing Europe had not been caused by
+it? The king, who patronised the sciences, hastened to the observatory
+to see the sight, and see it he did. There was the monster right
+enough!</p>
+
+<p>And what was it after all?&mdash;Nothing but a poor little mouse that had by
+some unlucky chance got in between the lenses of the telescope. Here was
+the cause of all the devastating wars! Everybody laughed....</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FORTUNE-TELLERS</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VII.&mdash;No. 15)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Reputations</span> may be made by the merest chances, and yet
+reputations control the fashions. That is a little prologue that would
+fit the case of all sorts of people. Everywhere around one sees
+prejudices, scheming, and obtuseness; but little or no justice. Nothing
+can be done to stem this torrent of evil. It must run its course. It
+always has been and always will be.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+A woman in Paris once made it her profession to tell fortunes. She
+became very popular and had great success. Did anybody lose a bit of
+finery; had any one a sweetheart; had any wife a husband she was tired
+of; any husband a jealous wife, to the prophetess such would run simply
+to be told the thing that it was comforting to hear.</p>
+
+<p>The stock-in-trade of this fortune-teller consisted merely of a
+convincing manner, a few words of scientific jargon, a great deal of
+impudence, and much good luck. All these things together so impressed
+the people that as often as not they would cry, "Miraculous!" In short,
+although the woman's ignorance was quite twenty-three carat she passed
+for a veritable oracle.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the fact that this oracle only lived in a garret, she
+found so many ready to pay her well for her shams that she soon grew
+rich enough to improve the position of her husband, to rent an office,
+and buy a house.</p>
+
+<p>The garret being left empty was shortly tenanted by another woman to
+whom all the town&mdash;women, girls, valets, fine gentlemen&mdash;everybody in
+fact swarmed, as before, to consult their destiny. The former tenant had
+built up such a reputation that the garret was still a sibyl's den, in
+spite of the fact that quite a different creature dwelt in it. "I tell
+fortunes? Surely you're joking! Why, gentlemen, I cannot read, and as
+for writing, I never learnt more than to make my mark." But these
+disclaimers were useless. People insisted on having their fortunes told,
+and she had to do it. In consequence, she put by plenty of money, being
+able to earn, in spite of herself, quite as much as two lawyers could.
+The poverty of her home was a help rather than a hindrance. Four broken
+chairs and a broom-handle savoured of a witch's frolic.</p>
+
+<p>If this woman had told the truth in a room well-furnished she would have
+been scorned. The fashion for a garret had set in, and garret it must
+be.</p>
+
+<p>In her new chambers the first fortune-teller waited in vain; for it was
+the outward sign alone that brought customers, and the sign was poverty.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+I have seen in a palace a robe worn awry win much distinction and
+success, such crowds of followers and adherents did it draw. You may
+well ask me why!</p>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img07-full.jpg" name="img07" id="img07"><img src="./images/img07.jpg" alt="The garret was still a sybil's den." title="The garret was still a sybil's den." /></a><br />
+The garret was still a sybil's den.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 2)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> was once a cobbler who was so light hearted that he sang
+from morning to night. It was wonderful to watch him at his work, and
+more wonderful still to hear his runs and trills. He was in fact happier
+than the Seven Sages.</p>
+
+<p>This merry soul had a neighbour who was exactly the reverse. He sang
+little and slept less; for he was a financier, and made of money, as
+they say. Whenever it happened that after a sleepless night he would
+doze off in the early morning, the cobbler, who was always up betimes,
+would wake him up again with his joyful songs. "Ha!" thought the man of
+wealth, "what a misfortune it is that one cannot buy sleep in the open
+market as one buys food and drink!" Then an idea came to him. He
+invited the cobbler to his house, where he asked him some questions.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, Master Gregory, what do you suppose your earnings amount to in
+a year?"</p>
+
+<p>"In a year," laughed the cobbler, "that's more than I know. I never keep
+accounts that way, nor even keep one day from another. So long as I can
+make both ends meet, that's good enough for me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Really!" replied the financier. "But what can you earn in one day?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sometimes more and sometimes less. The mischief of it is that there
+are so many f&ecirc;te days and high-days and fast-days crowded into the year,
+on which, as the priest tells us, it is wicked to work at all; and worse
+still he keeps on finding some new saint or other to give weight to his
+sermons. If it were not for that, cobbling would be a fine paying game."</p>
+
+<p>At this the wealthy man laughed. "Look here, my friend, to-day I'll lift
+you to the seats of the mighty! Here is a hundred pounds. Guard them and
+use them with care."</p>
+
+<p>When the cobbler held the bag of money in his hand he imagined that it
+must be as much as would be coined in a hundred years.</p>
+
+<p>Returning home he buried the cash in his cellar. Alas! he buried his joy
+with it, for there were no more songs. From the moment he came into
+possession of this wealth, the love of which is the root of all evil,
+his voice left him, and not only his voice, but his sleep also. And in
+place of these came anxiety, suspicion, and alarms; guests which abode
+with him constantly. All day he kept his eye on the cellar door. Did a
+cat make a noise in the night, then for a certainty that cat was after
+his money.</p>
+
+<p>At last, in despair, the wretched cobbler ran to the financier whom he
+now no longer kept awake. "Oh, give me back my joy in life, my songs, my
+sleep; and take your hundred pounds again."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE POWER OF FABLE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 4)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the old, vain, and fickle city of Athens, an orator,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>
+seeing how the light-hearted citizens were blind to certain dangers
+which threatened the state, presented himself before the tribune, and
+there sought, by the very tyranny of his forceful eloquence, to move the
+heart of the republic towards a sense of the common welfare.</p>
+
+<p>But the people neither heard nor heeded. Then the orator had recourse to
+more urgent arguments and stronger metaphors, potent enough to touch
+hearts of stone. He spoke in thunders that might have raised the dead;
+but his words were carried away on the wind. The beast of many heads<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>
+did not deign to hear the launching of these thunderbolts. It was
+engrossed in something quite different. A fight between two urchins was
+what the crowd found so engaging; not the orator's warnings.</p>
+
+<p>What then did the speaker do? He tried another plan. "Ceres," he began,
+"made a voyage one day with an eel and a swallow. After a time the
+three travellers were stopped by a river. This the eel got over by
+swimming and the swallow by flying&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Well! what about Ceres? What did she do?" cried the crowd with one
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"She did what she did!" retorted the speaker in anger. "But first she
+raged against you. What! Does it take a child's story to open your ears,
+you who should be eager for any news of the peril that menaces; you, the
+only state in Greece that takes no heed? You ask what Ceres did. Why do
+you not ask what Philip<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> does?"</p>
+
+<p>At this reproach the assembly was stirred. A mere fable brought them
+open-eared to all the orator would say.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+We are all Athenians in this respect. I myself am, even as I point this
+moral. I should take the utmost pleasure now in hearing "The Ass's
+Skin"<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> told to me. The world is old, they say: so it is; but,
+nevertheless, it is as greedy of amusement as a child.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2">[2]</a> Elizur Wright explains that the orator was Demades.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3">[3]</a> Horace spoke of the Roman people as a beast with many
+heads.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4">[4]</a> Philip of Macedon, who was at war against the Greeks.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5">[5]</a> An old French nursery tale.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE DOG WHO CARRIED HIS MASTER'S DINNER</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 7)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Our</span> hands are no more proof against gold than our eyes are
+proof against beauty. There are but few who guard their treasures with
+care enough.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+A certain dog who had been taught to carry to his master the mid-day
+meal was one day trotting along with the savoury burden slung around his
+neck. He was tempted to take a taste himself; but knew that it would be
+wrong to do so, and being a temperate, self-governed dog he refrained.
+We of the human race allow ourselves to be tempted by covetable things
+often enough; but, strange as it is, there seems to be more difficulty
+in teaching mankind to resist temptation than there is in teaching dogs
+to do so.</p>
+
+<p>On this particular day the dog was met by a mastiff who at once wanted
+the dinner, but did not find it so easy to capture as he thought; for
+our dog put it down and stood guard over it. There was a mighty tussle.
+Soon others arrived; curs that were used to knocks and kicks while
+picking up a living in the streets. Seeing that he should be badly
+over-matched, and that his master's dinner was in danger of being
+devoured by the crowd, he bethought himself how he too might have his
+share, if shared it must be. So he very wisely exclaimed, "No fighting,
+gentlemen, my bit will suffice me. Do as you please with the rest." With
+these words he snapped up a portion, upon which all the rest began to
+pull and jostle to their utmost and feasted merrily.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+In this I seem to see the picture of one of those unfortunate towns or
+states which occasionally have suffered from the greed of their
+ministers and officials. Each functionary has an eye to his own
+advantage, and the smartest sets a pattern for the others. The way in
+which the public funds disappear is amusing. If one sheriff or provost,
+having a scruple of conscience, finds a trifling argument in defence of
+the public interest the others show him that he is a fool if he utters
+half a word. So, with a very little trouble, he gives way, and often
+becomes the leading offender.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THYRSIS AND AMARANTH</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 13)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A shepherd</span> who was deeply in love with a shepherdess was
+sitting one day by her side trying to find words to express the emotions
+her charms created in his breast.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! Amaranth, dear," he sighed, "could you but feel, as I do, a certain
+pain which, whilst it tears the heart, is so delightful that it
+enchants, you would say that nothing under heaven is its equal. Let me
+tell you of it. Believe me, trust me. Would I deceive you? You, for whom
+I am filled with the tenderest sentiments the heart can feel!"</p>
+
+<p>"And what, my Thyrsis, is the name you give this pleasing pain?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is called love," said Thyrsis.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" responded the maiden, "that is a beautiful name. Tell me by what
+signs I may know it, if it come to me. What are the feelings it gives
+one?"</p>
+
+<p>Thyrsis, taking heart of grace, replied with much ardour: "One feels an
+anguish beside which the joys of kings are but dull and insipid. One
+forgets oneself, and takes pleasure in the solitudes of the woods. To
+glance into a brook is to see, not oneself, but an ever-haunting image.
+To any other form one's eyes are blind. It may be that there is a
+shepherd in the village at whose voice, at the mention of whose name,
+you will blush; at the thought of whom you will sigh. Why, one knows
+not! To see him will be a burning desire, and yet you would shrink from
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"Oho!" said Amaranth. "Is this then the pain you have preached so much!
+It is hardly new to me. I seem to know something of it." The heart of
+Thyrsis leapt, for he thought that at last he had gained his end; when
+the fair one added, "'Tis just in this way that I feel for Cladimant!"</p>
+
+<p>Imagine the vexation and misery of poor Thyrsis!</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+How many like him, intending to work solely for themselves, prove only
+to have been stepping stones for others.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 15)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> uncommonly small rat was watching an uncommonly big elephant
+and sneering at the slowness of his steps.</p>
+
+<p>The enormous animal was heavily laden. On his back rose a three-storied
+howdah, wherein were accommodated a celebrated sultana, her dog, her
+cat, her monkey, her parrot, her old servant, and all her household.
+They were going upon a pilgrimage.</p>
+
+<p>The rat wondered why all the people should express astonishment at
+seeing this enormous bulk&mdash;"As if the fact of occupying more or less
+space implied that one was the more or less important accordingly! What
+is it you admire in him, you men? If it is only the weight of his body
+which fills the children with terror, then we rats, small as we are,
+consider ourselves not one grain less than the elephant." He would have
+said more; but the cat, bounding out of her cage, let him see in an
+instant that a rat is not an elephant.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE HOROSCOPE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 16)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Our</span> destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to
+avoid it.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+A father had an only son whom he loved excessively. His devoted
+affection caused him to be so anxious as to the boy's welfare that he
+sought to learn from astrologers and fortune-tellers what fate was in
+store for the son and heir. One of these soothsayers told him that an
+especial danger lay with lions, from which the youth must be guarded
+until the age of twenty was reached, but not after. The father, to make
+sure of this precaution, upon the issue of which depended the life of
+his loved one, commanded that by no chance should the boy ever be
+permitted to go beyond the threshold of the house. Ample provision was
+made for the satisfaction of all the wishes proper to youth in the way
+of play with his companions, jumping, running, walking, and so forth. As
+the age approached when the spirits of youth yearn for the chase, he was
+taught to hold that sport in abhorrence.</p>
+
+<p>But temperament cannot be changed by persuasion and counsel, nor by
+enlightenment. The young man, eager, ardent, and full of courage, no
+sooner felt the promptings of his years than he sighed for the
+forbidden pleasures. The greater the hindrance the stronger the desire.
+Knowing the reason of his galling restrictions, and viewing day by day
+in his palatial home the hunting scenes pictured in paint and tapestry
+on every wall, his excitement became unrestrained.</p>
+
+<p>Once his eye fell upon a pictured lion. "Ah! Monster!" he exclaimed in a
+transport of indignation. "It is to you that the shade and fetters in
+which I live are due!" With that he struck the lion's form a heavy blow
+with his fist. Hidden under the tapestry a great nail offered its cruel
+point, and upon this his hand was impaled. The wound grew beyond the
+reach of medical skill, and in the end this life, so guarded and
+cherished, was lost by means of the very care taken to preserve it.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+The same jealous precaution proved fatal to the poet &AElig;schylus. It is
+said that some fortune-teller menaced him with the fall of a house as
+his doom, upon which he at once left the town and made his bed in the
+open fields, far from roofs and beneath the sky. But an eagle flew by
+overhead carrying in its talons a tortoise, and seeing the bald head of
+the poet beneath, which it mistook for a stone, the bird let fall its
+prey in order to break the shell of the tortoise. Thus were the days of
+poor &AElig;schylus ended.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+From these two examples it would seem that this art of fortune-telling,
+if there be any truth in it, causes one to fall into the very evil one
+would be in dread of when one consulted it. But I will demonstrate and
+maintain that the art is false. I do not believe that Nature would have
+tied her own hands, and ours also, to the extent of marking our fate in
+the heavens. For our fate depends upon certain combinations of time,
+place, and people; not upon the combinations of charlatans. A shepherd
+and a king are born under the same planet: one carries the sceptre; the
+other the crook. The planet Jupiter willed it so! But what is this
+planet Jupiter? A body without senses. Whence comes it then that its
+influence works so differently on these two men? Further, how could its
+influence, if it had any, penetrate through endless voids to our world?</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Do not attach too much importance to the two instances I have related.
+This beloved son and the good man &AElig;schylus are beside the mark.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, however blind and lying is the fortuneteller's art, it may
+yet hit home once in a thousand times. That is just a matter of chance.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="figcenter"><img src="./images/img08.jpg" alt="Jupiter throwing thunderbolts." /></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI</h2>
+
+<h2>JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII&mdash;No. 20)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day, as Jupiter seated on high looked down upon the world,
+he was incensed at the faults committed by mankind. "Let us," he said,
+"have some other occupants in the regions of the universe in place of
+these present inhabitants who importune and weary me. Go you to Hades,
+Mercury, and bring hither the cruellest of the furies. This time, O race
+that I have too tenderly nurtured, you shall perish."</p>
+
+<p>After this outburst the temper of the god began to cool.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+O ye sovereigns of this world, to whom it has been given to be the
+arbiters of our destinies, let a night intervene between your wrath and
+the storm which follow!</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Mercury, light of wing and sweet of tongue, descended to the abode of
+the dread sisters Tisiphone, Meg&aelig;ra, and Alecto, and his choice fell
+upon the latter, the pitiless one. She, feeling proud of the preference,
+grew so arrogant as to swear by Pluto that the whole of the human brood
+should soon people his domains. But Jupiter did not approve of the vow
+this member of the Eumenides had sworn, and he sent her back to Hades.
+At the same time he launched a thunderbolt upon one particularly
+perfidious race of men. This, however, being hurled by a father's arm,
+mercifully fell in a desert, causing less ruin than alarm. What followed
+from this was simply that the wicked brood took heart at such indulgence
+and did not trouble to mend their ways. Then all the gods in Olympus
+complained, until he who controls the clouds swore by the Styx that
+further storms should be sent and that they should not fail as the other
+had.</p>
+
+<p>The Olympians only smiled at this. They told Jupiter that as he was the
+father it would be better if he left in other hands the making of
+thunderbolts. Vulcan undertook the task. Soon his furnaces glowed with
+bolts of two kinds; one that hits its mark with a deadly unerring&mdash;and
+that is the sort which any of the Olympian gods will hurl; whilst the
+other sort was that which becomes scattered on its course and does
+damage only to the mountain tops, or perchance is even lost on the way.
+It is this kind of thunderbolt that Jupiter sends. His fatherly heart
+permits him to use no other.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a>XXII</h2>
+
+<h2>EDUCATION</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 24)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> upon a time there were two dogs, one named Lurcher and the
+other C&aelig;sar. They were brothers; handsome, well-built, and plucky, and
+descended from dogs who were famous in their day. These two brothers,
+falling into the hands of different masters, found their destinies
+likewise in different spheres; for whilst one haunted the forests, the
+other lurched about a kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>The names to which they now answered were not, however, the names that
+were first given them. The influence of each one's career upon his
+nature brought about a new name and a new reputation; for C&aelig;sar's nature
+was improved and strengthened by the life he led, whilst Lurcher's was
+made more and more despicable by a degraded existence. A scullion named
+him Lurcher; but the other dog received his noble name on account of his
+life of high adventure. He had held many a stag at bay, killed many a
+hare, and otherwise risen to the position of a C&aelig;sar among dogs. Care
+was taken that he should not mate indiscriminately, so that his
+descendants' blood should not degenerate. On the other hand, poor
+Lurcher bestowed his affections wherever he would and his brood became
+populous. He was the progenitor of all turn-spits in France; a variety
+which became common enough to form at last a race in themselves. They
+show more readiness to flee than to attack, and are the very antipodes
+of the C&aelig;sars.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+We do not always follow our ancestors, nor even resemble our fathers.
+Want of care, the flight of time, a thousand things, cause us to
+degenerate.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! how many, C&aelig;sars, failing to cultivate their best nature and their
+gifts, become Lurchers!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a>XXIII</h2>
+
+<h2>DEMOCRITUS AND THE PEOPLE OF ABDERA</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> VIII.&mdash;No. 26)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">How</span> I have always hated the opinions of the mob! To me, a mob
+seems profane, unjust, and rash, putting false construction on all
+things, and judging every matter by a mob-made standard.</p>
+
+<p>Democritus had experience of this. His countrymen thought him mad.
+Little minds! But then, no one is a prophet in his own country! The
+people themselves were mad, of course, and Democritus was the wise man.
+Nevertheless the error went so far that the city of Abdera<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> sent a
+messenger to the great physician Hippocrates, requesting him both by
+letter and by spoken word to come and restore the sage's reason.</p>
+
+<p>"Our citizen," said the spokesman with tears in his eyes, "has lost his
+wits, alas! Study has corrupted Democritus. If he were less wise we
+should esteem him much more. He will have it that there is no limit to
+the number of worlds like ours and that possibly they are inhabited with
+numberless Democrituses. Not satisfied with these wild dreams, he talks
+also of atoms&mdash;phantoms born only in his own empty brain. Then,
+measuring the very heavens, though he remains here below to do it, he
+claims to know the universe; yet admits that he does not know himself.
+Time was when he could control debates, now he mutters only to himself.
+So come, thou divine mortal, for the patient's case is a bad one."</p>
+
+<p>Hippocrates, though he had little faith in these people, went
+nevertheless. Now mark, I beg of you, what strange meetings fate may
+bring about in this life! Hippocrates arrived just at the time when this
+man, who was supposed to have neither sense nor reason, happened to be
+searching into a question as to whether this very reason was seated in
+the heart or in the head of men and beasts.</p>
+
+<p>Sitting in leafy shade, beside a brook, and with many a volume at his
+feet, he was occupied wholly with a study of the convolutions of the
+brain; and thus absorbed, as his manner was, he scarcely noticed the
+advance of his friend the learned physician. Their greeting was soon
+over as you may imagine, for the sage is at all times chary of time and
+speech. So having put aside mere trifles of conversation, they reasoned
+upon man and his mind, and next fell to talking upon ethics.</p>
+
+<p>It is not necessary that I should here enlarge upon what each had to say
+to the other on these matters.</p>
+
+<p>The little tale suffices to show that we may rightly take exception to
+the judgments of the mob. That being so, in what sense is it true, as I
+have read in a certain passage, that the voice of the people is the
+voice of God?</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6">[6]</a> A city on the shores of Thracia.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="figcenter"><img src="./images/img09.jpg" alt="Acorn falling from tree." /></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a>XXIV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> IX.&mdash;No. 4)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">What</span> God does is done well. Without going round the world to
+seek a proof of that, I can find one in the pumpkin.</p>
+
+<p>A villager was once struck with the largeness of a pumpkin and the
+thinness of the stem upon which it grew. "What could the Almighty have
+been thinking about?" he cried. "He has certainly chosen a bad place for
+a pumpkin to grow. Eh zounds! Now I would have hung it on one of these
+oaks. That would have been just as it should be. Like fruit, like tree!
+What a pity, Hodge," said he, addressing himself, "that you were not on
+the spot to give advice at the Creation which the parson preaches
+about. Everything would have been properly done then. For instance;
+wouldn't this acorn, no bigger than my little finger, be better hanging
+on this frail stem? The Almighty has blundered there surely! The more I
+think about these fruits and their situations, the more it seems to me
+that it is all a mistake."</p>
+
+<p>Becoming worried by so much reflection our Hodge cast himself under an
+oak saying, "A man can't sleep when he has so much brain." Then he at
+once dropped off into a nap.</p>
+
+<p>Presently an acorn fell plump upon his nose. Starting from sleep, he put
+his hand up to see what had happened and found the acorn caught in his
+beard, whilst his nose began to pain and bleed. "Oh, oh!" he cried, "I
+am bleeding. How would it have been if a heavier mass than this had
+fallen from the tree: if this acorn had been a pumpkin? The Almighty did
+not intend that, I see. Doubtless he was right. I understand the reason
+why perfectly now."</p>
+
+<p>So praising God for all things Hodge took his way home.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXV" id="XXV"></a>XXV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE SCHOOLBOY, THE PEDANT, AND THE OWNER OF A GARDEN</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> IX.&mdash;No. 5)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A youngster</span>, who was doubly foolish and doubly a rogue&mdash;in
+which perhaps he savoured of the school he went to&mdash;was given, they say,
+to robbing a neighbour's garden of its fruit and flowers. This may have
+been because he was too young to know better, and perhaps because
+teachers do not always mould the minds of young people in the right way.</p>
+
+<p>The owner of the garden boasted in each season the very best of what was
+due. In spring he could show the most delightful blossoms and in autumn
+the very pick of all the apples.</p>
+
+<p>One day he espied this schoolboy carelessly climbing a fruit tree and
+knocking off the buds, those sweet and fragile forerunners of promised
+fruit in abundance. The urchin even broke off a bough, and did so much
+other damage that the owner sent a message of complaint to the boy's
+schoolmaster. This worthy soon appeared, and behind him a tribe of the
+scholars, who swarmed into the orchard and began behaving worse than the
+first one. The schoolmaster's plan in thus aggravating the injury was
+really to make an opportunity for delivering them all a good lesson,
+which they should remember all their lives. He quoted Virgil and
+Cicero; he made many scientific allusions and ran his discourse to such
+a length that the little wretches were able to get all over the garden
+and despoil it in a hundred places.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+I hate pompous and pedantic speeches that are out of place and
+never-ending; and I do not know a worse fool in the world than a naughty
+schoolboy&mdash;unless indeed it be the schoolmaster of such a boy. The
+better of them would never suit me as a neighbour.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"></a>XXVI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF JUPITER</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> IX.&mdash;No. 6)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> a sculptor who saw for sale a block of marble was so
+struck with its beauty that he could not resist the temptation to buy
+it. When it was in his studio he thought to himself, "Now what shall my
+chisel make of it? Shall it be a god, a table, or a basin? It shall be a
+god. And I, myself, shall ordain that the god shall poise a thunderbolt
+in his hand. So tremble, mortals, and worship! Behold the lord of the
+earth!"</p>
+
+<p>The artist set to work and expressed so powerfully the attributes of the
+god that those who saw it averred that it only lacked speech to be
+Jupiter himself. It is said that the sculptor had scarcely completed the
+statue when he became so overawed as to fear and tremble before the work
+of his own hands.</p>
+
+<p>The poet of old, likewise, greatly dreaded the hate and the wrath of the
+gods he himself created: a weakness which left little to choose between
+him and the sculptor.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+These traits are those of childhood. The minds of children are always
+anxious lest any one should maltreat their dolls. The emotions
+invariably give the lead to the intellect, and this fact accounts for
+the great error of paganism. For that error has been prompted by the
+emotions of men in all the peoples of the earth. Men uphold with fanatic
+zeal the interests of the unreal creatures of their imagination.
+Pygmalion became enamoured of the Venus<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> he had created, and in the
+same way every one tries to turn his dreams into reality. Man remains as
+ice before truth, but catches fire before illusion.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7">[7]</a> La Fontaine forgets. It was Galatea whose image Pygmalion
+created and whom Venus brought to life.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXVII" id="XXVII"></a>XXVII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE OYSTER AND THE PLEADERS</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> IX.&mdash;No. 9)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day two pilgrims espied upon the sands of the shore an
+oyster that had been thrown up by the tide. They devoured it with their
+eyes whilst pointing at it with their fingers; but whose teeth should
+deal with it was a matter of dispute.</p>
+
+<p>When one stopped to pick up the prey the other pushed him away saying:
+"It would be just as well first to decide which of us is to have the
+pleasure of it. He who first saw it should swallow it, and let the other
+watch him eat."</p>
+
+<p>"If you settle the affair that way," replied his companion, "I have good
+eyes, thank God."</p>
+
+<p>"But my sight is not bad either," said the other, "and I saw it before
+you did, and that I'll stake my life upon."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, suppose you did see it, I smelt it."</p>
+
+<p>During this lively interlude Justice Nincompoop arrived on the scene,
+and to him they appealed to judge their claims. The justice very gravely
+took the oyster, opened it, and put it into his mouth, whilst the two
+claimants looked on. Having deliberately swallowed the oyster, the
+justice, in the portentous tones of a Lord Chief Justice, said, "The
+court here awards each of you a shell, without costs. Let each go home
+peaceably."</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Reckon what it costs to go to law in these days. Then count what remains
+to most families. You will see that Justice Nincompoop draws all the
+money and leaves only the empty purse and the shells to the litigants.</p>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img10-full.jpg" name="img10" id="img10"><img src="./images/img10.jpg" alt="Deliberately swallowed the oyster." title="Deliberately swallowed the oyster." /></a><br />
+Deliberately swallowed the oyster.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXVIII" id="XXVIII"></a>XXVIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE CAT AND THE FOX</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> IX.&mdash;No. 14)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> cat and the fox, in the manner of good little saints,
+started out upon a pilgrimage. They were both humbugs, arch-hypocrites,
+two downright highwaymen, who for the expenses of their journey
+indemnified themselves by seeing who could devour the most fowls and
+gobble the most cheese.</p>
+
+<p>The way was long and therefore wearisome, so they shortened it by
+arguing. Argumentation is a great help. Without it one would go to
+sleep. Our pilgrims shouted themselves hoarse. Then having argued
+themselves out, they talked of other things.</p>
+
+<p>At length the fox said to the cat, "You pretend that you're very clever.
+Do you know as much as I? I have a hundred ruses up my sleeve."</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered the cat, "I have but one; but that is always ready to
+hand, and I maintain that it is worth a thousand other dodges."</p>
+
+<p>Then they fell again to disputing one against the other on each side of
+the question, the whys and the wherefores, raising their voices higher
+and higher. Presently the sudden appearance of a pack of hounds stopped
+their noise.</p>
+
+<p>The cat said to the fox, "Now, my friend, ransack that cunning brain of
+yours for one of your thousand ruses. Fetch down from your sleeve one of
+those certain stratagems. As for me, this is my dodge." So saying, he
+bounded to a tall tree and climbed to its top with alacrity.</p>
+
+<p>The fox tried a hundred futile doublings; ran into a hundred holes; put
+the hounds at fault a hundred times; tried everywhere to find a safe
+place of retreat, but everywhere failed between being smoked out of one
+and driven out of another by the hounds. Finally, as he came out of a
+hole two nimble dogs set upon him and strangled him at the first grip.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Too many expedients may spoil the business. One loses time in choosing
+between them and in trying too many. Have only one; but let it be a good
+one.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXIX" id="XXIX"></a>XXIX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE MONKEY AND THE CAT</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> IX.&mdash;No. 17)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Bertrand</span> was a monkey and Ratter was a cat. They shared the
+same dwelling and had the same master, and a pretty mischievous pair
+they were. It was impossible to intimidate them. If anything was missed
+or spoilt, no one thought of blaming the other people in the house.
+Bertrand stole all he could lay his hands upon, and as for Ratter, he
+gave more attention to cheese than he did to the mice.</p>
+
+<p>One day, in the chimney corner, these two rascals sat watching some
+chestnuts that were roasting before the fire. How jolly it would be to
+steal them they thought: doubly desirable, for it would not only be joy
+to themselves, but an annoyance to others.</p>
+
+<p>"Brother," said Bertrand to Ratter, "this day you shall achieve your
+master-stroke: you shall snatch some chestnuts out of the fire for me.
+Providence has not fitted me for that sort of game. If it had, I assure
+you chestnuts would have a fine time."</p>
+
+<p>No sooner said than done. Ratter delicately stirred the cinders with his
+paw, stretched out his claws two or three times to prepare for the
+stroke, and then adroitly whipped out first one, then two, then three of
+the chestnuts, whilst Bertrand crunched them up between his teeth. In
+came a servant, and there was an end of the business. Farewell, ye
+rogues!</p>
+
+<p>I am told that Ratter was by no means satisfied with the affair.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+And princes are equally dissatisfied when, flattered to be employed in
+any uncomfortable concern, they burn their fingers in a distant province
+for the profit of some king.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXX" id="XXX"></a>XXX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor2">[8]</a></h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> X.&mdash;No. 1)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Do</span> not take it ill if, in these fables, I mingle a little of
+the bold, daring, and fine-spun philosophy that is called new.</p>
+
+<p>They say that the lower animals are mere machines: that everything they
+do is prompted, not by choice, but by mechanism, coming about as it were
+by springs. There is, they say, neither feeling nor soul&mdash;nothing but a
+mechanical body. It goes just as a watch or clock goes, plodding on with
+even motion, blindly and aimlessly.</p>
+
+<p>Open such a machine and examine it; what do we find? Wheels take the
+place of intelligence. The first wheel moves the second, and that in
+turn moves a third, with the result that, in due time, it strikes the
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>According to these new philosophers, that is exactly the case with an
+animal. It receives a blow in a certain spot, this spot conveys the
+sensation to another spot, and so the message goes on from place to
+place until the brain receives it and the impression is made. That is
+all very well, but how is the impression made?</p>
+
+<p>It is necessarily made, without passion, without will, say these
+philosophers. They tell us that the common idea is that an animal is
+actuated by emotions which we know as sorrow, joy, love, pleasure, pain,
+cruelty, or some other of these states; but that it is not so. Do not
+deceive yourself, they say.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it then?" I ask. A watch, indeed! And pray what of ourselves?</p>
+
+<p>Ah, well! that is perhaps another thing altogether. This is the way
+Descartes expounds the theory&mdash;Descartes, that mortal who, if he had
+lived in pagan times, would have been made a god, and who holds a place
+between man and the higher spirits, just as some I could name&mdash;beasts of
+burden with long ears&mdash;hold a place between man and the oysters. Thus, I
+say, reasons this author: "I have a gift beyond any possessed by others
+of God's creatures, and that is the gift of thought. I know of what I
+think."</p>
+
+<p>But from positive science we know that although animals may think, they
+cannot reflect upon what they think. Descartes goes further and boldly
+states that they do not think at all. That is a statement which need not
+worry us.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, when in the woods the blast of a horn and the baying of
+hounds agitates the fleeing quarry; when he vainly endeavours, with all
+his skill, to confuse and muddle the scent which betrays him to his
+pursuers; when, an aged beast with full-grown antlers, he puts in his
+place a younger stag and forces it to carry on the chase with its
+fresher bait of the scent of its younger body, and thus carry off the
+hounds and preserve his days&mdash;then surely this beast has reasoned. All
+the twisting and turning, all the malice, deception, and the hundred
+stratagems to save his life are worthy of the greatest chiefs of war;
+and worthy of a better fate than death by being torn to pieces; for that
+is the supreme honour of the stag.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Again; when the partridge sees its young in danger, before their wings
+have strength enough to bear them away from death, she makes a pretence
+of being wounded and flutters along with a trailing wing, enticing the
+huntsman and his dogs to follow her, and thus by turning away the danger
+saves her little ones. And when the huntsman believes that his dog has
+seized her, lo! she rises, laughs at the sportsman, wishes him farewell,
+and leaves him confused and watching her flight with his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Not far from the northern regions there is a country where life goes on
+as in the early ages, the inhabitants being profoundly ignorant. I speak
+now of the human creatures. The animals are indeed surprisingly
+enlightened; for they can construct works which stop the ravages of
+swollen torrents and make communication possible from bank to bank. The
+structures are safe and lasting, being founded upon wood over which is
+laid a bed of mortar. The beavers are the engineers. Each one works. The
+task is common to all, and the old ones see that the young ones do not
+shirk their labour. There are many taskmasters directing and urging.</p>
+
+<p>To such a colony of cunning amphibians the republic of Plato itself
+would be but an apprentice affair. The beavers erect their houses for
+the winter time, and make bridges of marvellous construction for passing
+over the ponds; whilst the human folk who live there, though this
+wonderful work is always before their eyes, can but cross the water by
+swimming.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+That these beavers are nothing but bodies without minds nothing will
+make me believe. But here is something better still. Listen to this
+recital which I had from a king great in fame and glory. This king,
+defender of the northern world, whom I now cite, is my guarantee: a
+prince beloved of the goddess of Victory. His name alone is a bulwark
+against the empire of the Turks. I speak of the Polish king.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> A king,
+it is understood, can never lie.</p>
+
+<p>He says, then, that upon the frontiers of his kingdom there are animals
+that have always been at war among themselves, their passion for
+fighting having been handed down from father to son. These animals, he
+explains, are allied to the fox. Never has the science of war been more
+skilfully pursued among men than it is pursued by these beasts, not even
+in our present century. They have their advanced out-posts, their
+sentinels and spies; their ambuscades, their expedients, and a thousand
+other inventions of the pernicious and accursed science Warfare, a hag
+born, herself, of Styx,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> but giving birth to heroes.</p>
+
+<p>Properly to sing of the battles of these four-footed warriors Homer
+should return from beyond the shores of Acheron.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Ah! could he but do
+so, and bring with him too the rival of old Epicurus,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> what would the
+latter say as to the examples I have narrated? He would say only what I
+have already said, namely, that in the lower animals natural instinct is
+sufficient to explain all the wonders I have told: that memory leads the
+animal to repeat over and over again the actions it has made before and
+found successful.</p>
+
+<p>We, as human beings, do differently. Our wills decide for us; not the
+bestial aim, nor the instinct. I walk, I speak, I feel in me a certain
+force, an intelligent principle which all my bodily mechanism obeys.
+This force is distinct from anything connected with my body. It is
+indeed more easily conceived than is the body itself, and of all our
+movements it is the supreme controller. But how does the body conceive
+and understand this intelligent force? That is the point! I see the tool
+obeying the hand; but what guides the hand? Who guides the planets in
+their rapid courses? It may be some angel guide controls the whirling
+planets; and in like manner some spirit dwells in us and controls all
+our machinery. The impulse is given&mdash;the impression made&mdash;but how, I do
+not know! We shall only learn it in the bosom of God; and to speak
+frankly, Descartes himself was no wiser. On that point we all are
+equals. All that I know is that this intelligent controlling spirit does
+not exist in the lower animals. Man alone is its temple.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, we must allow to the beasts a higher plane than that of
+plants, notwithstanding the fact that plants breathe.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Is there any explanation to what I shall now relate? Two rats who were
+seeking their living had the good fortune to find an egg. Such a dinner
+was amply sufficient for folks of their species, they had no need to
+look for an ox. With keen delight and an appetite to match they were
+just about to eat up the egg between them, when an unbidden guest
+appeared in the shape of Master Reynard the fox. This was a most awkward
+and vexatious visitation. How was the egg to be saved from the jaws of
+him? To wrap it up carefully and carry it away by the fore paws, or to
+roll it, or to drag it, were methods as impossible as they were
+hazardous. But Necessity, that ingenious mother, furnished the
+never-failing invention. The sponger being as yet far enough away to
+give the rats time to reach their home, one of them lay upon his back
+and took the egg safely between his arms whilst the other, in spite of
+sundry shocks and a few slips, dragged him home by the tail.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+After this recital, let any one who dare maintain that animals have no
+powers of reason.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+For my part if I had the portioning of these faculties I would allow as
+much reasoning power in animals as in infants, who evidently think from
+their earliest years, from which fact we may conclude that one can think
+without knowing oneself. I would, similarly, grant the animals a
+reason, not such as we possess, but far above a blind instinct. I would
+refine a speck of matter, a tiny atom&mdash;extract of light&mdash;something more
+vivid and lively than fire; for since wood can turn to flame, cannot
+flame, being further purified, teach us something of the rarity of the
+soul? And is not gold extracted from lead? My creatures should be
+capable of feeling and judgment; but nothing more. There should be no
+argument from apes.</p>
+
+<p>As to mankind, I would have their lot infinitely better. We men should
+possess a double treasure; firstly, the soul common to us all, just as
+we happen to be, sages or fools, children, idiots, or our dumb
+companions the animals; secondly, another soul in common, in a certain
+degree, with the angels, and this soul, independent of us though
+belonging to us, should be able to reach to heavenly heights, whilst it
+could also dwell within a point's space. Having a beginning it should be
+without end. Things incredible but true. During infancy this soul,
+itself a child of heaven, should appear to us only as a gentle and
+feeble light; but as the faculties grew, the stronger reason would
+pierce the darkness of matter enveloping our other imperfect and grosser
+soul.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8">[8]</a> At the time when this was written there was much discussion
+among the learned in France as to the powers of reasoning in animals.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9">[9]</a> The allusion is to Sobieski, whose victory over the Turks
+made him famous throughout Europe in 1673. La Fontaine had frequently
+met him in the salons of the cultured ladies of France.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10">[10]</a> A nymph of one of the rivers of Hades named after her. She
+became the mother of Zelus (zeal), Nike (victory), Kratos (power), and
+Bia (strength).</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11">[11]</a> Also a river of Hades, the realm of the dead.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12">[12]</a> Descartes is meant as the rival of the old philosopher
+Epicurus.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXI" id="XXXI"></a>XXXI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE DOG WITH HIS EARS CROPPED</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> X.&mdash;No. 9)</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">What</span> have I done to be treated in this way? Mutilated by my
+own master! A nice state to be in! Dare I present myself before other
+dogs? O ye kings over the animals, or rather tyrants of them, would any
+creature do the same to you?"</p>
+
+<p>Such were the lamentations of poor Fido, a young house-dog, whilst those
+who were busy cropping his ears remained quite untouched by his piercing
+and dolorous howls.</p>
+
+<p>Fido believed himself to be ruined for life; but he very shortly found
+that he was a gainer by the maiming. For being by nature disposed to
+pilfer from his companions, it would come within his experience to have
+many misadventures wherein his ears would be torn in a hundred places.</p>
+
+<p>Aggressive dogs always have ragged ears. The less they have for other
+dogs' teeth to fasten upon the better.</p>
+
+<p>When one has but a single weak place to defend, one protects it against
+an onset. Witness Master Fido armed with a spiked collar, and having no
+more ears to catch hold of than are on my hand. Even a wolf would not
+have known where to take him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXII" id="XXXII"></a>XXXII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE LIONESS AND THE SHE-BEAR</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> X&mdash;No. 13)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Mamma</span> lioness had lost one of her cubs. Some hunter had made
+away with it, and the poor unfortunate mother roared out her wailings to
+such an extent that all the inhabitants of the forest were seriously
+disturbed. The spells of the night, its darkness and its silence, were
+powerless to hush the tumult of the queen of the forest. Sleep was
+driven from every animal within hearing.</p>
+
+<p>At last the she-bear rose up and coming to the wailing lioness said,
+"Good Gossip, just one word with you. All those little ones that have
+passed between your teeth, had they neither fathers nor mothers?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure they had."</p>
+
+<p>"Then if that be so, and as none have come to mourn their dead in cries
+which would split our heads: if so many mothers have borne their loss
+silently, why cannot you be silent also?"</p>
+
+<p>"I? I be silent? Unhappy I? Ah! I have lost my son! There is nought for
+me but to drag out a miserable old age."</p>
+
+<p>"But pray tell me what obliges you to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! Destiny. It is Destiny that hates me."</p>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img11-full.jpg" name="img11" id="img11"><img src="./images/img11.jpg" alt="Why cannot you be silent also?" title="Why cannot you be silent also?" /></a><br />
+Why cannot you be silent also?</p>
+
+<p><br />
+Those are the words that are for ever in the mouths of us all.</p>
+
+<p>Unhappy human kind, let this address itself to you. I hear nothing but
+the echoing murmur of trifling complaints. Whoever, in like case,
+believes himself the hated of the gods, let him consider Hecuba,<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> and
+he will render thanks for their clemency.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13">[13]</a> Hecuba was the wife of Priam, King of Troy. When that city
+fell Hecuba was chosen by Ulysses as part of his share in the spoils.
+She was changed into a dog for avenging the death of her son whose eyes
+had been put out by the King of Thracia, and she finally ended her life
+by casting herself into the sea.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXIII" id="XXXIII"></a>XXXIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE RABBITS</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> X.&mdash;No. 15)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">When</span> I have noticed how man acts at times, and how, in a
+thousand ways, he comports himself just as the lower animals do, I have
+often said to myself that the lord of these lower orders has no fewer
+faults than his subjects.</p>
+
+<p>Nature has allowed every living thing a drop or two from the fount at
+which the spirits of all creatures imbibe.</p>
+
+<p>I will prove what I say.</p>
+
+<p>If at the hour when night has scarcely passed and day hardly begun I
+climb into a tree, on the edge of some wood, and, like a new Jupiter
+from the heights of Olympus, I send a shot at some unsuspecting rabbit,
+then the whole colony of rabbits, who were enjoying their thyme-scented
+meal with open eyes and listening ears upon the heath, immediately
+scamper away. The report sends them all to seek refuge in their
+subterranean city.</p>
+
+<p>But their great fright is soon over; the danger quickly forgotten. Again
+I see the rabbits more light-hearted than ever coming close under my
+death-dealing hand.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Does not this give us a picture of mankind? Dispersed by some storm, men
+no sooner reach a haven than they are ready again to risk the same winds
+and the same distress. True rabbits, they run again into the
+death-dealing hands of fortune.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Let us add to this example another of a more ordinary kind.</p>
+
+<p>When strange dogs pass through any spot beyond their customary route
+there is a grand to-do. I leave you to picture it. All the dogs of the
+district with one idea in their heads join forces, barking and biting,
+to chase the intruder beyond the bounds of their territory.</p>
+
+<p>So, it may be, a similar joint-interest in property or in glory and
+grandeur leads such people as the governors of states, certain favoured
+courtiers, and people of a trade to behave exactly like these jealous
+dogs. All of us, as a rule, rob the chance-comer and tear him to pieces.
+Vain ladies and men of letters are usually so disposed. Woe betide the
+newly-arrived beauty or a new writer!</p>
+
+<p>As few as possible fighting round the cake! That's the best way!</p>
+
+<p>I could bring a hundred examples to bear upon this subject; but the
+shorter a discourse is the better. I take the masters of literature for
+my model in this and hold that in the best of themes something should be
+left unsaid for the reader to consider about. Therefore this discourse
+shall end.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXIV" id="XXXIV"></a>XXXIV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE GODS WISHING TO INSTRUCT A SON OF JUPITER</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XI.&mdash;No. 2)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Jupiter</span> had a son, who, sensible of his lofty origin, showed
+always a god-like spirit. Childhood is not much concerned with loving;
+yet to the childhood of this young god, loving and wishing to be loved
+was the chief concern. In him, love and reason which grow with years,
+outraced Time, that light-winged bearer of the seasons which come, alas!
+only too quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Flora,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> with laughing looks and winning airs, was the first to touch
+the heart of the youthful Olympian. Everything that passion could
+inspire&mdash;delicate sentiments full of tenderness, tears, and sighs&mdash;all
+were there: he forgot nothing. As a son of Jupiter he would by right of
+birth be dowered with greater gifts than the sons of other gods; and it
+seemed as though all his behaviour were prompted by the reminiscence
+that he had indeed already been a lover in some former state, so well
+did he play the part.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, it was Jupiter's wish that the boy should be taught, and
+assembling the gods in council he said, "So far, I have never been at
+fault in the conduct of the universe which I have ruled unaided; but
+there are various charges which I now have decided to distribute amongst
+the younger gods. This beloved child of mine I have already counted
+upon. He is of my own blood and many an altar already flames in his
+honour. Yet to merit his rank among the immortals it is necessary that
+he should possess all knowledge."</p>
+
+<p>As the god of the thunders ceased the whole assembly applauded. As for
+the boy himself, he did not appear to be above the wish to learn
+everything.</p>
+
+<p>"I undertake," said Mars, the god of war, "to teach him the art by which
+so many heroes have won the glories of Olympus and extended the empire."</p>
+
+<p>"I will be his master in the art of the lyre," promised the fair and
+learned Apollo.</p>
+
+<p>"And I," said Hercules with the lion's-skin, "will teach him how to
+overcome Vice and quell evil passions, those poisonous monsters which
+like Hydras<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> are ever reborn in the heart. A foe to effeminate
+pleasures, he shall learn from me those too seldom trodden paths that
+lead to honour along the tracks of virtue."</p>
+
+<p>When it came to Cupid, the god of love, to speak he simply said, "I can
+show him everything."</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+And Cupid was right; for what cannot be achieved with wit and the desire
+to please?</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14">[14]</a> The Goddess of Spring and of Flowers, was also regarded by
+the Greeks as the Goddess of Youth and its pleasures.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15">[15]</a> The Hydra was a monster with one hundred heads. If one was
+cut off two grew in its place unless the wound was stopped by fire.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXV" id="XXXV"></a>XXXV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XI.&mdash;No. 5)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">King Lion</span>, thinking that he would govern better if he took a
+few lessons in moral philosophy, had a monkey brought to him one fine
+day who was a master of arts in the monkey tribe. The first lesson he
+gave was as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Great King, in order to govern wisely a prince should always consider
+the good of the country before yielding to that feeling which is
+commonly known as self-love, for that fault is the father of all the
+vices one sees in animals. To rid oneself of this sentiment is not an
+easy thing to do, and is not to be done in a day. Indeed, merely to
+moderate it is to achieve a good deal, and if you succeed so far you
+will never tolerate in yourself anything ridiculous or unjust."</p>
+
+<p>"Give me," commanded the king, "an example of each of those faults."</p>
+
+<p>"Every species of creature," continued the philosopher, "esteems itself
+in its heart above all the others. These others it regards as
+ignoramuses, calling them by many hard names which, after all, hurt
+nobody. At the same time this self-love, which sneers at other tribes
+and other kinds of beasts, induces the individual to heap praise upon
+other individuals of his own species, because that is a very good way of
+praising oneself too. From this it is easy to see that many talents here
+below are in reality but empty pretence, assumption, and pose, and a
+certain gift of making the most of oneself, better understood by
+ignorant people than by learned.</p>
+
+<p>"The other day I followed two asses who were offering the incense of
+flattery to each other by turns, and heard one say, 'My Lord, do you not
+think that man, that perfect animal, is both unjust and stupid? He
+profanes our august name by calling every one of his own kind an ass who
+is ignorant, or dull, or idiotic; and he calls our laughter and our
+discourse by the term "braying." It is very amusing that these human
+people pretend to excel us!'</p>
+
+<p>"'My friend,' said his companion, 'it is for you to speak, and for them
+to hold their tongues. They are the true brayers. But let us speak no
+more of them. We two understand each other; that is sufficient. And as
+for the marvels of delight your divine voice lets fall upon our ears,
+the nightingale herself is but a novice in comparison. You surpass the
+court musician.'</p>
+
+<p>"To this the other donkey replied, 'My lord, I admire in you exactly the
+same excellencies.'</p>
+
+<p>"Not content with flattering each other in this way, these two asses
+went about the cities singing aloud each other's praises. Either one
+thought he was doing a good turn to himself in thus lauding his
+companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, your majesty, I know of many people to-day, not among asses, but
+among exalted creatures, whom heaven has been pleased to raise to a high
+degree, who would, if they dared, change their title of 'Excellency to
+that of 'Majesty.' I am saying more than I should, perhaps, and I hope
+your majesty will keep the secret. You wished to hear of some incident
+which would show you, among other things, how self-love makes people
+ridiculous, and there I have given you a good instance. Injustice I will
+speak of another time, it would take too long now."</p>
+
+<p>Thus spoke the ape. No one has ever been able to tell me whether he ever
+did speak of injustice to his king. It would have been a delicate
+matter, and our master of arts, who was no fool, regarded the lion as
+too terrible a king to submit to being lectured too far.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXVI" id="XXXVI"></a>XXXVI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE WOLF AND THE FOX IN THE WELL</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XI.&mdash;No. 6)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Why</span> does &AElig;sop give to the fox the reputation of excelling in
+all tricks of cunning? I have sought for a reason, but cannot find one.
+Does not the wolf, when he has need to defend his life or take that of
+another, display as much knowingness as the fox? I believe he knows
+more, and I dare, perhaps with some reason, to contradict my master in
+this particular.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, here is a case where undoubtedly all the honour fell to
+the dweller in burrows.</p>
+
+<p>One evening a fox, who was as hungry as a dog, happened to see the round
+reflection of the moon in a well, and he believed it to be a fine
+cheese. There were two pails which alternately drew up the water. Into
+the uppermost of these the fox leapt, and his weight caused him to
+descend the well, where he at once discovered his mistake about the
+cheese. He became extremely worried and fancied his end approaching, for
+he could see no way to get up again but by some other hungry one,
+enticed by the same reflection, coming down in the same way that he had.</p>
+
+<p>Two days passed without any one coming to the well. Time, which is
+always marching onward, had, during two nights, hollowed the outline
+of the silvery planet, and Reynard was in despair.</p>
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img12-full.jpg" name="img12" id="img12"><img src="./images/img12.jpg" alt="Descended by his greater weight." title="Descended by his greater weight." /></a><br />
+Descended by his greater weight.</p>
+
+<p><br />
+At last a wolf, parched with thirst, drew near, to whom the fox called
+from below, "Comrade, here is a treat for you! Do you see this? It is an
+exquisite cheese, made by Faunus<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> from milk of the heifer Io.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> If
+Jupiter were ill and lost his appetite he would find it again by one
+taste of this. I have only eaten this piece out of it; the rest will be
+plenty for you. Come down in the pail up there. I put it there on
+purpose for you."</p>
+
+<p>A rigmarole so cleverly told was easily believed by the fool of a wolf,
+who descended by his greater weight, which not only took him down, but
+brought the fox up.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+We ought not to laugh at the wolf, for we often enough let ourselves be
+deluded with just as little cause. Everybody is ready to believe the
+thing he fears and the thing he desires.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16">[16]</a> The benign spirit of the fields and woods.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17">[17]</a> A priestess who was changed by Hera, wife of Zeus, into a
+white heifer.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXVII" id="XXXVII"></a>XXXVII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE MICE AND THE SCREECH-OWL</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XI.&mdash;No. 9)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is not always wise to say to your company, "Just listen to
+this joke" or "What do you think of this for a marvel?" for one can
+never be sure that the listeners will regard the matter in the same way
+that the teller does. Yet here is a case that makes an exception to this
+good rule, and I maintain that it is in truth wonderful, and, although
+it has the appearance of being a fable, it is in reality absolute fact.</p>
+
+<p>There was once an extremely old pine-tree which an owl, that grim bird
+which Atropus<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> takes for her interpreter, had made to serve as his
+palace. But there were other tenants lodging in its cavernous and
+time-rotted trunk. These were mice, well fed, positive balls of fat, but
+not one of them had a foot. They had all been mutilated. The owl had
+nipped their feet off with his beak, whilst feeding and fostering them
+with wheat from neighbouring stacks.</p>
+
+<p>It must be confessed that this bird had reasoned.</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless, in his time, when hunting mice, he had found that after
+bringing them home they escaped again from the trunk, and to prevent
+the recurrence of such a loss the artful rascal had thenceforth nipped
+off the feet of all he caught, keeping them prisoners and eating them
+one to-day and one to-morrow. To eat them all at once would have been
+impossible. He had his health to think of. His forethought, which went
+quite as far as ours, extended to bringing them grain for their
+subsistence.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>If this is not reasoning, then I do not understand what reasoning is.
+See what arguments he used:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"When these mice are caught they run away, therefore I must eat them as
+I catch them. What all? Impossible! But would it not be well to keep
+some for a needy future? If so, I must keep them and feed them too,
+without their escaping. But how's that to be done? Happy thought! Nip
+off their feet!"</p>
+
+<p>Now find me among human beings anything better carried out. Did
+Aristotle and his followers do any better thinking, by my faith?</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<span class="smcap">Note</span>.&mdash;This is not a fable. The thing actually occurred,
+although marvellous enough and almost incredible. I have perhaps carried
+the forethought of this owl too far, for I do not pretend to establish
+in animals a line of reasoning; but in this style of literature a little
+exaggeration is pardonable.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18">[18]</a> One of the three Fates, the first and second being Clotho
+and Lachesis. They spun, measured, and cut off, respectively, the thread
+of life for men at their birth.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="figcenter"><img src="./images/img13.jpg" alt="A bear, a wolf, and a lion." /></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XXXVIII" id="XXXVIII"></a>XXXVIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 1)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">That</span> great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his companions
+driven hither and thither at the will of the winds for ten years, never
+knowing what their ultimate fate was to be. At length they disembarked
+upon a shore where Circe, the daughter of Apollo, held her court.
+Receiving them she brewed a delicious but baneful liquor, which she made
+them drink. The result of this was that first they lost their reason,
+and a few moments after, their bodies took the forms and features of
+various animals; some unwieldy, some small. Ulysses alone, having the
+wisdom to withstand the temptation of the treacherous cup, escaped the
+metamorphosis. He, besides possessing wisdom, bore the look of a hero
+and had the gift of honeyed speech, so that it came about that the
+goddess herself imbibed a poison little different from her own; that is
+to say, she became enamoured of the hero and declared her love to him.
+Now was the time for Ulysses to profit by this turn of events, and he
+was too cunning to miss the opportunity, so he begged and obtained the
+boon that his friends should be restored to their natural shapes.</p>
+
+<p>"But will they be willing to accept their own forms again?" asked the
+nymph. "Go to them and make them the offer."</p>
+
+<p>Ulysses, glad and eager, ran to his Greeks and cried, "The poisoned cup
+has its remedy, and I come to offer it to you. Dear friends of mine,
+will you not be glad to have your manly forms again? Speak, for your
+speech is already restored."</p>
+
+<p>The lion was the first to reply. Making an effort to roar he said, "I,
+for one, am not such a fool. What! renounce all the great advantages
+that have just been given me? I have teeth. I have claws. I can pull to
+pieces anything that attacks me. I am, in fact, a king. Do you think it
+would suit me to become a citizen of Ithaca once more? Who knows but
+that you might make of me a common soldier again. Thank you; but I will
+remain as I am."</p>
+
+<p>Ulysses, in sad surprise, turned to the bear. "Ah, brother! what form is
+this you have taken, you who used to be so handsome?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, really! I like that!" said the bear in his way. "What form is
+this? you ask. Why it is the form that a bear should have. Pray who
+instructed you that one form is more handsome than another? Is it your
+business to judge between us? I prefer to appeal to the sight of the
+gentler sex in our ursine race. Do I displease you? Then pass on. Go
+your ways and leave me to mine. I am free and content as I am, and I
+tell you frankly and flatly that I will not change my state."</p>
+
+<p>The princely Greek then turned to a wolf with the same proposals, and
+risking a similar rebuff said: "Comrade, it overwhelms me that a sweet
+young shepherdess should be driven to complain to the echoing crags of
+the gluttonous appetite that impelled you to devour her sheep. Time was
+when you would have protected her sheepfold. In those days you led an
+honest life. Leave your lairs and become, instead of a wolf, an honest
+man again."</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?" answered the wolf. "I don't see your point. You come
+here treating me as though I were a carnivorous beast. But what are you,
+who are talking in this strain? Would not you and yours have eaten these
+sheep, which all the village is deploring, if I had not? Now say, on
+your oath, do you really think I should have loved slaughter any less if
+I had remained a man? For a mere word, you men are at times ready to
+strangle each other. Are you not, therefore, as wolves one to another?
+All things considered, I maintain as a matter of fact that, rascal for
+rascal, it is better to be a wolf than a man. I decline to make any
+change in my condition."</p>
+
+<p>In this way did Ulysses go from one to another making the same
+representations and receiving from all, large and small alike, the same
+refusals. Liberty, unbridled lust of appetite, the ambushes of the
+woods, all these things were their supreme delight. They all renounced
+the glory attaching to great deeds.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+They thought that in following their passions they were enjoying
+freedom, not seeing that they were but slaves to themselves.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XXXIX" id="XXXIX"></a>XXXIX</h2>
+
+<h2>THE QUARREL BETWEEN THE DOGS AND THE CATS AND <br />
+BETWEEN THE CATS AND THE MICE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII&mdash;No. 8)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Discord</span> has always reigned in the universe; of this our world
+furnishes a thousand different instances, for with us the sinister
+goddess has many subjects.</p>
+
+<p>Let us begin with the four elements. Here you may be astonished to
+observe that they are, throughout, in antagonism to each other. Besides
+these four potentates how many other forces of all descriptions are
+everlastingly at war!</p>
+
+<p>In bygone times there was a house which was full of cats and dogs who
+lived together like amicable cousins, for this reason: Their master had
+made a hundred irrevocable laws and rules, settling their respective
+tasks, their meals, and every other incident of their lives, and at the
+same time he threatened with the whip the first one who should promote a
+quarrel. The kindly, almostly brotherly nature of this union was very
+edifying to the neighbours.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the concord ceased. Some little favouritism in the bestowal
+of a bone, or a dish of food, caused the outraged remainder to raise
+furious protests. I have heard some chroniclers attribute the discord to
+an affair of love and jealousy. At any rate, whatever the origin, the
+altercation speedily fired both hall and kitchen, and divided the
+company into partisans for this cat or for that dog.</p>
+
+<p>A new rule was made, which exasperated the cats, and their complaints
+deafened the whole neighbourhood. Their advocate advised returning
+absolutely to the old rules and decrees. The law books were searched
+for, but could nowhere be found. And that was no wonder, for the books
+which had been hidden in a corner by one set of partisans at first had
+been at last devoured by mice. This gave rise to another law-suit, which
+the mice lost and had to pay for.</p>
+
+<p>Many old cats, cunning, subtle, and sharp, and bearing a grudge against
+the whole race of mice beside, lay in wait for them, caught them, and
+cleared them out of the house, much to the advantage of the master of
+the establishment.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+So, returning to my moral, one cannot find under heaven any animal, any
+being, any creature who has not his opponent. This appears to be a law
+of nature. It would be time wasted to seek for a reason. God does well
+whatever he does. Beyond that I know nothing; but I do know that people
+come to high words over nothing three times out of four. Ah, ye human
+folk! even at the age of sixty you ought to be sent back to the
+schoolmaster.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XL" id="XL"></a>XL</h2>
+
+<h2>THE WOLF AND THE FOX</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 9)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span> once remarked to a wolf, "Dear friend, do you know that
+the utmost I can get for my meals is a tough old cock or perchance a
+lean hen or two. It is a diet of which I am thoroughly weary. You, on
+the other hand, feed much better than that, and with far less danger. My
+foraging takes me close up to houses; but you keep far away. I beg of
+you, comrade, to teach me your trade. Let me be the first of my race to
+furnish my pot with a plump sheep, and you will not find me ungrateful."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," replied the obliging wolf. "I have a brother recently dead,
+suppose you go and get his skin and wear it." This the fox accordingly
+did and the wolf commenced to give him lessons. "You must do this and
+act so, when you wish to separate the dogs from the flocks." At first
+Reynard was a little awkward, but he rapidly improved, and with a little
+practice he reached at last the perfection of wolfish strategy. Just as
+he had learned all that there was to know a flock approached. The sham
+wolf ran after it spreading terror all around, even as Patroclus
+wearing<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> the armour of Achilles spread alarm throughout camp and
+city, when mothers, wives, and old men hastened to the temples for
+protection. "In this case, the bleating army made sure there must be
+quite fifty wolves after them, and fled, dog and shepherd with them, to
+the neighbouring village, leaving only one sheep as a hostage.</p>
+
+<p>This remaining sheep our thief instantly seized and was making off with
+it. But he had not gone more than a few steps when a cock crew near by.
+At this signal, which habit of life had led him to regard as a warning
+of dawn and danger, he dropped his disguising wolf-skin and, forgetting
+his sheep, his lesson, and his master, scampered off with a will.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Of what use is such shamming? It is an illusion to suppose that one is
+really changed by making the pretence. One resume's one's first nature
+upon the earliest occasion for hiding it.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19">[19]</a> At the Siege of Troy. He was mistaken for Achilles.</p>
+
+
+
+<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/img14-full.jpg" name="img14" id="img14"><img src="./images/img14.jpg" alt="A guide for the footsteps of love." title="A guide for the footsteps of love." /></a><br />
+A guide for the footsteps of love.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XLI" id="XLI"></a>XLI</h2>
+
+<h2>LOVE AND FOLLY</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 14)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Everything</span> to do with love is mystery. Cupid's arrows, his
+quiver, his torch, his boyhood: it is more than a day's work to exhaust
+this science. I make no pretence here of explaining everything. My
+object is merely to relate to you, in my own way, how the blind little
+god was deprived of his sight, and what consequences followed this evil
+which perchance was a blessing after all. On the latter point I will
+decide nothing, but will leave it to lovers to judge upon.</p>
+
+
+<p>One day as Folly and Love were playing together, before the boy had lost
+his vision, a dispute arose. To settle this matter Love wished to lay
+his cause before a council of the gods; but Folly, losing her patience,
+dealt him a furious blow upon the brow. From that moment and for ever
+the light of heaven was gone from his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Venus demanded redress and revenge, the mother and the wife in her
+asserting themselves in a way which I leave you to imagine. She deafened
+the gods with her cries, appealing to Jupiter, Nemesis, the judges from
+Hades, in fact all who would be importuned. She represented the
+seriousness of the case, pointing out that her son could now not make a
+step without a stick. No punishment, she urged, was heavy enough for so
+dire a crime, and she demanded that the damage should be repaired.</p>
+
+<p>When the gods had each well considered the public interest on the one
+hand and the complainant's demands upon the other, the supreme court
+gave as its verdict that Folly was condemned for ever more to serve as a
+guide for the footsteps of Love.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XLII" id="XLII"></a>XLII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FOREST AND THE WOODCUTTER</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 16)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A woodcutter</span> had broken or lost the handle of his hatchet and
+found it not easy to get it repaired at once. During the time,
+therefore, that it was out of use, the woods enjoyed a respite from
+further damage. At last the man came humbly and begged of the forest to
+allow him gently to take just one branch wherewith to make him a new
+haft, and promised that then he would go elsewhere to ply his trade and
+get his living. That would leave unthreatened many an oak and many a fir
+that now won universal respect on account of its age and beauty.</p>
+
+<p>The innocent forest acquiesced and furnished him with a new handle. This
+he fixed to his blade and, as soon as it was finished, fell at once upon
+the trees, despoiling his benefactress, the forest, of her most
+cherished ornaments. There was no end to her bewailings: her own gift
+had caused her grief.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Here you see the way of the world and of those who follow it. They use
+the benefit against the benefactors. I weary of talking about it. Yet
+who would not complain that sweet and shady spots should suffer such
+outrage. Alas! it is useless to cry out and be thought a nuisance:
+ingratitude and abuses will remain the fashion none the less.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XLIII" id="XLIII"></a>XLIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE FOX AND THE YOUNG TURKEYS</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 18)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> young turkeys were lucky enough to find a tree which
+served them as a citadel against the assaults of a certain fox. He, one
+night, having made the round of the rampart and seen each turkey
+watching like a sentinel, exclaimed, "What! These people laugh at me, do
+they? And do they think that they alone are exempt from the common rule?
+No! by all the gods! no!"</p>
+
+<p>He accomplished his design.</p>
+
+<p>The moon shining brilliantly seemed to favour the turkey folk against
+the fox. But he was no novice in the laying of sieges, and had recourse
+to his bag of rascally tricks. He pretended to climb the tree; stood
+upon his hind legs; counterfeited death; then came to life again.
+Harlequin himself could not have acted so many parts. He reared his tail
+and made it gleam in the moonshine, and practised a hundred other
+pleasantries, during which no turkey could have dared to go to sleep.
+The enemy tired them out at last by keeping their eyes fixed upon him.
+The poor birds became dazed. One lost its balance and fell. Reynard put
+it by. Then another fell and was caught and laid on one side. Nearly
+half of them at length succumbed and were taken off to the fox's larder.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+To concentrate too much attention upon a danger may cause us to tumble
+into it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XLIV" id="XLIV"></a>XLIV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE APE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 19)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> is an ape in Paris to whom a wife was once given; and he,
+imitating many another husband, beat the poor creature to such an extent
+that she sighed all the breath out of her body and died.</p>
+
+<p>Their son uttered the most doleful howls as a protest to this terrible
+business.</p>
+
+<p>The father laughs now. His wife is dead and he already has found other
+lady companions, whom, no doubt, he beats in the same way; for he haunts
+the taverns and is frequently tipsy.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+Never expect anything good from people who imitate, whether they be apes
+or authors. Of the two the worst kind is the imitating author.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XLV" id="XLV"></a>XLV</h2>
+
+<h2>THE SCYTHIAN PHILOSOPHER</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 20)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A certain</span> austere philosopher of Scythia, wishing to follow a
+pleasant life, travelled through the land of the Greeks, and there he
+found in a quiet spot a sage, one such as Virgil has written of; a man
+the equal of kings, the peer almost of the gods, and like them content
+and tranquil.</p>
+
+<p>The happiness of this sage lay entirely in his beautiful garden. There
+the Scythian found him, pruning hook in hand, cutting away the useless
+wood from his fruit trees; lopping here, pruning there, trimming this
+and that, and everywhere aiding Nature, who repaid his care with usury.</p>
+
+<p>"Why this wrecking?" asked the philosopher. "Is it wisdom thus to
+mutilate these poor dwellers in your garden? Drop that merciless tool,
+your pruning hook. Leave the work to the scythe of time. He will send
+them, soon enough, to the shores of the river of the departed."</p>
+
+<p>"I am taking away the superfluous," answered the sage, "so that what is
+left may flourish the better."</p>
+
+<p>The Scythian returned to his cheerless abode and, taking a bill-hook,
+cut and trimmed every hour in the day, advising his neighbours to do
+likewise and prescribing to his friends the means and methods. A
+universal cutting-down followed. The handsomest boughs were lopped; his
+orchard mutilated beyond all reason. The seasons were disregarded, and
+neither young moons nor old were noted. In the end everything languished
+and died.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+This Scythian philosopher resembles the indiscriminating Stoic who cuts
+away from the soul all passions and desires, good as well as bad, even
+to the most innocent wishes. For my own part, I protest against such
+people strongly. They take from the heart its greatest impulses and we
+cease to live before we are dead.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="figcenter"><img src="./images/img15.jpg" alt="An elephant, a monkey, and a rhinoceros." /></p>
+
+<h2><a name="XLVI" id="XLVI"></a>XLVI</h2>
+
+<h2>THE ELEPHANT AND JUPITER'S APE</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 21)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> in the olden times the elephant and the rhinoceros
+disputed as to which was the more important, and which should,
+therefore, have empire over the other animals. They decided to settle
+the point by battle in an enclosed field.</p>
+
+<p>The day was fixed, and all in readiness, when somebody came and informed
+them that Jupiter's ape, bearing a caduceus, had been seen in the air.
+The fact of his holding a caduceus<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> proved him to be acting as
+official messenger from Olympus, and the elephant immediately took it
+for granted that the ape came as ambassador with greetings to his
+highness. Elated with this idea he waited for Gille, for that was the
+name of the ape, and thought him rather tardy in presenting his
+credentials. But at length Master Gille did salute his excellency as he
+passed, and the elephant prepared himself for the message. But not a
+word was forthcoming.</p>
+
+<p>It was evident that the gods were not giving so much attention to these
+matters as the elephant supposed.</p>
+
+<p>What does it matter to those in high places whether one is an elephant
+or a fly?</p>
+
+<p>The would-be monarch was reduced to the necessity of opening the
+conversation himself. "My cousin Jupiter," he began, "will soon be able
+to watch a rather fine combat from his supreme throne, and his court
+will see some splendid sport."</p>
+
+<p>"What combat?" asked the ape rather severely.</p>
+
+<p>"What! Do you not know that the rhinoceros denies me precedence: that
+the Elephantid&aelig; are at war with the Rhinocerotid&aelig;? You surely know these
+families: they have some reputation."</p>
+
+<p>"I am charmed to learn their names," replied Master Gille. "We are
+little concerned about such matters in our vast halls."</p>
+
+<p>This shamed and surprised the elephant. "Eh! What, then, is the reason
+of your visit amongst us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it was to divide a blade of grass between two ants. We care for
+all. As for your affair, nothing has been said about it in the council
+of the gods. The little and the great are equal in their eyes."</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+<a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20">[20]</a> The wand or official staff of Hermes.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XLVII" id="XLVII"></a>XLVII</h2>
+
+
+<h2>THE LEAGUE OF RATS</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 26)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> was once a mouse who lived in terrible fear of a cat that
+had lain in wait watching for her. She was in great anxiety to know what
+she could do to escape the threatening danger.</p>
+
+<p>Being prudent and wise she consulted her neighbour, a large and
+important rat. His lordship the rat had taken up his abode in a very
+good inn, and had boasted a hundred times that he had no fear for either
+tom-cat or she-cat. Neither teeth nor claws caused him any anxious
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Dame Mouse," said this boaster, "whatever I do, I cannot, upon my word,
+chase away this cat that threatens you without some help. But let me
+call together all the rats hereabouts and I'll play him a sorry trick or
+two."</p>
+
+<p>The mouse curtsied humbly her thanks and the rat ran with speed to the
+head-quarters; that is to say to the larder, where the rats were in the
+habit of assembling. Arriving out of breath and perturbed in mind he
+found them making a great feast at the expense of their host.</p>
+
+<p>"What ails you?" asked one of the feasters. "Speak!"</p>
+
+<p>"In two words," answered he, "the reason for my coming among you in
+this way is simply that it has become absolutely necessary to help the
+mice; for Grimalkin is abroad making terrible slaughter among them.
+This, the most devilish of cats, will, when she has no mice left, turn
+her attention to the eating of rats."</p>
+
+<p>"He says what is true," cried they all. "To arms, to arms!" Nothing
+could stem the tide of their impetuosity; although, it is said, a few
+she-rats shed tears. It was no matter. Every one overhauled his
+equipment, and filled his wallet with cheese. To risk life was the
+determination of all. They set off, as if to a f&ecirc;te, with happy minds
+and joyful hearts.</p>
+
+<p>Alas, for the mouse! These warriors were a moment too late. The cat had
+her already by the head. Advancing at the double the rats ran to the
+succour of their good little friend; but the cat swore, and stalked away
+in front of the enemy, having no intention of surrendering her prey.</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of the cat's defiance, the prudent rats, fearing ill fate,
+beat a safe retreat without carrying any further their intended
+onslaught. Each one ran to his hole, and whenever any ventured out again
+it was always with the utmost caution to avoid the cat.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="XLVIII" id="XLVIII"></a>XLVIII</h2>
+
+<h2>THE ARBITER, THE HOSPITALLER, AND THE HERMIT</h2>
+
+<h3>(<span class="smcap">Book</span> XII.&mdash;No. 28)</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Three</span> saints, all equally zealous and anxious for their
+salvation, had the same ideal, although the means by which they strove
+towards it were different. But as all roads lead to Rome, these three
+were each content to choose their own path.</p>
+
+<p>One, touched by the cares, the tediousness, and the reverses which seem
+to be inevitably attached to lawsuits, offered, without any reward, to
+judge and settle all causes submitted to him. To make a fortune on this
+earth was not an end he had in view.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since there have been laws, man, for his sins, has condemned
+himself to litigation half his lifetime. Half? three-quarters, I should
+say, and sometimes the whole. This good conciliator imagined he could
+cure the silly and detestable craze for going to law.</p>
+
+<p>The second saint chose the hospitals as his field of labour. I admire
+him. Kindly care taken to alleviate the sufferings of mankind is a
+charity I prefer before all others.</p>
+
+<p>The sick of those days were much as they are now&mdash;peevish, impatient,
+and ever grumbling. They gave our poor hospitaller plenty of work. They
+would say, "Ah! he cares very particularly for such and such. They are
+his friends, hence we are neglected."</p>
+
+<p>But bad as were these complaints they were nothing to those which the
+arbiter had to face. He got himself into a sorry tangle. No one was
+content. Arbitration pleased neither one side nor the other. According
+to them the judge could never succeed in holding the balance level. No
+wonder that at last the self-appointed judge grew weary.</p>
+
+<p>He betook himself to the hospitals. There he found that the
+self-sacrificing hospitaller had nothing better to tell of his results.
+Complaints and murmurs were all that either could gain.</p>
+
+<p>With sad hearts they gave up their endeavours and repaired to the silent
+wood, there to live down their sorrows. In these retreats, at a spot
+sheltered from the sun, gently tended by the breezes, and near a pure
+rivulet, they found the third saint, and of him they asked advice.</p>
+
+<p>"Advice," said he, "is only to be sought of yourselves; for who, better
+than yourselves, can know your own needs? The knowledge of oneself is
+the first care imposed upon mankind by the Almighty. Have you obeyed
+this mandate whilst out in the world? If there you did not learn to know
+yourselves, these tranquil shades will certainly help you; for nowhere
+else is it possible. Stir up this stream. Do you now see yourselves
+reflected in it? No! How could you, when the mud is like a thick cloud
+between us and the crystal? But let it settle, my brothers, and then you
+will see your image. The better to study yourselves live in the
+desert."</p>
+
+<p>The lonely hermit was believed and the others followed his wise counsel.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+It does not follow that people should not be well employed. Since some
+must plead; since men die and fall ill, doctors are a necessity and so
+also are lawyers. These ministers, thank God, will never fail us. The
+wealth and honours to be won make one sure of that. Nevertheless, in
+these general needs one is apt to neglect oneself. And you, judges,
+ministers, and princes, who give all your time to the public weal; you,
+who are troubled by countless annoyances and disappointments,
+disheartened by failure and corrupted by good fortune&mdash;you do not see
+yourselves. You see no one. Should some good impulse lead you to think
+over these matters, some flatterer breaks in and distracts you.</p>
+
+
+<p><br />
+This lesson is the ending of this work. May the centuries to come find
+it a useful one. I present it to kings. I propose it to the wise. What
+better ending could I make?</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h4>LETCHWORTH</h4>
+
+<h4>THE TEMPLE PRESS</h4>
+
+<h4>PRINTERS</h4>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+by Jean de la Fontaine
+
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+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,3256 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+by Jean de la Fontaine
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+       Rendered into English Prose by Fredk. Colin Tilney
+
+Author: Jean de la Fontaine
+
+Illustrator: Frederick Colin Tilney
+
+Translator: Frederick Colin Tilney
+
+Release Date: May 30, 2005 [EBook #15946]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jason Isbell, Julia Miller and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TALES FOR CHILDREN FROM MANY LANDS
+
+
+      EDITED BY F.C. TILNEY
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: The heart of Thyrsis left.]
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE
+
+    RENDERED INTO ENGLISH PROSE
+
+               BY
+
+       FREDK. COLIN TILNEY
+
+
+
+
+WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
+
+
+LONDON: J.M. DENT & SONS LIMITED
+NEW YORK: E.P. DUTTON & COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+If deep wisdom, gentle satire, polite cynicism, and, above all,
+irresistible humour are qualities which make a book attractive then La
+Fontaine's _Fables_ should be in the hands of all. Their charm is
+two-fold; for whilst they induce pleasurable reflection in the reader
+they delight him by the gaiety of their subject matter.
+
+Notwithstanding the fact that the spell of La Fontaine's verse
+necessarily disappears when another tongue is employed, his English
+translators, both Elizur Wright and Walter Thornbury, have courageously
+attempted to do him justice in prosody. In this little book no such
+effort has been made, chiefly for the reason that, for any but the
+unusually gifted, to snatch at rhythm and rhyme is often to let drop the
+apt and ready word as AEsop's mastiff dropped his dinner. But there is a
+further excuse for the present writer. Verse has little attraction for
+children unless it jingles merrily, and that is a thing as impossible as
+it is undesirable where the claims of a philosophic original make
+restrictions. Since the spirit is more likely to survive if the letter
+is not exacting, it is difficult to see why custom looks askance upon
+prose versions of poetry. But this little book may escape such censure
+on the ground of its being but a selection from the complete _Fables_ of
+La Fontaine. It presents only those of which the great fabulist was
+himself the originator. A selection of some sort being imperative there
+seemed to be a simple and easy choice in the condition of absolute
+originality; particularly as the older fables are given in another
+volume of this series.
+
+This translation (in which I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of my
+friend Mrs. A.H. Beddoe) is neither "free" nor literal. It sometimes
+amplifies a thought, much as a musician might amplify the harmonies upon
+a master's figured bass. But even this is rarely done, and then only
+with a view to the youthful reader's pleasure and profit. With that
+view, further, the social and political introductions to the fables have
+been omitted, as well as the scientific discourses and the allusions to
+the unfortunate wars of Louis XIV. and other historical matters, all of
+which would have neither meaning nor interest but for "grown-ups" of a
+certain class.
+
+F.C. TILNEY.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+                                                         PAGE
+
+THE TWO MULES                                             13
+
+THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE                                15
+
+THE GARDENER AND HIS LANDLORD                             17
+
+THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE                                     20
+
+THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE                            22
+
+THE UNHAPPILY MARRIED MAN                                 25
+
+THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD                            27
+
+THE MAIDEN                                                29
+
+THE WISHES                                                31
+
+THE DAIRY-WOMAN AND THE PAIL OF MILK                      34
+
+THE PRIEST AND THE CORPSE                                 36
+
+THE MAN WHO RAN AFTER FORTUNE AND THE MAN WHO
+WAITED FOR HER IN HIS BED                                 38
+
+AN ANIMAL IN THE MOON                                     42
+
+THE FORTUNE-TELLERS                                       44
+
+THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER                             47
+
+THE POWER OF FABLE                                        50
+
+THE DOG WHO CARRIED HIS MASTER'S DINNER                   52
+
+THYRSIS AND AMARANTH                                      54
+
+THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT                                  56
+
+THE HOROSCOPE                                             57
+
+JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS                              60
+
+EDUCATION                                                 62
+
+DEMOCRITUS AND THE PEOPLE OF ABDERA                       64
+
+THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN                                 67
+
+THE SCHOOLBOY, THE PEDANT, AND THE OWNER OF A GARDEN      69
+
+THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF JUPITER                    71
+
+THE OYSTER AND THE PLEADERS                               73
+
+THE CAT AND THE FOX                                       75
+
+THE MONKEY AND THE CAT                                    77
+
+THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG                        79
+
+THE DOG WITH HIS EARS CROPPED                             86
+
+THE LIONESS AND THE SHE-BEAR                              88
+
+THE RABBITS                                               90
+
+THE GODS WISHING TO INSTRUCT A SON OF JUPITER             93
+
+THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES                   95
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX IN THE WELL                          98
+
+THE MICE AND THE SCREECH-OWL                             100
+
+THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES                                102
+
+THE QUARREL BETWEEN THE DOGS AND THE CATS AND BETWEEN
+THE CATS AND THE MICE                                    106
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX                                     109
+
+LOVE AND FOLLY                                           111
+
+THE FOREST AND THE WOODCUTTER                            113
+
+THE FOX AND THE YOUNG TURKEYS                            115
+
+THE APE                                                  117
+
+THE SCYTHIAN PHILOSOPHER                                 118
+
+THE ELEPHANT AND JUPITER'S APE                           120
+
+THE LEAGUE OF RATS                                       122
+
+THE ARBITER, THE HOSPITALLER, AND THE HERMIT             124
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE HEART OF THYRSIS LEAPT                      Frontispiece
+
+"YOU BOASTED OF BEING SO SWIFT"            Facing page    14
+
+OVER TOPPLED THE MILK                           "         35
+
+THE GARRET WAS STILL A SIBYL'S DEN              "         46
+
+DELIBERATELY SWALLOWED THE OYSTER               "         74
+
+"WHY CANNOT YOU BE SILENT ALSO?"                "         88
+
+DESCENDED BY HIS GREATER WEIGHT                 "         98
+
+A GUIDE FOR THE FOOTSTEPS OF LOVE               "        111
+
+
+
+
+The poet Jean de la Fontaine was born at Chateau-Thierry on July 8,
+1621. He was a kindly, merry, and generous man and much beloved. His
+fables were written in verse and were published in three collections at
+different times of his life. Many were new versions of existing fables;
+but those of his later years were more often original inventions.
+
+All in this book are of La Fontaine's own invention, although several
+have since appeared in collections of AEsop's fables without the
+acknowledgment that is La Fontaine's due.
+
+He died on April 13, 1695, at the age of seventy-three.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+I
+
+THE TWO MULES
+
+(BOOK I.--No. 4)
+
+
+There were two heavily-laden mules making a journey together. One was
+carrying oats and the other bore a parcel of silver money collected from
+the people as a tax upon salt. This, we learn, was a tax which produced
+much money for the government, but it bore very hard upon the people,
+who revolted many times against it.
+
+The mule that carried the silver was very proud of his burden, and would
+not have been relieved of it if he could. As he stepped out he took care
+that the bells upon his harness should jingle well as became a mule of
+so much importance.
+
+Suddenly a band of robbers burst into the road, pounced upon the
+treasure mule, seized it by the bridle, and stopped it short.
+Struggling to defend itself the unhappy creature groaned and sighed as
+it cried: "Is this then the fate that has been in store for me: that I
+must fall and perish whilst my fellow traveller escapes free from
+danger?"
+
+
+"My friend," exclaimed the mule that carried only the oats, and whom the
+robbers had not troubled about, "it is not always good to have exalted
+work to do. Had you been like me, a mere slave to a miller, you would
+not have been in such a bad way now!"
+
+[Illustration: You boasted of being so swift.]
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE HARE AND THE PARTRIDGE
+
+(BOOK V.--No. 17)
+
+
+Never mock at other people's misfortune; for you cannot tell how soon
+you yourself may be unhappy. AEsop the sage has given us one or two
+examples of this truth, and I am going to tell you of a similar one now.
+
+A hare and a partridge were living as fellow-citizens very peacefully in
+a field, when a pack of hounds making an onset obliged the hare to seek
+refuge. He rushed into his form and succeeded in putting the hounds at
+fault. But here the scent from his over-heated body betrayed him.
+Towler, philosophising, concluded that this scent came from his hare,
+and with admirable zeal routed him out. Then old Trusty, who never is at
+fault, proclaimed that the hare was gone away. The poor unfortunate
+creature at last died in his form.
+
+The partridge, his companion, thought fit to soothe his last moments
+with some scoffing remarks upon his fate. "You boasted of being so
+swift," she said "What has come to your feet, then?"
+
+
+But even as she was chuckling her own turn came. Secure in the belief
+that her wings would save her whatever happened, she did not reckon upon
+the cruel talons of the hawk.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE GARDENER AND HIS LANDLORD
+
+(BOOK IV.--No. 4)
+
+
+A man who had a great fondness for gardening, being half a countryman
+and half town-bred, possessed in a certain village a fair-sized plot
+with a field attached, and all enclosed by a quickset hedge. Here sorrel
+and lettuce grew freely, as well as such flowers as Spanish jasmine and
+wild thyme, and from these his good wife Margot culled many a posy for
+her high days and holidays.
+
+This happy state of things was soon troubled by the visits of a hare,
+and to such an extent that the man had to go to his landlord and lodge a
+complaint. "This wretched animal," he said, "comes here and stuffs
+himself night and morning, and simply laughs at traps and snares. As for
+stones and sticks they make no difference whatever to him. He must be
+enchanted."
+
+"Enchanted!" cried the landlord. "I defy enchantment! Were he the devil
+himself old Towler would soon rout him out in spite of his tricks. I'll
+rid you of him, my man, never fear!"
+
+"And when?" asked the man.
+
+"Oh, to-morrow, without more delay!"
+
+The affair being thus arranged, on the morrow came the landlord with all
+his following. "First of all," he said, "how about breakfast? Your
+chickens are tender I'll be bound. Come here, my dear," he added,
+addressing the man's daughter, and then, to her father, "When are you
+going to let her marry? Hasn't a son-in-law come on the scene yet? My
+dear fellow, this is a thing that positively must be done you know,
+you'll have to put your hand in your pocket to some purpose." So saying
+he sat down beside the damsel, took her hand, held her by the arm, toyed
+with her fichu, and took other silly and trifling liberties which the
+girl resented with great self-respect, whilst the father grew a little
+uneasy in his mind.
+
+Nevertheless, the cooking went on. There was quite a run on the kitchen.
+
+"How ripe are your hams? They look good."
+
+"Sir," replied the flattered host, "they are yours."
+
+"Oh, really now! Well I'll take them, and that right gladly."
+
+The landlord and his family, his dogs, his horses, and his men-servants,
+all take breakfast with hearty appetites. He assumes the host's place
+and privileges, drinks his wine and caresses his daughter. After this a
+crowd of hunters take seats at the breakfast table.
+
+Now everybody is lively and busy with preparations for the hunt. They
+wind the horns to such purpose that the good man is dumbfounded by the
+din. Worse than that they make terrible havoc in the poor garden.
+Good-bye to all the neat rows and beds! Good-bye to the chickory and the
+leeks! Good-bye to all the pot-herbs!
+
+The hare lies hidden under the leaves of a great cabbage, but being
+discovered is quickly started, whereupon he rushes to a hole--nay, worse
+than a hole, a great and horrible gap in the poor hedge, made by the
+landlord's order, so that they might all burst out of the garden in fine
+style; for it would have looked ridiculous for them to ride out at the
+gate.
+
+The poor man objected. "This is fine fun for princes, no doubt----"; but
+they let him talk, whilst dogs and men together did more harm in one
+hour than all the hares in the province would have done in a century.
+
+
+Little princes, settle your own quarrels amongst yourselves. It is
+madness to have recourse to kings. You should never let them engage in
+your wars, nor even enter your domains.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE MAN AND HIS IMAGE
+
+(BOOK I.--No. 11)
+
+
+Once there was a man who loved himself very much, and who permitted
+himself no rivals in that love. He thought his face and figure the
+handsomest in all the world. Anything in the shape of a mirror that
+could show him his own likeness he took care to avoid; for he did not
+want to be reminded that perhaps he was over-rating his beauty. For this
+reason he hated looking-glasses and accused them of being false. He made
+a very great mistake in this respect; but that he did not mind, being
+quite content to live in the happiness the mistake afforded him.
+
+To cure him of so grievous an error, officious Fate managed matters in
+such a way that wherever he turned his eyes they would fall on one of
+those mute little counsellors that ladies carry and appeal to when they
+are anxious about their appearance. He found mirrors in the houses;
+mirrors in the shops; mirrors in the pockets of gallants; mirrors even
+as ornaments on waist-belts of ladies.
+
+What was he to do--this poor Narcissus? He thought to avoid all such
+things by going far away from haunts of mankind, where he should never
+have to face a mirror again. But in the woods to which he retreated a
+clear rivulet ran. Into this he happened to look and--saw himself again.
+Angrily he told himself that his eyes had been deluded by an idle fancy.
+Henceforth he would keep away from the water! This he tried his utmost
+to do; but who can resist the beauty of a woodland stream? There he was
+and remained, always with that which he had determined to shun.
+
+
+My meaning is easily seen. It applies to everybody; for everybody takes
+some joy in harbouring this very error. The man in love with himself
+stands for the soul of each one of us. All the mirrors wherein he saw
+himself reflected stand for the faults of other people, in which we
+really see our own faults though we hate to recognise them as such. As
+for the brook, that, as every one knows, stands for the book of maxims
+which the Duke de la Rochefoucauld[1] wrote.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: This fable was dedicated to the Duke de la Rochefoucauld.]
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE ANIMALS SICK OF THE PLAGUE
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 1)
+
+
+One of those dread evils which spread terror far and wide, and which
+Heaven, in its anger, ordains for the punishment of wickedness upon
+earth--a plague in fact; and so dire a one as to make rich in one day
+that grim ferryman who takes a coin from all who cross the river Acheron
+to the land of the dead--such a plague was once waging war against the
+animals. All were attacked, although all did not die. So hopeless was
+the case that not one of them attempted to sustain their sinking lives.
+Even the sight of food did not rouse them. Wolves and foxes no longer
+turned eager and calculating eyes upon their gentle and guileless prey.
+The turtle-doves went no more in cooing pairs, but were content to avoid
+each other. Love and the joy that comes of love were both at an end.
+
+At length the lion called a council of all the beasts and addressed them
+in these words: "My dear friends, it seems to me that it is for our sins
+that Heaven has permitted this misfortune to fall upon us. Would it not
+be well if the most blameworthy among us allowed himself to be offered
+as a sacrifice to appease the celestial wrath? By so doing he might
+secure our recovery. History tells us that this course is usually
+pursued in such cases as ours. Let us look into our consciences without
+self-deception or condoning. For my own part, I freely admit that in
+order to satisfy my gluttony I have devoured an appalling number of
+sheep; and yet what had they done to me to deserve such a fate? Nothing
+that could be called an offence. Sometimes, indeed, I have gone so far
+as to eat the shepherd too! On the whole, I think I had better render
+myself for this act of sacrifice; that is, if we agree that it is a
+thing necessary to the general good. And yet I think it would be only
+fair that every one should declare his sins as well as I; for I could
+wish that, in justice, it were the most culpable that should perish."
+
+"Sire," said the fox, "you are really too yielding for a king, and your
+scruples show too much delicacy of feeling. Eating sheep indeed! What of
+that?--a foolish and rascally tribe! Is that a crime? No! a hundred
+times no! On the contrary your noble jaws did but do them great honour.
+As for the shepherd, it may be fairly said that all the harm he got he
+merited, since he was one of those who fancy they have dominion over the
+animal kingdom." Thus spake the fox and every other flatterer in the
+assembly applauded him. Nor did any seek to inquire deeply into the
+least pardonable offences of the tiger, the bear, and the other mighty
+ones. All those of an aggressive nature, right down to the simple
+watch-dog, were something like saints in their own opinions.
+
+When the ass stood forth in his turn he struck a different note: nothing
+of fangs and talons and blood. "I remember," he said, "that once in
+passing a field belonging to a monastery I was urged by hunger, by
+opportunity, by the tenderness of the grass, and perhaps by the evil one
+egging me on, to enter and crop just a taste, about as much as the
+length of my tongue. I know that I did wrong, having really no right
+there."
+
+At these words all the assembly turned upon him. The wolf took upon
+himself to make a speech proving without doubt that the ass was an
+accursed wretch, a mangy brute, who certainly ought to be told off for
+sacrifice, since through his wickedness all their misfortunes had come
+about. His peccadillo was judged to be a hanging matter. "What! eat the
+grass belonging to another? How abominable a crime! Nothing but death
+could expiate such an outrage!" And forthwith they proved as much to the
+poor ass.
+
+
+Accordingly as your power is great or small, the judgments of a court
+will whiten or blacken your reputation.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+THE UNHAPPILY MARRIED MAN
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 2)
+
+
+If goodness were always the comrade of beauty I would seek a wife
+to-morrow; but as divorce between these two is no new thing, and as
+there are so few lovely forms that enshrine lovely souls, thus uniting
+both one and the other delight, do not take it amiss that I refrain from
+seeking such a rare combination.
+
+
+I have seen many marriages, but not one of them has held out allurements
+for me. Nevertheless, nearly the whole four quarters of mankind
+courageously expose themselves to this the greatest of all hazards,
+and--the whole four quarters usually repent it.
+
+
+I will tell you of one who, having repented, found that there was
+nothing for it but to send home again his quarrelsome, avaricious, and
+jealous spouse. She was one whom nothing pleased; for her, nothing was
+right. For her, one rose too late; one retired too early. First it was
+this, then it was that, and then again 'twas something else. The
+servants raged. The husband was at his wit's end. "You think of nothing,
+sir." "You spend too much." "You gad about, sir." "You are idle."
+Indeed she had so much to say that, in the end, tired of hearing such a
+termagant, he sent her to her parents in the country. There she mixed
+with those who minded the turkeys and pigs until she was thought to be
+somewhat tamed, when the husband sent for her again.
+
+"Well, my dear, how have you been getting on? How did you spend your
+time? Did you like the simple life of the country?"
+
+"Oh, pretty well!" she said, "but what annoyed me was to see the
+laziness of those people. They are worse there than here. They showed no
+care whatever for the herds and flocks they were supposed to mind. I
+didn't forget to let them know what I thought of them. Of course, they
+didn't like it, and they all hated me in the end."
+
+"Ah! my dear. If you fell foul of people whom you saw for but a moment
+or so in the day and when they returned in the evening--if you made them
+tired of you; what will the servants in this house become, who must have
+you railing at them the whole day long? And what will your poor husband
+do whom you expected to have near you all day and night too? Return to
+the village, my dear. Adieu! and if during my life the idea should
+possess me to have you back again, may I, for my sins, have two such as
+you for ever at my elbows in the world to come."
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VII
+
+THE RAT RETIRED FROM THE WORLD
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 3)
+
+
+The ancients had a legend which told of a certain rat who, weary of the
+anxieties of this world, retired to a cheese, therein to live in peace.
+Profound solitude reigned around the hermit. He worked so hard with his
+feet and his teeth that in a few days he had a spacious dwelling and
+food in plenty. What more could he desire? He thrived well, growing
+large and fat. Blessings are showered upon those who are vowed to
+simplicity and renunciation!
+
+One day a deputation from Rat-land waited upon him, begging that out of
+his abundance he would grant a slight dole towards fitting out a journey
+to a strange country where the rats hoped to get succour in their great
+war against the cat-tribe. Ratopolis was besieged, and owing to the
+poverty of the beleaguered republic they were forced to start with empty
+wallets. They asked but little, believing that in a few days help would
+arrive. "My friends," said the hermit, "earthly affairs no longer
+concern me. In what way could a poor recluse assist you? What could he
+do but pray for the help you need! My best hopes and wishes you may be
+assured of." With these words this latest among the saints shut his
+door.
+
+
+Whom have I in mind, do you think, when I speak of this rat, so sparing
+of his help? A monk?--Oh, no! A dervish rather, for a monk, I suppose,
+is at all times charitable.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+THE MAIDEN
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 5)
+
+
+A certain damsel of considerable pride made up her mind to choose a
+husband who should be young, well-built, and handsome; of agreeable
+manners and--note these two points--neither cold nor jealous. Moreover,
+she held it necessary that he should have means, high birth, intellect;
+in fact, everything. But whoever was endowed with everything?
+
+The fates were evidently anxious to do their best for her, for they sent
+her some most noteworthy suitors. But these the proud beauty found not
+half good enough. "What, men like those! You propose them for me! Why
+they are pitiable! Look at them--fine types, indeed!" According to her
+one was a dullard; another's nose was impossible. With this it was one
+thing; with that it was another; for superior people are disdainful
+above all things.
+
+After these eligible gentlemen had been dismissed, came others of less
+worth, and at these too she mocked. "Why," said she, "I would not bemean
+myself to open the door to such. They must think me very anxious to be
+married. Thank Heaven my single state causes me no regrets."
+
+The maiden contented herself with such notions until advancing age made
+her step down from her pedestal. Adieu then to all suitors. One year
+passed and then another. Her anxiety increased, and after anger came
+grief. She felt that those little smiles and glances which, at the
+bidding of love, lurk in the countenances of fair maidens were day by
+day deserting her. Finally, when love himself departed, her features
+gave pleasure to none. Then she had recourse to those hundred little
+ruses and tricks of the toilet to repair the ravages of time; but
+nothing that she could do arrested the depredations of that despicable
+thief. One may repair a house gone to ruin: but the same thing is not
+possible with a face!
+
+Her refined ladyship now sang to a different tune, for her mirror
+advised her to take a husband without delay. Perhaps also her heart
+harboured the wish. Even superior persons may have longings! This one at
+last made a choice that people would at one time have thought
+impossible; for she was very pleased and happy in marrying an ugly
+cripple.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE WISHES
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 6)
+
+
+When the Great Mogul held empire, there were certain little sprites who
+used to undertake all sorts of tasks helpful to mankind. They would do
+housework, stable-work, and even gardening. But if one interfered with
+them, all would be spoilt.
+
+One of these friendly sprites cultivated the garden of a worthy family
+living near the Ganges. His duties were performed deftly and
+noiselessly. He loved not only his master and mistress, but the garden
+also. Possibly the zephyrs, who are said to be friends of the sprites,
+helped him in his tasks. At any rate he did his very best, and never
+ceased in his efforts to load his hosts with every pleasure. To prove
+his zeal he would have stayed with these people for ever, in spite of
+the natural propensity of his kind for waywardness. But his mischievous
+fellow-sprites fell to plotting. They induced the chief of their band to
+remove him to another field of labour. This the chief promised and,
+either by caprice or by policy, finally brought about. Orders came that
+the devoted worker should set out for the uttermost part of Norway,
+there to take charge of a house which at all times of the year was
+covered with snow. So from being an Indian, the poor thing became a
+Laplander.
+
+"I am forced to leave you," he said to his hosts, "but for what fault of
+mine this has come to pass I cannot tell. I only know that go I must,
+and in a very little while too; a month perhaps, or maybe only a week.
+Make the most of the interval. Fortunately, I can fulfil three wishes
+for you; but not more than three."
+
+To mankind there is nothing very out-of-the-way in merely wishing. These
+good people decided that their first wish should be for abundance, and
+straightway. Abundance, by the double-handful, poured gold into their
+coffers; wheat into their granaries; wine into their cellars. Repletion
+was everywhere. But, alas, what cares of direction, what account
+keeping; what time and anxiety this affluence involved!
+
+Thieves plotted against them. Great lords borrowed from them. The prince
+taxed them. They were, in fact, reduced to misery by this excess of good
+fortune. At last they could endure it no longer. "Take back this awful
+overplus of wealth," they cried. "Even the poor are happy in comparison
+with us, and poverty is more covetable than such riches. Away, then,
+with these treasures! And thou, sweet Moderation, mother of all peace,
+sister of repose, come to us again!" With these words, which made their
+second wish, lo! Moderation returned and they received her with open
+arms, once again enjoying peace.
+
+Thus at the end of these two wishes they were exactly where they were in
+the first place, and so it is with all who are given to wishing, and
+wasting in dreams the time they had better have spent in doing. But
+being philosophical people they laughed, and the sprite laughed with
+them. To profit by his generosity when he had left them, they hazarded
+their third wish and asked for wisdom. Wisdom is a treasure which never
+embarrasses.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE DAIRY-WOMAN AND THE PAIL OF MILK
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 10)
+
+
+A young country woman named Perrette set out one morning from her little
+dairy-farm with a pail of milk which she cleverly balanced upon her head
+over a pad or cushion. She hurried with sprightly steps to the market
+town, and so that she might be the less encumbered, wore a kirtle that
+was short and light--in truth a simple petticoat--and shoes low and
+easy. As she went, her thoughts ran upon the price to be gained for her
+milk, and she schemed a way to lay out the sum in the purchase of one
+hundred eggs. She was sure that with care and diligence these would
+yield three broods. "It would be quite easy to me," she said, "to raise
+the chicks near the house. The fox would be clever who would not leave
+me enough to buy one pig. A pig would fatten at the cost of a little
+bran, and when he had grown a fair size I should make a bargain of him
+for a good round sum. And then, considering the price he will fetch,
+what is to prevent my putting into our stable a cow and a calf? I can
+fancy how the calf will frisk about among the sheep!" Thereupon Perrette
+herself frisked for joy, transported with the picture of her affluence.
+Over toppled the milk! Adieu to calf and cow and pig and broods! This
+lady of wealth had to leave, with tearful eyes, her dissipated fortunes,
+and go straight to her husband framing excuses to avoid a beating.
+
+[Illustration: Overtoppled the milk.]
+
+The farce became known to the whole countryside, and people called
+Perrette by the name of "Milkpail" ever after.
+
+
+Who has never talked wildly? Who has never built castles in Spain? Wise
+men as well as milkmaids; sages and fools, all have waking dreams and
+find them sweet! Our senses are carried away by some flattering
+falsehood, and then wealth, honours, and beauty seem ours to command.
+
+Alone with my thoughts I challenge the bravest. I dethrone monarchs and
+the people rejoicing crown me instead, showering diadems upon my head.
+Then lo! a little accident happens to bring me back to my senses, and I
+am Poor Jack as before.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE PRIEST AND THE CORPSE
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 11)
+
+
+There was a funeral. The dead body was progressing sadly towards its
+last resting place; and following rather gladly, was the priest who
+meant to bury it as soon as possible.
+
+The dead man, in a leaden coffin, was borne in a coach, and was properly
+shrouded in that robe the dead always wear be it summer or winter. As
+for the priest, he sat near it, intoning as hard as he could all sorts
+of orisons, psalms, lessons, verses, and responses, in the hope that the
+more he gave the more would be paid for. "Leave it to me, Mr. Deadman,"
+his actions seemed to say. "I'll give you a nice selection; a little of
+everything. It's only a matter of fees, you know." And the Rev. John
+Crow kept his eye on his silent charge as if he expected some one would
+make off with it. "Mr. Deadman," his looks proclaimed, "by you I shall
+receive so and so much in money, so and so much in wax candles, and,
+possibly, a little more in incidental profits.
+
+On the strength of these calculations he promised himself a quarter-cask
+of the best wine the neighbourhood could offer. Beyond that he settled
+that a certain very attractive niece of his, as well as his housekeeper
+Paquette, should both have new dresses.
+
+Whilst these pleasant and generous thoughts were running in his mind
+there came a terrific shock. The car overturned. The Rev. John Crow's
+head was broken by the coffin which fell upon him. Alas for the poor
+priest! he went to heaven with the parishioner he thought only to bury.
+
+In reality, life over and over again is nothing but the fate of the Rev.
+John Crow who counted on his dead, and of Perrette who counted on her
+chickens.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+THE MAN WHO RAN AFTER FORTUNE AND THE MAN WHO WAITED FOR HER IN HIS BED
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 12)
+
+
+Who does not run after Fortune?
+
+I would I were in some spot whence I could watch the eager crowds
+rushing from kingdom to kingdom in their vain chase after the daughter
+of Chance!
+
+They are indeed but faithful followers of a phantom; for when they think
+they have her, lo! she is gone! Poor wretches! One must pity rather than
+blame their foolishness. "That man," they say with sanguine voice,
+"raised cabbages; and now he is Pope! Are we not as good as he?" Ah!
+yes! a hundred times as good perhaps; but what of that? Fortune has no
+eyes for all your merit. Besides, is Papacy, after all, worth peace,
+which one must leave behind for it? Peace--a treasure that once was the
+possession of gods alone--is seldom granted to the votaries of Dame
+Fortune. Do not seek her; and then she will seek you. That is the way
+with women!
+
+
+There once were two friends, who lived comfortably and prospered
+moderately in a village; but one of them was always wishing to do
+better. One day he said to the other, "Suppose we left this place and
+tried our luck elsewhere? You know that a prophet is never received in
+his own country!"
+
+"You try, by all means," returned his friend, "but as for me, I am
+contented where I am. I desire neither better climate nor better
+possibilities. You please yourself. Follow your unquiet spirit. You'll
+soon return, and I shall sleep soundly enough awaiting you."
+
+So the man of ambition, or the money-grubber, whichever you like to call
+him, took to the road, and arrived next day at a place where, if
+anywhere, Dame Fortune should be found, namely, the court. He stayed at
+court for some long time, never missing an opportunity to put himself in
+the way of favours. He was in evidence when the king went to bed, when
+he arose, and on all other propitious occasions.
+
+"What's amiss?" he said at last. "Fortune, I am convinced, dwells here;
+for I have seen her the guest now of this one and now of that one. How
+is it that I cannot entertain the capricious creature? I must try her
+elsewhere. I have already been told that the people of this place are
+exceedingly ambitious. Evidently there is no room for me here. So,
+adieu! gentleman of the court, and follow to the bitter end this
+will-o'-the-wisp! They tell me that Dame Fortune has temples in Surat.
+Very well! We will go there."
+
+He embarked at once. What hearts of bronze have humankind! The man who
+first attempted this awful route and defied its terrors must have had a
+heart of adamant. Often did our traveller turn his eyes towards his
+little home as first pirates, then contrary winds, then calms, then
+rocks--all agents of death--in turn assailed him. Strange it is that men
+should take such pains to meet death, since it will come only too
+quickly to them in their homes!
+
+Our adventurer arrived in India. There they told him that Japan was the
+place where Fortune dispensed her favours. He hurried there. The sea
+wearied of carrying him about. In the end all the profit his long
+voyages brought him was the lesson which he learnt from savages, and
+that was: "Stop in your own country and let Nature instruct you." Japan,
+India, or anywhere else; no one place was better than another as a
+hunting ground for Fortune; so the conclusion was forced upon him that
+he had been wiser had he stayed in his own village. At last he renounced
+all these ungrateful wanderings and returned to his own country; and as
+he caught sight of his homestead from afar he wept for joy, and cried:
+"Happy is the man who, staying in his home, finds constant occupation in
+adjusting his desires to his surroundings. To him the court, the sea,
+and the land of Fortune are but hearsay. Thou, fickle Dame, flaunting
+before our eyes dignities and wealth, dost cause us to follow after
+these allurements to the ends of the earth, only to find them empty
+shams. Henceforth I wander no more, for here at home a hundred times
+more success shall I find."
+
+Having registered this vow against Fortune the wanderer came to the door
+of his friend, and lo! there sat Fortune, waiting on the threshold,
+whilst his friend slumbered within.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+AN ANIMAL IN THE MOON
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 18)
+
+
+Whilst one philosopher tells us that men are constantly the dupes of
+their own senses, another will swear that the senses never deceive. Both
+are right. Philosophy truly affirms that the senses will deceive so long
+as men are content to take upon trust the evidence the senses bring. But
+if this evidence is weighed, measured, and tested by every available
+resource of science the senses can deceive no one.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In England, not long ago, when a large telescope was levelled to observe
+the moon, the observer was astounded to see what he took to be some new
+animal in this lovely planet. Everybody was excited about the marvellous
+appearance. Something had occurred up above there which, without doubt,
+must betoken great changes of some sort. Who could tell but that all the
+dreadful wars that were then convulsing Europe had not been caused by
+it? The king, who patronised the sciences, hastened to the observatory
+to see the sight, and see it he did. There was the monster right
+enough!
+
+And what was it after all?--Nothing but a poor little mouse that had by
+some unlucky chance got in between the lenses of the telescope. Here was
+the cause of all the devastating wars! Everybody laughed....
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE FORTUNE-TELLERS
+
+(BOOK VII.--No. 15)
+
+
+Reputations may be made by the merest chances, and yet reputations
+control the fashions. That is a little prologue that would fit the case
+of all sorts of people. Everywhere around one sees prejudices, scheming,
+and obtuseness; but little or no justice. Nothing can be done to stem
+this torrent of evil. It must run its course. It always has been and
+always will be.
+
+
+A woman in Paris once made it her profession to tell fortunes. She
+became very popular and had great success. Did anybody lose a bit of
+finery; had any one a sweetheart; had any wife a husband she was tired
+of; any husband a jealous wife, to the prophetess such would run simply
+to be told the thing that it was comforting to hear.
+
+The stock-in-trade of this fortune-teller consisted merely of a
+convincing manner, a few words of scientific jargon, a great deal of
+impudence, and much good luck. All these things together so impressed
+the people that as often as not they would cry, "Miraculous!" In short,
+although the woman's ignorance was quite twenty-three carat she passed
+for a veritable oracle.
+
+Notwithstanding the fact that this oracle only lived in a garret, she
+found so many ready to pay her well for her shams that she soon grew
+rich enough to improve the position of her husband, to rent an office,
+and buy a house.
+
+The garret being left empty was shortly tenanted by another woman to
+whom all the town--women, girls, valets, fine gentlemen--everybody in
+fact swarmed, as before, to consult their destiny. The former tenant had
+built up such a reputation that the garret was still a sibyl's den, in
+spite of the fact that quite a different creature dwelt in it. "I tell
+fortunes? Surely you're joking! Why, gentlemen, I cannot read, and as
+for writing, I never learnt more than to make my mark." But these
+disclaimers were useless. People insisted on having their fortunes told,
+and she had to do it. In consequence, she put by plenty of money, being
+able to earn, in spite of herself, quite as much as two lawyers could.
+The poverty of her home was a help rather than a hindrance. Four broken
+chairs and a broom-handle savoured of a witch's frolic.
+
+If this woman had told the truth in a room well-furnished she would have
+been scorned. The fashion for a garret had set in, and garret it must
+be.
+
+In her new chambers the first fortune-teller waited in vain; for it was
+the outward sign alone that brought customers, and the sign was poverty.
+
+
+I have seen in a palace a robe worn awry win much distinction and
+success, such crowds of followers and adherents did it draw. You may
+well ask me why!
+
+[Illustration: The garret was still a sybil's den.]
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+THE COBBLER AND THE FINANCIER
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 2)
+
+
+There was once a cobbler who was so light hearted that he sang from
+morning to night. It was wonderful to watch him at his work, and more
+wonderful still to hear his runs and trills. He was in fact happier than
+the Seven Sages.
+
+This merry soul had a neighbour who was exactly the reverse. He sang
+little and slept less; for he was a financier, and made of money, as
+they say. Whenever it happened that after a sleepless night he would
+doze off in the early morning, the cobbler, who was always up betimes,
+would wake him up again with his joyful songs. "Ha!" thought the man of
+wealth, "what a misfortune it is that one cannot buy sleep in the open
+market as one buys food and drink!" Then an idea came to him. He
+invited the cobbler to his house, where he asked him some questions.
+
+"Tell me, Master Gregory, what do you suppose your earnings amount to in
+a year?"
+
+"In a year," laughed the cobbler, "that's more than I know. I never keep
+accounts that way, nor even keep one day from another. So long as I can
+make both ends meet, that's good enough for me!"
+
+"Really!" replied the financier. "But what can you earn in one day?"
+
+"Oh, sometimes more and sometimes less. The mischief of it is that there
+are so many fete days and high-days and fast-days crowded into the year,
+on which, as the priest tells us, it is wicked to work at all; and worse
+still he keeps on finding some new saint or other to give weight to his
+sermons. If it were not for that, cobbling would be a fine paying game."
+
+At this the wealthy man laughed. "Look here, my friend, to-day I'll lift
+you to the seats of the mighty! Here is a hundred pounds. Guard them and
+use them with care."
+
+When the cobbler held the bag of money in his hand he imagined that it
+must be as much as would be coined in a hundred years.
+
+Returning home he buried the cash in his cellar. Alas! he buried his joy
+with it, for there were no more songs. From the moment he came into
+possession of this wealth, the love of which is the root of all evil,
+his voice left him, and not only his voice, but his sleep also. And in
+place of these came anxiety, suspicion, and alarms; guests which abode
+with him constantly. All day he kept his eye on the cellar door. Did a
+cat make a noise in the night, then for a certainty that cat was after
+his money.
+
+At last, in despair, the wretched cobbler ran to the financier whom he
+now no longer kept awake. "Oh, give me back my joy in life, my songs, my
+sleep; and take your hundred pounds again."
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+THE POWER OF FABLE
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 4)
+
+
+In the old, vain, and fickle city of Athens, an orator,[2] seeing how
+the light-hearted citizens were blind to certain dangers which
+threatened the state, presented himself before the tribune, and there
+sought, by the very tyranny of his forceful eloquence, to move the heart
+of the republic towards a sense of the common welfare.
+
+But the people neither heard nor heeded. Then the orator had recourse to
+more urgent arguments and stronger metaphors, potent enough to touch
+hearts of stone. He spoke in thunders that might have raised the dead;
+but his words were carried away on the wind. The beast of many heads[3]
+did not deign to hear the launching of these thunderbolts. It was
+engrossed in something quite different. A fight between two urchins was
+what the crowd found so engaging; not the orator's warnings.
+
+What then did the speaker do? He tried another plan. "Ceres," he began,
+"made a voyage one day with an eel and a swallow. After a time the
+three travellers were stopped by a river. This the eel got over by
+swimming and the swallow by flying----"
+
+"Well! what about Ceres? What did she do?" cried the crowd with one
+voice.
+
+"She did what she did!" retorted the speaker in anger. "But first she
+raged against you. What! Does it take a child's story to open your ears,
+you who should be eager for any news of the peril that menaces; you, the
+only state in Greece that takes no heed? You ask what Ceres did. Why do
+you not ask what Philip[4] does?"
+
+At this reproach the assembly was stirred. A mere fable brought them
+open-eared to all the orator would say.
+
+
+We are all Athenians in this respect. I myself am, even as I point this
+moral. I should take the utmost pleasure now in hearing "The Ass's
+Skin"[5] told to me. The world is old, they say: so it is; but,
+nevertheless, it is as greedy of amusement as a child.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 2: Elizur Wright explains that the orator was Demades.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Horace spoke of the Roman people as a beast with many
+heads.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Philip of Macedon, who was at war against the Greeks.]
+
+[Footnote 5: An old French nursery tale.]
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+THE DOG WHO CARRIED HIS MASTER'S DINNER
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 7)
+
+
+Our hands are no more proof against gold than our eyes are proof against
+beauty. There are but few who guard their treasures with care enough.
+
+
+A certain dog who had been taught to carry to his master the mid-day
+meal was one day trotting along with the savoury burden slung around his
+neck. He was tempted to take a taste himself; but knew that it would be
+wrong to do so, and being a temperate, self-governed dog he refrained.
+We of the human race allow ourselves to be tempted by covetable things
+often enough; but, strange as it is, there seems to be more difficulty
+in teaching mankind to resist temptation than there is in teaching dogs
+to do so.
+
+On this particular day the dog was met by a mastiff who at once wanted
+the dinner, but did not find it so easy to capture as he thought; for
+our dog put it down and stood guard over it. There was a mighty tussle.
+Soon others arrived; curs that were used to knocks and kicks while
+picking up a living in the streets. Seeing that he should be badly
+over-matched, and that his master's dinner was in danger of being
+devoured by the crowd, he bethought himself how he too might have his
+share, if shared it must be. So he very wisely exclaimed, "No fighting,
+gentlemen, my bit will suffice me. Do as you please with the rest." With
+these words he snapped up a portion, upon which all the rest began to
+pull and jostle to their utmost and feasted merrily.
+
+
+In this I seem to see the picture of one of those unfortunate towns or
+states which occasionally have suffered from the greed of their
+ministers and officials. Each functionary has an eye to his own
+advantage, and the smartest sets a pattern for the others. The way in
+which the public funds disappear is amusing. If one sheriff or provost,
+having a scruple of conscience, finds a trifling argument in defence of
+the public interest the others show him that he is a fool if he utters
+half a word. So, with a very little trouble, he gives way, and often
+becomes the leading offender.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+THYRSIS AND AMARANTH
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 13)
+
+
+A shepherd who was deeply in love with a shepherdess was sitting one day
+by her side trying to find words to express the emotions her charms
+created in his breast.
+
+"Ah! Amaranth, dear," he sighed, "could you but feel, as I do, a certain
+pain which, whilst it tears the heart, is so delightful that it
+enchants, you would say that nothing under heaven is its equal. Let me
+tell you of it. Believe me, trust me. Would I deceive you? You, for whom
+I am filled with the tenderest sentiments the heart can feel!"
+
+"And what, my Thyrsis, is the name you give this pleasing pain?"
+
+"It is called love," said Thyrsis.
+
+"Ah!" responded the maiden, "that is a beautiful name. Tell me by what
+signs I may know it, if it come to me. What are the feelings it gives
+one?"
+
+Thyrsis, taking heart of grace, replied with much ardour: "One feels an
+anguish beside which the joys of kings are but dull and insipid. One
+forgets oneself, and takes pleasure in the solitudes of the woods. To
+glance into a brook is to see, not oneself, but an ever-haunting image.
+To any other form one's eyes are blind. It may be that there is a
+shepherd in the village at whose voice, at the mention of whose name,
+you will blush; at the thought of whom you will sigh. Why, one knows
+not! To see him will be a burning desire, and yet you would shrink from
+him."
+
+"Oho!" said Amaranth. "Is this then the pain you have preached so much!
+It is hardly new to me. I seem to know something of it." The heart of
+Thyrsis leapt, for he thought that at last he had gained his end; when
+the fair one added, "'Tis just in this way that I feel for Cladimant!"
+
+Imagine the vexation and misery of poor Thyrsis!
+
+
+How many like him, intending to work solely for themselves, prove only
+to have been stepping stones for others.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+THE RAT AND THE ELEPHANT
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 15)
+
+
+An uncommonly small rat was watching an uncommonly big elephant and
+sneering at the slowness of his steps.
+
+The enormous animal was heavily laden. On his back rose a three-storied
+howdah, wherein were accommodated a celebrated sultana, her dog, her
+cat, her monkey, her parrot, her old servant, and all her household.
+They were going upon a pilgrimage.
+
+The rat wondered why all the people should express astonishment at
+seeing this enormous bulk--"As if the fact of occupying more or less
+space implied that one was the more or less important accordingly! What
+is it you admire in him, you men? If it is only the weight of his body
+which fills the children with terror, then we rats, small as we are,
+consider ourselves not one grain less than the elephant." He would have
+said more; but the cat, bounding out of her cage, let him see in an
+instant that a rat is not an elephant.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+THE HOROSCOPE
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 16)
+
+
+Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it.
+
+
+A father had an only son whom he loved excessively. His devoted
+affection caused him to be so anxious as to the boy's welfare that he
+sought to learn from astrologers and fortune-tellers what fate was in
+store for the son and heir. One of these soothsayers told him that an
+especial danger lay with lions, from which the youth must be guarded
+until the age of twenty was reached, but not after. The father, to make
+sure of this precaution, upon the issue of which depended the life of
+his loved one, commanded that by no chance should the boy ever be
+permitted to go beyond the threshold of the house. Ample provision was
+made for the satisfaction of all the wishes proper to youth in the way
+of play with his companions, jumping, running, walking, and so forth. As
+the age approached when the spirits of youth yearn for the chase, he was
+taught to hold that sport in abhorrence.
+
+But temperament cannot be changed by persuasion and counsel, nor by
+enlightenment. The young man, eager, ardent, and full of courage, no
+sooner felt the promptings of his years than he sighed for the
+forbidden pleasures. The greater the hindrance the stronger the desire.
+Knowing the reason of his galling restrictions, and viewing day by day
+in his palatial home the hunting scenes pictured in paint and tapestry
+on every wall, his excitement became unrestrained.
+
+Once his eye fell upon a pictured lion. "Ah! Monster!" he exclaimed in a
+transport of indignation. "It is to you that the shade and fetters in
+which I live are due!" With that he struck the lion's form a heavy blow
+with his fist. Hidden under the tapestry a great nail offered its cruel
+point, and upon this his hand was impaled. The wound grew beyond the
+reach of medical skill, and in the end this life, so guarded and
+cherished, was lost by means of the very care taken to preserve it.
+
+
+The same jealous precaution proved fatal to the poet AEschylus. It is
+said that some fortune-teller menaced him with the fall of a house as
+his doom, upon which he at once left the town and made his bed in the
+open fields, far from roofs and beneath the sky. But an eagle flew by
+overhead carrying in its talons a tortoise, and seeing the bald head of
+the poet beneath, which it mistook for a stone, the bird let fall its
+prey in order to break the shell of the tortoise. Thus were the days of
+poor AEschylus ended.
+
+
+From these two examples it would seem that this art of fortune-telling,
+if there be any truth in it, causes one to fall into the very evil one
+would be in dread of when one consulted it. But I will demonstrate and
+maintain that the art is false. I do not believe that Nature would have
+tied her own hands, and ours also, to the extent of marking our fate in
+the heavens. For our fate depends upon certain combinations of time,
+place, and people; not upon the combinations of charlatans. A shepherd
+and a king are born under the same planet: one carries the sceptre; the
+other the crook. The planet Jupiter willed it so! But what is this
+planet Jupiter? A body without senses. Whence comes it then that its
+influence works so differently on these two men? Further, how could its
+influence, if it had any, penetrate through endless voids to our world?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Do not attach too much importance to the two instances I have related.
+This beloved son and the good man AEschylus are beside the mark.
+
+Nevertheless, however blind and lying is the fortuneteller's art, it may
+yet hit home once in a thousand times. That is just a matter of chance.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XXI
+
+JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS
+
+(BOOK VIII--No. 20)
+
+
+One day, as Jupiter seated on high looked down upon the world, he was
+incensed at the faults committed by mankind. "Let us," he said, "have
+some other occupants in the regions of the universe in place of these
+present inhabitants who importune and weary me. Go you to Hades,
+Mercury, and bring hither the cruellest of the furies. This time, O race
+that I have too tenderly nurtured, you shall perish."
+
+After this outburst the temper of the god began to cool.
+
+
+O ye sovereigns of this world, to whom it has been given to be the
+arbiters of our destinies, let a night intervene between your wrath and
+the storm which follow!
+
+
+Mercury, light of wing and sweet of tongue, descended to the abode of
+the dread sisters Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto, and his choice fell
+upon the latter, the pitiless one. She, feeling proud of the preference,
+grew so arrogant as to swear by Pluto that the whole of the human brood
+should soon people his domains. But Jupiter did not approve of the vow
+this member of the Eumenides had sworn, and he sent her back to Hades.
+At the same time he launched a thunderbolt upon one particularly
+perfidious race of men. This, however, being hurled by a father's arm,
+mercifully fell in a desert, causing less ruin than alarm. What followed
+from this was simply that the wicked brood took heart at such indulgence
+and did not trouble to mend their ways. Then all the gods in Olympus
+complained, until he who controls the clouds swore by the Styx that
+further storms should be sent and that they should not fail as the other
+had.
+
+The Olympians only smiled at this. They told Jupiter that as he was the
+father it would be better if he left in other hands the making of
+thunderbolts. Vulcan undertook the task. Soon his furnaces glowed with
+bolts of two kinds; one that hits its mark with a deadly unerring--and
+that is the sort which any of the Olympian gods will hurl; whilst the
+other sort was that which becomes scattered on its course and does
+damage only to the mountain tops, or perchance is even lost on the way.
+It is this kind of thunderbolt that Jupiter sends. His fatherly heart
+permits him to use no other.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+EDUCATION
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 24)
+
+
+Once upon a time there were two dogs, one named Lurcher and the other
+Caesar. They were brothers; handsome, well-built, and plucky, and
+descended from dogs who were famous in their day. These two brothers,
+falling into the hands of different masters, found their destinies
+likewise in different spheres; for whilst one haunted the forests, the
+other lurched about a kitchen.
+
+The names to which they now answered were not, however, the names that
+were first given them. The influence of each one's career upon his
+nature brought about a new name and a new reputation; for Caesar's nature
+was improved and strengthened by the life he led, whilst Lurcher's was
+made more and more despicable by a degraded existence. A scullion named
+him Lurcher; but the other dog received his noble name on account of his
+life of high adventure. He had held many a stag at bay, killed many a
+hare, and otherwise risen to the position of a Caesar among dogs. Care
+was taken that he should not mate indiscriminately, so that his
+descendants' blood should not degenerate. On the other hand, poor
+Lurcher bestowed his affections wherever he would and his brood became
+populous. He was the progenitor of all turn-spits in France; a variety
+which became common enough to form at last a race in themselves. They
+show more readiness to flee than to attack, and are the very antipodes
+of the Caesars.
+
+
+We do not always follow our ancestors, nor even resemble our fathers.
+Want of care, the flight of time, a thousand things, cause us to
+degenerate.
+
+Ah! how many, Caesars, failing to cultivate their best nature and their
+gifts, become Lurchers!
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+DEMOCRITUS AND THE PEOPLE OF ABDERA
+
+(BOOK VIII.--No. 26)
+
+
+How I have always hated the opinions of the mob! To me, a mob seems
+profane, unjust, and rash, putting false construction on all things, and
+judging every matter by a mob-made standard.
+
+Democritus had experience of this. His countrymen thought him mad.
+Little minds! But then, no one is a prophet in his own country! The
+people themselves were mad, of course, and Democritus was the wise man.
+Nevertheless the error went so far that the city of Abdera[6] sent a
+messenger to the great physician Hippocrates, requesting him both by
+letter and by spoken word to come and restore the sage's reason.
+
+"Our citizen," said the spokesman with tears in his eyes, "has lost his
+wits, alas! Study has corrupted Democritus. If he were less wise we
+should esteem him much more. He will have it that there is no limit to
+the number of worlds like ours and that possibly they are inhabited with
+numberless Democrituses. Not satisfied with these wild dreams, he talks
+also of atoms--phantoms born only in his own empty brain. Then,
+measuring the very heavens, though he remains here below to do it, he
+claims to know the universe; yet admits that he does not know himself.
+Time was when he could control debates, now he mutters only to himself.
+So come, thou divine mortal, for the patient's case is a bad one."
+
+Hippocrates, though he had little faith in these people, went
+nevertheless. Now mark, I beg of you, what strange meetings fate may
+bring about in this life! Hippocrates arrived just at the time when this
+man, who was supposed to have neither sense nor reason, happened to be
+searching into a question as to whether this very reason was seated in
+the heart or in the head of men and beasts.
+
+Sitting in leafy shade, beside a brook, and with many a volume at his
+feet, he was occupied wholly with a study of the convolutions of the
+brain; and thus absorbed, as his manner was, he scarcely noticed the
+advance of his friend the learned physician. Their greeting was soon
+over as you may imagine, for the sage is at all times chary of time and
+speech. So having put aside mere trifles of conversation, they reasoned
+upon man and his mind, and next fell to talking upon ethics.
+
+It is not necessary that I should here enlarge upon what each had to say
+to the other on these matters.
+
+The little tale suffices to show that we may rightly take exception to
+the judgments of the mob. That being so, in what sense is it true, as I
+have read in a certain passage, that the voice of the people is the
+voice of God?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 6: A city on the shores of Thracia.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XXIV
+
+THE ACORN AND THE PUMPKIN
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 4)
+
+
+What God does is done well. Without going round the world to seek a
+proof of that, I can find one in the pumpkin.
+
+A villager was once struck with the largeness of a pumpkin and the
+thinness of the stem upon which it grew. "What could the Almighty have
+been thinking about?" he cried. "He has certainly chosen a bad place for
+a pumpkin to grow. Eh zounds! Now I would have hung it on one of these
+oaks. That would have been just as it should be. Like fruit, like tree!
+What a pity, Hodge," said he, addressing himself, "that you were not on
+the spot to give advice at the Creation which the parson preaches
+about. Everything would have been properly done then. For instance;
+wouldn't this acorn, no bigger than my little finger, be better hanging
+on this frail stem? The Almighty has blundered there surely! The more I
+think about these fruits and their situations, the more it seems to me
+that it is all a mistake."
+
+Becoming worried by so much reflection our Hodge cast himself under an
+oak saying, "A man can't sleep when he has so much brain." Then he at
+once dropped off into a nap.
+
+Presently an acorn fell plump upon his nose. Starting from sleep, he put
+his hand up to see what had happened and found the acorn caught in his
+beard, whilst his nose began to pain and bleed. "Oh, oh!" he cried, "I
+am bleeding. How would it have been if a heavier mass than this had
+fallen from the tree: if this acorn had been a pumpkin? The Almighty did
+not intend that, I see. Doubtless he was right. I understand the reason
+why perfectly now."
+
+So praising God for all things Hodge took his way home.
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+THE SCHOOLBOY, THE PEDANT, AND THE OWNER OF A GARDEN
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 5)
+
+
+A youngster, who was doubly foolish and doubly a rogue--in which perhaps
+he savoured of the school he went to--was given, they say, to robbing a
+neighbour's garden of its fruit and flowers. This may have been because
+he was too young to know better, and perhaps because teachers do not
+always mould the minds of young people in the right way.
+
+The owner of the garden boasted in each season the very best of what was
+due. In spring he could show the most delightful blossoms and in autumn
+the very pick of all the apples.
+
+One day he espied this schoolboy carelessly climbing a fruit tree and
+knocking off the buds, those sweet and fragile forerunners of promised
+fruit in abundance. The urchin even broke off a bough, and did so much
+other damage that the owner sent a message of complaint to the boy's
+schoolmaster. This worthy soon appeared, and behind him a tribe of the
+scholars, who swarmed into the orchard and began behaving worse than the
+first one. The schoolmaster's plan in thus aggravating the injury was
+really to make an opportunity for delivering them all a good lesson,
+which they should remember all their lives. He quoted Virgil and
+Cicero; he made many scientific allusions and ran his discourse to such
+a length that the little wretches were able to get all over the garden
+and despoil it in a hundred places.
+
+
+I hate pompous and pedantic speeches that are out of place and
+never-ending; and I do not know a worse fool in the world than a naughty
+schoolboy--unless indeed it be the schoolmaster of such a boy. The
+better of them would never suit me as a neighbour.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+THE SCULPTOR AND THE STATUE OF JUPITER
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 6)
+
+
+Once a sculptor who saw for sale a block of marble was so struck with
+its beauty that he could not resist the temptation to buy it. When it
+was in his studio he thought to himself, "Now what shall my chisel make
+of it? Shall it be a god, a table, or a basin? It shall be a god. And I,
+myself, shall ordain that the god shall poise a thunderbolt in his hand.
+So tremble, mortals, and worship! Behold the lord of the earth!"
+
+The artist set to work and expressed so powerfully the attributes of the
+god that those who saw it averred that it only lacked speech to be
+Jupiter himself. It is said that the sculptor had scarcely completed the
+statue when he became so overawed as to fear and tremble before the work
+of his own hands.
+
+The poet of old, likewise, greatly dreaded the hate and the wrath of the
+gods he himself created: a weakness which left little to choose between
+him and the sculptor.
+
+
+These traits are those of childhood. The minds of children are always
+anxious lest any one should maltreat their dolls. The emotions
+invariably give the lead to the intellect, and this fact accounts for
+the great error of paganism. For that error has been prompted by the
+emotions of men in all the peoples of the earth. Men uphold with fanatic
+zeal the interests of the unreal creatures of their imagination.
+Pygmalion became enamoured of the Venus[7] he had created, and in the
+same way every one tries to turn his dreams into reality. Man remains as
+ice before truth, but catches fire before illusion.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 7: La Fontaine forgets. It was Galatea whose image Pygmalion
+created and whom Venus brought to life.]
+
+
+
+
+XXVII
+
+THE OYSTER AND THE PLEADERS
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 9)
+
+
+One day two pilgrims espied upon the sands of the shore an oyster that
+had been thrown up by the tide. They devoured it with their eyes whilst
+pointing at it with their fingers; but whose teeth should deal with it
+was a matter of dispute.
+
+When one stopped to pick up the prey the other pushed him away saying:
+"It would be just as well first to decide which of us is to have the
+pleasure of it. He who first saw it should swallow it, and let the other
+watch him eat."
+
+"If you settle the affair that way," replied his companion, "I have good
+eyes, thank God."
+
+"But my sight is not bad either," said the other, "and I saw it before
+you did, and that I'll stake my life upon."
+
+"Well, suppose you did see it, I smelt it."
+
+During this lively interlude Justice Nincompoop arrived on the scene,
+and to him they appealed to judge their claims. The justice very gravely
+took the oyster, opened it, and put it into his mouth, whilst the two
+claimants looked on. Having deliberately swallowed the oyster, the
+justice, in the portentous tones of a Lord Chief Justice, said, "The
+court here awards each of you a shell, without costs. Let each go home
+peaceably."
+
+
+Reckon what it costs to go to law in these days. Then count what remains
+to most families. You will see that Justice Nincompoop draws all the
+money and leaves only the empty purse and the shells to the litigants.
+
+[Illustration: Deliberately swallowed the oyster.]
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII
+
+THE CAT AND THE FOX
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 14)
+
+
+The cat and the fox, in the manner of good little saints, started out
+upon a pilgrimage. They were both humbugs, arch-hypocrites, two
+downright highwaymen, who for the expenses of their journey indemnified
+themselves by seeing who could devour the most fowls and gobble the most
+cheese.
+
+The way was long and therefore wearisome, so they shortened it by
+arguing. Argumentation is a great help. Without it one would go to
+sleep. Our pilgrims shouted themselves hoarse. Then having argued
+themselves out, they talked of other things.
+
+At length the fox said to the cat, "You pretend that you're very clever.
+Do you know as much as I? I have a hundred ruses up my sleeve."
+
+"No," answered the cat, "I have but one; but that is always ready to
+hand, and I maintain that it is worth a thousand other dodges."
+
+Then they fell again to disputing one against the other on each side of
+the question, the whys and the wherefores, raising their voices higher
+and higher. Presently the sudden appearance of a pack of hounds stopped
+their noise.
+
+The cat said to the fox, "Now, my friend, ransack that cunning brain of
+yours for one of your thousand ruses. Fetch down from your sleeve one of
+those certain stratagems. As for me, this is my dodge." So saying, he
+bounded to a tall tree and climbed to its top with alacrity.
+
+The fox tried a hundred futile doublings; ran into a hundred holes; put
+the hounds at fault a hundred times; tried everywhere to find a safe
+place of retreat, but everywhere failed between being smoked out of one
+and driven out of another by the hounds. Finally, as he came out of a
+hole two nimble dogs set upon him and strangled him at the first grip.
+
+
+Too many expedients may spoil the business. One loses time in choosing
+between them and in trying too many. Have only one; but let it be a good
+one.
+
+
+
+
+XXIX
+
+THE MONKEY AND THE CAT
+
+(BOOK IX.--No. 17)
+
+
+Bertrand was a monkey and Ratter was a cat. They shared the same
+dwelling and had the same master, and a pretty mischievous pair they
+were. It was impossible to intimidate them. If anything was missed or
+spoilt, no one thought of blaming the other people in the house.
+Bertrand stole all he could lay his hands upon, and as for Ratter, he
+gave more attention to cheese than he did to the mice.
+
+One day, in the chimney corner, these two rascals sat watching some
+chestnuts that were roasting before the fire. How jolly it would be to
+steal them they thought: doubly desirable, for it would not only be joy
+to themselves, but an annoyance to others.
+
+"Brother," said Bertrand to Ratter, "this day you shall achieve your
+master-stroke: you shall snatch some chestnuts out of the fire for me.
+Providence has not fitted me for that sort of game. If it had, I assure
+you chestnuts would have a fine time."
+
+No sooner said than done. Ratter delicately stirred the cinders with his
+paw, stretched out his claws two or three times to prepare for the
+stroke, and then adroitly whipped out first one, then two, then three of
+the chestnuts, whilst Bertrand crunched them up between his teeth. In
+came a servant, and there was an end of the business. Farewell, ye
+rogues!
+
+I am told that Ratter was by no means satisfied with the affair.
+
+
+And princes are equally dissatisfied when, flattered to be employed in
+any uncomfortable concern, they burn their fingers in a distant province
+for the profit of some king.
+
+
+
+
+XXX
+
+THE TWO RATS, THE FOX, AND THE EGG[8]
+
+(BOOK X.--No. 1)
+
+
+Do not take it ill if, in these fables, I mingle a little of the bold,
+daring, and fine-spun philosophy that is called new.
+
+They say that the lower animals are mere machines: that everything they
+do is prompted, not by choice, but by mechanism, coming about as it were
+by springs. There is, they say, neither feeling nor soul--nothing but a
+mechanical body. It goes just as a watch or clock goes, plodding on with
+even motion, blindly and aimlessly.
+
+Open such a machine and examine it; what do we find? Wheels take the
+place of intelligence. The first wheel moves the second, and that in
+turn moves a third, with the result that, in due time, it strikes the
+hour.
+
+According to these new philosophers, that is exactly the case with an
+animal. It receives a blow in a certain spot, this spot conveys the
+sensation to another spot, and so the message goes on from place to
+place until the brain receives it and the impression is made. That is
+all very well, but how is the impression made?
+
+It is necessarily made, without passion, without will, say these
+philosophers. They tell us that the common idea is that an animal is
+actuated by emotions which we know as sorrow, joy, love, pleasure, pain,
+cruelty, or some other of these states; but that it is not so. Do not
+deceive yourself, they say.
+
+"What is it then?" I ask. A watch, indeed! And pray what of ourselves?
+
+Ah, well! that is perhaps another thing altogether. This is the way
+Descartes expounds the theory--Descartes, that mortal who, if he had
+lived in pagan times, would have been made a god, and who holds a place
+between man and the higher spirits, just as some I could name--beasts of
+burden with long ears--hold a place between man and the oysters. Thus, I
+say, reasons this author: "I have a gift beyond any possessed by others
+of God's creatures, and that is the gift of thought. I know of what I
+think."
+
+But from positive science we know that although animals may think, they
+cannot reflect upon what they think. Descartes goes further and boldly
+states that they do not think at all. That is a statement which need not
+worry us.
+
+Nevertheless, when in the woods the blast of a horn and the baying of
+hounds agitates the fleeing quarry; when he vainly endeavours, with all
+his skill, to confuse and muddle the scent which betrays him to his
+pursuers; when, an aged beast with full-grown antlers, he puts in his
+place a younger stag and forces it to carry on the chase with its
+fresher bait of the scent of its younger body, and thus carry off the
+hounds and preserve his days--then surely this beast has reasoned. All
+the twisting and turning, all the malice, deception, and the hundred
+stratagems to save his life are worthy of the greatest chiefs of war;
+and worthy of a better fate than death by being torn to pieces; for that
+is the supreme honour of the stag.
+
+
+Again; when the partridge sees its young in danger, before their wings
+have strength enough to bear them away from death, she makes a pretence
+of being wounded and flutters along with a trailing wing, enticing the
+huntsman and his dogs to follow her, and thus by turning away the danger
+saves her little ones. And when the huntsman believes that his dog has
+seized her, lo! she rises, laughs at the sportsman, wishes him farewell,
+and leaves him confused and watching her flight with his eyes.
+
+Not far from the northern regions there is a country where life goes on
+as in the early ages, the inhabitants being profoundly ignorant. I speak
+now of the human creatures. The animals are indeed surprisingly
+enlightened; for they can construct works which stop the ravages of
+swollen torrents and make communication possible from bank to bank. The
+structures are safe and lasting, being founded upon wood over which is
+laid a bed of mortar. The beavers are the engineers. Each one works. The
+task is common to all, and the old ones see that the young ones do not
+shirk their labour. There are many taskmasters directing and urging.
+
+To such a colony of cunning amphibians the republic of Plato itself
+would be but an apprentice affair. The beavers erect their houses for
+the winter time, and make bridges of marvellous construction for passing
+over the ponds; whilst the human folk who live there, though this
+wonderful work is always before their eyes, can but cross the water by
+swimming.
+
+
+That these beavers are nothing but bodies without minds nothing will
+make me believe. But here is something better still. Listen to this
+recital which I had from a king great in fame and glory. This king,
+defender of the northern world, whom I now cite, is my guarantee: a
+prince beloved of the goddess of Victory. His name alone is a bulwark
+against the empire of the Turks. I speak of the Polish king.[9] A king,
+it is understood, can never lie.
+
+He says, then, that upon the frontiers of his kingdom there are animals
+that have always been at war among themselves, their passion for
+fighting having been handed down from father to son. These animals, he
+explains, are allied to the fox. Never has the science of war been more
+skilfully pursued among men than it is pursued by these beasts, not even
+in our present century. They have their advanced out-posts, their
+sentinels and spies; their ambuscades, their expedients, and a thousand
+other inventions of the pernicious and accursed science Warfare, a hag
+born, herself, of Styx,[10] but giving birth to heroes.
+
+Properly to sing of the battles of these four-footed warriors Homer
+should return from beyond the shores of Acheron.[11] Ah! could he but do
+so, and bring with him too the rival of old Epicurus,[12] what would the
+latter say as to the examples I have narrated? He would say only what I
+have already said, namely, that in the lower animals natural instinct is
+sufficient to explain all the wonders I have told: that memory leads the
+animal to repeat over and over again the actions it has made before and
+found successful.
+
+We, as human beings, do differently. Our wills decide for us; not the
+bestial aim, nor the instinct. I walk, I speak, I feel in me a certain
+force, an intelligent principle which all my bodily mechanism obeys.
+This force is distinct from anything connected with my body. It is
+indeed more easily conceived than is the body itself, and of all our
+movements it is the supreme controller. But how does the body conceive
+and understand this intelligent force? That is the point! I see the tool
+obeying the hand; but what guides the hand? Who guides the planets in
+their rapid courses? It may be some angel guide controls the whirling
+planets; and in like manner some spirit dwells in us and controls all
+our machinery. The impulse is given--the impression made--but how, I do
+not know! We shall only learn it in the bosom of God; and to speak
+frankly, Descartes himself was no wiser. On that point we all are
+equals. All that I know is that this intelligent controlling spirit does
+not exist in the lower animals. Man alone is its temple.
+
+Nevertheless, we must allow to the beasts a higher plane than that of
+plants, notwithstanding the fact that plants breathe.
+
+
+Is there any explanation to what I shall now relate? Two rats who were
+seeking their living had the good fortune to find an egg. Such a dinner
+was amply sufficient for folks of their species, they had no need to
+look for an ox. With keen delight and an appetite to match they were
+just about to eat up the egg between them, when an unbidden guest
+appeared in the shape of Master Reynard the fox. This was a most awkward
+and vexatious visitation. How was the egg to be saved from the jaws of
+him? To wrap it up carefully and carry it away by the fore paws, or to
+roll it, or to drag it, were methods as impossible as they were
+hazardous. But Necessity, that ingenious mother, furnished the
+never-failing invention. The sponger being as yet far enough away to
+give the rats time to reach their home, one of them lay upon his back
+and took the egg safely between his arms whilst the other, in spite of
+sundry shocks and a few slips, dragged him home by the tail.
+
+
+After this recital, let any one who dare maintain that animals have no
+powers of reason.
+
+
+For my part if I had the portioning of these faculties I would allow as
+much reasoning power in animals as in infants, who evidently think from
+their earliest years, from which fact we may conclude that one can think
+without knowing oneself. I would, similarly, grant the animals a
+reason, not such as we possess, but far above a blind instinct. I would
+refine a speck of matter, a tiny atom--extract of light--something more
+vivid and lively than fire; for since wood can turn to flame, cannot
+flame, being further purified, teach us something of the rarity of the
+soul? And is not gold extracted from lead? My creatures should be
+capable of feeling and judgment; but nothing more. There should be no
+argument from apes.
+
+As to mankind, I would have their lot infinitely better. We men should
+possess a double treasure; firstly, the soul common to us all, just as
+we happen to be, sages or fools, children, idiots, or our dumb
+companions the animals; secondly, another soul in common, in a certain
+degree, with the angels, and this soul, independent of us though
+belonging to us, should be able to reach to heavenly heights, whilst it
+could also dwell within a point's space. Having a beginning it should be
+without end. Things incredible but true. During infancy this soul,
+itself a child of heaven, should appear to us only as a gentle and
+feeble light; but as the faculties grew, the stronger reason would
+pierce the darkness of matter enveloping our other imperfect and grosser
+soul.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 8: At the time when this was written there was much discussion
+among the learned in France as to the powers of reasoning in animals.]
+
+[Footnote 9: The allusion is to Sobieski, whose victory over the Turks
+made him famous throughout Europe in 1673. La Fontaine had frequently
+met him in the salons of the cultured ladies of France.]
+
+[Footnote 10: A nymph of one of the rivers of Hades named after her. She
+became the mother of Zelus (zeal), Nike (victory), Kratos (power), and
+Bia (strength).]
+
+[Footnote 11: Also a river of Hades, the realm of the dead.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Descartes is meant as the rival of the old philosopher
+Epicurus.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXI
+
+THE DOG WITH HIS EARS CROPPED
+
+(BOOK X.--No. 9)
+
+
+"What have I done to be treated in this way? Mutilated by my own master!
+A nice state to be in! Dare I present myself before other dogs? O ye
+kings over the animals, or rather tyrants of them, would any creature do
+the same to you?"
+
+Such were the lamentations of poor Fido, a young house-dog, whilst those
+who were busy cropping his ears remained quite untouched by his piercing
+and dolorous howls.
+
+Fido believed himself to be ruined for life; but he very shortly found
+that he was a gainer by the maiming. For being by nature disposed to
+pilfer from his companions, it would come within his experience to have
+many misadventures wherein his ears would be torn in a hundred places.
+
+Aggressive dogs always have ragged ears. The less they have for other
+dogs' teeth to fasten upon the better.
+
+When one has but a single weak place to defend, one protects it against
+an onset. Witness Master Fido armed with a spiked collar, and having no
+more ears to catch hold of than are on my hand. Even a wolf would not
+have known where to take him.
+
+
+
+
+XXXII
+
+THE LIONESS AND THE SHE-BEAR
+
+(BOOK X--No. 13)
+
+
+Mamma lioness had lost one of her cubs. Some hunter had made away with
+it, and the poor unfortunate mother roared out her wailings to such an
+extent that all the inhabitants of the forest were seriously disturbed.
+The spells of the night, its darkness and its silence, were powerless to
+hush the tumult of the queen of the forest. Sleep was driven from every
+animal within hearing.
+
+At last the she-bear rose up and coming to the wailing lioness said,
+"Good Gossip, just one word with you. All those little ones that have
+passed between your teeth, had they neither fathers nor mothers?"
+
+"To be sure they had."
+
+"Then if that be so, and as none have come to mourn their dead in cries
+which would split our heads: if so many mothers have borne their loss
+silently, why cannot you be silent also?"
+
+"I? I be silent? Unhappy I? Ah! I have lost my son! There is nought for
+me but to drag out a miserable old age."
+
+"But pray tell me what obliges you to do so."
+
+"Alas! Destiny. It is Destiny that hates me."
+
+[Illustration: Why cannot you be silent also?]
+
+Those are the words that are for ever in the mouths of us all.
+
+Unhappy human kind, let this address itself to you. I hear nothing but
+the echoing murmur of trifling complaints. Whoever, in like case,
+believes himself the hated of the gods, let him consider Hecuba,[13] and
+he will render thanks for their clemency.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 13: Hecuba was the wife of Priam, King of Troy. When that city
+fell Hecuba was chosen by Ulysses as part of his share in the spoils.
+She was changed into a dog for avenging the death of her son whose eyes
+had been put out by the King of Thracia, and she finally ended her life
+by casting herself into the sea.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXIII
+
+THE RABBITS
+
+(BOOK X.--No. 15)
+
+
+When I have noticed how man acts at times, and how, in a thousand ways,
+he comports himself just as the lower animals do, I have often said to
+myself that the lord of these lower orders has no fewer faults than his
+subjects.
+
+Nature has allowed every living thing a drop or two from the fount at
+which the spirits of all creatures imbibe.
+
+I will prove what I say.
+
+If at the hour when night has scarcely passed and day hardly begun I
+climb into a tree, on the edge of some wood, and, like a new Jupiter
+from the heights of Olympus, I send a shot at some unsuspecting rabbit,
+then the whole colony of rabbits, who were enjoying their thyme-scented
+meal with open eyes and listening ears upon the heath, immediately
+scamper away. The report sends them all to seek refuge in their
+subterranean city.
+
+But their great fright is soon over; the danger quickly forgotten. Again
+I see the rabbits more light-hearted than ever coming close under my
+death-dealing hand.
+
+
+Does not this give us a picture of mankind? Dispersed by some storm, men
+no sooner reach a haven than they are ready again to risk the same winds
+and the same distress. True rabbits, they run again into the
+death-dealing hands of fortune.
+
+
+Let us add to this example another of a more ordinary kind.
+
+When strange dogs pass through any spot beyond their customary route
+there is a grand to-do. I leave you to picture it. All the dogs of the
+district with one idea in their heads join forces, barking and biting,
+to chase the intruder beyond the bounds of their territory.
+
+So, it may be, a similar joint-interest in property or in glory and
+grandeur leads such people as the governors of states, certain favoured
+courtiers, and people of a trade to behave exactly like these jealous
+dogs. All of us, as a rule, rob the chance-comer and tear him to pieces.
+Vain ladies and men of letters are usually so disposed. Woe betide the
+newly-arrived beauty or a new writer!
+
+As few as possible fighting round the cake! That's the best way!
+
+I could bring a hundred examples to bear upon this subject; but the
+shorter a discourse is the better. I take the masters of literature for
+my model in this and hold that in the best of themes something should be
+left unsaid for the reader to consider about. Therefore this discourse
+shall end.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIV
+
+THE GODS WISHING TO INSTRUCT A SON OF JUPITER
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 2)
+
+
+Jupiter had a son, who, sensible of his lofty origin, showed always a
+god-like spirit. Childhood is not much concerned with loving; yet to the
+childhood of this young god, loving and wishing to be loved was the
+chief concern. In him, love and reason which grow with years, outraced
+Time, that light-winged bearer of the seasons which come, alas! only too
+quickly.
+
+Flora,[14] with laughing looks and winning airs, was the first to touch
+the heart of the youthful Olympian. Everything that passion could
+inspire--delicate sentiments full of tenderness, tears, and sighs--all
+were there: he forgot nothing. As a son of Jupiter he would by right of
+birth be dowered with greater gifts than the sons of other gods; and it
+seemed as though all his behaviour were prompted by the reminiscence
+that he had indeed already been a lover in some former state, so well
+did he play the part.
+
+Nevertheless, it was Jupiter's wish that the boy should be taught, and
+assembling the gods in council he said, "So far, I have never been at
+fault in the conduct of the universe which I have ruled unaided; but
+there are various charges which I now have decided to distribute amongst
+the younger gods. This beloved child of mine I have already counted
+upon. He is of my own blood and many an altar already flames in his
+honour. Yet to merit his rank among the immortals it is necessary that
+he should possess all knowledge."
+
+As the god of the thunders ceased the whole assembly applauded. As for
+the boy himself, he did not appear to be above the wish to learn
+everything.
+
+"I undertake," said Mars, the god of war, "to teach him the art by which
+so many heroes have won the glories of Olympus and extended the empire."
+
+"I will be his master in the art of the lyre," promised the fair and
+learned Apollo.
+
+"And I," said Hercules with the lion's-skin, "will teach him how to
+overcome Vice and quell evil passions, those poisonous monsters which
+like Hydras[15] are ever reborn in the heart. A foe to effeminate
+pleasures, he shall learn from me those too seldom trodden paths that
+lead to honour along the tracks of virtue."
+
+When it came to Cupid, the god of love, to speak he simply said, "I can
+show him everything."
+
+
+And Cupid was right; for what cannot be achieved with wit and the desire
+to please?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 14: The Goddess of Spring and of Flowers, was also regarded by
+the Greeks as the Goddess of Youth and its pleasures.]
+
+[Footnote 15: The Hydra was a monster with one hundred heads. If one was
+cut off two grew in its place unless the wound was stopped by fire.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXV
+
+THE LION, THE MONKEY, AND THE TWO ASSES
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 5)
+
+
+King Lion, thinking that he would govern better if he took a few lessons
+in moral philosophy, had a monkey brought to him one fine day who was a
+master of arts in the monkey tribe. The first lesson he gave was as
+follows:--
+
+"Great King, in order to govern wisely a prince should always consider
+the good of the country before yielding to that feeling which is
+commonly known as self-love, for that fault is the father of all the
+vices one sees in animals. To rid oneself of this sentiment is not an
+easy thing to do, and is not to be done in a day. Indeed, merely to
+moderate it is to achieve a good deal, and if you succeed so far you
+will never tolerate in yourself anything ridiculous or unjust."
+
+"Give me," commanded the king, "an example of each of those faults."
+
+"Every species of creature," continued the philosopher, "esteems itself
+in its heart above all the others. These others it regards as
+ignoramuses, calling them by many hard names which, after all, hurt
+nobody. At the same time this self-love, which sneers at other tribes
+and other kinds of beasts, induces the individual to heap praise upon
+other individuals of his own species, because that is a very good way of
+praising oneself too. From this it is easy to see that many talents here
+below are in reality but empty pretence, assumption, and pose, and a
+certain gift of making the most of oneself, better understood by
+ignorant people than by learned.
+
+"The other day I followed two asses who were offering the incense of
+flattery to each other by turns, and heard one say, 'My Lord, do you not
+think that man, that perfect animal, is both unjust and stupid? He
+profanes our august name by calling every one of his own kind an ass who
+is ignorant, or dull, or idiotic; and he calls our laughter and our
+discourse by the term "braying." It is very amusing that these human
+people pretend to excel us!'
+
+"'My friend,' said his companion, 'it is for you to speak, and for them
+to hold their tongues. They are the true brayers. But let us speak no
+more of them. We two understand each other; that is sufficient. And as
+for the marvels of delight your divine voice lets fall upon our ears,
+the nightingale herself is but a novice in comparison. You surpass the
+court musician.'
+
+"To this the other donkey replied, 'My lord, I admire in you exactly the
+same excellencies.'
+
+"Not content with flattering each other in this way, these two asses
+went about the cities singing aloud each other's praises. Either one
+thought he was doing a good turn to himself in thus lauding his
+companion.
+
+"Well, your majesty, I know of many people to-day, not among asses, but
+among exalted creatures, whom heaven has been pleased to raise to a high
+degree, who would, if they dared, change their title of 'Excellency to
+that of 'Majesty.' I am saying more than I should, perhaps, and I hope
+your majesty will keep the secret. You wished to hear of some incident
+which would show you, among other things, how self-love makes people
+ridiculous, and there I have given you a good instance. Injustice I will
+speak of another time, it would take too long now."
+
+Thus spoke the ape. No one has ever been able to tell me whether he ever
+did speak of injustice to his king. It would have been a delicate
+matter, and our master of arts, who was no fool, regarded the lion as
+too terrible a king to submit to being lectured too far.
+
+
+
+
+XXXVI
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX IN THE WELL
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 6)
+
+
+Why does AEsop give to the fox the reputation of excelling in all tricks
+of cunning? I have sought for a reason, but cannot find one. Does not
+the wolf, when he has need to defend his life or take that of another,
+display as much knowingness as the fox? I believe he knows more, and I
+dare, perhaps with some reason, to contradict my master in this
+particular.
+
+Nevertheless, here is a case where undoubtedly all the honour fell to
+the dweller in burrows.
+
+One evening a fox, who was as hungry as a dog, happened to see the round
+reflection of the moon in a well, and he believed it to be a fine
+cheese. There were two pails which alternately drew up the water. Into
+the uppermost of these the fox leapt, and his weight caused him to
+descend the well, where he at once discovered his mistake about the
+cheese. He became extremely worried and fancied his end approaching, for
+he could see no way to get up again but by some other hungry one,
+enticed by the same reflection, coming down in the same way that he had.
+
+Two days passed without any one coming to the well. Time, which is
+always marching onward, had, during two nights, hollowed the outline
+of the silvery planet, and Reynard was in despair.
+
+[Illustration: Descended by his greater weight.]
+
+At last a wolf, parched with thirst, drew near, to whom the fox called
+from below, "Comrade, here is a treat for you! Do you see this? It is an
+exquisite cheese, made by Faunus[16] from milk of the heifer Io.[17] If
+Jupiter were ill and lost his appetite he would find it again by one
+taste of this. I have only eaten this piece out of it; the rest will be
+plenty for you. Come down in the pail up there. I put it there on
+purpose for you."
+
+A rigmarole so cleverly told was easily believed by the fool of a wolf,
+who descended by his greater weight, which not only took him down, but
+brought the fox up.
+
+
+We ought not to laugh at the wolf, for we often enough let ourselves be
+deluded with just as little cause. Everybody is ready to believe the
+thing he fears and the thing he desires.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 16: The benign spirit of the fields and woods.]
+
+[Footnote 17: A priestess who was changed by Hera, wife of Zeus, into a
+white heifer.]
+
+
+
+
+XXXVII
+
+THE MICE AND THE SCREECH-OWL
+
+(BOOK XI.--No. 9)
+
+
+It is not always wise to say to your company, "Just listen to this joke"
+or "What do you think of this for a marvel?" for one can never be sure
+that the listeners will regard the matter in the same way that the
+teller does. Yet here is a case that makes an exception to this good
+rule, and I maintain that it is in truth wonderful, and, although it has
+the appearance of being a fable, it is in reality absolute fact.
+
+There was once an extremely old pine-tree which an owl, that grim bird
+which Atropus[18] takes for her interpreter, had made to serve as his
+palace. But there were other tenants lodging in its cavernous and
+time-rotted trunk. These were mice, well fed, positive balls of fat, but
+not one of them had a foot. They had all been mutilated. The owl had
+nipped their feet off with his beak, whilst feeding and fostering them
+with wheat from neighbouring stacks.
+
+It must be confessed that this bird had reasoned.
+
+Doubtless, in his time, when hunting mice, he had found that after
+bringing them home they escaped again from the trunk, and to prevent
+the recurrence of such a loss the artful rascal had thenceforth nipped
+off the feet of all he caught, keeping them prisoners and eating them
+one to-day and one to-morrow. To eat them all at once would have been
+impossible. He had his health to think of. His forethought, which went
+quite as far as ours, extended to bringing them grain for their
+subsistence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If this is not reasoning, then I do not understand what reasoning is.
+See what arguments he used:--
+
+"When these mice are caught they run away, therefore I must eat them as
+I catch them. What all? Impossible! But would it not be well to keep
+some for a needy future? If so, I must keep them and feed them too,
+without their escaping. But how's that to be done? Happy thought! Nip
+off their feet!"
+
+Now find me among human beings anything better carried out. Did
+Aristotle and his followers do any better thinking, by my faith?
+
+
+NOTE.--This is not a fable. The thing actually occurred, although
+marvellous enough and almost incredible. I have perhaps carried the
+forethought of this owl too far, for I do not pretend to establish in
+animals a line of reasoning; but in this style of literature a little
+exaggeration is pardonable.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 18: One of the three Fates, the first and second being Clotho
+and Lachesis. They spun, measured, and cut off, respectively, the thread
+of life for men at their birth.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XXXVIII
+
+THE COMPANIONS OF ULYSSES
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 1)
+
+
+That great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his companions driven
+hither and thither at the will of the winds for ten years, never knowing
+what their ultimate fate was to be. At length they disembarked upon a
+shore where Circe, the daughter of Apollo, held her court. Receiving
+them she brewed a delicious but baneful liquor, which she made them
+drink. The result of this was that first they lost their reason, and a
+few moments after, their bodies took the forms and features of various
+animals; some unwieldy, some small. Ulysses alone, having the wisdom to
+withstand the temptation of the treacherous cup, escaped the
+metamorphosis. He, besides possessing wisdom, bore the look of a hero
+and had the gift of honeyed speech, so that it came about that the
+goddess herself imbibed a poison little different from her own; that is
+to say, she became enamoured of the hero and declared her love to him.
+Now was the time for Ulysses to profit by this turn of events, and he
+was too cunning to miss the opportunity, so he begged and obtained the
+boon that his friends should be restored to their natural shapes.
+
+"But will they be willing to accept their own forms again?" asked the
+nymph. "Go to them and make them the offer."
+
+Ulysses, glad and eager, ran to his Greeks and cried, "The poisoned cup
+has its remedy, and I come to offer it to you. Dear friends of mine,
+will you not be glad to have your manly forms again? Speak, for your
+speech is already restored."
+
+The lion was the first to reply. Making an effort to roar he said, "I,
+for one, am not such a fool. What! renounce all the great advantages
+that have just been given me? I have teeth. I have claws. I can pull to
+pieces anything that attacks me. I am, in fact, a king. Do you think it
+would suit me to become a citizen of Ithaca once more? Who knows but
+that you might make of me a common soldier again. Thank you; but I will
+remain as I am."
+
+Ulysses, in sad surprise, turned to the bear. "Ah, brother! what form is
+this you have taken, you who used to be so handsome?"
+
+"Well, really! I like that!" said the bear in his way. "What form is
+this? you ask. Why it is the form that a bear should have. Pray who
+instructed you that one form is more handsome than another? Is it your
+business to judge between us? I prefer to appeal to the sight of the
+gentler sex in our ursine race. Do I displease you? Then pass on. Go
+your ways and leave me to mine. I am free and content as I am, and I
+tell you frankly and flatly that I will not change my state."
+
+The princely Greek then turned to a wolf with the same proposals, and
+risking a similar rebuff said: "Comrade, it overwhelms me that a sweet
+young shepherdess should be driven to complain to the echoing crags of
+the gluttonous appetite that impelled you to devour her sheep. Time was
+when you would have protected her sheepfold. In those days you led an
+honest life. Leave your lairs and become, instead of a wolf, an honest
+man again."
+
+"What is that?" answered the wolf. "I don't see your point. You come
+here treating me as though I were a carnivorous beast. But what are you,
+who are talking in this strain? Would not you and yours have eaten these
+sheep, which all the village is deploring, if I had not? Now say, on
+your oath, do you really think I should have loved slaughter any less if
+I had remained a man? For a mere word, you men are at times ready to
+strangle each other. Are you not, therefore, as wolves one to another?
+All things considered, I maintain as a matter of fact that, rascal for
+rascal, it is better to be a wolf than a man. I decline to make any
+change in my condition."
+
+In this way did Ulysses go from one to another making the same
+representations and receiving from all, large and small alike, the same
+refusals. Liberty, unbridled lust of appetite, the ambushes of the
+woods, all these things were their supreme delight. They all renounced
+the glory attaching to great deeds.
+
+
+They thought that in following their passions they were enjoying
+freedom, not seeing that they were but slaves to themselves.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIX
+
+THE QUARREL BETWEEN THE DOGS AND THE CATS AND BETWEEN THE CATS AND THE
+MICE
+
+(BOOK XII--No. 8)
+
+
+Discord has always reigned in the universe; of this our world furnishes
+a thousand different instances, for with us the sinister goddess has
+many subjects.
+
+Let us begin with the four elements. Here you may be astonished to
+observe that they are, throughout, in antagonism to each other. Besides
+these four potentates how many other forces of all descriptions are
+everlastingly at war!
+
+In bygone times there was a house which was full of cats and dogs who
+lived together like amicable cousins, for this reason: Their master had
+made a hundred irrevocable laws and rules, settling their respective
+tasks, their meals, and every other incident of their lives, and at the
+same time he threatened with the whip the first one who should promote a
+quarrel. The kindly, almostly brotherly nature of this union was very
+edifying to the neighbours.
+
+But at last the concord ceased. Some little favouritism in the bestowal
+of a bone, or a dish of food, caused the outraged remainder to raise
+furious protests. I have heard some chroniclers attribute the discord to
+an affair of love and jealousy. At any rate, whatever the origin, the
+altercation speedily fired both hall and kitchen, and divided the
+company into partisans for this cat or for that dog.
+
+A new rule was made, which exasperated the cats, and their complaints
+deafened the whole neighbourhood. Their advocate advised returning
+absolutely to the old rules and decrees. The law books were searched
+for, but could nowhere be found. And that was no wonder, for the books
+which had been hidden in a corner by one set of partisans at first had
+been at last devoured by mice. This gave rise to another law-suit, which
+the mice lost and had to pay for.
+
+Many old cats, cunning, subtle, and sharp, and bearing a grudge against
+the whole race of mice beside, lay in wait for them, caught them, and
+cleared them out of the house, much to the advantage of the master of
+the establishment.
+
+
+So, returning to my moral, one cannot find under heaven any animal, any
+being, any creature who has not his opponent. This appears to be a law
+of nature. It would be time wasted to seek for a reason. God does well
+whatever he does. Beyond that I know nothing; but I do know that people
+come to high words over nothing three times out of four. Ah, ye human
+folk! even at the age of sixty you ought to be sent back to the
+schoolmaster.
+
+
+
+
+XL
+
+THE WOLF AND THE FOX
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 9)
+
+
+A fox once remarked to a wolf, "Dear friend, do you know that the utmost
+I can get for my meals is a tough old cock or perchance a lean hen or
+two. It is a diet of which I am thoroughly weary. You, on the other
+hand, feed much better than that, and with far less danger. My foraging
+takes me close up to houses; but you keep far away. I beg of you,
+comrade, to teach me your trade. Let me be the first of my race to
+furnish my pot with a plump sheep, and you will not find me ungrateful."
+
+"Very well," replied the obliging wolf. "I have a brother recently dead,
+suppose you go and get his skin and wear it." This the fox accordingly
+did and the wolf commenced to give him lessons. "You must do this and
+act so, when you wish to separate the dogs from the flocks." At first
+Reynard was a little awkward, but he rapidly improved, and with a little
+practice he reached at last the perfection of wolfish strategy. Just as
+he had learned all that there was to know a flock approached. The sham
+wolf ran after it spreading terror all around, even as Patroclus
+wearing[19] the armour of Achilles spread alarm throughout camp and
+city, when mothers, wives, and old men hastened to the temples for
+protection. "In this case, the bleating army made sure there must be
+quite fifty wolves after them, and fled, dog and shepherd with them, to
+the neighbouring village, leaving only one sheep as a hostage.
+
+This remaining sheep our thief instantly seized and was making off with
+it. But he had not gone more than a few steps when a cock crew near by.
+At this signal, which habit of life had led him to regard as a warning
+of dawn and danger, he dropped his disguising wolf-skin and, forgetting
+his sheep, his lesson, and his master, scampered off with a will.
+
+
+Of what use is such shamming? It is an illusion to suppose that one is
+really changed by making the pretence. One resume's one's first nature
+upon the earliest occasion for hiding it.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 19: At the Siege of Troy. He was mistaken for Achilles.]
+
+[Illustration: A guide for the footsteps of love.]
+
+
+
+
+XLI
+
+LOVE AND FOLLY
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 14)
+
+
+Everything to do with love is mystery. Cupid's arrows, his quiver, his
+torch, his boyhood: it is more than a day's work to exhaust this
+science. I make no pretence here of explaining everything. My object is
+merely to relate to you, in my own way, how the blind little god was
+deprived of his sight, and what consequences followed this evil which
+perchance was a blessing after all. On the latter point I will decide
+nothing, but will leave it to lovers to judge upon.
+
+
+One day as Folly and Love were playing together, before the boy had lost
+his vision, a dispute arose. To settle this matter Love wished to lay
+his cause before a council of the gods; but Folly, losing her patience,
+dealt him a furious blow upon the brow. From that moment and for ever
+the light of heaven was gone from his eyes.
+
+Venus demanded redress and revenge, the mother and the wife in her
+asserting themselves in a way which I leave you to imagine. She deafened
+the gods with her cries, appealing to Jupiter, Nemesis, the judges from
+Hades, in fact all who would be importuned. She represented the
+seriousness of the case, pointing out that her son could now not make a
+step without a stick. No punishment, she urged, was heavy enough for so
+dire a crime, and she demanded that the damage should be repaired.
+
+When the gods had each well considered the public interest on the one
+hand and the complainant's demands upon the other, the supreme court
+gave as its verdict that Folly was condemned for ever more to serve as a
+guide for the footsteps of Love.
+
+
+
+
+XLII
+
+THE FOREST AND THE WOODCUTTER
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 16)
+
+
+A woodcutter had broken or lost the handle of his hatchet and found it
+not easy to get it repaired at once. During the time, therefore, that it
+was out of use, the woods enjoyed a respite from further damage. At last
+the man came humbly and begged of the forest to allow him gently to take
+just one branch wherewith to make him a new haft, and promised that then
+he would go elsewhere to ply his trade and get his living. That would
+leave unthreatened many an oak and many a fir that now won universal
+respect on account of its age and beauty.
+
+The innocent forest acquiesced and furnished him with a new handle. This
+he fixed to his blade and, as soon as it was finished, fell at once upon
+the trees, despoiling his benefactress, the forest, of her most
+cherished ornaments. There was no end to her bewailings: her own gift
+had caused her grief.
+
+
+Here you see the way of the world and of those who follow it. They use
+the benefit against the benefactors. I weary of talking about it. Yet
+who would not complain that sweet and shady spots should suffer such
+outrage. Alas! it is useless to cry out and be thought a nuisance:
+ingratitude and abuses will remain the fashion none the less.
+
+
+
+
+XLIII
+
+THE FOX AND THE YOUNG TURKEYS
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 18)
+
+
+Some young turkeys were lucky enough to find a tree which served them as
+a citadel against the assaults of a certain fox. He, one night, having
+made the round of the rampart and seen each turkey watching like a
+sentinel, exclaimed, "What! These people laugh at me, do they? And do
+they think that they alone are exempt from the common rule? No! by all
+the gods! no!"
+
+He accomplished his design.
+
+The moon shining brilliantly seemed to favour the turkey folk against
+the fox. But he was no novice in the laying of sieges, and had recourse
+to his bag of rascally tricks. He pretended to climb the tree; stood
+upon his hind legs; counterfeited death; then came to life again.
+Harlequin himself could not have acted so many parts. He reared his tail
+and made it gleam in the moonshine, and practised a hundred other
+pleasantries, during which no turkey could have dared to go to sleep.
+The enemy tired them out at last by keeping their eyes fixed upon him.
+The poor birds became dazed. One lost its balance and fell. Reynard put
+it by. Then another fell and was caught and laid on one side. Nearly
+half of them at length succumbed and were taken off to the fox's larder.
+
+
+To concentrate too much attention upon a danger may cause us to tumble
+into it.
+
+
+
+
+XLIV
+
+THE APE
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 19)
+
+
+There is an ape in Paris to whom a wife was once given; and he,
+imitating many another husband, beat the poor creature to such an extent
+that she sighed all the breath out of her body and died.
+
+Their son uttered the most doleful howls as a protest to this terrible
+business.
+
+The father laughs now. His wife is dead and he already has found other
+lady companions, whom, no doubt, he beats in the same way; for he haunts
+the taverns and is frequently tipsy.
+
+
+Never expect anything good from people who imitate, whether they be apes
+or authors. Of the two the worst kind is the imitating author.
+
+
+
+
+XLV
+
+THE SCYTHIAN PHILOSOPHER
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 20)
+
+
+A certain austere philosopher of Scythia, wishing to follow a pleasant
+life, travelled through the land of the Greeks, and there he found in a
+quiet spot a sage, one such as Virgil has written of; a man the equal of
+kings, the peer almost of the gods, and like them content and tranquil.
+
+The happiness of this sage lay entirely in his beautiful garden. There
+the Scythian found him, pruning hook in hand, cutting away the useless
+wood from his fruit trees; lopping here, pruning there, trimming this
+and that, and everywhere aiding Nature, who repaid his care with usury.
+
+"Why this wrecking?" asked the philosopher. "Is it wisdom thus to
+mutilate these poor dwellers in your garden? Drop that merciless tool,
+your pruning hook. Leave the work to the scythe of time. He will send
+them, soon enough, to the shores of the river of the departed."
+
+"I am taking away the superfluous," answered the sage, "so that what is
+left may flourish the better."
+
+The Scythian returned to his cheerless abode and, taking a bill-hook,
+cut and trimmed every hour in the day, advising his neighbours to do
+likewise and prescribing to his friends the means and methods. A
+universal cutting-down followed. The handsomest boughs were lopped; his
+orchard mutilated beyond all reason. The seasons were disregarded, and
+neither young moons nor old were noted. In the end everything languished
+and died.
+
+
+This Scythian philosopher resembles the indiscriminating Stoic who cuts
+away from the soul all passions and desires, good as well as bad, even
+to the most innocent wishes. For my own part, I protest against such
+people strongly. They take from the heart its greatest impulses and we
+cease to live before we are dead.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+XLVI
+
+THE ELEPHANT AND JUPITER'S APE
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 21)
+
+
+Once in the olden times the elephant and the rhinoceros disputed as to
+which was the more important, and which should, therefore, have empire
+over the other animals. They decided to settle the point by battle in an
+enclosed field.
+
+The day was fixed, and all in readiness, when somebody came and informed
+them that Jupiter's ape, bearing a caduceus, had been seen in the air.
+The fact of his holding a caduceus[20] proved him to be acting as
+official messenger from Olympus, and the elephant immediately took it
+for granted that the ape came as ambassador with greetings to his
+highness. Elated with this idea he waited for Gille, for that was the
+name of the ape, and thought him rather tardy in presenting his
+credentials. But at length Master Gille did salute his excellency as he
+passed, and the elephant prepared himself for the message. But not a
+word was forthcoming.
+
+It was evident that the gods were not giving so much attention to these
+matters as the elephant supposed.
+
+What does it matter to those in high places whether one is an elephant
+or a fly?
+
+The would-be monarch was reduced to the necessity of opening the
+conversation himself. "My cousin Jupiter," he began, "will soon be able
+to watch a rather fine combat from his supreme throne, and his court
+will see some splendid sport."
+
+"What combat?" asked the ape rather severely.
+
+"What! Do you not know that the rhinoceros denies me precedence: that
+the Elephantidae are at war with the Rhinocerotidae? You surely know these
+families: they have some reputation."
+
+"I am charmed to learn their names," replied Master Gille. "We are
+little concerned about such matters in our vast halls."
+
+This shamed and surprised the elephant. "Eh! What, then, is the reason
+of your visit amongst us?"
+
+"Oh, it was to divide a blade of grass between two ants. We care for
+all. As for your affair, nothing has been said about it in the council
+of the gods. The little and the great are equal in their eyes."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 20: The wand or official staff of Hermes.]
+
+
+
+
+XLVII
+
+
+THE LEAGUE OF RATS
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 26)
+
+
+There was once a mouse who lived in terrible fear of a cat that had lain
+in wait watching for her. She was in great anxiety to know what she
+could do to escape the threatening danger.
+
+Being prudent and wise she consulted her neighbour, a large and
+important rat. His lordship the rat had taken up his abode in a very
+good inn, and had boasted a hundred times that he had no fear for either
+tom-cat or she-cat. Neither teeth nor claws caused him any anxious
+thought.
+
+"Dame Mouse," said this boaster, "whatever I do, I cannot, upon my word,
+chase away this cat that threatens you without some help. But let me
+call together all the rats hereabouts and I'll play him a sorry trick or
+two."
+
+The mouse curtsied humbly her thanks and the rat ran with speed to the
+head-quarters; that is to say to the larder, where the rats were in the
+habit of assembling. Arriving out of breath and perturbed in mind he
+found them making a great feast at the expense of their host.
+
+"What ails you?" asked one of the feasters. "Speak!"
+
+"In two words," answered he, "the reason for my coming among you in
+this way is simply that it has become absolutely necessary to help the
+mice; for Grimalkin is abroad making terrible slaughter among them.
+This, the most devilish of cats, will, when she has no mice left, turn
+her attention to the eating of rats."
+
+"He says what is true," cried they all. "To arms, to arms!" Nothing
+could stem the tide of their impetuosity; although, it is said, a few
+she-rats shed tears. It was no matter. Every one overhauled his
+equipment, and filled his wallet with cheese. To risk life was the
+determination of all. They set off, as if to a fete, with happy minds
+and joyful hearts.
+
+Alas, for the mouse! These warriors were a moment too late. The cat had
+her already by the head. Advancing at the double the rats ran to the
+succour of their good little friend; but the cat swore, and stalked away
+in front of the enemy, having no intention of surrendering her prey.
+
+At the sound of the cat's defiance, the prudent rats, fearing ill fate,
+beat a safe retreat without carrying any further their intended
+onslaught. Each one ran to his hole, and whenever any ventured out again
+it was always with the utmost caution to avoid the cat.
+
+
+
+
+XLVIII
+
+THE ARBITER, THE HOSPITALLER, AND THE HERMIT
+
+(BOOK XII.--No. 28)
+
+
+Three saints, all equally zealous and anxious for their salvation, had
+the same ideal, although the means by which they strove towards it were
+different. But as all roads lead to Rome, these three were each content
+to choose their own path.
+
+One, touched by the cares, the tediousness, and the reverses which seem
+to be inevitably attached to lawsuits, offered, without any reward, to
+judge and settle all causes submitted to him. To make a fortune on this
+earth was not an end he had in view.
+
+Ever since there have been laws, man, for his sins, has condemned
+himself to litigation half his lifetime. Half? three-quarters, I should
+say, and sometimes the whole. This good conciliator imagined he could
+cure the silly and detestable craze for going to law.
+
+The second saint chose the hospitals as his field of labour. I admire
+him. Kindly care taken to alleviate the sufferings of mankind is a
+charity I prefer before all others.
+
+The sick of those days were much as they are now--peevish, impatient,
+and ever grumbling. They gave our poor hospitaller plenty of work. They
+would say, "Ah! he cares very particularly for such and such. They are
+his friends, hence we are neglected."
+
+But bad as were these complaints they were nothing to those which the
+arbiter had to face. He got himself into a sorry tangle. No one was
+content. Arbitration pleased neither one side nor the other. According
+to them the judge could never succeed in holding the balance level. No
+wonder that at last the self-appointed judge grew weary.
+
+He betook himself to the hospitals. There he found that the
+self-sacrificing hospitaller had nothing better to tell of his results.
+Complaints and murmurs were all that either could gain.
+
+With sad hearts they gave up their endeavours and repaired to the silent
+wood, there to live down their sorrows. In these retreats, at a spot
+sheltered from the sun, gently tended by the breezes, and near a pure
+rivulet, they found the third saint, and of him they asked advice.
+
+"Advice," said he, "is only to be sought of yourselves; for who, better
+than yourselves, can know your own needs? The knowledge of oneself is
+the first care imposed upon mankind by the Almighty. Have you obeyed
+this mandate whilst out in the world? If there you did not learn to know
+yourselves, these tranquil shades will certainly help you; for nowhere
+else is it possible. Stir up this stream. Do you now see yourselves
+reflected in it? No! How could you, when the mud is like a thick cloud
+between us and the crystal? But let it settle, my brothers, and then you
+will see your image. The better to study yourselves live in the
+desert."
+
+The lonely hermit was believed and the others followed his wise counsel.
+
+
+It does not follow that people should not be well employed. Since some
+must plead; since men die and fall ill, doctors are a necessity and so
+also are lawyers. These ministers, thank God, will never fail us. The
+wealth and honours to be won make one sure of that. Nevertheless, in
+these general needs one is apt to neglect oneself. And you, judges,
+ministers, and princes, who give all your time to the public weal; you,
+who are troubled by countless annoyances and disappointments,
+disheartened by failure and corrupted by good fortune--you do not see
+yourselves. You see no one. Should some good impulse lead you to think
+over these matters, some flatterer breaks in and distracts you.
+
+
+This lesson is the ending of this work. May the centuries to come find
+it a useful one. I present it to kings. I propose it to the wise. What
+better ending could I make?
+
+
+
+
+LETCHWORTH
+
+THE TEMPLE PRESS
+
+PRINTERS
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Original Fables of La Fontaine
+by Jean de la Fontaine
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGINAL FABLES OF LA FONTAINE ***
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