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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76243 ***
+
+Transcriber’s Note:
+
+Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
+this_; those in bold are surrounded by tildes, ~like this~.
+Mid-paragraph illustrations were moved to adjoin their related
+fable.
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: The Fox and the Grapes.--Page 10.
+                                                   _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                            ÆSOP’S FABLES
+
+                      IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE.
+
+
+                          BY MARY GODOLPHIN.
+
+
+                            _ILLUSTRATED._
+
+
+                              NEW YORK:
+                        A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.
+
+
+
+
+                         COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY
+                      THE CASSELL PUBLISHING CO.
+
+
+                        _All rights reserved._
+
+
+
+
+                              CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                     PAGE
+
+              THE BOY AND THE WOLF                      9
+
+              BOYS AND FROGS                           10
+
+              THE WAR HORSE AND THE ASS                10
+
+              THE FOX AND THE GRAPES                   10
+
+              THE FLY AND THE MOTH                     11
+
+              THE LYNX AND THE MOLE                    11
+
+              THE CHILD AND THE BROOK                  12
+
+              THE MICE, THE CAT, AND THE BELL          13
+
+              THE BEAR IN THE WOOD                     13
+
+              THE OLD FOX AND HER YOUNG ONE            14
+
+              THE SQUEAK OF A PIG                      15
+
+              THE WOLF AND THE LAMB                    15
+
+              STONE BROTH                              16
+
+              THE GNAT AND THE BULL                    18
+
+              THE DOVES AND THE MOUSE                  18
+
+              THE COCK AND THE GEM                     19
+
+              THE OAK AND THE REED                     20
+
+              THE KID AND THE WOLF                     20
+
+              THE BAG OF GOLD                          22
+
+              THE FOX WHO HAD LOST HIS TAIL            22
+
+              THE MAN AND THE APE                      24
+
+              THE MAN AND HIS LIVE STOCK               25
+
+              THE FROGS AND THE BULLS                  25
+
+              THE BLUE WOLF                            26
+
+              THE MAN, HIS SON, AND HIS ASS            26
+
+              THE FOX AND THE CRANE                    28
+
+              THE OLD HEN AND HER YOUNG ONES           29
+
+              THE BOY AND THE HORN BOOK                30
+
+              THE ASS WITH A LOAD OF SALT              31
+
+              THE WOLF AND THE HOUSE DOG               31
+
+              THE STAG IN THE LAKE                     32
+
+              THE MAN, THE FOX, AND THE BEAR           33
+
+              THE FOX AND THE CROW                     34
+
+              THE BOOR AND THE STAG                    34
+
+              THE CAT, THE MOUSE, AND THE COCK         35
+
+              THE PLANE TREE                           36
+
+              THE DOG WHO WAS HUNG                     37
+
+              THE BIRDS, THE BEASTS, AND THE BAT       38
+
+              THE BOY AND THE NUTS                     38
+
+              THE APE AND HER YOUNG ONES               39
+
+              THE HORSE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX         39
+
+              THE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES              40
+
+              THE KITE, THE SOW, AND THE CAT           41
+
+              THE MAN AND THE PERCH                    43
+
+              THE ROSE AND THE CLAY                    44
+
+              THE OX AND THE CALF                      44
+
+              THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP                 45
+
+              THE COCK, THE FOX, AND THE SPRINGE       45
+
+              THE KID AND THE WOLF                     46
+
+              THE ASS AND THE LAMB                     46
+
+              THE BEES AND THE SNAIL                   47
+
+              THE OLD DAME AND HER MAIDS               48
+
+              THE TWO GOATS ON THE BRIDGE              48
+
+              THE AX AND THE TREES                     49
+
+              THE DOG AND THE THIEF                    49
+
+              THE FLY AND THE ANT                      50
+
+              THE WOLF, AND THE FOX IN THE WELL        52
+
+              THE CAT AND THE MICE                     52
+
+              THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLD EGG              54
+
+              THE FOX AND THE STORK                    55
+
+              THE HART AND THE VINE                    56
+
+              THE DAW AND THE JAY                      56
+
+              THE OWLS AND THE WREN                    57
+
+              THE LEAP AT RHODES                       58
+
+              THE DOG IN THE OX’S STALL                59
+
+              THE NURSE AND THE WOLF                   60
+
+              THE OLD BLIND DAME                       60
+
+              THE COCK, THE DOG, AND THE FOX           61
+
+              THE BOAR AND THE HORSE                   62
+
+              THE APE MADE KING                        62
+
+              THE FROG, THE MOUSE, AND THE HAWK        63
+
+              THE WOLF IN A SHEEP’S SKIN               70
+
+              THE DOG WHO WENT OUT TO SUP              70
+
+              THE JUDGE AND THE POOR MAN               64
+
+              THE STAG IN THE OX’S STALL               65
+
+              THE GOAT, AND THE FOX IN THE WELL        66
+
+              THE APE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX           66
+
+              THE FOX AND THE CAT                      67
+
+              THE MULES AND THE THIEVES                68
+
+              THE BALD KNIGHT                          68
+
+              THE WAR HORSE                            69
+
+              THE WIND AND THE SUN                     71
+
+              THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN           72
+
+              THE MAN, THE HORSE, AND THE ASS          72
+
+              THE HOG, OX, COW, DOG, AND SHEEP         74
+
+              THE DRUM AND THE VASE                    75
+
+              THE FROGS AND THEIR KING                 76
+
+              THE STAG, THE CROW, AND THE WOLF         78
+
+              THE FIELD OF CORN                        79
+
+              THE HAWK, THE ROOKS, AND THE CAT         80
+
+              THE COCK AND THE FOX                     81
+
+              THE WOLF AND THE STORK                   82
+
+              THE JAY AND THE OWL                      83
+
+              THE NURSE AND THE SNAKE                  83
+
+              THE LARK AND THE FINCH                   84
+
+              THE DOVE AND THE ANT                     84
+
+              THE MAID AND HER MILK PAIL               85
+
+              THE HARE AND HER FRIENDS                 86
+
+              THE ASS AND THE LAP DOG                  87
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: The Horse and the Ass.--Page 10.
+                                                  _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                           [Illustration]
+
+
+                           AESOP’S FABLES.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE BOY AND THE WOLF.
+
+
+A boy, who kept watch on a flock of sheep, was heard from time to
+time to call out, “The Wolf! The Wolf!” in mere sport. Scores of
+times, in this way, had he drawn the men in the fields from their
+work. But when they found it was a joke, they made up their minds
+that, should the boy call “Wolf” once more, they would not stir to
+help him. The wolf, at last, did come. “The Wolf! The Wolf!” shrieks
+out the boy, in great fear, but none will now heed his cries, and the
+wolf kills the boy, that he may feast on the sheep.
+
+One knows not how to trust those who speak lies, though they may tell
+one the truth.
+
+  [Illustration: The Boy and the Wolf.--Page 9.
+                                                _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                           BOYS AND FROGS.
+
+
+Some boys were at play at the edge of a pond, and, as their game
+was “ducks and drakes,” they had to throw stones with as much force
+as they could, to the great harm of some poor frogs in the pool. At
+length one of them, who was more brave than the rest, put his head
+out of the pond and said, “Oh, dear young sirs, stop, I pray you, for
+what is sport to you is death to us!”
+
+
+
+
+                      THE WAR HORSE AND THE ASS.
+
+
+A fine horse broke loose from his stall, and as he ran down the road
+with a loud, shrill neigh, he met an ass with a load on his back, to
+whom he said, in a proud tone, that if he did not make way for him,
+he would kick him with his heels, and tread him in the dust. The poor
+ass held his peace, and made room for him as fast as he could. In
+course of time the horse went to the wars, and was shot in the eye,
+which so spoilt his good looks, that he was sent to work on the farm.
+Stript of all his pomp, he was met by the ass, who said to him. “Ha!
+is it you? Your state is now as low as mine. I thought your pride
+would have a fall some day!”
+
+
+
+
+                       THE FOX AND THE GRAPES.
+
+
+One hot day a fox saw some grapes which hung on a wall, and he took
+a spring to seize them, but made too short a bound; so then he leapt
+with all his might, but could not quite reach them; and each jump he
+took was still too short. There hung the fine ripe grapes, but not
+for him. Then, as he found he could not get at them, he said, “It is
+not worth my while to try, for the grapes are sour.”
+
+They who can not as they will, must will as they can.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE FLY AND THE MOTH.
+
+
+A fly, one night, stood on the rim of a pot of jam, and as he could
+not turn from so rare a feast, he went down the jar that he might
+reach the fruit; but found to his cost that he stuck fast like a bird
+caught with lime. A moth that flew by, chid him thus: “It serves thee
+right! How couldst thou think that such legs and wings as thine,
+would be safe in a pot of jam?” By and by the moth saw a lamp in the
+same room, and flew in the light of it, but at last his sight grew
+dim, he sprang up to the flame, and was burnt to death. “What!” says
+the fly, who saw him, “How is this? You love to play with fire! You
+who took me to task for so small a crime as a taste for jam!”
+
+We tax our friends with faults, but see not our own.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE LYNX AND THE MOLE.
+
+
+A lynx by chance met a mole at the foot of a mound. “Ah, poor
+wretch!” said the lynx, “what a life is yours! Shut up in the cold,
+damp ground, you see no light, nor feel the warmth of the sun, for
+you do but move from mine to mine. If you could but see me as I vault
+by your dark mound with limbs so free, and my sight--ah! my sight--so
+keen, you would die of grief at your dull life. Would that I could
+change it for you, my friend!” “I thank you for your kind wish,” said
+the mole; “but I need not your help, nor do I feel so dull as you
+think, for I was bred and born in the ground, and all my days have
+been spent here. I have my dear young ones round me, and more than
+all, I am safe. My eyes are small, it is true, but that has made my
+ears sharp, and if they serve me well now, I hear a sound which seems
+to come from where you stand, and it tells of a foe.” Just then up
+rode some men from the hunt, who thrust a spear through the heart of
+the poor lynx, and he fell dead; but the mole went safe back to her
+hole in the bank, and said, when she got there, “Home is home for all
+that.”
+
+What the eye sees not, the heart rues not.
+
+Though the fox runs, the chick has wings.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE CHILD AND THE BROOK.
+
+
+An old man who saw a child stand for a long time by the side of a
+stream, said, “My boy, why do you gaze so long on this brook?” “Sir,”
+said the child, “I stay here to wait till the stream has run off,
+for then I shall pass with dry feet.” “Nay,” quoth the old man, “you
+might stay out your life, and yet not do that, for this brook will
+run on as long as time. And as you wend your way through life, you
+will find this out. If you go with the stream, you will get to the
+sea; but if you do not go with the stream, you will have to wade.”
+
+
+
+
+                   THE MICE, THE CAT, AND THE BELL.
+
+
+Once on a time some mice were in such great dread of a cat, that they
+did not dare to stir day or night lest she should kill them. At this
+rate they thought they should starve, so they all met to talk of the
+best thing for them to do. While they thus sat in great doubt, a pert
+young mouse rose and said, “I have thought of a good plan, and that
+is to tie a bell to the cat’s neck, which would ring at each step
+she takes, and let us know when she comes near.” This bright speech
+brought hope with it, and made the mice jump for joy. Then a grave
+old mouse, who till now had been quite mute, rose and said, “I have
+heard that you ‘hold a wolf by the ears’ and that you ‘put salt on
+the bird’s tail,’ but what shall we do to bell the cat?”
+
+Safe bind, safe find.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE BEAR IN THE WOOD.
+
+
+Two men had to pass through a thick wood, and one of them said,
+“Should we fall in with wild beasts, I will come to your help, if
+you will do the same by me.” “So be it,” said his friend, and off
+they set. They had not gone far when a bear made a rush out of the
+wood. The man who had made the good rule for them to act on, got up
+a tree to hide, and his poor friend was put to his wits’ end to save
+his life, so he fell flat on the ground, held his breath, and lay
+quite still, that the bear might think he was dead. The huge beast
+came close up to him, and felt him with his snout, but as he took him
+for a dead man, did him no harm. When the bear was gone, and all was
+safe, the man came down from the tree, and with a smile, said, “What
+did the bear tell you when he put his snout so close up to your ear?”
+“Well,” said his friend, “what he told me was this--‘Have a care of
+that rogue up the tree, and for the time to come put no trust in
+him!’”
+
+Prove thy friend ere thou have need of him.
+
+
+
+
+                    THE OLD FOX AND HER YOUNG ONE.
+
+
+An old fox and her young one found their way to a yard where hens
+were kept, and one by one they put them all to death. It was the wish
+of the young fox to eat them all then and there, but his dam said,
+“We have had great luck, yet we must not spend all our stock at once,
+but put some by, and come for it when we want it.” “Don’t preach to
+me,” said the pert young fox, “the fowls will not keep sweet a day,
+so I shall eat as much as I can now, for when the men on the farm see
+what we have done, they will, of course, look out for us.” The young
+fox then ate such a meal that it was all he could do to crawl to his
+hole, and in less than an hour he was dead. The old fox came back to
+the hoard, and was caught by the men, who had lain in wait to kill
+her. “Ah!” said she, with her last breath, “each age hath its fault;
+each bean its black; each day its night; each weal its woe!”
+
+
+
+
+                         THE SQUEAK OF A PIG.
+
+
+A man, well known for his wit, said he could show a trick which had
+not yet been seen. So he took his stand on a stage, and, with his
+head thrust down, he gave out a sound like the squeak of a pig. This
+he did so well, that all thought he had brought a young pig in his
+cloak; but though a search was made, they did not find one. A rough
+man from a farm, who had come to look on, said, “Faith, I can do this
+as well as he.” So the next night they were both to try their skill.
+A great crowd came to see them, and the men went on the stage. The
+first man gave his squeak, which brought a roar of praise, as it had
+done the first night. The boor’s turn then came, and he had a real
+young pig in his cloak; but though he made it squeak by a hard pinch
+on the ear, all gave the palm to the first man, and sent the boor off
+the stage with a loud hiss.
+
+Give a man luck, and you may throw him in the sea.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.
+
+
+One hot day a wolf came to quench his thirst at a clear brook that
+ran down the side of a hill. By chance a young lamb stood there. The
+wolf had a wish to eat her, but felt some qualms, so for a plea he
+made out that the lamb was his foe. “Stand off from the banks, sir,”
+said he, “for as you tread them you stir mud in the stream, and all I
+can get to drink is thick and foul.” The young lamb said, in a mild
+tone, that she did not see how that could be the case, as the brook
+ran down hill to her from the spot where he stood. “But,” said the
+wolf, “how dare you drink of it at all, till I have had my fill?”
+Then the poor lamb told him that as yet her dam’s milk was both food
+and drink to her. “Be that as it may,” said the wolf, “you are a
+bad lamb; for last year I heard that you spoke ill of me and all my
+race.” “Last year! dread sir,” quoth the lamb, “why, I have not yet
+been shorn, and at the time you name I was not born.” The wolf, who
+found it was of no use to tell lies, fell in a great rage, and as he
+came up to the lamb, he said, “All you sheep have the same dull kind
+of face, and how is one to know which is which? If it was not you, it
+was your dam, and that’s all the same thing, so I shall not let you
+go from here.” He then flew at the poor meek lamb, and made a meal of
+her.
+
+Might beats Right.
+
+  [Illustration: The Wolf and the Lamb.--Page 15.
+                                                  _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                             STONE BROTH.
+
+
+A poor man, in a storm of wind and rain, came to a great house to
+beg for alms, and was sent off with cross words. But he went back,
+and said, “May I but ask to dry my clothes at your fire, for I am
+wet with rain?” This the maids thought would not cost them much, so
+they let him come in. He then told the cook that if she would but
+give him a pan, and let him fill it from the pump, he would make some
+stone broth. This kind of dish was so new to the cook, that she let
+him make it. The man then got a stone from the road, and put it in
+the pan. The cook gave him some salt, peas, mint, thyme, and all the
+scraps of meat that she could spare, to throw in. Thus the poor man
+made a rich mess, and the cook said, “Well done! you have made a silk
+purse out of a sow’s ear; and it just shows that ‘they who crave for
+food will break through stone walls.’”
+
+Where there’s a will there’s a way.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE GNAT AND THE BULL.
+
+
+Once on a time a poor gnat sat on the horn of a bull, and said, “I
+have made free to rest on the tip of your horn; but if my weight is
+at all too much for you, pray say so, and I will move off.” “I think
+you are more nice than wise,” said the bull. “To tell you the truth,
+I did not know when you sat down, so I shall not miss you when you
+think fit to rise up.” At this the bull gave his head a toss, and put
+the gnat to death with his tongue.
+
+It is a dull bird that points out her own nest.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE DOVES AND THE MOUSE.
+
+
+A man who sold doves in the East threw down some grains of rice in a
+wood, and flung a net on the top of them in such a way that it could
+not be seen in the grass, and then hid close by to watch. Soon the
+king of the wild doves, “Smooth Neck” by name, flew up to the spot
+with his train, and said, “Whence can all these grains of rice come?
+Let it be seen to. Eat them not yet.” But the doves, drawn by greed,
+set to work to pick them up, and they were all caught in the net.
+“Ha!” said Smooth Neck, “I thought this might be the work of a foe.
+You would not wait, as I told you to do, and this has come of it.
+Hark to the plan which I have in hand. We know that small things may
+work out great ends, and that huge beasts may be bound with straws
+made firm in a thick rope. Now, all put out your strength at once,
+take up the net, and fly off.” This they did, and the man who had set
+the snare was much struck to see his net borne off in the air by the
+birds. “This is well,” said one of the doves, “but what are we to do
+now, with these toils on our feet?” Smooth Neck said, “We are in an
+ill plight, but Gold Fur, the wise king of the mice, may help us.” So
+he went in search of Gold Fur’s hole, which had scores of small doors
+that led to it, deep down in the ground. The good mouse came out to
+meet them, and when he had heard their tale, he said, “As long as my
+teeth do not break, I will gnaw the nets for you.” So with his sharp
+teeth he cut the snare, and set them all free. Then, with great joy,
+the king of the doves bent low his smooth neck to him, and said, “How
+much we owe to you! Think of us as your slaves for life; for a friend
+in need is the best friend of all.”
+
+
+
+
+                        THE COCK AND THE GEM.
+
+
+A cock came down from his roost at break of day, and set up a loud,
+shrill crow; he then went to work to scratch the ground in search of
+food for the hens. By and by, what should he turn up but a bright
+gem. He gave it a kick and said, “Ha! you are a fine thing, no
+doubt; but, to my mind, one good grain of wheat is worth all the gems
+in the world.”
+
+Do not cast pearls to swine.
+
+  [Illustration: The Cock and the Gem.--Page 19.
+                                                 _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                        THE OAK AND THE REED.
+
+
+An oak which stood on the side of a brook was torn up by the roots in
+a storm, and as the wind took it down the stream, its boughs caught
+on some reeds which grew on the bank. “How strange it is,” said the
+oak, “that such a slight and frail thing as a reed should face the
+blast, while my proud front, which till now has stood like an Alp,
+is torn down, root and branch!” A reed, which caught the sound of
+these words, said, in soft tones, “If I may be free with you, I think
+the cause of it lies in your pride of heart. You are stiff and hard,
+and trust in your own strength, while we yield and bow to the rough
+blast.”
+
+It is worse to break than to bend.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE KID AND THE WOLF.
+
+
+A young kid that would stray from the herd saw a wolf, and did her
+best to get out of his reach; but when she found that all hope was
+lost, she said, “Sir wolf, I know that I am to die at your hands, so
+as my life will now be but short, I pray of you to let it be a gay
+one. Now, do you pipe while I dance.” So the wolf pipes, and the
+kid jumps and springs to please him. A pack of hounds who heard the
+sound, ran up to see who was there, and then the wolf set off as fast
+as his legs would take him, and the kid came home safe. Quoth she,
+with a hop and a skip:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+    “He that sticks to chance,
+     When fools pipe he may dance.”
+
+But the wolf gave a deep sigh, and said:
+
+    “He who will not when he may,
+     When he wills, he shall have nay.”
+
+  [Illustration: The Kid and the Wolf.--Page 20.
+                                                 _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                           THE BAG OF GOLD.
+
+
+Two men set off to walk from Bath to York, and said they would each
+share the same fate, come what might. All went well till they got
+half way, when one of them saw a bag of gold in the path, which he
+took up. “Ha!” said he, “I am in luck’s way. See, I have found a
+bag of gold! I will buy a horse and ride the rest of my way.” “My
+friend,” said the man who went with him, “when we set out you told
+me we were to share the same luck, be it good or bad; so you ought
+to say ‘we’ have found a bag of gold, not ‘I.’” “You may think just
+as you please,” said the man, “but as it was I who found the gold, I
+shall keep it, and do with it as I said, and wish you good day.” Just
+then they heard a hue and cry of “Stop thief!” “Come, I pray you,”
+said the man (who held the bag), in a great fright; “come, let us
+hide in this wood, for if the men find us with the gold, they will
+take us for thieves, and we shall get hung for it.” “How now?” said
+his friend; “you swore it should be ‘I’ when you found the bag, so
+pray let it be ‘I’ as long as there is fear of theft.”
+
+A just man’s word is as good as a bond.
+
+One gets the prize, and both bear the blame.
+
+
+
+
+                    THE FOX WHO HAD LOST HIS TAIL.
+
+
+A fox who went to steal some young chicks was caught in a trap, from
+which he got free, but with the loss of his tail; and when he came to
+mix with the world, he saw how high a price he had paid for it, for
+none of the beasts who stole a look at him could hide a laugh, and
+the fox thought it would have been well for him if his life had gone
+with the “brush.” But, to make the best of things, he sent to all the
+rest of his race to beg of them to meet him on a heath, and there the
+fox held forth and said, “I would have you all cut off your tails.
+You know not the ease with which I can now move. Of what use is the
+tail to us? If we creep through a hole in the hedge, as we fly from
+the hounds, it stops us in the way. It is the ‘brush,’ you know, that
+man strives for in the hunt; and then, too, in spite of all we can
+do, it is apt to be caught in a trap.” A sly old fox who heard him,
+said, with a leer, “It strikes me that you would not so much care to
+see us part with our tails, if you had a chance to get your own back!”
+
+Bought wit is the best.
+
+  [Illustration: The Fox who had lost His Tail.--Page 22.
+                                                          _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                         THE MAN AND THE APE.
+
+
+A man in the East kept a tame ape, who was of great use to him, for
+he could scare the birds from the fruit and peas. One day the man
+took his sleep at noon, and the ape sat by his side to brush the
+flies from his face. One fly came and stood on the tip of his nose,
+so the ape, with a grin, sent it off; then it flew to his chin, and
+this put the ape in such a rage that he flung a stone at it, which
+smote the fly; but, sad to tell, the force with which the stone was
+thrown broke the man’s jaw.
+
+A rash friend is worse than a foe.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE MAN AND HIS LIVE STOCK.
+
+
+A man who had a farm in a cold part of the world, was shut up in it
+by a deep fall of snow, and could not get out to buy food, so he
+ate all his sheep, one by one, and, as the frost did not break up,
+he then ate his pigs, then his goats, and, at last, the ox that was
+kept for the plough. When the dogs on the farm found this out, they
+said, “Let us be off! for since the man thinks it no harm to kill his
+sheep, his pigs, his goats, and his ox, how can we hope that he will
+spare us?”
+
+When the house next door is on fire, it is high time to look to our
+own.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE FROGS AND THE BULLS.
+
+
+Some frogs that were in a damp marsh saw two bulls which fought in a
+field some way off. “Look!” said one of them, “there’s a sight! Dear
+sirs, what must we do?” “I pray thee,” said a young frog, “do not
+take fright at that. How can the feuds of two bulls hurt us? They are
+not of the same tribe as we are, far less in the same rank of life;
+and as to size, why we are too small for such large beasts as those
+to take note of us. They do but fight to see which shall be head of
+the herd.” “That is true,” said an old frog, “but as one will win the
+day, one must, of course, yield, and the bull that is sent out of the
+field will come to the marsh for rush and reed, and will crush us to
+death at each step. Know you not that when great folk fall out, small
+folk smart for it?”
+
+
+
+
+                            THE BLUE WOLF.
+
+
+A wolf once fell in a vat of blue dye which is made in the East. A
+man came by and thought he was dead, so he took him out and laid him
+on the bank and went his way; and then the wolf, glad to be safe, ran
+off to the woods. One by one, all the beasts came to gaze on him,
+and knew not what to make of him. So then the sly wolf said, “My fur
+is of a fine blue! You see in me a new kind of beast, and so I must,
+of course, be king of all the rest!” Then the bears, the boars, the
+apes, the wolves, as well as the ounce, the lynx, the bull, the fox,
+and all the rest of them, drew near to bow their heads to him as the
+lord of the wood. But soon the wolves thought they saw in the king
+some trace of kin, and one of them said, “Be it for me to find out,
+and let it be done as I say. At night you must all set up a loud yell
+near him, and if he be one of us--as I think he is--he will send
+forth a loud howl too.” So all at once the wolves put up their heads
+to howl, and they soon heard the new king join in the cry, for he
+could not help it. At this, a loud laugh rang through the wood from
+all the beasts of the plain. What is bred in the bone will not out of
+the flesh.
+
+
+
+
+                    THE MAN, HIS SON, AND HIS ASS.
+
+
+A man and his son drove their ass to a fair to sell him. They had
+not gone far, when one of a group of girls, who stood round a well,
+said, with a laugh, “Look at those two fools--they let their ass walk
+at his ease, while they trudge on foot by his side.” The man heard
+this, and set his son on the beast. They had not gone more than half
+a mile, when they came up to some old men who sat in grave talk.
+“There,” said one of them, “that just proves what I say; now a days
+the young take no care of the old; see, that young rogue rides, while
+the old man has to walk by his side. Get down, and let your sire rest
+his limbs.” At this the man made his son jump off the ass, that he
+might ride him. Thus they went on for a space, when they met three
+kind dames, each with a child on her arm. “Why, you old sloth,” said
+one of them, “what a shame to sit at ease while that poor slight lad
+can scarce keep pace by the side of you!” The man then took his son
+on the croup of the ass by his side, and so they rode till they got
+near the town. “Pray, good friend,” said a young man who met them,
+“is that ass your own?” “Yes,” said he. “One would not have thought
+so by the way you load him. Why, it seems to me more fit that you two
+should take him to the fair, than that he should take you.” “Well,
+be it so,” said the old man; “we can but try.” So they got off, and
+made fast the legs of the ass to a pole, which each took hold of at
+one end, and so went on their way, till they came to a bridge. This
+was a rare sight, and so the boys and girls thought, for they ran in
+crowds to laugh at the farce, till the ass--which took fright at the
+noise--gave a kick which broke the cords that bound him; so he fell
+in the stream, and sank. The old man then made the best of his way
+home, and said, “If we try to please all, we please none.”
+
+  [Illustration: THE MAN, HIS SON, AND HIS ASS.]
+
+
+
+
+                        THE FOX AND THE CRANE.
+
+
+A fox that had been out to poach, had got hurt in a trap, and lay at
+the point of death. For a long time he sought in vain for aid, but at
+last he saw a crane, and said to her, “I beg of you to bring me some
+drink to quench my thirst, for I might then gain strength to go in
+search of food.” “Not far in search, I think,” said the crane, “for
+were I to bring you drink, I make no doubt that the food would come
+with me.”
+
+Play not with edge tools.
+
+
+
+
+                   THE OLD HEN AND HER YOUNG ONES.
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+A hen led her train of young chicks through a yard, to rake the chaff
+and to show the grain, when one of them flew on the edge of a well
+to try her wings, and by chance dropt down it, to the great grief
+of the old bird. The next day, when the hen met one of her chicks
+from an old brood, she said, “My dear son, I know you are strong and
+bold, but, for your life, do not go near that well; if you do, some
+great harm will come to you.” “Why should she give me this charge?”
+said he. “Does she think I am not brave, or does she store some good
+thing down the well, which she keeps for her last brood? I will go
+and see.” So he stood at the brink of the well, and, far down in the
+dark, he saw a spruce young cock, whose plumes rose, and whose wings
+spread, as if he had a wish to fight. Down flew the young bird--to
+rise no more.
+
+If a fool is bid not to do a thing, he is sure to do it.
+
+The best shield is to keep out of the reach of shot.
+
+
+
+
+                      THE BOY AND THE HORN BOOK.
+
+
+A boy stole a horn book from school, and brought it home to his aunt,
+who did not take him to task for what he had done, but gave him some
+plums for his pains. In course of time the child grew up to be a man,
+and--need we say?--a thief. He stole more and more, and at last was
+caught in a great theft, and was hung. A crowd came to look on at the
+sad scene, and with them the aunt of the thief, who, with sobs and
+tears, tore her hair and beat her breast. The thief saw her, and said
+to those who were in charge of him, “Give me leave to say a word to
+my aunt.” When she came up, he put his face to hers, as if he would
+speak, and bit off her ear! At this the aunt gave a loud cry, and all
+who stood near were struck with awe at so base a deed. “Good sirs,”
+said the young man, “it is she who is the cause of my guilt; for if,
+when I stole the horn book from school, she had had the sense to
+point out to me that I had done wrong, I should not have come to this
+sad end.”
+
+Spare the rod, and spoil the child.
+
+He that will steal an ounce, will steal a pound.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE ASS WITH A LOAD OF SALT.
+
+
+A man drove his ass down to the coast to buy a load of salt, and on
+his way home the ass fell in the midst of a stream. The salt, of
+course, did not take long to melt, and so the ass lost his load, and
+came home fresh and gay. The next day the man set off to the coast
+for some more salt, and put the load on his ass once more. As they
+went through the stream, the ass took care to fall down just at the
+same spot, and thus got rid of his load this time too. But the man,
+who now saw the trick, made a plan to cure the ass of it. He bought a
+large load of sponge, and put it on the back of the beast, and drove
+him, for the third time, to the coast. By and by they came to the
+stream, when the ass thought to play his old pranks. But the sponge
+got wet through, and the ass found to his cost that so far from a
+light load, he had now on his back one which was ten times the weight
+of the first.
+
+If a man cheats me once, shame on him. If he cheats me twice, shame
+on me.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE WOLF AND THE HOUSE DOG.
+
+
+A poor lean wolf, that was but skin and bone, fell in with a plump
+house dog, and said, “How comes it, my friend, that you look so fat
+and sleek, while I, who am in the woods night and day in search of
+food, do but starve at the best?” “Well,” said the dog, “you may be
+as well off as I am, if you will do the same for it. I have but to
+guard the house from thieves; so come home with me, and see how you
+like the life.” “With all my heart!” cries the wolf.
+
+As they went down the road side by side, the wolf saw a mark on the
+dog’s neck, and would know what it was. So they had a talk.
+
+_Dog._--Well, it may be a slight mark from the chain.
+
+_Wolf._--Chain! Do you mean to say that you may not roam when and
+where you please?
+
+_Dog._--Why, not quite. For, you see, they do look on me as the least
+in the world fierce, so they tie me up by day, but I am let loose
+at night. And all in the house pet me, and feed me with scraps from
+their own plates, and--Come on. What ails you?
+
+_Wolf._--Oh, good night to you. I wish you joy of your fine life;
+but, for my part, though I may not be fat, I will at least be free.
+
+No one loves chains, though they be made of gold.
+
+  [Illustration: The Wolf and the House Dog.--Page 31.
+                                                       _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                        THE STAG IN THE LAKE.
+
+
+One hot day, a stag came to quench his thirst at a lake, and stood
+there to scan his shape from head to foot, as it shone in the clear
+pool. “What strength is there,” said he, “in this fine pair of horns
+which branch out with so much grace from each side of my head! If the
+rest of my form were but of a piece with my horns, I would give place
+to none. But, ah, me! how slight are these poor legs of mine. I would
+as lief have none at all.” Just then some men, and a pack of hounds
+that had been on the scent, made to the spot where the stag stood.
+Off he went, at full speed; and those legs, with which he found so
+much fault, soon took him out of the reach of hounds and men. But the
+horns which he was so vain of, by ill luck, caught in the boughs of a
+tree, and held him there till the hounds came to pull him down.
+
+  [Illustration: The Stag in the Lake.--Page 32.
+                                                 _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                   THE MAN, THE FOX, AND THE BEAR.
+
+
+A man once saw a fox which had so sleek a coat that he felt a wish
+to kill him for the sake of it, and he thought of a plan by which he
+might save the skin whole. He dug a deep trench just in front of his
+hole, on which he spread leaves, sticks, and straw, and then hid in
+the thick trees out of sight, to wait till the fox came home. But he
+went to sleep; and while he slept, the fox came up, saw the piece
+of meat, and had a great wish to taste it; yet when he stole a look
+round him, he had his doubts that all was right, so he did not touch
+it. Soon a bear came up, and sprang on the bait. The sticks gave way
+as he lit on them, and down he fell in the pit. The noise woke up the
+man, who, as he thought of course it was his friend the fox, went
+down the pit, where the bear gave him a hug which took all the breath
+out of his lungs, and then ate him up. So the man was caught in his
+own trap.
+
+He must rise in good time who would cheat the fox.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE FOX AND THE CROW.
+
+
+A crow sat on the bough of a tree with a piece of cheese in her beak.
+A sly old fox which saw her, said, “What a fine bird thou art! How
+bright is thine eye, how sleek are thy wings, what grace is there
+in the turn of thy whole form! Oh, that such a bird should lack a
+voice!” The poor crow was much struck with this speech, saw not its
+guile, and would fain prove how sweet her note was; so she gave a
+loud caw, and down fell the cheese to the ground. The fox ran off
+with it, and said, as he went, “I spoke loud of her charms; but fair
+words do not cost much, nor does the heart feel all that the false
+tongue speaks. Yet I said not a word of her brains; for a wise head
+makes a close mouth, and a close mouth will catch no flies.”
+
+  [Illustration: The Fox and the Crow.--Page 34.
+                                                 _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                        THE BOOR AND THE STAG.
+
+
+A stag that had left the hounds a long way off, came up to a man who
+was at work on a farm, to ask if he would show him some safe place
+to hide in. So the man bade him hide in his own hut, which was close
+by. The stag lay quite still in the hut, and in a short time up came
+the squire and his train with the hounds. The squire caught sight of
+the boor, and drew back to ask him if he had seen the stag pass that
+way. “No,” said the boor, in a loud tone, “I have not.” At the same
+time--as he had a wish to keep on good terms with the squire--he held
+out his hand, with a sly look, to point to the hut where the stag
+lay hid; but as luck would have it, the squire took no heed of this
+sign, nor did he so much as see it. So on he went to join the rest;
+but though they rode through the field where the hut was, they did
+not see the stag. As soon as they were well out of sight, the stag
+stole from the hut, but said not a word to the boor, who now gave a
+loud call to him. “You wretch!” said he, “you owe your life to me,
+yet when you leave my hut, where I sent you to screen you from your
+foes, you say not one word of thanks.” “Nay,” quoth the stag, “you
+may make sure I should fill your ears as full of praise and thanks
+as my heart is of joy, if your deeds had been true to your words; in
+short, if I had not, through the door of the hut, seen your hand play
+false to your tongue.”
+
+
+
+
+                  THE CAT, THE MOUSE, AND THE COCK.
+
+
+A young mouse, which had not seen much of the world, came home one
+day and said, “Oh, I have had such a fright! I have seen a thing with
+such a fierce look, that struts now here, now there, on two legs; on
+his head he wears a small red flag, and one round his throat, his
+arms flap up and down on his sides as if he meant to rise in the air.
+But you should have seen him stretch out his head, and roar at me
+with his sharp mouth, till I thought he would eat me up. It made me
+shake from head to foot with fear, and I was glad to run home as fast
+as my feet would take me. But for this I should have made friends
+with as sweet a soul as could be. She had soft fur like ours, which
+was black and gray in streaks. Her look was so bland and meek that
+I fell quite in love with her. Then she had a fine long tail, which
+you might see wave to and fro, first on this side, then on that; and
+when I saw her fix her bright eyes on me I thought she had a wish to
+speak; when that fierce wretch set up his scream, which drove me in
+this haste, quite out of breath with fear.” “Ah! my dear child,” said
+the old mouse, “in good truth you have run for your life; but the
+fierce thing you speak of was not your foe, for it was but a bird,
+that would not have done you the least harm in the world; while that
+sweet thing, of which you seem so fond, was a cat, and cats eat all
+us mice when they have a chance--in short, they live on mice.”
+
+Judge not by looks.
+
+
+
+
+                           THE PLANE TREE.
+
+
+One hot day in June, two men lay down in the shade of a plane tree,
+to get out of the rays of the sun, and as they lay there, they cast
+their eyes up to the boughs. “A plane tree bears no fruit,” said
+one of them. “In good sooth,” quoth his friend, “that seems but a
+poor tree that is of no use to man!” The plane chid them, and said,
+“Sirs, you must be as blind as you are base, to come here and lie in
+the shade I give, and yet rail at me as a thing that is of no use to
+man.”
+
+
+
+
+                        THE DOG WHO WAS HUNG.
+
+
+Once on a time two sheep met, and one of them said to her friend,
+“Last night our dog Spring ate a lamb, and then bit the old one to
+death, as well as the man of the farm.” “Nay,” quoth the friend, “if
+that be true, in whom can we put our trust?” Thus spread the news,
+and such was the crime of Spring, who now lay bound, while a group
+of men sat to judge his case. Spring then said, with a firm voice,
+“For more than ten years I have done my work as a sheep dog should.
+Last night, as I lay on the ground, a wolf leapt forth from the wood,
+sprang at a lamb, and drank its blood, then let fall his prize, and
+stood at bay. We fought, and I slew the wolf. But now, when I saw
+the lamb, as it lay dead on the grass, I could in no way curb my
+wish to eat it. While I was at my feast, the ewe came up to seek for
+her young one; so, lest she should charge its death on me, I thought
+it best to kill her. Just then, up came the man of the farm, who of
+course thought that I had put both to death. His eye met mine; he
+held up his staff; I could not pause; dead men tell no tales, thought
+I, and so flew at his throat. You know, too well, the rest.”
+
+If we do not crush sin in the bud, it will grow strong, and crush us.
+
+Do what you ought, come what may.
+
+
+
+
+                 THE BIRDS, THE BEASTS, AND THE BAT.
+
+
+The birds and the beasts once went to war. The bat--which could not
+be said to be bird or beast--at first kept out of the way of both,
+but when he thought the beasts would win the day, he was found in
+their ranks, and to prove his right to be there, he said, “Can you
+find a bird that has two rows of teeth in his head, as I have?” At
+last the birds had the best of the fight, so then the bat was seen to
+join their ranks. “Look,” said he, “I have wings, so what else can I
+be but a bird?” “To grind with all winds” was thought base in the bat
+by both sides of the fight, and he could not get bird or beast to own
+him, and to this day he hides and skulks in caves and stems of trees,
+and does not come out till dark, when all the birds of the air have
+gone to roost, and the beasts of the field are wrapt in sleep.
+
+One must not blow hot and cold.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE BOY AND THE NUTS.
+
+
+A young child put his hand in a jar where nuts and figs were kept. He
+took all that his fist could hold, but when he came to pull it out,
+the neck of the jar was too small for him to do so. At this the tears
+came in his eyes, and a friend, who stood by, said, “Grasp at but
+half, my boy, and you will have it; but grasp at all, and lose all.”
+
+
+
+
+                     THE APE AND HER YOUNG ONES.
+
+
+An ape, who had two young ones, felt a great love for her fine child,
+but did not care at all for the plain one. One day, when by chance
+the old dam was put to flight, she caught up the fine young ape in
+her arms, but left the plain one to get on as it could, so it leapt
+on the dam’s back, and off they set. The old ape ran so fast to save
+her pet, that in her haste its head was caught by the branch of a
+tree, and it fell down dead from the blow; but the plain one clung on
+tight to the dam’s rough back, and so came off safe and sound.
+
+The pet child may die from too much care.
+
+
+
+
+                  THE HORSE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX.
+
+
+A fox one night had been out some hours in the snow in search of
+food, and yet had found none. At last he met a wolf in the same case,
+to whom he said, “Do you see the horse in that field? Well, I think
+if you lend me your help, I could kill him.” When they came up to the
+horse, the fox was much struck to find how small his size was by the
+side of him. “May I ask your name, and that of the man who owns you?”
+“My name is Squire,” said the horse. “I have not yet heard the man’s
+name, but I think if you wish to know it you can see the stamp on
+my shoe.” The sly fox, who made a shrewd guess at what this meant,
+said, “Nay, I do not know how to read, but”--here he gave a low bow
+to the wolf--“my friend has a gift that way.” The wolf, who was made
+quite vain by this soft speech, came up to read, but as he bent down
+his head to do so, Squire gave a kick which clave his skull in two.
+
+Take the nuts out of the fire with the cat’s paw.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES.
+
+
+  [Illustration: THE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES.]
+
+A lark had a nest of young birds in a field of corn, and one day
+two men came to look at the state of the crop. “Well,” says one of
+them to his son, “I think this wheat is ripe, so now go and ask our
+friends to help us reap it.” When the old lark came back to her nest,
+the young brood told her, in a great fright, what they had heard.
+“So they look to their friends,” said she; “well, I think we have no
+cause to fear.” The next day the man of the farm came, and saw no
+friends in the corn field, so he bade his son fetch his kith and kin
+to help him. This the young birds heard, and told to the old one when
+she came home to her nest. Quoth she, “I do not see that men go much
+out of their way to help those that are of the same kith and kin.”
+In the course of a day or two, as the man found that no one came, he
+said to his son, “Hark you, John; we will trust to none, but you and
+I will reap the corn at dawn of day.” “Now,” said the old lark, “we
+must be gone; for when a man takes his work in his own hands, it is
+sure to be done.”
+
+No eye so good as one’s own; no work so well done.
+
+He that by the plow would thrive ... must hold or drive.
+
+  [Illustration: The Lark and Her Young Ones.--Page 40.
+                                                        _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                   THE KITE, THE SOW, AND THE CAT.
+
+
+A kite had built her nest at the top of an old oak, and in a hole
+half way up the tree, a wild cat had found a home; while the foot of
+the tree made a sty for a sow and her young pigs. For some time they
+all went on in peace, and might have done so to this day, but for
+the spite of the cat. For, first of all, she crept up to the kite,
+and said, “Good friend, I have news to tell you, which will plunge us
+both in grief. The old sow does naught else than grub at the foot of
+the tree, and we all know what that will come to. It is clear that
+she means to root it up, that she may kill your young ones. For my
+part, I will take care of my own, and you can do as you please; but
+you may be sure I shall watch her well, though I were to stay at home
+for a month for it.” When she had said this to the kite, she went
+down and made a call on the sow at the foot of the tree. She put on a
+grave face, and said, “I hope you do not mean to go out?” “Why not?”
+said the sow. “Nay,” said she, “you may do as you please; but I heard
+the kite say to her brood that she would treat them with a pig the
+first time she saw you go out; and I do not feel sure that she may
+not take one of _my_ young ones at the same time. So good day to you,
+for I must look at home, you see.” With these words she went back to
+her hole.
+
+The scheme that puss had in her head was to steal out at night for
+her prey, and peep all day at her hole, that the sow and the kite
+might think she was in great dread. This plan put them both in such
+a fright, that the kite did not dare to stir out in search of food,
+for fear of the sow, nor the sow for fear of the kite; and the end of
+it was that they and their young ones were all kept in their homes to
+starve, and so were made a prey of by the cat.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE MAN AND THE PERCH.
+
+
+A man went to fish in a fresh stream, and caught a small perch, who
+said, “I pray of you to save my life, and put me in the stream once
+more, for as I am but young and small now, it is not so well worth
+your while to take me as it will be some time hence, when I am grown
+a large fish.” “So you think,” said the man; “but I am not one of
+those who give up that which is at hand for that which is far off;
+nor do I make sure of fish, flesh, or fowl till I have got it, for
+one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+All is fish that comes to the net.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE ROSE AND THE CLAY.
+
+
+A man in the East by chance took up a piece of clay which lay in his
+path, and was much struck to find it smell so sweet. “It is but a
+poor piece of clay,” said he, “a mean clod of earth, yet how sweet is
+it! How fresh! But whence has it this scent?” The clay said, “I have
+dwelt with the rose.”
+
+Make friends with the good if you wish to be like them.
+
+
+
+
+                         THE OX AND THE CALF.
+
+
+In days of old, a calf that ran wild in some fields near Rome, and
+had not yet felt the yoke, said to an old ox, “Dull slave! How can
+you drudge on in this way from day to day with a plough at your tail?
+Look at me, see how I skip and play!” The ox said not a word, but
+went on with his work. The next day there was a great feast held at
+Rome, so the ox did not go to the plough; but his friend the calf,
+was led off in great pomp to be slain, with a wreath round his neck.
+“If this is the last scene of your gay life,” said the ox, “let me
+drudge on at the plough, for the yoke is more to my mind than the ax.”
+
+Of two ills, choose the least.
+
+  [Illustration: The Ox and the Calf.--Page 44.
+                                                _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                      THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP.
+
+
+The wolves and the sheep had been for a long time at war. At last the
+wolves said, “It is the dogs that are the cause of it all; they bark
+if we do but come near you. Now, if you will but send them off from
+your heels, we, on our part, will give up our young ones to you.” The
+poor sheep thought it a fair thing; but as soon as the change was
+made, the young cubs set up a howl for want of their dams. On this
+the old wolves gave out that the peace was at an end; so they fell on
+the sheep, who, as they had lost their best friends, the dogs, had
+none now to help them, and were torn to death by the wolves.
+
+  [Illustration: The Wolves and the Sheep.--Page 45.
+                                                     _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                 THE COCK, THE FOX, AND THE SPRINGE.
+
+
+A fox, who came to a farm at break of day, was caught in a springe,
+which had been put there for that end. A cock, who sat on the bough
+of a tree, did not at first dare to go near so dire a foe; but when
+he saw that the fox could not stir from the spot, he came down from
+the tree to greet him. The fox said, “Dear bird, you see what has
+come to me, and all for your sake; for as I crept through the hedge,
+on my way home, I felt I must come to ask how you are. And now I will
+beg of you to fetch me a knife to cut this wire.” The cock spoke not,
+but flew off as fast as he could to tell the news to the men on the
+farm, who soon came up with a knife with which to cut the wire, and
+kill the fox. The cock said that he thought those who spoke doves’
+words should lead doves’ lives. “Ha!” cries the fox, “he gives twice
+who gives in a trice.”
+
+
+
+
+                        THE KID AND THE WOLF.
+
+
+A young kid who stood on the roof of a house, out of harm’s way, saw
+a wolf pass by, and set to work to taunt and tease his foe. But the
+wolf said, “I hear you. Yet it is not you who mock me, but the roof
+on which you stand.”
+
+Time and place will give to the weak more strength than the strong.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE ASS AND THE LAMB.
+
+
+An ass once lay down in a shed that he might shirk his work, and
+make known to those who were near what toil was put on him. All the
+beasts, great and small, came to lend him help. At the same time a
+poor meek lamb lay at the point of death from want, but none came
+to give her their aid. “How is it,” said she, “that I lie here in
+so much need of care, whilst the ass gets all this help?” A fox,
+who heard her, said, “The ass knows well that the loud bray which
+he gives by way of thanks, makes the kind acts of his friends well
+known, and so it swells their pride to help him.”
+
+A good deed may spring from a bad source.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE BEES AND THE SNAIL.
+
+
+A snail, one day, made his way through the hole of a bee hive, where,
+in a great rage, the bees flew round him, and stung him to death.
+But soon they found that the snail, when dead, was all the more a
+foe than when he had life, for the air in the hive was not fit to
+breathe. What was to be done? He was of too great bulk for the bees
+to turn him out, so they had to leave the hive; and they found, to
+their cost, that they ought to have let the poor snail just crawl out
+as he had come in. The bees made a long search for a new home, but in
+vain, so they went back to their old hive, to see what could be done
+with the dead snail. And, in the end, they all set to work to build a
+case of wax round the shell of their guest, so as to close him in a
+sort of tomb, and thus they made the hive as sweet as the stores that
+were laid up in the combs.
+
+When things come to the worst, they must mend.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE OLD DAME AND HER MAIDS.
+
+
+In the good old times, when there were no clocks, an old dame kept
+a cock in her yard, which at dawn of day gave a loud crow, and then
+she got up to rouse her maids, that they might go to their work. But
+they thought it hard to be woke out of their sweet sleep at such an
+hour, so, one day, they wrung the cock’s neck. The next night the old
+dame slept till late, as she had not heard the cock crow; but when
+she found that he was dead, and that there was now no means by which
+to tell the time, she went at all hours of the night to wake up her
+maids, for fear they should sleep too long.
+
+Strive to mend, and you will oft times mar what’s well.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE TWO GOATS ON THE BRIDGE.
+
+
+Two goats that had been brought up in the same glen, left it, and by
+chance met on a bridge, which was a mere plank, and would not hold
+them both side by side. One of the fair ones set her foot on it, and
+her friend was not slow to do the same. They came up, step by step,
+till they met half way, and as they could not pass, and were both too
+proud to give in, each did her best to push by with a skip and jump,
+till at last the plank broke, and they both fell in, and were borne
+off by the stream.
+
+It is not so bad to clear the way as to fall in the ditch.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE AX AND THE TREES.
+
+
+Once on a time a man came to a wood to ask the trees if they would
+give him a stick for his ax. This was so small a boon to ask, that
+the chief trees said at once, “By all means, give him what he wants
+from a good tough ash.” But as soon as the man had made the stick fit
+the ax, he fell to work with it to hack and hew down all the best
+trees in the wood. The oak was heard to say, in sad tones to the
+beech, “The first step has lost us all. We gave up our poor friend
+the ash to the foe. But for this we might all have stood for an age
+to come; now we must take our sad fate for our pains.”
+
+
+
+
+                        THE DOG AND THE THIEF.
+
+
+One dark night a thief came to a man’s house to rob it, and when the
+dog heard him he gave a loud bark. At this the man sprang from his
+bed to look out, but saw no one, nor did he hear the least sound, so
+he bade the dog be still, and then went back to sleep. The thief in
+the mean time had hid in the shed in a state of great fear; but when
+he found that the dog was bound by a chain, and did not now bark,
+he crept to the door of the house, and took out his bunch of false
+keys to try the lock. The dog saw him, and set up his loud bark, so
+the man of the house put his head out once more to look round him,
+but as he saw no one, and found that all was now quite still, in a
+great rage he cries out, “Down, you brute! Down, I tell you! You
+will not let me have a wink of sleep!” So the dog left off, and in
+the mean time the thief made his way to the house, and took all that
+he could find. The next day when the man saw what had been done, he
+said, “This will teach me to give ear to the voice of a warm and true
+friend when he warns me.”
+
+
+
+
+                         THE FLY AND THE ANT.
+
+
+A fly and an ant came to words as to which stood first in rank. The
+fly said, “How can you place your mean state by the side of mine?
+Look how I soar up in the air, skip round the head of a king, and
+kiss the lips of a queen! I toil not, nor stoop to work, but live
+a life of ease. What is there you can have to say to this?” “Why,”
+quoth the ant, in a sharp tone, “to be made much of by kings and
+queens is a great thing, I grant, if they send for you, but not if
+they deem you a pest. In good sooth, I think it is but your small
+size that screens you from their wrath; and as to work, you will
+learn the use of it when the frost and snow pinch, and the cold winds
+blow, while I shall reap the fruits of my toil. To be free with you,
+I think you will find no pains, no gains.”
+
+One tale is good, till the next is told.
+
+  [Illustration: THE FLY AND THE ANT.]
+
+
+
+
+                  THE WOLF, AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.
+
+
+A fox fell down a deep well, in the sides of which he stuck his
+claws, and so, for a while, kept his head up. A wolf came to take a
+peep down the well, and when the fox saw him, he said, “Oh, I beg of
+you to run for a rope, or some such thing, to pull me out, for I am
+at the point of death!” “Poor friend! you are in a sad strait,” said
+the wolf; “I grieve for you, with all my heart! How long have you
+been here?” “Nay,” said the fox, “if you wish me well, don’t stand
+there to say soft words to me, but get me some help, and that soon,
+or I must die.” The wolf then gave one more sigh, and went home, and
+the poor fox sank, to rise no more.
+
+A long tongue hath a short hand.
+
+  [Illustration: The Wolf, and the Fox in the Well.--Page 52.
+                                                              _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                        THE CAT AND THE MICE.
+
+
+An old dame dwelt in a house that had such swarms of mice in it that
+she got a cat, who caught and ate them one by one. But in course of
+time all the mice kept on the top shelves to be out of the cat’s
+reach, and puss saw that at this rate she should starve. So she hit
+on a plan, which was to hang in a bag, by her hind legs, from a peg
+in the shelf, that she might pass for dead. The young mice took no
+heed of her, but the old ones gave a peep round the edge of the
+shelf, and said, “Ah, you sly thing! We see you! Hang there as long
+as you please, but we would not trust a child of ours to go near you,
+though you were full of straw.”
+
+Old birds are not caught with chaff.
+
+  [Illustration: The Cat and the Mice.--Page 52.
+                                                 _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                     THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLD EGG.
+
+
+In the good old times, a man and his wife had a goose that each day
+of her life laid a gold egg; but they thought that one egg from the
+time the sun rose till he set was slow work, and in the hopes that
+they should seize all the eggs at once, they put the goose to death.
+But to their great grief they found that their goose was just the
+same as all geese. “Ah, my dear,” quoth the old man, “he who has much
+would have more.” “True,” said his wife, with a sigh, “and so comes
+to lose all.”
+
+  [Illustration: The Goose with the Gold Egg.--Page 54.
+                                                        _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                        THE FOX AND THE STORK.
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+One day the fox had a mind to play the wag with the stork, and said,
+“You must come and dine with me to day, for I have had good luck,
+and the soup will be rich.” When the time came for them to dine, the
+stork found to her grief, that the dish in which the soup was put
+was so flat that she could but dip in the point of her bill, while
+the fox could lap it up with his tongue. “It grieves me,” said he,
+“to see you make so poor a meal; I fear it is not to your mind.” The
+stork did not say much, but told her host that it was now his turn
+to come and dine with her. So he came, true to the hour. “Good day,”
+quoth the stork. “Now I hope you will feel that you are quite at
+home.” The smell of the stew was fine, but it was put in a jar with a
+thin neck, down which the stork thrust her long bill with ease, but
+all the fox could do was to lick the brim of it; and when the time
+came for him to take his leave, he made his bow with a bad grace. The
+stork told him that she had but paid him off in his own coin.
+
+Tit for tat.
+
+Good cat, good rat.
+
+  [Illustration: The Fox and the Stork.--Page 54.
+                                                  _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                         THE DAW AND THE JAY.
+
+
+Once on a time there was a daw, who was so vain that he must needs
+leave his old friends (the jacks), and go quite out of his sphere to
+pass for a jay. So he stuck the bright plumes that fell from those
+gay birds on his own back, that he might look like them. But they
+soon found him out, took off his plumes, fell on him with their sharp
+bills, and made him smart for his pride. Full of shame, he hung down
+his head, and once more went to flock with those of his own tribe,
+but they knew his vain ways too well, and told him they did not now
+choose to own him; and one of them said, “If you had been true to
+your own friends, you would not have had such hard cuts from those
+whom you have just left, nor would you have had to bear the slights
+which we now feel we must put on you.”
+
+
+
+
+                        THE HART AND THE VINE.
+
+
+Some men sought out a hart for the chase, when one made a rush out
+of the wood, and hid from them in the shade of a thick vine, so that
+they quite lost sight of him. It was the best hide and seek that
+could be, and so thought the stag, but he hid not for sport, but for
+dear life. There he lay, still as a mouse. In a short time he took
+heart to browse on the leaves of the vine, which hung so green and
+fresh just at his nose. He saw no harm in one more crop, and then one
+more, till he quite lost sight of what he had come there for. More
+than this, he so shook the tree when he took a bite, that he drew
+the eyes of the men to the spot, and as the vine was now too thin of
+leaves to hide him, they shot at him, and he fell down dead.
+
+Where the hedge is thin, men will see through it.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE OWLS AND THE WREN.
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Two owls sat on the branch of a tree. “How strange is it,” said one
+of them, “that in the old days of Greece, men best knew our worth,
+for owls were then thought to be the type of all that is wise.” “Not
+so,” said the wren, who heard them, “and if you were less vain, you
+would know well that in those days men wore owls on their shields
+to show that they should not judge by mere looks. If they did, they
+would take an owl to be a wise bird; for, though he has but a small
+wit, he has a large head.”
+
+
+
+
+                         THE LEAP AT RHODES.
+
+
+A man who had been in all parts of the world told his old friends
+when he came home of the great feats he had done. These tales they at
+first heard with great glee; but in time they found out that he shot
+with a long bow, nay, more than this, that he told lies, and when
+he once did that, he set less and less guard on his tongue, till he
+made those who heard him stare. “How comes it,” said they, “that this
+man, who when at home could boast of no great feats, should, when he
+goes to strange lands, do such great things?” One day he told them
+that there was no place in the world where men leapt like the men
+at Rhodes; “but I beat them all,” said he, “for I took a leap there
+of two score yards.” A grave old man, who sat near him, said with a
+sneer, “Sir, if your tale be true, think this place to be Rhodes,
+and, to prove your words, take the leap once more.” The man kept his
+seat, and had no more to say.
+
+
+
+
+                      THE DOG IN THE OX’S STALL.
+
+
+A dog once made his bed on some hay in a stall, and an ox, who was
+much in want of food, came near to eat some of it. Up sprang the
+fierce cur, with a growl and a snarl, and would not let him touch it.
+At this the ox said, “Fie on thee, thou cur! Thou dost not feed on
+hay, yet, in thy spite, thou must needs stand in the way of those who
+do.” With this, a man on the farm took the dog up by the neck, and
+laid his whip on his back till he ran off in shame.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                       THE NURSE AND THE WOLF.
+
+
+A wolf that was in search of food, was seen to prowl near a house
+where he heard a child cry, and its nurse chide it in these
+words--“Now leave off at once, or I will throw you out of doors to
+the wolf!” So the wolf sat near the house for a long time in the
+hopes that he should see her words made good. At last the child, worn
+out by its cries, fell off to sleep. In a short time the wolf heard
+the nurse say, “There’s a good dear then; if the fierce old wolf
+comes for my babe, we will beat him to death, we will.” The wolf now
+thought it high time to be off, and said, as he went, “If folk say
+that which they do not mean at one hour, and mean that which they do
+not say the next, what can a child or a wolf think of it?”
+
+  [Illustration: The Nurse and the Wolf.--Page 60.
+                                                   _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                         THE OLD BLIND DAME.
+
+
+Once on a time an old dame that was blind sent for Dr. Dash to cure
+her. She told him that if he brought back her sight he should have a
+large fee, but that if he did not cure her, he was to have no fee at
+all. Well, day by day Dr. Dash made his call on the dame, and one by
+one he took off all her goods. At last, when he had swept the house
+clear of them, he set to work on the case, and made a cure of it; so
+once more, to her great joy, the old dame could see. “I must ask you
+for my fee,” said Dr. Dash; but the dame put him off from time to
+time, and did not pay him. At last he went to law; and when she came
+to the court, she spoke thus to the judge: “What Dr. Dash tells you
+is quite true, in so far as I said I would give him a large fee if he
+brought back my sight. Now, then, he tells me my eyes are well, but I
+say they are not; for till my bad sight had come on, I could see all
+sorts of goods in my house, while now, when he tells me he has made a
+cure of my eyes, I can see none there; and I think, my lord, that he
+who plays tricks ought to take a joke!”
+
+
+
+
+                   THE COCK, THE DOG, AND THE FOX.
+
+
+A dog and a cock had been in a wood, and as night came on, they went
+to rest. The cock flew on the bough of a tree to roost, while the dog
+slept in a hole in the trunk of it. At break of day the cock set up a
+loud shrill crow, which was heard by a fox, who soon ran to the place
+whence the sound came, and said, “Let me beg of you to fly down, that
+I may greet you, and praise you for so sweet a song.” “I would first
+ask you,” said the cock, “to wake up my friend, who lies in the trunk
+of this tree.” “By all means,” quoth the fox, who thought he should
+find a nest, with the hen and her young chicks in it; so he thrust
+his head in the hole, and was torn to death by the dog, who said,
+with a loud bark, “Paid in his own coin.”
+
+  [Illustration: The Cock, the Dog, and the Fox.--Page 61.
+                                                           _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                       THE BOAR AND THE HORSE.
+
+
+In days of old a horse came to drink at a pond, when he saw that a
+boar lay in the mud at the edge, which made the pool thick and foul.
+Fierce neighs and grunts were soon heard, and but for the fear the
+horse had of the boar’s huge tusks, they would have fought. At last
+the horse found a man to help him, who soon made a bit and a rein,
+took his bow, got on his back, and off they both set. The boar,
+struck with awe at so strange a sight, ran off as fast as he could,
+but the horse soon came up to him, and the man shot him dead. Now
+that there was no cause for fear, the horse would fain be once more
+free; so he said, “I pray thee take off this rein.” “Nay, that I will
+not do, my friend,” quoth the man; “for now that I have found out thy
+use, I will keep thee to ride on.”
+
+A man may beat the bush, and his friend catch the bird.
+
+
+
+
+                          THE APE MADE KING.
+
+
+The beasts once chose an ape for their king. From morn till night he
+would play all his droll tricks to please them, and they could not
+rest till they had put him on a throne, with a king’s crown on his
+head. They did all they could to swell his pomp, and the beasts took
+him to be as wise as he was great--all but the fox, who knew what
+a bad choice they had made. One day, as the fox was on his way to
+the court, he saw a trap in a ditch with nuts, figs, and dates for a
+bait. He told the ape of all these good things, and said that as they
+were found on a piece of waste land, they were the king’s by right.
+The ape, who did not dream of fraud, went to claim them; but as soon
+as he had laid his paw on the bait, he was caught in the trap. Stung
+with rage and pain, he gave the fox all the hard names he could think
+of; but all the fox said was, “Are you a king, and not up to trap?”
+
+
+
+
+                  THE FROG, THE MOUSE, AND THE HAWK.
+
+
+By chance a mouse made friends with a frog, who spent his life for
+the most part in a pool. The frog one day, by way of sport, bound the
+foot of the mouse to his own, and step by step led him to the pool in
+which he spent most of his time, till at last he got to the brink,
+when he gave a leap which took them both in the midst of the pond.
+The frog, who was fond of a swim, went now here, now there, with a
+croak which would seem to say that all was right, and that he thought
+he had done a great feat. But the poor mouse could not stand it long,
+as the dry ground was his home, and he was soon seen to float on the
+pool quite dead, but still bound fast to the frog. By and by a hawk
+stuck his claws in the mouse, and flew off with him; but the frog,
+who could not get loose from the mouse, had to share the same fate,
+and the hawk made a meal of both.
+
+Harm hatch, harm catch.
+
+  [Illustration: The Frog, the Mouse, and the Hawk.--Page 63.
+                                                              _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                     THE JUDGE AND THE POOR MAN.
+
+
+A man who kept a small farm came to the house of a judge. “Well, my
+man,” said the judge, “what do you come to me for?” “If you please,
+my lord, I have a sad tale to tell.” “Ha, the old tale! You folk with
+your small farms fall out, and then you come to plague me.” “Nay, my
+lord, this time it is with you and me. I have a bull that breaks out
+of his bounds, and he has got to your best field of corn, and has
+spoilt half of it; now I want to know what you would have me do in
+this case?” “Well, I must say you are a staunch old man to come and
+tell me of it, and I shall send my man John to look at the waste, and
+what he says it comes to you must pay. As to your bull, as you say
+he breaks out of his bounds, you must kill him, and that at once.”
+“Bless my heart!” said the man, “what was it I told you? I have but
+two small cows in the world. No, it was that red bull of yours, my
+lord, which locks and bars will not keep in; it is he that breaks
+through the fence of my corn field, and fine work he has made of it;
+but as you say you will send your man to make things right, I thank
+you, and take my leave.” “No,” said the judge, “you must not play me
+such a trick as this. I would not part with that red bull for all
+the world, and as to the field of corn, of course you must take your
+chance.”
+
+The law will catch small flies, but wasps will break through.
+
+We weigh not in the same scale the ills we do and the ills we feel.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE STAG IN THE OX’S STALL.
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+A pack of hounds drove a poor stag out of a wood, and in a great
+fright he made off to a farm that was near, and hid in a heap of
+straw in an ox’s stall. “What can have brought you to such a place
+as this, where you are sure to meet with your doom?” said the ox.
+“Oh,” cries the stag, “if you will but help to hide me for a while, I
+shall do well, and by and by I will move off.” It grew dusk, and the
+men on the farm came in and out, but did not see the stag, so he now
+thought it time to leave. “Nay,” quoth the ox, “wait a while; there
+is the man who owns the farm to come yet, and should he pass this
+way, I would not give the straw you hide in for your life.” While the
+ox spoke, the man came up and cast his eyes on the stag, and made a
+prize of him. “That is a bad game,” said he, “where none wins.”
+
+  [Illustration: The Stag in the Ox’s Stall.--Page 65.
+                                                       _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                  THE GOAT AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.
+
+
+A fox, who was a great rogue, fell down a deep well. Just then, a
+goat came up who had a mind to slake his thirst, so he said to the
+fox, “Is the well a sweet one?” “Sweet!” says the fox; “it is the
+best well I have drunk from for along time. Come and try it.” At
+this the goat leapt in; and the fox--who put his feet on the goat’s
+horns--sprang out, and said, “If you had as much brain as you have
+beard, you would ‘Look ere you leap,’ for
+
+    ‘Those who trust ere they try,
+     They will grieve ere they die.’”
+
+The poor goat put his head up, and said, “True, I see too late that I
+have lent you a stick to break my own head with.”
+
+  [Illustration: The Goat and the Fox in the Well.--Page 66.
+                                                             _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                   THE APE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX.
+
+
+A wolf one day brought a fox up to the Bench for theft. The ape, who
+was the judge, knew well that both were knaves; so he said, “I know
+you well of old, my friends; and as I wish to be just, I shall lay
+the same fine on both of you: on you, Sir Wolf, for you have no right
+to bring the charge; and on you, Sir Fox, for there can be no doubt
+that the charge is a true one.”
+
+Set a thief to catch a thief.
+
+
+
+
+                         THE FOX AND THE CAT.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+A fox and a cat once met on a heath, and had a long chat on things
+of state. The fox said, “Let the war turn out as bad as it may, it
+is all one to me, for I have lots of plans by which to save my life.
+But now, pray tell me, puss, if the foe should come, what course do
+you mean to take?” “Nay,” says the cat, “I have but one shift, and if
+that will not do, I am lost.” Just then a pack of hounds came on them
+in full cry. Puss, by the help of her one trick, ran up a tree, from
+the top branch of which she saw that the fox, who had not the skill
+to get out of sight, was torn to death by the hounds. “Great boast,
+small roast,” quoth the cat, “but he plays well that wins.”
+
+  Illustration: The Fox and the Cat.--Page 67.
+                                               _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                      THE MULES AND THE THIEVES.
+
+
+Two mules were once on the road, one of which had bags of gold on his
+back, and rang his bells with a proud toss of the neck, as if he felt
+vain of his load; and one took but sacks of grain, and hung down his
+head as he trod the way. They had not gone far, when three thieves,
+who lay in wait for them in a wood close by, ran out, took the bags
+of gold from off the back of the mule, and put him to death, as well
+as the men with him. But the mule who was the drudge stood quite
+safe, and said he should count the scorn in which he was held as so
+much gain, for he was best off in the end.
+
+
+
+
+                           THE BALD KNIGHT.
+
+
+In the good old times there was a brave knight who had lost all his
+hair, and wore a wig. As he rode in the hunt a gust of wind blew his
+wig off, and a loud laugh rang forth from those who saw his bald
+pate. When the knight found his wig was in the air, he, of course,
+felt much put out, for it was his false hair that made him look
+young; but he thought the best way to pass it off would be to take
+the laugh in his own hands; so he said, “How could I hope to keep
+strange hair on my head, when my own would not stay there!”
+
+He must stoop that has a low door.
+
+
+
+
+                            THE WAR HORSE.
+
+
+There was a man who in time of war took great pains with his horse,
+and fed him on as much corn and hay as he could eat. But when the war
+was at an end all he gave him was chaff, and he put him to draw great
+loads of wood; in short, made a slave and a drudge of him. When the
+war broke out once more, and there was a call to arms, the man, clad
+in his coat of mail, sprang on the back of his steed, and went off
+to join the fight. But soon the horse fell down with all his weight
+of steel. “You must now go to the war on foot,” said he; “for if you
+turn me from a horse to an ass, how can you think that I can all at
+once turn from an ass to a horse?”
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                     THE WOLF IN A SHEEP’S SKIN.
+
+
+Once on a time a wolf put on a sheep’s skin, by which means he got
+shut in the fold at night. By and by the man of the farm came in to
+kill one of his flock for food, and as luck would have it, he chose
+out the wolf. But when he saw how it was, he put a rope round his
+neck, and hung him to the branch of a tree. Some folks who came by
+said, “What! do you hang sheep?” “No,” said the man, “but I hang a
+wolf when I can catch him, though in the garb of a sheep.”
+
+You may find more than one face in a hood.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE DOG WHO WENT OUT TO SUP.
+
+
+A man made a great feast, and his dog Tray said to Gyp, who was a
+great friend of his, “Come and sup with us to-night. Eight o’clock is
+the time; but if you are there an hour too soon, you will find there
+is much to be done.” Gyp lay in the sun a while, to wink and wait. He
+thought of fish, flesh, and fowl, tripe and toast, and made a feast
+in his heart that might grace a bill of fare for a king. At length
+the time came, and he set off to the cook’s room, where he found all
+hands hard at work. Gyp went with a skulk, now here, now there; gave
+a peep at this dish, and smelt at that, and with a wag of his tail,
+as much as to say, “O rare! What a feast have I in store!” This wag
+of the tail brought the eyes of the cook on him, and he said, “How
+now? what’s this I spy? A cur! who let him in? A nice sort of guest,
+to be sure. I shall soon pack you off.” The cook then brought poor
+Gyp to view, and threw him out at the back door.
+
+There’s oft a slip ’twixt cup and lip.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE WIND AND THE SUN.
+
+
+The wind and the sun once came to high words as to which had the most
+strength. Just then by chance a man came by, so they let the point
+rest on this, that he who got this man’s cloak off first, should win
+the day. The wind was the first to try, and he blew with all his
+might and main a fierce blast; but the man wrapt his cloak all the
+more close round him. Next came the sun, who broke out with his warm
+beams, and cast his bright rays on the man, till at length he grew
+faint with the heat, and was glad to part with his cloak, which he
+flung to the ground.
+
+Kind means are best.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                   THE MAN, THE HORSE, AND THE ASS.
+
+
+Once on a time a horse and an ass went on the high road, side by
+side, and the man who kept them went on foot. The poor ass had told
+the horse that if he would share the load with him he should soon
+get well; but that if he did not lend him some help, the weight of
+it would kill him. But the horse took no heed of this, and bade him
+go on, till from the weight of the load he fell down dead. When the
+man found the poor ass was dead, he put the load on the back of the
+horse, and the dead ass too.
+
+One may bear till his back break.
+
+
+
+
+                   THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN.
+
+
+Once on a time, as a blind man went on his way, he came to a bad part
+of the road, and knew not how to get on. By chance a lame man sat
+on a bank near, so the blind man said to him, “Hark you to what I
+say. I have thought of a plan which will help us both on our way--my
+feet shall be thy feet, and thine eyes shall be mine.” “With all my
+heart,” said the lame man; and off they set. “Stop,” said he, “I see
+a purse that lies on the road, and if you go straight on, and then
+turn to the left, you will come to it.” This the blind man did, and
+at last he took it up. “Give it to me,” said the lame man, who was
+on the blind man’s back. “Not so,” said his friend; “but for my
+feet you would not have come so far, so now I shall keep it.” “Nay,”
+said the lame man; “but for my sight you would not have known it was
+there.”
+
+All keys hang not on one bunch.
+
+  [Illustration: THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN.]
+
+
+
+
+                  THE HOG, OX, COW, DOG, AND SHEEP.
+
+
+One day a hog, an ox, a cow, a dog, and a sheep all met in a straw
+yard. The hog told the rest that he thought that beast stood first in
+rank who was kept most for his own sake, and not for the sake of the
+work that he did. “Now, which of you,” said he, “can boast of this
+so well as I can?” To the horse he spoke first. “As for you, though
+you are well fed, and have grooms to wait on you, and make you sleek
+and clean, yet all this is for the sake of your work. Do not I see
+the man on the farm take you out at break of day, put you in chains,
+or bind you fast to the shafts of a cart with a load in it, and keep
+you out till noon? Then, in the space of an hour does he not take you
+to work once more till dusk? I may say just the same of the ox, save
+that he does not work for such good fare.” To the cow he spoke next:
+“You, who are so fond of your straw and grains, you are thought worth
+your cost for your milk, which they drain from you twice a day; and
+your young ones, who should by right have the milk, are torn from you
+to go no one knows where.” Then thus spoke he to the sheep: “They
+turn you out to shift as well as you can on the bare hills. You pay
+dear for your keep, for you have to part with your warm coats once a
+year, and at night starve with the cold. As for the dog, he has to
+keep watch all the live long night, while the rest of us are wrapt in
+soft sleep. In short, you are all slaves, kept for use; while I, on
+my part, have a warm sty, with food close to my snout, all day and
+free of cost. All they want from me is to see me eat my food from
+the trough, bask in the sun, and live at my ease.” Thus spoke the
+hog. But in a short time the frost set in, and, as it was a bad time
+for all kinds of food, the man was in great straits to keep his live
+stock till the spring. “How can I feed them all?” thought he. “I must
+part with those I can best spare. As for my horse and ox, I shall
+have _work_ for them--they must be kept, cost what it will. My cows
+will not give much milk in the frost, it may be, but they will calve
+in the spring, and will thrive in the new grass; the sheep will do
+as long as there is a blade on the hills; and if a deep fall of snow
+should come, I must give them hay, for I count on their wool to make
+out my rent with. But my hog will eat me out of house and home; so,
+as he _yields_ naught, I must kill him at once.”
+
+
+
+
+                        THE DRUM AND THE VASE.
+
+
+A drum was heard to boast, in these words, to a vase of sweet herbs,
+“Hark at my loud, strong tone which rends the sky. When men hear my
+voice they march to arms, and join the fight with joy!” “Be not too
+proud,” said the vase; “as for me, I grant you there is a chain on
+my lips. I speak not, but I am full of good things, while thou hast
+naught in thee but noise, and must be struck to give it out.”
+
+
+
+
+                      THE FROGS AND THEIR KING.
+
+
+In the days of yore the frogs met to beg of Jove to send them a
+king. So he threw them a log, and said, “There’s a king for you--a
+good, mild one!” Well, King Log came on the pond with such a splash,
+that the frogs took fright at him. Some sought the mud, and some
+the reeds; and, for a long time, there was not one that would dare
+to take a peep. By and by, when they saw that King Log lay quite
+still, they said, “See, he sleeps!” Some came round him, and up to
+him, till, one by one they leapt on his back, and at last held him
+quite in scorn. So, with harsh croaks, they beg of Jove to change him
+for one with more life; in short, a king that would move. Jove then
+sent them an eel, and he, too, was too tame for them; and, a third
+time, they ask of Jove to choose for them a king with more strength
+of will. This time, he sent them a stork, who, day by day, made the
+frogs his prey, till there were none left to croak on the lake, save
+one, and he shook his head, and said, “If we had had the sense to
+keep well, there would have been no need to mend our state. Now we
+have found to our loss what we did not seek.”
+
+Set not the Fox to keep the Geese.
+
+  [Illustration: The Frogs and their King--Page 76.
+                                                    _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                  THE STAG, THE CROW, AND THE WOLF.
+
+
+A wolf saw a plump stag, and thought, How can I feast on his flesh?
+Then he drew near, and said, “All hail be to thee!” and made friends
+with the stag. “Hey day! whom have you here?” quoth a crow that flew
+by. The stag told him that he was a good wolf. “Have a care!” said
+the crow; “trust him not.” Yet the stag took no heed of his words,
+but let the wolf lead him at night to feed in a field that had a crop
+of ripe wheat in it. Now, there was a trap in the field, and the poor
+stag was caught by the feet. “This is well,” thought the wolf; “for
+when his flesh is cut up, the bones, and what is left, will be for
+me.” The crow flew to the spot, but could give his friend no aid.
+The next day the man who set the snare came with a knife in his hand
+to kill the stag. “If you care for your life,” quoth the crow, “lie
+quite still, and seem to be dead; but when I give a caw, start up at
+once, and take to your heels as fast as you can.” So the stag lay
+down quite stiff, held his breath, and shut his eyes. When the man
+came up, he thought the stag was dead, and took him from the toils,
+and went a few steps off to fold up the net, when the crow’s voice
+was heard, and the stag ran off at full speed. In the mean time the
+wolf came up to seek for his feast, and was slain by the man.
+
+Bad faith is like to fall back on the head of those who make use of
+it.
+
+
+
+
+                          THE FIELD OF CORN.
+
+
+An old man had a field, and when he fell ill, he sent for his three
+sons, that he might take leave of them, and give them his last
+charge. “My sons,” said he, “there is one thing which, with my last
+breath, I charge you to do, and that is, to seek out a rich gift
+which I have left you, and which you will find in my field--” Here
+the poor old man’s voice grew faint, and his head sank down on his
+breast in death. The sons were in too much grief for their loss to
+put in force that which the old man had bade them do, till want
+drove them to seek for what they thought must be a hoard of gold in
+the field; so they made a search from end to end of it, till there
+was not a clod they did not turn, in the hunt. At last they gave it
+up. “It is strange that the old man should have set us on this long
+search for a thing that is not here,” said Jack. “Come,” said Dick,
+“since we have gone through so much toil on the field, we may as
+well sow it with corn, and so make the most of it.” At this bright
+thought they set to work to sow the grain, and in due time a crop
+sprang up, five times as large as those crops which grew there in the
+old man’s time. The thought now struck the youths that this was the
+wealth the old man meant, and that it was his wish that they should
+earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.
+
+Seek till you find, and you will not lose by the toil.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+                  THE HAWK, THE ROOKS, AND THE CAT.
+
+
+In the trunk of an old elm tree dwelt a large bird of prey, with
+claws blunt, and eyes blind with age. The rooks fed him from their
+own store, while he, on his part, took charge of their young ones
+when the old birds went in search of food. One day, a cat--“Long Ear”
+by name--came to prey on the young rooks, who, when they saw her,
+gave a loud scream. The old hawk heard it, and said, “Who is that?”
+“I am a cat,” said “Long Ear.” “Ha!” quoth the hawk, “Cats love
+flesh, and the young rooks dwell here--that’s all I know. Get you
+gone at once, or I will put you to death!” “Not so,” said the cat. “I
+eat no meat now; and all the beasts of the field and the birds of the
+air love me--for I am good. I pray of you to let me stay, for you are
+old and wise, and can teach me much.” By this praise sly puss made
+the old hawk put his trust in her, so he let her stay in the trunk
+of the tree. Day by day she ate some of the young birds, and took all
+the bones that were left from the feast to a hole in the stem of the
+old elm tree, that the death of the young rooks might be laid to the
+charge of the hawk. The old birds were in great grief for the loss
+of their young ones; and when they saw the bones in the hole of the
+tree, they of course laid the blame on the hawk, and they all flew at
+the poor old bird and put him to death. He said with his last breath,
+“Ah me! How much worse than a foe is a false friend!”
+
+
+
+
+                        THE COCK AND THE FOX.
+
+
+A cock stood on the top of a rick, and gave a loud crow. A fox, who
+saw him, thought he would just do for a meal; but though the cock
+could fly down to him, he could not climb up to the cock; so he said,
+“Have you heard the news?”
+
+_Cock._--What news?
+
+_Fox._--Peace has been sworn by bird and beast.
+
+_Cock._--Do you say so? Let me hear how it came to pass.
+
+_Fox._--Well, the birds and the beasts have met, and have sworn a
+truce. We are now quite safe by night and day. The wolf will no more
+tear the lamb, nor the fox kill the kid; the cat will not catch the
+mice, nor the dog bark at the sheep; and from this time all will live
+in peace: so come down, that I may wish you joy on this new state of
+things.
+
+The cock did not say much, but gave his neck a stretch, and made a
+feint that he saw some foe at hand.
+
+_Fox._--What is it you see?
+
+_Cock._--Why, I think I see a pack of hounds. No doubt they come this
+way to tell the good news.
+
+_Fox._--Oh, then, I must be gone!
+
+_Cock._--No; pray, sir, do not go; I am just on the point of a flight
+down to you. You can have no fear of dogs in this time of peace.
+
+_Fox._--Why, no--no--but--ten to one they have not heard the news.
+
+_Cock._--If the sky falls, we shall catch larks. You might as well
+try to make me think the moon is made of green cheese!
+
+
+
+
+                       THE WOLF AND THE STORK.
+
+
+A wolf had a bone that stuck in his throat, and gave him so much
+pain, that he ran with a howl, up and down, to ask all whom he met to
+lend him a kind hand, and said he would give a large sum to bird or
+beast who would take it out. At last a crane, who heard of the bribe,
+came up, put her long bill down the wolf’s throat, and drew out the
+bone. The crane then said, “Now, where is the fee which you spoke
+of?” “Wretch that you are!” said the wolf, “to ask for more than
+this--that you should put your head in a wolf’s mouth, and bring it
+safe out!”
+
+A bribe walks in, and gives no knock.
+
+  [Illustration: The Wolf and the Stork.--Page 82.
+                                                   _Æsop._]
+
+
+
+
+                         THE JAY AND THE OWL.
+
+
+One day an old owl, who sat in a dark barn, had a call from a jay.
+The owl sat quite still in his nook, save when he saw a mouse, and
+did not speak a word, so that the jay had all the talk. When he had
+thus spent an hour or so, he took his leave, full of glee, with a
+heart as gay as his plumes, and said as he went that he must love
+that dear old owl, and that he did not know when he had had a chat to
+cheer him up so much.
+
+If you wish to please your friend, sit still, and let him talk.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE NURSE AND THE SNAKE.
+
+
+A child that was at play in a field, by chance trod on a snake which
+stung him to death. The nurse, in a great rage, hit the snake a blow
+which struck off his tail. The next day she came to the snake’s
+hole to coax him with some salt and meal, that she might kill him.
+“I pray thee come forth,” said the nurse, “and let us make it up on
+both sides”; but she could in no way get the snake to leave his hole.
+All he would do was to give a hiss, and tell her that as long as she
+thought of the dead child, and he thought of the tail, they could not
+be friends.
+
+He who does you a wrong is sure not to love you.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE LARK AND THE FINCH.
+
+
+A poor lark was kept in a cage that hung on a wall, in a town that
+was full of dust and dirt. One day, as he stood on his piece of dead
+turf, to trill out his sweet song, a finch, who by chance flew that
+way, said, “How canst thou sing so blithe a strain, shut up in that
+vile cage?” “Finch, finch,” rang out the lark, in his clear tones,
+“know you not that if I did not sing while I am shut up here, I
+should fail to call to mind my song, when the time came for me to
+mount up to the sky?”
+
+It is meet for us to sing hymns of praise while we are on earth, to
+fit us for our flight to realms of bliss.
+
+
+
+
+                        THE DOVE AND THE ANT.
+
+
+A hot day in June drove a poor ant to take a sip from a clear brook,
+when she fell in, and went down with the stream. A dove that sat in
+a tree close by saw the ant fall, so she threw a leaf down to her in
+the brook, which the ant clung to, and so was brought safe to land.
+In a few days from this time, the ant saw a man take aim with his bow
+to shoot the dove, and, just in the nick of time, she stung him on
+the heel. This made him give a start, and spoilt his aim, so that the
+dove flew off safe and sound.
+
+Live, and let live.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE MAID AND HER MILK PAIL.
+
+
+One day, as a young maid went down the road with her pail of milk on
+her head, she was heard to say, “This pail of milk will fetch me so
+much, which sum I will lay out in eggs; these eggs will bring a score
+of chicks, and they will be fit to sell just at the time when fowls
+bear a good price; so that on May day I shall have a new gown. Let me
+see,--yes, green will suit me best, and green it shall be. In this
+dress I will go to the fair, and all who are there will pay their
+court to me; but with a proud look I shall turn from them.”
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+Wrapt in this dream of joy, she gave a toss of the head to suit the
+words, when down came the pail of milk, and with it the eggs, the
+chicks, the green gown, and all the bright thoughts of what she would
+do at the fair.
+
+Count not your chicks till they are out of the shell. Each “may be”
+hath a “may not be.”
+
+
+
+
+                      THE HARE AND HER FRIENDS.
+
+
+A hare that was known to be good and kind was a friend to all the
+beasts of the field. One day the hounds caught sight of her, and gave
+her such a hard chase that at last she lay quite faint by the side
+of the road. To her great joy a horse came by. “Let me mount you,”
+said she, “and the hounds will then be thrown off the scent.” “Poor
+Puss,” said the horse, with a sigh, “it makes me sad to see you thus;
+but look up--all your friends are near.” She next sought aid from the
+bull. “I would lend you help, and be sure I wish you well,” said he;
+“but I am the head of the herd, and I must now join it.” The goat,
+who came next, said, “I fear my coat is too rough for you; there’s
+the sheep with his soft wool.” But the sheep told her that she was
+too weak to bear her weight, and that hounds eat sheep as well as
+hares. A young calf was the poor hare’s last chance, and he said,
+“If those who have gone by, who are grown up, did not help you, what
+good can I do, who am but young and weak?” Just then the hounds came
+in sight, and the calf ran off, and left the poor hare to her fate.
+“Ah!” said she, “friends are like bees: on bright days they swarm,
+but when clouds shut out the sun they are not to be found, though
+sought.”
+
+When your friend is in want, lose no time, but help him.
+
+
+
+
+                       THE ASS AND THE LAP DOG.
+
+
+Once on a time there was a man who had a pet dog, of which he was so
+fond that he let him eat from his own plate, and sit on his knee. The
+same man kept an ass that drew wood all day, and had to take his turn
+at the mill at night. “What a hard fate is mine!” said he; “I work
+night and day, while the lap dog leads a life of ease. No doubt my
+lord would get as fond of his ass as he is of his dog, if I could but
+win him by the same tricks.”
+
+At this thought he broke from the stall, set off to the room where
+the man was, sprang to his face to lick it, and gave a loud bray in
+his ear. But now the ass had gone too far with his rough play; for
+the men of the farm came in with clubs, sticks, and staves to beat
+him.
+
+
+                               THE END.
+
+
+
+
+                ~BURT’S SERIES of ONE SYLLABLE BOOKS~
+
+~12 Titles. Handsome Illuminated Cloth Binding.~
+
+A series of Classics, selected specially for young people’s reading,
+and told in simple language for youngest readers. Printed from large
+type, with many illustrations.
+
+~Price, 50 Cents per Volume.~
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+
+~AESOP’S FABLES.~
+
+  Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MARY GODOLPHIN.
+  With 41 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.~
+
+  (Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By
+  HARRIET T. COMSTOCK. With many illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~BIBLE HEROES.~
+
+  Told in words of one syllable for young people. By HARRIET T.
+  COMSTOCK. With many illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES.~
+
+  (Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable. By JEAN S. RÉMY. With
+  many illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~GULLIVER’S TRAVELS.~
+
+  Into several remote regions of the world. Retold in words of one
+  syllable for young people. By J. C. G. With 32 illustrations.
+  Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~LIFE OF CHRIST.~
+
+  Told in words of one syllable for young people By JEAN S. RÉMY. With
+  many illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.~
+
+  Told in words of one syllable for young people. By JEAN S. RÉMY.
+  With 24 large portraits. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~PILGRIM’S PROGRESS.~
+
+  Retold in words of one syllable for young people, By SAMUEL PHILLIPS
+  DAY. With 33 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~REYNARD THE FOX.~
+
+  The Crafty Courtier. Retold in words of one syllable for young
+  people. By SAMUEL PHILLIPS DAY. With 23 illustrations. Illuminated
+  cloth.
+
+
+~ROBINSON CRUSOE.~
+
+  His life and surprising adventures retold in words of one syllable
+  for young people. By MARY A. SCHWACOFER. With 32 illustrations.
+  Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~SANFORD AND MERTON.~
+
+  Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By MARY GODOLPHIN.
+  With 20 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+~SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON.~
+
+  Retold in words of one syllable for young people. Adapted from the
+  original. With 31 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.
+
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
+the publisher, ~A. L. BURT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York~.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76243 ***
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+    <title>
+      ÆSOP’S FABLES | Project Gutenberg
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+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76243 ***</div>
+
+<h4>Transcriber’s Note:</h4>
+<p>Mid-paragraph illustrations were moved to adjoin their
+related fable.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/frontis.jpg"
+ alt="Frontispiece">
+ <p class="caption">The Fox and the Grapes.—<a href="#THE_FOX_AND_THE_GRAPES">Page 10.</a></p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p><i></i>
+</div>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h1>ÆSOP’S FABLES</h1>
+
+<p class="p2 center">IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE.</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><span class="smcap">By</span> MARY GODOLPHIN.</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><i>ILLUSTRATED.</i></p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><span class="allsmcap">NEW YORK:</span><br>
+A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER.
+</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="center tall">
+<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1895, by</span><br>
+THE CASSELL PUBLISHING CO.<br>
+<br>
+<i>All rights reserved.</i><br>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</span></p>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<table>
+<tr><td class="tdr muchsmaller" colspan="2">PAGE</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Boy and the Wolf</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BOY_AND_THE_WOLF">9</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Boys and Frogs</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#BOYS_AND_FROGS">10</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The War Horse and the Ass</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WAR_HORSE_AND_THE_ASS">10</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fox and the Grapes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FOX_AND_THE_GRAPES">10</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fly and the Moth</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FLY_AND_THE_MOTH">11</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Lynx and the Mole</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LYNX_AND_THE_MOLE">11</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Child and the Brook</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_CHILD_AND_THE_BROOK">12</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Mice, the Cat, and the Bell</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MICE_THE_CAT_AND_THE_BELL">13</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Bear in the Wood</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BEAR_IN_THE_WOOD">13</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Old Fox and her Young One</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OLD_FOX_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONE">14</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Squeak of a Pig</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_SQUEAK_OF_A_PIG">15</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wolf and the Lamb</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WOLF_AND_THE_LAMB">15</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Stone Broth</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#STONE_BROTH">16</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Gnat and the Bull</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GNAT_AND_THE_BULL">18</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Doves and the Mouse</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DOVES_AND_THE_MOUSE">18</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cock and the Gem</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_COCK_AND_THE_GEM">19</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Oak and the Reed</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OAK_AND_THE_REED">20</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Kid and the Wolf</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_KID_AND_THE_WOLF">20</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Bag of Gold</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BAG_OF_GOLD">22</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fox who had lost his Tail</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FOX_WHO_HAD_LOST_HIS_TAIL">22</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Man and the Ape</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAN_AND_THE_APE">24</a>
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Man and his Live Stock</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAN_AND_HIS_LIVE_STOCK">25</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Frogs and the Bulls</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FROGS_AND_THE_BULLS">25</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Blue Wolf</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BLUE_WOLF">26</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Man, his Son, and his Ass</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAN_HIS_SON_AND_HIS_ASS">26</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fox and the Crane</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FOX_AND_THE_CRANE">28</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Old Hen and her Young Ones</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OLD_HEN_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONES">29</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Boy and the Horn Book</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BOY_AND_THE_HORN_BOOK">30</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ass with a Load of Salt</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ASS_WITH_A_LOAD_OF_SALT">31</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wolf and the House Dog</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WOLF_AND_THE_HOUSE_DOG">31</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Stag in the Lake</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_STAG_IN_THE_LAKE">32</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Man, the Fox, and the Bear</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAN_THE_FOX_AND_THE_BEAR">33</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fox and the Crow</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FOX_AND_THE_CROW">34</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Boor and the Stag</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BOOR_AND_THE_STAG">34</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cat, the Mouse, and the Cock</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_CAT_THE_MOUSE_AND_THE_COCK">35</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Plane Tree</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_PLANE_TREE">36</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dog who was Hung</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DOG_WHO_WAS_HUNG">37</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BIRDS_THE_BEASTS_AND_THE_BAT">38</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Boy and the Nuts</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BOY_AND_THE_NUTS">38</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ape and her Young Ones</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_APE_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONES">39</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Horse, the Wolf, and the Fox</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_HORSE_THE_WOLF_AND_THE_FOX">39</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Lark and her Young Ones</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LARK_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONES">40</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Kite, the Sow, and the Cat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_KITE_THE_SOW_AND_THE_CAT">41</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Man and the Perch</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAN_AND_THE_PERCH">43</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Rose and the Clay</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ROSE_AND_THE_CLAY">44</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ox and the Calf</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OX_AND_THE_CALF">44</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wolves and the Sheep</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WOLVES_AND_THE_SHEEP">45</a>
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cock, the Fox, and the Springe</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_COCK_THE_FOX_AND_THE_SPRINGE">45</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Kid and the Wolf</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_KID_AND_THE_WOLF2">46</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ass and the Lamb</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ASS_AND_THE_LAMB">46</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Bees and the Snail</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BEES_AND_THE_SNAIL">47</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Old Dame and her Maids</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OLD_DAME_AND_HER_MAIDS">48</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Two Goats on the Bridge</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_TWO_GOATS_ON_THE_BRIDGE">48</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ax and the Trees</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_AX_AND_THE_TREES">49</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dog and the Thief</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DOG_AND_THE_THIEF">49</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fly and the Ant</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FLY_AND_THE_ANT">50</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wolf, and the Fox in the Well</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WOLF_AND_THE_FOX_IN_THE_WELL">52</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cat and the Mice</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_CAT_AND_THE_MICE">52</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Goose with the Gold Egg</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GOOSE_WITH_THE_GOLD_EGG">54</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fox and the Stork</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FOX_AND_THE_STORK">55</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Hart and the Vine</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_HART_AND_THE_VINE">56</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Daw and the Jay</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DAW_AND_THE_JAY">56</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Owls and the Wren</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OWLS_AND_THE_WREN">57</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Leap at Rhodes</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LEAP_AT_RHODES">58</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dog in the Ox’s Stall</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DOG_IN_THE_OXS_STALL">59</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Nurse and the Wolf</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_NURSE_AND_THE_WOLF">60</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Old Blind Dame</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_OLD_BLIND_DAME">60</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cock, the Dog, and the Fox</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_COCK_THE_DOG_AND_THE_FOX">61</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Boar and the Horse</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BOAR_AND_THE_HORSE">62</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ape made King</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_APE_MADE_KING">62</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Frog, the Mouse, and the Hawk</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FROG_THE_MOUSE_AND_THE_HAWK">63</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wolf in a Sheep’s Skin</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WOLF_IN_A_SHEEPS_SKIN">70</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dog who went out to Sup</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DOG_WHO_WENT_OUT_TO_SUP">70</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Judge and the Poor Man</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_JUDGE_AND_THE_POOR_MAN">64</a>
+    <span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Stag in the Ox’s Stall</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_STAG_IN_THE_OXS_STALL">65</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Goat, and the Fox in the Well</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GOAT_AND_THE_FOX_IN_THE_WELL">66</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ape, the Wolf, and the Fox</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_APE_THE_WOLF_AND_THE_FOX">66</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Fox and the Cat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FOX_AND_THE_CAT">67</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Mules and the Thieves</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MULES_AND_THE_THIEVES">68</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Bald Knight</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BALD_KNIGHT">68</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The War Horse</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WAR_HORSE">69</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wind and the Sun</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WIND_AND_THE_SUN">71</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Blind Man and the Lame Man</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BLIND_MAN_AND_THE_LAME_MAN">72</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Man, the Horse, and the Ass</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAN_THE_HORSE_AND_THE_ASS">72</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Hog, Ox, Cow, Dog, and Sheep</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_HOG_OX_COW_DOG_AND_SHEEP">74</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Drum and the Vase</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DRUM_AND_THE_VASE">75</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Frogs and their King</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FROGS_AND_THEIR_KING">76</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Stag, the Crow, and the Wolf</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_STAG_THE_CROW_AND_THE_WOLF">78</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Field of Corn</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FIELD_OF_CORN">79</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Hawk, the Rooks, and the Cat</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_HAWK_THE_ROOKS_AND_THE_CAT">80</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cock and the Fox</span></td>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_COCK_AND_THE_FOX">81</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wolf and the Stork</span></td>
+        <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WOLF_AND_THE_STORK">82</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Jay and the Owl</span>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_JAY_AND_THE_OWL">83</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Nurse and the Snake</span>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_NURSE_AND_THE_SNAKE">83</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Lark and the Finch</span>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LARK_AND_THE_FINCH">84</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dove and the Ant</span>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DOVE_AND_THE_ANT">84</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Maid and her Milk Pail</span>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_MAID_AND_HER_MILK_PAIL">85</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Hare and her Friends</span>
+    <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_HARE_AND_HER_FRIENDS">86</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Ass and the Lap Dog</span>
+     <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ASS_AND_THE_LAP_DOG">87</a></td></tr>     
+</table>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_8fp.jpg"
+ alt="Horse and Ass">
+ <p class="caption">The Horse and the Ass.—<a href="#THE_WAR_HORSE_AND_THE_ASS">Page 10.</a></p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_9.jpg"
+ alt="dog">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="AESOPS_FABLES">AESOP’S FABLES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="short">
+
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BOY_AND_THE_WOLF">THE BOY AND THE WOLF.</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A boy</span>, who kept watch on a flock of sheep, was heard
+from time to time to call out, “The Wolf! The Wolf!”
+in mere sport. Scores of times, in this way, had he
+drawn the men in the fields from their work. But when
+they found it was a joke, they made up their minds that,
+should the boy call “Wolf” once more, they would not
+stir to help him. The wolf, at last, did come. “The
+Wolf! The Wolf!” shrieks out the boy, in great fear,
+but none will now heed his cries, and the wolf kills the
+boy, that he may feast on the sheep.</p>
+
+<p>One knows not how to trust those who speak lies,
+though they may tell one the truth.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_10fp.jpg"
+ alt="Boy and Wolf">
+ <p class="caption">The Boy and the Wolf.—Page 9.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="BOYS_AND_FROGS">BOYS AND FROGS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> boys were at play at the edge of a pond, and, as
+their game was “ducks and drakes,” they had to throw
+stones with as much force as they could, to the great
+harm of some poor frogs in the pool. At length one of
+them, who was more brave than the rest, put his head out
+of the pond and said, “Oh, dear young sirs, stop, I pray
+you, for what is sport to you is death to us!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WAR_HORSE_AND_THE_ASS">THE WAR HORSE AND THE ASS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fine</span> horse broke loose from his stall, and as he ran
+down the road with a loud, shrill neigh, he met an ass
+with a load on his back, to whom he said, in a proud tone,
+that if he did not make way for him, he would kick him
+with his heels, and tread him in the dust. The poor ass
+held his peace, and made room for him as fast as he could.
+In course of time the horse went to the wars, and was shot
+in the eye, which so spoilt his good looks, that he was
+sent to work on the farm. Stript of all his pomp, he was
+met by the ass, who said to him. “Ha! is it you? Your
+state is now as low as mine. I thought your pride would
+have a fall some day!”</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOX_AND_THE_GRAPES">THE FOX AND THE GRAPES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> hot day a fox saw some grapes which hung on a wall,
+and he took a spring to seize them, but made too short a
+bound; so then he leapt with all his might, but could not
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>
+quite reach them; and each jump he took was still too
+short. There hung the fine ripe grapes, but not for
+him. Then, as he found he could not get at them, he
+said, “It is not worth my while to try, for the grapes are
+sour.”</p>
+
+<p>They who can not as they will, must will as they can.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FLY_AND_THE_MOTH">THE FLY AND THE MOTH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fly</span>, one night, stood on the rim of a pot of jam, and
+as he could not turn from so rare a feast, he went down
+the jar that he might reach the fruit; but found to his
+cost that he stuck fast like a bird caught with lime. A
+moth that flew by, chid him thus: “It serves thee right!
+How couldst thou think that such legs and wings as thine,
+would be safe in a pot of jam?” By and by the moth
+saw a lamp in the same room, and flew in the light of it,
+but at last his sight grew dim, he sprang up to the flame,
+and was burnt to death. “What!” says the fly, who saw
+him, “How is this? You love to play with fire! You
+who took me to task for so small a crime as a taste for
+jam!”</p>
+
+<p>We tax our friends with faults, but see not our own.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_LYNX_AND_THE_MOLE">THE LYNX AND THE MOLE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A lynx</span> by chance met a mole at the foot of a mound.
+“Ah, poor wretch!” said the lynx, “what a life is yours!
+Shut up in the cold, damp ground, you see no light, nor
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>
+feel the warmth of the sun, for you do but move from
+mine to mine. If you could but see me as I vault by
+your dark mound with limbs so free, and my sight—ah!
+my sight—so keen, you would die of grief at your dull
+life. Would that I could change it for you, my friend!”
+“I thank you for your kind wish,” said the mole; “but I
+need not your help, nor do I feel so dull as you think, for
+I was bred and born in the ground, and all my days have
+been spent here. I have my dear young ones round me,
+and more than all, I am safe. My eyes are small, it is
+true, but that has made my ears sharp, and if they serve
+me well now, I hear a sound which seems to come from
+where you stand, and it tells of a foe.” Just then up
+rode some men from the hunt, who thrust a spear through
+the heart of the poor lynx, and he fell dead; but the mole
+went safe back to her hole in the bank, and said, when she
+got there, “Home is home for all that.”</p>
+
+<p>What the eye sees not, the heart rues not.</p>
+
+<p>Though the fox runs, the chick has wings.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_CHILD_AND_THE_BROOK">THE CHILD AND THE BROOK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> old man who saw a child stand for a long time by
+the side of a stream, said, “My boy, why do you gaze so
+long on this brook?” “Sir,” said the child, “I stay here
+to wait till the stream has run off, for then I shall pass
+with dry feet.” “Nay,” quoth the old man, “you might
+stay out your life, and yet not do that, for this brook will
+run on as long as time. And as you wend your way
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>
+through life, you will find this out. If you go with the
+stream, you will get to the sea; but if you do not go with
+the stream, you will have to wade.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MICE_THE_CAT_AND_THE_BELL">THE MICE, THE CAT, AND THE BELL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time some mice were in such great dread of
+a cat, that they did not dare to stir day or night lest she
+should kill them. At this rate they thought they should
+starve, so they all met to talk of the best thing for them
+to do. While they thus sat in great doubt, a pert young
+mouse rose and said, “I have thought of a good plan, and
+that is to tie a bell to the cat’s neck, which would ring at
+each step she takes, and let us know when she comes near.”
+This bright speech brought hope with it, and made the
+mice jump for joy. Then a grave old mouse, who till
+now had been quite mute, rose and said, “I have heard
+that you ‘hold a wolf by the ears’ and that you ‘put salt
+on the bird’s tail,’ but what shall we do to bell the cat?”</p>
+
+<p>Safe bind, safe find.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BEAR_IN_THE_WOOD">THE BEAR IN THE WOOD.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> men had to pass through a thick wood, and one
+of them said, “Should we fall in with wild beasts, I will
+come to your help, if you will do the same by me.” “So
+be it,” said his friend, and off they set. They had not
+gone far when a bear made a rush out of the wood. The
+man who had made the good rule for them to act on, got
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>
+up a tree to hide, and his poor friend was put to his wits’
+end to save his life, so he fell flat on the ground, held his
+breath, and lay quite still, that the bear might think he
+was dead. The huge beast came close up to him, and felt
+him with his snout, but as he took him for a dead man,
+did him no harm. When the bear was gone, and all was
+safe, the man came down from the tree, and with a smile,
+said, “What did the bear tell you when he put his snout
+so close up to your ear?” “Well,” said his friend, “what
+he told me was this—‘Have a care of that rogue up the
+tree, and for the time to come put no trust in him!’”</p>
+
+<p>Prove thy friend ere thou have need of him.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_FOX_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONE">THE OLD FOX AND HER YOUNG ONE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> old fox and her young one found their way to a
+yard where hens were kept, and one by one they put
+them all to death. It was the wish of the young fox to
+eat them all then and there, but his dam said, “We have
+had great luck, yet we must not spend all our stock at
+once, but put some by, and come for it when we want it.”
+“Don’t preach to me,” said the pert young fox, “the fowls
+will not keep sweet a day, so I shall eat as much as I can
+now, for when the men on the farm see what we have done,
+they will, of course, look out for us.” The young fox
+then ate such a meal that it was all he could do to crawl
+to his hole, and in less than an hour he was dead. The
+old fox came back to the hoard, and was caught by the
+men, who had lain in wait to kill her. “Ah!” said she,
+with her last breath, “each age hath its fault; each bean
+its black; each day its night; each weal its woe!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_SQUEAK_OF_A_PIG">THE SQUEAK OF A PIG.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span>, well known for his wit, said he could show a
+trick which had not yet been seen. So he took his stand
+on a stage, and, with his head thrust down, he gave out a
+sound like the squeak of a pig. This he did so well, that
+all thought he had brought a young pig in his cloak; but
+though a search was made, they did not find one. A
+rough man from a farm, who had come to look on, said,
+“Faith, I can do this as well as he.” So the next night
+they were both to try their skill. A great crowd came to
+see them, and the men went on the stage. The first man
+gave his squeak, which brought a roar of praise, as it had
+done the first night. The boor’s turn then came, and he
+had a real young pig in his cloak; but though he made it
+squeak by a hard pinch on the ear, all gave the palm to
+the first man, and sent the boor off the stage with a loud
+hiss.</p>
+
+<p>Give a man luck, and you may throw him in the sea.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WOLF_AND_THE_LAMB">THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> hot day a wolf came to quench his thirst at a
+clear brook that ran down the side of a hill. By chance
+a young lamb stood there. The wolf had a wish to eat
+her, but felt some qualms, so for a plea he made out that
+the lamb was his foe. “Stand off from the banks, sir,”
+said he, “for as you tread them you stir mud in the
+stream, and all I can get to drink is thick and foul.” The
+young lamb said, in a mild tone, that she did not see how
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>
+that could be the case, as the brook ran down hill to her
+from the spot where he stood. “But,” said the wolf,
+“how dare you drink of it at all, till I have had my fill?”
+Then the poor lamb told him that as yet her dam’s milk
+was both food and drink to her. “Be that as it may,”
+said the wolf, “you are a bad lamb; for last year I heard
+that you spoke ill of me and all my race.” “Last year!
+dread sir,” quoth the lamb, “why, I have not yet been
+shorn, and at the time you name I was not born.” The
+wolf, who found it was of no use to tell lies, fell in a great
+rage, and as he came up to the lamb, he said, “All you
+sheep have the same dull kind of face, and how is one to
+know which is which? If it was not you, it was your
+dam, and that’s all the same thing, so I shall not let you
+go from here.” He then flew at the poor meek lamb, and
+made a meal of her.</p>
+
+<p>Might beats Right.
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>
+ <img src="images/i_17.jpg"
+ alt="Wolf and lamb">
+ <p class="caption">The Wolf and the Lamb.—Page 15.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="STONE_BROTH">STONE BROTH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A poor</span> man, in a storm of wind and rain, came to a
+great house to beg for alms, and was sent off with cross
+words. But he went back, and said, “May I but ask to
+dry my clothes at your fire, for I am wet with rain?”
+This the maids thought would not cost them much, so they
+let him come in. He then told the cook that if she would
+but give him a pan, and let him fill it from the pump, he
+would make some stone broth. This kind of dish was so
+new to the cook, that she let him make it. The man then
+got a stone from the road, and put it in the pan. The
+cook gave him some salt, peas, mint, thyme, and all the
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>
+scraps of meat that she could spare, to throw in. Thus
+the poor man made a rich mess, and the cook said, “Well
+done! you have made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear; and
+it just shows that ‘they who crave for food will break
+through stone walls.’”</p>
+
+<p>Where there’s a will there’s a way.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_GNAT_AND_THE_BULL">THE GNAT AND THE BULL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time a poor gnat sat on the horn of a bull,
+and said, “I have made free to rest on the tip of your
+horn; but if my weight is at all too much for you, pray
+say so, and I will move off.” “I think you are more nice
+than wise,” said the bull. “To tell you the truth, I did
+not know when you sat down, so I shall not miss you
+when you think fit to rise up.” At this the bull gave his
+head a toss, and put the gnat to death with his tongue.</p>
+
+<p>It is a dull bird that points out her own nest.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DOVES_AND_THE_MOUSE">THE DOVES AND THE MOUSE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> who sold doves in the East threw down some
+grains of rice in a wood, and flung a net on the top of
+them in such a way that it could not be seen in the grass,
+and then hid close by to watch. Soon the king of the
+wild doves, “Smooth Neck” by name, flew up to the spot
+with his train, and said, “Whence can all these grains of
+rice come? Let it be seen to. Eat them not yet.” But
+the doves, drawn by greed, set to work to pick them up,
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>
+and they were all caught in the net. “Ha!” said Smooth
+Neck, “I thought this might be the work of a foe. You
+would not wait, as I told you to do, and this has come of
+it. Hark to the plan which I have in hand. We know
+that small things may work out great ends, and that huge
+beasts may be bound with straws made firm in a thick
+rope. Now, all put out your strength at once, take up
+the net, and fly off.” This they did, and the man who
+had set the snare was much struck to see his net borne off
+in the air by the birds. “This is well,” said one of the
+doves, “but what are we to do now, with these toils on our
+feet?” Smooth Neck said, “We are in an ill plight, but
+Gold Fur, the wise king of the mice, may help us.” So
+he went in search of Gold Fur’s hole, which had scores of
+small doors that led to it, deep down in the ground. The
+good mouse came out to meet them, and when he had
+heard their tale, he said, “As long as my teeth do not
+break, I will gnaw the nets for you.” So with his sharp
+teeth he cut the snare, and set them all free. Then, with
+great joy, the king of the doves bent low his smooth neck
+to him, and said, “How much we owe to you! Think of
+us as your slaves for life; for a friend in need is the best
+friend of all.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_COCK_AND_THE_GEM">THE COCK AND THE GEM.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p>A cock came down from his roost at break of day, and
+set up a loud, shrill crow; he then went to work to scratch
+the ground in search of food for the hens. By and by,
+what should he turn up but a bright gem. He gave it a
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>
+kick and said, “Ha! you are a fine thing, no doubt; but,
+to my mind, one good grain of wheat is worth all the
+gems in the world.”</p>
+
+<p>Do not cast pearls to swine.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter break">
+ <img src="images/i_18fp.jpg"
+ alt="Cock and gem">
+ <p class="caption">The Cock and the Gem.—Page 19.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_OAK_AND_THE_REED">THE OAK AND THE REED.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> oak which stood on the side of a brook was torn up
+by the roots in a storm, and as the wind took it down the
+stream, its boughs caught on some reeds which grew on
+the bank. “How strange it is,” said the oak, “that such
+a slight and frail thing as a reed should face the blast,
+while my proud front, which till now has stood like an Alp,
+is torn down, root and branch!” A reed, which caught
+the sound of these words, said, in soft tones, “If I may
+be free with you, I think the cause of it lies in your pride
+of heart. You are stiff and hard, and trust in your own
+strength, while we yield and bow to the rough blast.”</p>
+
+<p>It is worse to break than to bend.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_KID_AND_THE_WOLF">THE KID AND THE WOLF.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A young</span> kid that would stray from the herd saw a
+wolf, and did her best to get out of his reach; but when
+she found that all hope was lost, she said, “Sir wolf, I
+know that I am to die at your hands, so as my life will
+now be but short, I pray of you to let it be a gay one.
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span>
+Now, do you pipe while I dance.” So the wolf pipes, and
+the kid jumps and springs to please him. A pack of
+hounds who heard the sound, ran up to see who was
+there, and then the wolf set off as fast as his legs would
+take him, and the kid came home safe. Quoth she, with
+a hop and a skip:</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_21.jpg"
+ alt="untitled illustration">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+ <div class="poetry">
+    <div class="verse indent0a">“He that sticks to chance,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">When fools pipe he may dance.”</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="unindent">But the wolf gave a deep sigh, and said:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+ <div class="poetry">
+    <div class="verse indent0a">“He who will not when he may,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">When he wills, he shall have nay.”</div>
+ </div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_20fp.jpg"
+ alt="Kid and wolf">
+ <p class="caption">The Kid and the Wolf.—Page 20.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BAG_OF_GOLD">THE BAG OF GOLD.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> men set off to walk from Bath to York, and said
+they would each share the same fate, come what might.
+All went well till they got half way, when one of them
+saw a bag of gold in the path, which he took up. “Ha!”
+said he, “I am in luck’s way. See, I have found a bag
+of gold! I will buy a horse and ride the rest of my way.”
+“My friend,” said the man who went with him, “when
+we set out you told me we were to share the same luck, be
+it good or bad; so you ought to say ‘we’ have found a
+bag of gold, not ‘I.’” “You may think just as you
+please,” said the man, “but as it was I who found the gold,
+I shall keep it, and do with it as I said, and wish you
+good day.” Just then they heard a hue and cry of “Stop
+thief!” “Come, I pray you,” said the man (who held the
+bag), in a great fright; “come, let us hide in this wood,
+for if the men find us with the gold, they will take us for
+thieves, and we shall get hung for it.” “How now?”
+said his friend; “you swore it should be ‘I’ when you
+found the bag, so pray let it be ‘I’ as long as there is fear
+of theft.”</p>
+
+<p>A just man’s word is as good as a bond.</p>
+
+<p>One gets the prize, and both bear the blame.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOX_WHO_HAD_LOST_HIS_TAIL">THE FOX WHO HAD LOST HIS TAIL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span> who went to steal some young chicks was caught
+in a trap, from which he got free, but with the loss of his
+tail; and when he came to mix with the world, he saw
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>
+how high a price he had paid for it, for none of the beasts
+who stole a look at him could hide a laugh, and the fox
+thought it would have been well for him if his life had
+gone with the “brush.” But, to make the best of things,
+he sent to all the rest of his race to beg of them to meet
+him on a heath, and there the fox held forth and said,
+“I would have you all cut off your tails. You know not
+the ease with which I can now move. Of what use is the
+tail to us? If we creep through a hole in the hedge, as
+we fly from the hounds, it stops us in the way. It is the
+‘brush,’ you know, that man strives for in the hunt; and
+then, too, in spite of all we can do, it is apt to be caught
+in a trap.” A sly old fox who heard him, said, with a
+leer, “It strikes me that you would not so much care to
+see us part with our tails, if you had a chance to get your
+own back!”</p>
+
+<p>Bought wit is the best.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_23.jpg"
+ alt="Fox lost tail">
+ <p class="caption">The Fox who had lost His Tail.—Page 22.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MAN_AND_THE_APE">THE MAN AND THE APE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> in the East kept a tame ape, who was of great
+use to him, for he could scare the birds from the fruit and
+peas. One day the man took his sleep at noon, and the
+ape sat by his side to brush the flies from his face. One
+fly came and stood on the tip of his nose, so the ape, with
+a grin, sent it off; then it flew to his chin, and this put
+the ape in such a rage that he flung a stone at it, which
+smote the fly; but, sad to tell, the force with which the
+stone was thrown broke the man’s jaw.</p>
+
+<p>A rash friend is worse than a foe.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MAN_AND_HIS_LIVE_STOCK">THE MAN AND HIS LIVE STOCK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> who had a farm in a cold part of the world, was
+shut up in it by a deep fall of snow, and could not get
+out to buy food, so he ate all his sheep, one by one, and,
+as the frost did not break up, he then ate his pigs, then
+his goats, and, at last, the ox that was kept for the plough.
+When the dogs on the farm found this out, they said,
+“Let us be off! for since the man thinks it no harm to kill
+his sheep, his pigs, his goats, and his ox, how can we hope
+that he will spare us?”</p>
+
+<p>When the house next door is on fire, it is high time to
+look to our own.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FROGS_AND_THE_BULLS">THE FROGS AND THE BULLS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> frogs that were in a damp marsh saw two bulls
+which fought in a field some way off. “Look!” said one
+of them, “there’s a sight! Dear sirs, what must we do?”
+“I pray thee,” said a young frog, “do not take fright at
+that. How can the feuds of two bulls hurt us? They are
+not of the same tribe as we are, far less in the same rank
+of life; and as to size, why we are too small for such large
+beasts as those to take note of us. They do but fight to
+see which shall be head of the herd.” “That is true,”
+said an old frog, “but as one will win the day, one must,
+of course, yield, and the bull that is sent out of the field
+will come to the marsh for rush and reed, and will crush
+us to death at each step. Know you not that when great
+folk fall out, small folk smart for it?”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BLUE_WOLF">THE BLUE WOLF.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A wolf</span> once fell in a vat of blue dye which is made in
+the East. A man came by and thought he was dead, so
+he took him out and laid him on the bank and went his
+way; and then the wolf, glad to be safe, ran off to the
+woods. One by one, all the beasts came to gaze on him,
+and knew not what to make of him. So then the sly wolf
+said, “My fur is of a fine blue! You see in me a new
+kind of beast, and so I must, of course, be king of all the
+rest!” Then the bears, the boars, the apes, the wolves, as
+well as the ounce, the lynx, the bull, the fox, and all the
+rest of them, drew near to bow their heads to him as the
+lord of the wood. But soon the wolves thought they saw
+in the king some trace of kin, and one of them said, “Be
+it for me to find out, and let it be done as I say. At
+night you must all set up a loud yell near him, and if he
+be one of us—as I think he is—he will send forth a loud
+howl too.” So all at once the wolves put up their heads
+to howl, and they soon heard the new king join in the cry,
+for he could not help it. At this, a loud laugh rang through
+the wood from all the beasts of the plain. What is bred
+in the bone will not out of the flesh.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MAN_HIS_SON_AND_HIS_ASS">THE MAN, HIS SON, AND HIS ASS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> and his son drove their ass to a fair to sell him.
+They had not gone far, when one of a group of girls, who
+stood round a well, said, with a laugh, “Look at those
+two fools—they let their ass walk at his ease, while they
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>
+trudge on foot by his side.” The man heard this, and set
+his son on the beast. They had not gone more than half
+a mile, when they came up to some old men who sat in
+grave talk. “There,” said one of them, “that just proves
+what I say; now a days the young take no care of the
+old; see, that young rogue rides, while the old man has to
+walk by his side. Get down, and let your sire rest his
+limbs.” At this the man made his son jump off the ass,
+that he might ride him. Thus they went on for a space,
+when they met three kind dames, each with a child on her
+arm. “Why, you old sloth,” said one of them, “what a
+shame to sit at ease while that poor slight lad can scarce
+keep pace by the side of you!” The man then took his
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>
+son on the croup of the ass by his side, and so they rode
+till they got near the town. “Pray, good friend,” said a
+young man who met them, “is that ass your own?”
+“Yes,” said he. “One would not have thought so by the
+way you load him. Why, it seems to me more fit that
+you two should take him to the fair, than that he should
+take you.” “Well, be it so,” said the old man; “we can
+but try.” So they got off, and made fast the legs of the
+ass to a pole, which each took hold of at one end, and so
+went on their way, till they came to a bridge. This
+was a rare sight, and so the boys and girls thought,
+for they ran in crowds to laugh at the farce, till the ass—which
+took fright at the noise—gave a kick which broke
+the cords that bound him; so he fell in the stream, and
+sank. The old man then made the best of his way home,
+and said, “If we try to please all, we please none.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_27.jpg"
+ alt="Man, son, ass">
+ <p class="caption allsmcap">THE MAN, HIS SON, AND HIS ASS.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOX_AND_THE_CRANE">THE FOX AND THE CRANE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span> that had been out to poach, had got hurt in a
+trap, and lay at the point of death. For a long time he
+sought in vain for aid, but at last he saw a crane, and said
+to her, “I beg of you to bring me some drink to quench
+my thirst, for I might then gain strength to go in search of
+food.” “Not far in search, I think,” said the crane, “for
+were I to bring you drink, I make no doubt that the food
+would come with me.”</p>
+
+<p>Play not with edge tools.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_HEN_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONES">THE OLD HEN AND HER YOUNG ONES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter60">
+ <img src="images/i_29.jpg"
+ alt="Hen and chicks">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A hen</span> led her train of young chicks through a yard, to
+rake the chaff and to show the grain, when one of them
+flew on the edge of a well to try her wings, and by chance
+dropt down it, to the great grief of the old bird. The
+next day, when the hen met one of her chicks from an old
+brood, she said, “My dear son, I know you are strong and
+bold, but, for your life, do not go near that well; if you
+do, some great harm will come to you.” “Why should
+she give me this charge?” said he. “Does she think I
+am not brave, or does she store some good thing down the
+well, which she keeps for her last brood? I will go and
+see.” So he stood at the brink of the well, and, far down
+in the dark, he saw a spruce young cock, whose plumes
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>
+rose, and whose wings spread, as if he had a wish to fight.
+Down flew the young bird—to rise no more.</p>
+
+<p>If a fool is bid not to do a thing, he is sure to do it.</p>
+
+<p>The best shield is to keep out of the reach of shot.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BOY_AND_THE_HORN_BOOK">THE BOY AND THE HORN BOOK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A boy</span> stole a horn book from school, and brought it home
+to his aunt, who did not take him to task for what he had
+done, but gave him some plums for his pains. In course
+of time the child grew up to be a man, and—need we
+say?—a thief. He stole more and more, and at last was
+caught in a great theft, and was hung. A crowd came to
+look on at the sad scene, and with them the aunt of the
+thief, who, with sobs and tears, tore her hair and beat her
+breast. The thief saw her, and said to those who were in
+charge of him, “Give me leave to say a word to my aunt.”
+When she came up, he put his face to hers, as if he would
+speak, and bit off her ear! At this the aunt gave a loud
+cry, and all who stood near were struck with awe at so
+base a deed. “Good sirs,” said the young man, “it is she
+who is the cause of my guilt; for if, when I stole the horn
+book from school, she had had the sense to point out to
+me that I had done wrong, I should not have come to this
+sad end.”</p>
+
+<p>Spare the rod, and spoil the child.</p>
+
+<p>He that will steal an ounce, will steal a pound.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_ASS_WITH_A_LOAD_OF_SALT">THE ASS WITH A LOAD OF SALT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> drove his ass down to the coast to buy a load
+of salt, and on his way home the ass fell in the midst of a
+stream. The salt, of course, did not take long to melt,
+and so the ass lost his load, and came home fresh and
+gay. The next day the man set off to the coast for some
+more salt, and put the load on his ass once more. As
+they went through the stream, the ass took care to fall
+down just at the same spot, and thus got rid of his load
+this time too. But the man, who now saw the trick, made
+a plan to cure the ass of it. He bought a large load of
+sponge, and put it on the back of the beast, and drove
+him, for the third time, to the coast. By and by they
+came to the stream, when the ass thought to play his old
+pranks. But the sponge got wet through, and the ass
+found to his cost that so far from a light load, he had now
+on his back one which was ten times the weight of the
+first.</p>
+
+<p>If a man cheats me once, shame on him. If he cheats
+me twice, shame on me.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WOLF_AND_THE_HOUSE_DOG">THE WOLF AND THE HOUSE DOG.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A poor</span> lean wolf, that was but skin and bone, fell in
+with a plump house dog, and said, “How comes it, my
+friend, that you look so fat and sleek, while I, who am in
+the woods night and day in search of food, do but starve
+at the best?” “Well,” said the dog, “you may be as
+well off as I am, if you will do the same for it. I have
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>
+but to guard the house from thieves; so come home with
+me, and see how you like the life.” “With all my
+heart!” cries the wolf.</p>
+
+<p>As they went down the road side by side, the wolf saw
+a mark on the dog’s neck, and would know what it was.
+So they had a talk.</p>
+
+<p><i>Dog.</i>—Well, it may be a slight mark from the chain.</p>
+
+<p><i>Wolf.</i>—Chain! Do you mean to say that you may not
+roam when and where you please?</p>
+
+<p><i>Dog.</i>—Why, not quite. For, you see, they do look on
+me as the least in the world fierce, so they tie me up by
+day, but I am let loose at night. And all in the house
+pet me, and feed me with scraps from their own plates,
+and—Come on. What ails you?</p>
+
+<p><i>Wolf.</i>—Oh, good night to you. I wish you joy of your
+fine life; but, for my part, though I may not be fat, I will
+at least be free.</p>
+
+<p>No one loves chains, though they be made of gold.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_30fp.jpg"
+ alt="Wolf and house dog">
+ <p class="caption">The Wolf and the House Dog.—Page 31.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_STAG_IN_THE_LAKE">THE STAG IN THE LAKE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> hot day, a stag came to quench his thirst at a lake,
+and stood there to scan his shape from head to foot, as it
+shone in the clear pool. “What strength is there,” said
+he, “in this fine pair of horns which branch out with so
+much grace from each side of my head! If the rest of
+my form were but of a piece with my horns, I would give
+place to none. But, ah, me! how slight are these poor
+legs of mine. I would as lief have none at all.” Just
+then some men, and a pack of hounds that had been on
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>
+the scent, made to the spot where the stag stood. Off he
+went, at full speed; and those legs, with which he found
+so much fault, soon took him out of the reach of hounds
+and men. But the horns which he was so vain of, by ill
+luck, caught in the boughs of a tree, and held him there
+till the hounds came to pull him down.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_32fp.jpg"
+ alt="Title or description">
+ <p class="caption">The Stag in the Lake.—Page 32.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MAN_THE_FOX_AND_THE_BEAR">THE MAN, THE FOX, AND THE BEAR.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> once saw a fox which had so sleek a coat that he
+felt a wish to kill him for the sake of it, and he thought
+of a plan by which he might save the skin whole. He
+dug a deep trench just in front of his hole, on which he
+spread leaves, sticks, and straw, and then hid in the thick
+trees out of sight, to wait till the fox came home. But he
+went to sleep; and while he slept, the fox came up, saw
+the piece of meat, and had a great wish to taste it; yet
+when he stole a look round him, he had his doubts that all
+was right, so he did not touch it. Soon a bear came up,
+and sprang on the bait. The sticks gave way as he lit on
+them, and down he fell in the pit. The noise woke up the
+man, who, as he thought of course it was his friend the
+fox, went down the pit, where the bear gave him a hug
+which took all the breath out of his lungs, and then ate
+him up. So the man was caught in his own trap.</p>
+
+<p>He must rise in good time who would cheat the fox.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOX_AND_THE_CROW">THE FOX AND THE CROW.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A crow</span> sat on the bough of a tree with a piece of
+cheese in her beak. A sly old fox which saw her, said,
+“What a fine bird thou art! How bright is thine eye,
+how sleek are thy wings, what grace is there in the turn
+of thy whole form! Oh, that such a bird should lack a
+voice!” The poor crow was much struck with this speech,
+saw not its guile, and would fain prove how sweet her note
+was; so she gave a loud caw, and down fell the cheese to
+the ground. The fox ran off with it, and said, as he went,
+“I spoke loud of her charms; but fair words do not cost
+much, nor does the heart feel all that the false tongue
+speaks. Yet I said not a word of her brains; for a wise
+head makes a close mouth, and a close mouth will catch
+no flies.”
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_34fp.jpg"
+ alt="Fox and crow">
+ <p class="caption">The Fox and the Crow.—Page 34.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BOOR_AND_THE_STAG">THE BOOR AND THE STAG.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A stag</span> that had left the hounds a long way off, came
+up to a man who was at work on a farm, to ask if he
+would show him some safe place to hide in. So the man
+bade him hide in his own hut, which was close by. The
+stag lay quite still in the hut, and in a short time up came
+the squire and his train with the hounds. The squire
+caught sight of the boor, and drew back to ask him if he
+had seen the stag pass that way. “No,” said the boor, in
+a loud tone, “I have not.” At the same time—as he had
+a wish to keep on good terms with the squire—he held out
+his hand, with a sly look, to point to the hut where the
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>
+stag lay hid; but as luck would have it, the squire took no
+heed of this sign, nor did he so much as see it. So on he
+went to join the rest; but though they rode through the
+field where the hut was, they did not see the stag. As
+soon as they were well out of sight, the stag stole from the
+hut, but said not a word to the boor, who now gave a loud
+call to him. “You wretch!” said he, “you owe your life
+to me, yet when you leave my hut, where I sent you to
+screen you from your foes, you say not one word of
+thanks.” “Nay,” quoth the stag, “you may make sure I
+should fill your ears as full of praise and thanks as my
+heart is of joy, if your deeds had been true to your words;
+in short, if I had not, through the door of the hut, seen
+your hand play false to your tongue.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_CAT_THE_MOUSE_AND_THE_COCK">THE CAT, THE MOUSE, AND THE COCK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A young</span> mouse, which had not seen much of the
+world, came home one day and said, “Oh, I have had
+such a fright! I have seen a thing with such a fierce
+look, that struts now here, now there, on two legs; on his
+head he wears a small red flag, and one round his throat,
+his arms flap up and down on his sides as if he meant to
+rise in the air. But you should have seen him stretch out
+his head, and roar at me with his sharp mouth, till I
+thought he would eat me up. It made me shake from
+head to foot with fear, and I was glad to run home as fast
+as my feet would take me. But for this I should have
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>
+made friends with as sweet a soul as could be. She had
+soft fur like ours, which was black and gray in streaks.
+Her look was so bland and meek that I fell quite in love
+with her. Then she had a fine long tail, which you might
+see wave to and fro, first on this side, then on that; and
+when I saw her fix her bright eyes on me I thought she
+had a wish to speak; when that fierce wretch set up his
+scream, which drove me in this haste, quite out of breath
+with fear.” “Ah! my dear child,” said the old mouse,
+“in good truth you have run for your life; but the fierce
+thing you speak of was not your foe, for it was but a bird,
+that would not have done you the least harm in the
+world; while that sweet thing, of which you seem so fond,
+was a cat, and cats eat all us mice when they have a
+chance—in short, they live on mice.”</p>
+
+<p>Judge not by looks.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_PLANE_TREE">THE PLANE TREE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> hot day in June, two men lay down in the shade
+of a plane tree, to get out of the rays of the sun, and as
+they lay there, they cast their eyes up to the boughs. “A
+plane tree bears no fruit,” said one of them. “In good
+sooth,” quoth his friend, “that seems but a poor tree that
+is of no use to man!” The plane chid them, and said,
+“Sirs, you must be as blind as you are base, to come here
+and lie in the shade I give, and yet rail at me as a thing
+that is of no use to man.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DOG_WHO_WAS_HUNG">THE DOG WHO WAS HUNG.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time two sheep met, and one of them said
+to her friend, “Last night our dog Spring ate a lamb, and
+then bit the old one to death, as well as the man of the
+farm.” “Nay,” quoth the friend, “if that be true, in whom
+can we put our trust?” Thus spread the news, and such
+was the crime of Spring, who now lay bound, while a
+group of men sat to judge his case. Spring then said,
+with a firm voice, “For more than ten years I have done
+my work as a sheep dog should. Last night, as I lay on
+the ground, a wolf leapt forth from the wood, sprang at a
+lamb, and drank its blood, then let fall his prize, and stood
+at bay. We fought, and I slew the wolf. But now, when
+I saw the lamb, as it lay dead on the grass, I could in no
+way curb my wish to eat it. While I was at my feast, the
+ewe came up to seek for her young one; so, lest she should
+charge its death on me, I thought it best to kill her. Just
+then, up came the man of the farm, who of course thought
+that I had put both to death. His eye met mine; he held
+up his staff; I could not pause; dead men tell no tales,
+thought I, and so flew at his throat. You know, too well,
+the rest.”</p>
+
+<p>If we do not crush sin in the bud, it will grow strong,
+and crush us.</p>
+
+<p>Do what you ought, come what may.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BIRDS_THE_BEASTS_AND_THE_BAT">THE BIRDS, THE BEASTS, AND THE BAT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> birds and the beasts once went to war. The bat—which
+could not be said to be bird or beast—at first kept
+out of the way of both, but when he thought the beasts
+would win the day, he was found in their ranks, and to
+prove his right to be there, he said, “Can you find a bird
+that has two rows of teeth in his head, as I have?” At
+last the birds had the best of the fight, so then the bat was
+seen to join their ranks. “Look,” said he, “I have wings,
+so what else can I be but a bird?” “To grind with all
+winds” was thought base in the bat by both sides of the
+fight, and he could not get bird or beast to own him, and
+to this day he hides and skulks in caves and stems of
+trees, and does not come out till dark, when all the birds
+of the air have gone to roost, and the beasts of the field
+are wrapt in sleep.</p>
+
+<p>One must not blow hot and cold.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BOY_AND_THE_NUTS">THE BOY AND THE NUTS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A young</span> child put his hand in a jar where nuts and
+figs were kept. He took all that his fist could hold, but
+when he came to pull it out, the neck of the jar was too
+small for him to do so. At this the tears came in his
+eyes, and a friend, who stood by, said, “Grasp at but
+half, my boy, and you will have it; but grasp at all, and
+lose all.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_APE_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONES">THE APE AND HER YOUNG ONES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> ape, who had two young ones, felt a great love for
+her fine child, but did not care at all for the plain one.
+One day, when by chance the old dam was put to flight,
+she caught up the fine young ape in her arms, but left the
+plain one to get on as it could, so it leapt on the dam’s
+back, and off they set. The old ape ran so fast to save
+her pet, that in her haste its head was caught by the
+branch of a tree, and it fell down dead from the blow;
+but the plain one clung on tight to the dam’s rough back,
+and so came off safe and sound.</p>
+
+<p>The pet child may die from too much care.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_HORSE_THE_WOLF_AND_THE_FOX">THE HORSE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span> one night had been out some hours in the snow
+in search of food, and yet had found none. At last he
+met a wolf in the same case, to whom he said, “Do you
+see the horse in that field? Well, I think if you lend me
+your help, I could kill him.” When they came up to the
+horse, the fox was much struck to find how small his size
+was by the side of him. “May I ask your name, and
+that of the man who owns you?” “My name is Squire,”
+said the horse. “I have not yet heard the man’s name,
+but I think if you wish to know it you can see the stamp
+on my shoe.” The sly fox, who made a shrewd guess at
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>
+what this meant, said, “Nay, I do not know how to read,
+but”—here he gave a low bow to the wolf—“my friend
+has a gift that way.” The wolf, who was made quite vain
+by this soft speech, came up to read, but as he bent down
+his head to do so, Squire gave a kick which clave his skull
+in two.</p>
+
+<p>Take the nuts out of the fire with the cat’s paw.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_LARK_AND_HER_YOUNG_ONES">THE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_41.jpg"
+ alt="Lark and young">
+ <p class="caption allsmcap">THE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p>A lark had a nest of young birds in a field of corn, and
+one day two men came to look at the state of the crop.
+“Well,” says one of them to his son, “I think this wheat
+is ripe, so now go and ask our friends to help us reap it.”
+When the old lark came back to her nest, the young brood
+told her, in a great fright, what they had heard. “So
+they look to their friends,” said she; “well, I think we
+have no cause to fear.” The next day the man of the
+farm came, and saw no friends in the corn field, so he bade
+his son fetch his kith and kin to help him. This the young
+birds heard, and told to the old one when she came home
+to her nest. Quoth she, “I do not see that men go much
+out of their way to help those that are of the same kith
+and kin.” In the course of a day or two, as the man
+found that no one came, he said to his son, “Hark you,
+John; we will trust to none, but you and I will reap the
+corn at dawn of day.” “Now,” said the old lark, “we
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>
+must be gone; for when a man takes his work in his own
+hands, it is sure to be done.”</p>
+
+<p>No eye so good as one’s own; no work so well done.</p>
+
+<p>He that by the plow would thrive ... must hold or
+drive.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_40fp.jpg"
+ alt="Lark and her young">
+ <p class="caption">The Lark and Her Young Ones.—Page 40.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_KITE_THE_SOW_AND_THE_CAT">THE KITE, THE SOW, AND THE CAT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A kite</span> had built her nest at the top of an old oak, and
+in a hole half way up the tree, a wild cat had found a
+home; while the foot of the tree made a sty for a sow
+and her young pigs. For some time they all went on in
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>
+peace, and might have done so to this day, but for the
+spite of the cat. For, first of all, she crept up to the
+kite, and said, “Good friend, I have news to tell you,
+which will plunge us both in grief. The old sow does
+naught else than grub at the foot of the tree, and we all
+know what that will come to. It is clear that she means
+to root it up, that she may kill your young ones. For my
+part, I will take care of my own, and you can do as you
+please; but you may be sure I shall watch her well,
+though I were to stay at home for a month for it.” When
+she had said this to the kite, she went down and made a
+call on the sow at the foot of the tree. She put on a
+grave face, and said, “I hope you do not mean to go
+out?” “Why not?” said the sow. “Nay,” said she,
+“you may do as you please; but I heard the kite say to
+her brood that she would treat them with a pig the first
+time she saw you go out; and I do not feel sure that she
+may not take one of <i>my</i> young ones at the same time. So
+good day to you, for I must look at home, you see.”
+With these words she went back to her hole.</p>
+
+<p>The scheme that puss had in her head was to steal out
+at night for her prey, and peep all day at her hole, that
+the sow and the kite might think she was in great dread.
+This plan put them both in such a fright, that the kite did
+not dare to stir out in search of food, for fear of the sow,
+nor the sow for fear of the kite; and the end of it was
+that they and their young ones were all kept in their
+homes to starve, and so were made a prey of by the cat.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MAN_AND_THE_PERCH">THE MAN AND THE PERCH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> went to fish in a fresh stream, and caught a
+small perch, who said, “I pray of you to save my life, and
+put me in the stream once more, for as I am but young
+and small now, it is not so well worth your while to take
+me as it will be some time hence, when I am grown a
+large fish.” “So you think,” said the man; “but I am
+not one of those who give up that which is at hand for
+that which is far off; nor do I make sure of fish, flesh, or
+fowl till I have got it, for one bird in the hand is worth
+two in the bush.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_43.jpg"
+ alt="fisherman">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p>All is fish that comes to the net.
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_ROSE_AND_THE_CLAY">THE ROSE AND THE CLAY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> in the East by chance took up a piece of clay
+which lay in his path, and was much struck to find it smell
+so sweet. “It is but a poor piece of clay,” said he, “a
+mean clod of earth, yet how sweet is it! How fresh!
+But whence has it this scent?” The clay said, “I have
+dwelt with the rose.”</p>
+
+<p>Make friends with the good if you wish to be like them.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_OX_AND_THE_CALF">THE OX AND THE CALF.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> days of old, a calf that ran wild in some fields near
+Rome, and had not yet felt the yoke, said to an old ox,
+“Dull slave! How can you drudge on in this way from
+day to day with a plough at your tail? Look at me, see
+how I skip and play!” The ox said not a word, but went
+on with his work. The next day there was a great feast
+held at Rome, so the ox did not go to the plough; but his
+friend the calf, was led off in great pomp to be slain, with
+a wreath round his neck. “If this is the last scene of your
+gay life,” said the ox, “let me drudge on at the plough,
+for the yoke is more to my mind than the ax.”</p>
+
+<p>Of two ills, choose the least.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_42fp.jpg"
+ alt="Ox and Calf">
+ <p class="caption">The Ox and the Calf.—Page 44.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WOLVES_AND_THE_SHEEP">THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> wolves and the sheep had been for a long time at
+war. At last the wolves said, “It is the dogs that are
+the cause of it all; they bark if we do but come near
+you. Now, if you will but send them off from your heels,
+we, on our part, will give up our young ones to you.”
+The poor sheep thought it a fair thing; but as soon as the
+change was made, the young cubs set up a howl for want
+of their dams. On this the old wolves gave out that the
+peace was at an end; so they fell on the sheep, who, as
+they had lost their best friends, the dogs, had none now
+to help them, and were torn to death by the wolves.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_44fp.jpg"
+ alt="Wolves and sheep">
+ <p class="caption">The Wolves and the Sheep.—Page 45.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_COCK_THE_FOX_AND_THE_SPRINGE">THE COCK, THE FOX, AND THE SPRINGE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span>, who came to a farm at break of day, was caught
+in a springe, which had been put there for that end. A
+cock, who sat on the bough of a tree, did not at first dare
+to go near so dire a foe; but when he saw that the fox
+could not stir from the spot, he came down from the tree
+to greet him. The fox said, “Dear bird, you see what has
+come to me, and all for your sake; for as I crept through
+the hedge, on my way home, I felt I must come to ask how
+you are. And now I will beg of you to fetch me a knife
+to cut this wire.” The cock spoke not, but flew off as fast
+as he could to tell the news to the men on the farm, who
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>
+soon came up with a knife with which to cut the wire,
+and kill the fox. The cock said that he thought those
+who spoke doves’ words should lead doves’ lives. “Ha!”
+cries the fox, “he gives twice who gives in a trice.”</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_KID_AND_THE_WOLF2">THE KID AND THE WOLF.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A young</span> kid who stood on the roof of a house, out of
+harm’s way, saw a wolf pass by, and set to work to taunt
+and tease his foe. But the wolf said, “I hear you. Yet
+it is not you who mock me, but the roof on which you
+stand.”</p>
+
+<p>Time and place will give to the weak more strength
+than the strong.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_ASS_AND_THE_LAMB">THE ASS AND THE LAMB.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> ass once lay down in a shed that he might shirk
+his work, and make known to those who were near what
+toil was put on him. All the beasts, great and small,
+came to lend him help. At the same time a poor meek
+lamb lay at the point of death from want, but none came
+to give her their aid. “How is it,” said she, “that I lie
+here in so much need of care, whilst the ass gets all this
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>
+help?” A fox, who heard her, said, “The ass knows
+well that the loud bray which he gives by way of thanks,
+makes the kind acts of his friends well known, and so it
+swells their pride to help him.”</p>
+
+<p>A good deed may spring from a bad source.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BEES_AND_THE_SNAIL">THE BEES AND THE SNAIL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A snail</span>, one day, made his way through the hole of a
+bee hive, where, in a great rage, the bees flew round him,
+and stung him to death. But soon they found that the
+snail, when dead, was all the more a foe than when he had
+life, for the air in the hive was not fit to breathe. What
+was to be done? He was of too great bulk for the bees
+to turn him out, so they had to leave the hive; and they
+found, to their cost, that they ought to have let the poor
+snail just crawl out as he had come in. The bees made a
+long search for a new home, but in vain, so they went back
+to their old hive, to see what could be done with the dead
+snail. And, in the end, they all set to work to build a
+case of wax round the shell of their guest, so as to close
+him in a sort of tomb, and thus they made the hive as
+sweet as the stores that were laid up in the combs.</p>
+
+<p>When things come to the worst, they must mend.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_DAME_AND_HER_MAIDS">THE OLD DAME AND HER MAIDS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the good old times, when there were no clocks, an
+old dame kept a cock in her yard, which at dawn of day
+gave a loud crow, and then she got up to rouse her maids,
+that they might go to their work. But they thought it
+hard to be woke out of their sweet sleep at such an hour,
+so, one day, they wrung the cock’s neck. The next night
+the old dame slept till late, as she had not heard the cock
+crow; but when she found that he was dead, and that
+there was now no means by which to tell the time, she
+went at all hours of the night to wake up her maids, for
+fear they should sleep too long.</p>
+
+<p>Strive to mend, and you will oft times mar what’s well.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_TWO_GOATS_ON_THE_BRIDGE">THE TWO GOATS ON THE BRIDGE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> goats that had been brought up in the same glen,
+left it, and by chance met on a bridge, which was a mere
+plank, and would not hold them both side by side. One
+of the fair ones set her foot on it, and her friend was not
+slow to do the same. They came up, step by step, till
+they met half way, and as they could not pass, and were
+both too proud to give in, each did her best to push by
+with a skip and jump, till at last the plank broke, and they
+both fell in, and were borne off by the stream.</p>
+
+<p>It is not so bad to clear the way as to fall in the ditch.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_AX_AND_THE_TREES">THE AX AND THE TREES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time a man came to a wood to ask the trees
+if they would give him a stick for his ax. This was so
+small a boon to ask, that the chief trees said at once,
+“By all means, give him what he wants from a good
+tough ash.” But as soon as the man had made the stick
+fit the ax, he fell to work with it to hack and hew down
+all the best trees in the wood. The oak was heard to say,
+in sad tones to the beech, “The first step has lost us all.
+We gave up our poor friend the ash to the foe. But for
+this we might all have stood for an age to come; now we
+must take our sad fate for our pains.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DOG_AND_THE_THIEF">THE DOG AND THE THIEF.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> dark night a thief came to a man’s house to rob
+it, and when the dog heard him he gave a loud bark. At
+this the man sprang from his bed to look out, but saw no
+one, nor did he hear the least sound, so he bade the dog
+be still, and then went back to sleep. The thief in the
+mean time had hid in the shed in a state of great fear;
+but when he found that the dog was bound by a chain,
+and did not now bark, he crept to the door of the house,
+and took out his bunch of false keys to try the lock.
+The dog saw him, and set up his loud bark, so the man
+of the house put his head out once more to look round
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>
+him, but as he saw no one, and found that all was
+now quite still, in a great rage he cries out, “Down, you
+brute! Down, I tell you! You will not let me have a
+wink of sleep!” So the dog left off, and in the mean
+time the thief made his way to the house, and took all
+that he could find. The next day when the man saw
+what had been done, he said, “This will teach me to
+give ear to the voice of a warm and true friend when he
+warns me.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FLY_AND_THE_ANT">THE FLY AND THE ANT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fly</span> and an ant came to words as to which stood first
+in rank. The fly said, “How can you place your mean
+state by the side of mine? Look how I soar up in the
+air, skip round the head of a king, and kiss the lips of a
+queen! I toil not, nor stoop to work, but live a life of
+ease. What is there you can have to say to this?”
+“Why,” quoth the ant, in a sharp tone, “to be made
+much of by kings and queens is a great thing, I grant, if
+they send for you, but not if they deem you a pest. In
+good sooth, I think it is but your small size that screens
+you from their wrath; and as to work, you will learn the
+use of it when the frost and snow pinch, and the cold
+winds blow, while I shall reap the fruits of my toil. To
+be free with you, I think you will find no pains, no gains.”</p>
+
+<p>One tale is good, till the next is told.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>
+ <img src="images/i_51.jpg"
+ alt="Fly and ant">
+ <p class="caption allsmcap">THE FLY AND THE ANT.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WOLF_AND_THE_FOX_IN_THE_WELL">THE WOLF, AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span> fell down a deep well, in the sides of which he
+stuck his claws, and so, for a while, kept his head up. A
+wolf came to take a peep down the well, and when the
+fox saw him, he said, “Oh, I beg of you to run for a rope,
+or some such thing, to pull me out, for I am at the point
+of death!” “Poor friend! you are in a sad strait,” said
+the wolf; “I grieve for you, with all my heart! How
+long have you been here?” “Nay,” said the fox, “if you
+wish me well, don’t stand there to say soft words to me,
+but get me some help, and that soon, or I must die.” The
+wolf then gave one more sigh, and went home, and the
+poor fox sank, to rise no more.</p>
+
+<p>A long tongue hath a short hand.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_48fp.jpg"
+ alt="Wolf fox in well">
+ <p class="caption">The Wolf, and the Fox in the Well.—Page 52.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_CAT_AND_THE_MICE">THE CAT AND THE MICE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> old dame dwelt in a house that had such swarms of
+mice in it that she got a cat, who caught and ate them one
+by one. But in course of time all the mice kept on the
+top shelves to be out of the cat’s reach, and puss saw that
+at this rate she should starve. So she hit on a plan, which
+was to hang in a bag, by her hind legs, from a peg in the
+shelf, that she might pass for dead. The young mice took
+no heed of her, but the old ones gave a peep round the
+edge of the shelf, and said, “Ah, you sly thing! We see
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>
+you! Hang there as long as you please, but we would
+not trust a child of ours to go near you, though you were
+full of straw.”</p>
+
+<p>Old birds are not caught with chaff.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_53.jpg"
+ alt="Cat and mice">
+ <p class="caption">The Cat and the Mice.—Page 52.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_GOOSE_WITH_THE_GOLD_EGG">THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLD EGG.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the good old times, a man and his wife had a goose
+that each day of her life laid a gold egg; but they thought
+that one egg from the time the sun rose till he set was
+slow work, and in the hopes that they should seize all the
+eggs at once, they put the goose to death. But to their
+great grief they found that their goose was just the same
+as all geese. “Ah, my dear,” quoth the old man, “he
+who has much would have more.” “True,” said his wife,
+with a sigh, “and so comes to lose all.”
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_54fp.jpg"
+ alt="golden egg">
+ <p class="caption">The Goose with the Gold Egg.—Page 54.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOX_AND_THE_STORK">THE FOX AND THE STORK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_55.jpg"
+ alt="untitled illustration">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day the fox had a mind to play the wag with the
+stork, and said, “You must come and dine with me to
+day, for I have had good luck, and the soup will be rich.”
+When the time came for them to dine, the stork found to
+her grief, that the dish in which the soup was put was so
+flat that she could but dip in the point of her bill, while
+the fox could lap it up with his tongue. “It grieves me,”
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>
+said he, “to see you make so poor a meal; I fear it is not
+to your mind.” The stork did not say much, but told her
+host that it was now his turn to come and dine with her.
+So he came, true to the hour. “Good day,” quoth the
+stork. “Now I hope you will feel that you are quite at
+home.” The smell of the stew was fine, but it was put in
+a jar with a thin neck, down which the stork thrust her
+long bill with ease, but all the fox could do was to lick
+the brim of it; and when the time came for him to take
+his leave, he made his bow with a bad grace. The stork
+told him that she had but paid him off in his own coin.</p>
+
+<p>Tit for tat.</p>
+
+<p>Good cat, good rat.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_56fp.jpg"
+ alt="Fox and stork">
+ <p class="caption">The Fox and the Stork.—Page 54.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DAW_AND_THE_JAY">THE DAW AND THE JAY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time there was a daw, who was so vain that
+he must needs leave his old friends (the jacks), and go
+quite out of his sphere to pass for a jay. So he stuck
+the bright plumes that fell from those gay birds on his
+own back, that he might look like them. But they soon
+found him out, took off his plumes, fell on him with their
+sharp bills, and made him smart for his pride. Full of
+shame, he hung down his head, and once more went to
+flock with those of his own tribe, but they knew his vain
+ways too well, and told him they did not now choose to
+own him; and one of them said, “If you had been true
+to your own friends, you would not have had such hard
+cuts from those whom you have just left, nor would you
+have had to bear the slights which we now feel we must
+put on you.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_HART_AND_THE_VINE">THE HART AND THE VINE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> men sought out a hart for the chase, when one
+made a rush out of the wood, and hid from them in the
+shade of a thick vine, so that they quite lost sight of him.
+It was the best hide and seek that could be, and so
+thought the stag, but he hid not for sport, but for dear
+life. There he lay, still as a mouse. In a short time he
+took heart to browse on the leaves of the vine, which
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>
+hung so green and fresh just at his nose. He saw no
+harm in one more crop, and then one more, till he quite
+lost sight of what he had come there for. More than
+this, he so shook the tree when he took a bite, that he
+drew the eyes of the men to the spot, and as the vine
+was now too thin of leaves to hide him, they shot at him,
+and he fell down dead.</p>
+
+<p>Where the hedge is thin, men will see through it.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_OWLS_AND_THE_WREN">THE OWLS AND THE WREN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_57.jpg"
+ alt="untitled illustration">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> owls sat on the branch of a tree. “How strange
+is it,” said one of them, “that in the old days of Greece,
+men best knew our worth, for owls were then thought to
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>
+be the type of all that is wise.” “Not so,” said the wren,
+who heard them, “and if you were less vain, you would
+know well that in those days men wore owls on their
+shields to show that they should not judge by mere
+looks. If they did, they would take an owl to be a wise
+bird; for, though he has but a small wit, he has a large
+head.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_LEAP_AT_RHODES">THE LEAP AT RHODES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> who had been in all parts of the world told his
+old friends when he came home of the great feats he had
+done. These tales they at first heard with great glee; but
+in time they found out that he shot with a long bow, nay,
+more than this, that he told lies, and when he once did
+that, he set less and less guard on his tongue, till he made
+those who heard him stare. “How comes it,” said they,
+“that this man, who when at home could boast of no
+great feats, should, when he goes to strange lands, do
+such great things?” One day he told them that there was
+no place in the world where men leapt like the men at
+Rhodes; “but I beat them all,” said he, “for I took a leap
+there of two score yards.” A grave old man, who sat
+near him, said with a sneer, “Sir, if your tale be true,
+think this place to be Rhodes, and, to prove your words,
+take the leap once more.” The man kept his seat, and
+had no more to say.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DOG_IN_THE_OXS_STALL">THE DOG IN THE OX’S STALL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A dog</span> once made his bed on some hay in a stall, and
+an ox, who was much in want of food, came near to eat
+some of it. Up sprang the fierce cur, with a growl and a
+snarl, and would not let him touch it. At this the ox said,
+“Fie on thee, thou cur! Thou dost not feed on hay, yet,
+in thy spite, thou must needs stand in the way of those
+who do.” With this, a man on the farm took the dog up
+by the neck, and laid his whip on his back till he ran off
+in shame.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_59.jpg"
+ alt="untitled illustration">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span><h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_NURSE_AND_THE_WOLF">THE NURSE AND THE WOLF.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A wolf</span> that was in search of food, was seen to prowl
+near a house where he heard a child cry, and its nurse
+chide it in these words—“Now leave off at once, or I will
+throw you out of doors to the wolf!” So the wolf sat
+near the house for a long time in the hopes that he should
+see her words made good. At last the child, worn out by
+its cries, fell off to sleep. In a short time the wolf heard
+the nurse say, “There’s a good dear then; if the fierce
+old wolf comes for my babe, we will beat him to death,
+we will.” The wolf now thought it high time to be off,
+and said, as he went, “If folk say that which they do not
+mean at one hour, and mean that which they do not say
+the next, what can a child or a wolf think of it?”
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_60fp.jpg"
+ alt="Nurse and wolf">
+ <p class="caption">The Nurse and the Wolf.—Page 60.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_OLD_BLIND_DAME">THE OLD BLIND DAME.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time an old dame that was blind sent for
+Dr. Dash to cure her. She told him that if he brought
+back her sight he should have a large fee, but that if he
+did not cure her, he was to have no fee at all. Well, day
+by day Dr. Dash made his call on the dame, and one by
+one he took off all her goods. At last, when he had
+swept the house clear of them, he set to work on the
+case, and made a cure of it; so once more, to her great
+joy, the old dame could see. “I must ask you for my
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>
+fee,” said Dr. Dash; but the dame put him off from time
+to time, and did not pay him. At last he went to law;
+and when she came to the court, she spoke thus to the
+judge: “What Dr. Dash tells you is quite true, in so far
+as I said I would give him a large fee if he brought back
+my sight. Now, then, he tells me my eyes are well, but
+I say they are not; for till my bad sight had come on, I
+could see all sorts of goods in my house, while now, when
+he tells me he has made a cure of my eyes, I can see
+none there; and I think, my lord, that he who plays
+tricks ought to take a joke!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_COCK_THE_DOG_AND_THE_FOX">THE COCK, THE DOG, AND THE FOX.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A dog</span> and a cock had been in a wood, and as night
+came on, they went to rest. The cock flew on the bough
+of a tree to roost, while the dog slept in a hole in the
+trunk of it. At break of day the cock set up a loud shrill
+crow, which was heard by a fox, who soon ran to the place
+whence the sound came, and said, “Let me beg of you to
+fly down, that I may greet you, and praise you for so
+sweet a song.” “I would first ask you,” said the cock,
+“to wake up my friend, who lies in the trunk of this
+tree.” “By all means,” quoth the fox, who thought he
+should find a nest, with the hen and her young chicks in
+it; so he thrust his head in the hole, and was torn to
+death by the dog, who said, with a loud bark, “Paid in
+his own coin.”
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_62fp.jpg"
+ alt="Cock, dog, fox">
+ <p class="caption">The Cock, the Dog, and the Fox.—Page 61.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BOAR_AND_THE_HORSE">THE BOAR AND THE HORSE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> days of old a horse came to drink at a pond, when
+he saw that a boar lay in the mud at the edge, which
+made the pool thick and foul. Fierce neighs and grunts
+were soon heard, and but for the fear the horse had of the
+boar’s huge tusks, they would have fought. At last the
+horse found a man to help him, who soon made a bit and
+a rein, took his bow, got on his back, and off they both
+set. The boar, struck with awe at so strange a sight, ran
+off as fast as he could, but the horse soon came up to
+him, and the man shot him dead. Now that there was
+no cause for fear, the horse would fain be once more free;
+so he said, “I pray thee take off this rein.” “Nay, that
+I will not do, my friend,” quoth the man; “for now that I
+have found out thy use, I will keep thee to ride on.”</p>
+
+<p>A man may beat the bush, and his friend catch the
+bird.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_APE_MADE_KING">THE APE MADE KING.</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> beasts once chose an ape for their king. From
+morn till night he would play all his droll tricks to please
+them, and they could not rest till they had put him on a
+throne, with a king’s crown on his head. They did all
+they could to swell his pomp, and the beasts took him to
+be as wise as he was great—all but the fox, who knew
+what a bad choice they had made. One day, as the fox
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>
+was on his way to the court, he saw a trap in a ditch with
+nuts, figs, and dates for a bait. He told the ape of all
+these good things, and said that as they were found on a
+piece of waste land, they were the king’s by right. The
+ape, who did not dream of fraud, went to claim them;
+but as soon as he had laid his paw on the bait, he was
+caught in the trap. Stung with rage and pain, he gave
+the fox all the hard names he could think of; but all the
+fox said was, “Are you a king, and not up to trap?”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FROG_THE_MOUSE_AND_THE_HAWK">THE FROG, THE MOUSE, AND THE HAWK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">By</span> chance a mouse made friends with a frog, who spent
+his life for the most part in a pool. The frog one day, by
+way of sport, bound the foot of the mouse to his own, and
+step by step led him to the pool in which he spent most
+of his time, till at last he got to the brink, when he gave
+a leap which took them both in the midst of the pond.
+The frog, who was fond of a swim, went now here, now
+there, with a croak which would seem to say that all was
+right, and that he thought he had done a great feat. But
+the poor mouse could not stand it long, as the dry ground
+was his home, and he was soon seen to float on the pool
+quite dead, but still bound fast to the frog. By and by a
+hawk stuck his claws in the mouse, and flew off with him;
+but the frog, who could not get loose from the mouse, had
+to share the same fate, and the hawk made a meal of both.</p>
+
+<p>Harm hatch, harm catch.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_64fp.jpg"
+ alt="Frog, Mouse, Hawk">
+ <p class="caption">The Frog, the Mouse, and the Hawk.—Page 63.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span><h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_JUDGE_AND_THE_POOR_MAN">THE JUDGE AND THE POOR MAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> who kept a small farm came to the house of a
+judge. “Well, my man,” said the judge, “what do you
+come to me for?” “If you please, my lord, I have a sad
+tale to tell.” “Ha, the old tale! You folk with your
+small farms fall out, and then you come to plague me.”
+“Nay, my lord, this time it is with you and me. I have
+a bull that breaks out of his bounds, and he has got to
+your best field of corn, and has spoilt half of it; now I
+want to know what you would have me do in this case?”
+“Well, I must say you are a staunch old man to come and
+tell me of it, and I shall send my man John to look at
+the waste, and what he says it comes to you must pay.
+As to your bull, as you say he breaks out of his bounds,
+you must kill him, and that at once.” “Bless my heart!”
+said the man, “what was it I told you? I have but two
+small cows in the world. No, it was that red bull of
+yours, my lord, which locks and bars will not keep in; it
+is he that breaks through the fence of my corn field, and
+fine work he has made of it; but as you say you will send
+your man to make things right, I thank you, and take my
+leave.” “No,” said the judge, “you must not play me
+such a trick as this. I would not part with that red bull
+for all the world, and as to the field of corn, of course you
+must take your chance.”</p>
+
+<p>The law will catch small flies, but wasps will break
+through.</p>
+
+<p>We weigh not in the same scale the ills we do and the
+ills we feel.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_STAG_IN_THE_OXS_STALL">THE STAG IN THE OX’S STALL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter60">
+ <img src="images/i_65.jpg"
+ alt="Illo without caption">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A pack</span> of hounds drove a poor stag out of a wood,
+and in a great fright he made off to a farm that was near,
+and hid in a heap of straw in an ox’s stall. “What can
+have brought you to such a place as this, where you are
+sure to meet with your doom?” said the ox. “Oh,” cries
+the stag, “if you will but help to hide me for a while, I
+shall do well, and by and by I will move off.” It grew
+dusk, and the men on the farm came in and out, but did
+not see the stag, so he now thought it time to leave.
+“Nay,” quoth the ox, “wait a while; there is the man
+who owns the farm to come yet, and should he pass this
+way, I would not give the straw you hide in for your life.”
+While the ox spoke, the man came up and cast his eyes
+on the stag, and made a prize of him. “That is a bad
+game,” said he, “where none wins.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_66fp.jpg"
+ alt="Stag in Ox stall">
+ <p class="caption">The Stag in the Ox’s Stall.—Page 65.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_GOAT_AND_THE_FOX_IN_THE_WELL">THE GOAT AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span>, who was a great rogue, fell down a deep well.
+Just then, a goat came up who had a mind to slake his
+thirst, so he said to the fox, “Is the well a sweet one?”
+“Sweet!” says the fox; “it is the best well I have drunk
+from for along time. Come and try it.” At this the goat
+leapt in; and the fox—who put his feet on the goat’s
+horns—sprang out, and said, “If you had as much brain
+as you have beard, you would ‘Look ere you leap,’ for</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+  <div class="poetry">
+    <div class="verse indent0a">‘Those who trust ere they try,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">They will grieve ere they die.’”</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="unindent">The poor goat put his head up, and said, “True, I see too
+late that I have lent you a stick to break my own head
+with.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_68fp.jpg"
+ alt="Fox in the well">
+ <p class="caption">The Goat and the Fox in the Well.—Page 66.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_APE_THE_WOLF_AND_THE_FOX">THE APE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A wolf</span> one day brought a fox up to the Bench for
+theft. The ape, who was the judge, knew well that both
+were knaves; so he said, “I know you well of old, my
+friends; and as I wish to be just, I shall lay the same fine
+on both of you: on you, Sir Wolf, for you have no right
+to bring the charge; and on you, Sir Fox, for there can
+be no doubt that the charge is a true one.”</p>
+
+<p>Set a thief to catch a thief.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOX_AND_THE_CAT">THE FOX AND THE CAT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_67.jpg"
+ alt="Illustrion without caption">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A fox</span> and a cat once met on a heath, and had a long
+chat on things of state. The fox said, “Let the war
+turn out as bad as it may, it is all one to me, for I have
+lots of plans by which to save my life. But now, pray
+tell me, puss, if the foe should come, what course do you
+mean to take?” “Nay,” says the cat, “I have but one
+shift, and if that will not do, I am lost.” Just then a pack
+of hounds came on them in full cry. Puss, by the help of
+her one trick, ran up a tree, from the top branch of which
+she saw that the fox, who had not the skill to get out of
+sight, was torn to death by the hounds. “Great boast,
+small roast,” quoth the cat, “but he plays well that wins.”
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_70fp.jpg"
+ alt="Title or description">
+ <p class="caption">The Fox and the Cat.—Page 67.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MULES_AND_THE_THIEVES">THE MULES AND THE THIEVES.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> mules were once on the road, one of which had
+bags of gold on his back, and rang his bells with a proud
+toss of the neck, as if he felt vain of his load; and one
+took but sacks of grain, and hung down his head as he
+trod the way. They had not gone far, when three thieves,
+who lay in wait for them in a wood close by, ran out,
+took the bags of gold from off the back of the mule, and
+put him to death, as well as the men with him. But the
+mule who was the drudge stood quite safe, and said he
+should count the scorn in which he was held as so much
+gain, for he was best off in the end.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BALD_KNIGHT">THE BALD KNIGHT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the good old times there was a brave knight who
+had lost all his hair, and wore a wig. As he rode in the
+hunt a gust of wind blew his wig off, and a loud laugh
+rang forth from those who saw his bald pate. When the
+knight found his wig was in the air, he, of course, felt
+much put out, for it was his false hair that made him look
+young; but he thought the best way to pass it off would
+be to take the laugh in his own hands; so he said, “How
+could I hope to keep strange hair on my head, when my
+own would not stay there!”</p>
+
+<p>He must stoop that has a low door.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WAR_HORSE">THE WAR HORSE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> was a man who in time of war took great pains
+with his horse, and fed him on as much corn and hay as
+he could eat. But when the war was at an end all he
+gave him was chaff, and he put him to draw great loads
+of wood; in short, made a slave and a drudge of him.
+When the war broke out once more, and there was a call
+to arms, the man, clad in his coat of mail, sprang on the
+back of his steed, and went off to join the fight. But
+soon the horse fell down with all his weight of steel.
+“You must now go to the war on foot,” said he; “for if
+you turn me from a horse to an ass, how can you think
+that I can all at once turn from an ass to a horse?”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_69.jpg"
+ alt="Illustraion without caption">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WOLF_IN_A_SHEEPS_SKIN">THE WOLF IN A SHEEP’S SKIN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time a wolf put on a sheep’s skin, by which
+means he got shut in the fold at night. By and by the
+man of the farm came in to kill one of his flock for food,
+and as luck would have it, he chose out the wolf. But
+when he saw how it was, he put a rope round his neck,
+and hung him to the branch of a tree. Some folks who
+came by said, “What! do you hang sheep?” “No,”
+said the man, “but I hang a wolf when I can catch him,
+though in the garb of a sheep.”</p>
+
+<p>You may find more than one face in a hood.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DOG_WHO_WENT_OUT_TO_SUP">THE DOG WHO WENT OUT TO SUP.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> made a great feast, and his dog Tray said to
+Gyp, who was a great friend of his, “Come and sup with
+us to-night. Eight o’clock is the time; but if you are
+there an hour too soon, you will find there is much to be
+done.” Gyp lay in the sun a while, to wink and wait.
+He thought of fish, flesh, and fowl, tripe and toast, and
+made a feast in his heart that might grace a bill of fare
+for a king. At length the time came, and he set off to the
+cook’s room, where he found all hands hard at work.
+Gyp went with a skulk, now here, now there; gave a peep
+at this dish, and smelt at that, and with a wag of his tail,
+as much as to say, “O rare! What a feast have I in
+store!” This wag of the tail brought the eyes of the
+cook on him, and he said, “How now? what’s this I spy?
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span>
+A cur! who let him in? A nice sort of guest, to be sure.
+I shall soon pack you off.” The cook then brought poor
+Gyp to view, and threw him out at the back door.</p>
+
+<p>There’s oft a slip ’twixt cup and lip.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WIND_AND_THE_SUN">THE WIND AND THE SUN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> wind and the sun once came to high words as to
+which had the most strength. Just then by chance a
+man came by, so they let the point rest on this, that he
+who got this man’s cloak off first, should win the day.
+The wind was the first to try, and he blew with all his
+might and main a fierce blast; but the man wrapt his
+cloak all the more close round him. Next came the sun,
+who broke out with his warm beams, and cast his bright
+rays on the man, till at length he grew faint with the heat,
+and was glad to part with his cloak, which he flung to
+the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Kind means are best.
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_71.jpg"
+ alt="No caption">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MAN_THE_HORSE_AND_THE_ASS">THE MAN, THE HORSE, AND THE ASS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time a horse and an ass went on the high
+road, side by side, and the man who kept them went on
+foot. The poor ass had told the horse that if he would
+share the load with him he should soon get well; but that
+if he did not lend him some help, the weight of it would
+kill him. But the horse took no heed of this, and bade
+him go on, till from the weight of the load he fell down
+dead. When the man found the poor ass was dead, he
+put the load on the back of the horse, and the dead ass too.</p>
+
+<p>One may bear till his back break.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_BLIND_MAN_AND_THE_LAME_MAN">THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time, as a blind man went on his way, he
+came to a bad part of the road, and knew not how to get
+on. By chance a lame man sat on a bank near, so the
+blind man said to him, “Hark you to what I say. I have
+thought of a plan which will help us both on our way—my
+feet shall be thy feet, and thine eyes shall be mine.”
+“With all my heart,” said the lame man; and off they
+set. “Stop,” said he, “I see a purse that lies on the road,
+and if you go straight on, and then turn to the left, you
+will come to it.” This the blind man did, and at last he
+took it up. “Give it to me,” said the lame man, who was
+on the blind man’s back. “Not so,” said his friend; “but
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>
+for my feet you would not have come so far, so now I shall
+keep it.” “Nay,” said the lame man; “but for my sight
+you would not have known it was there.”</p>
+
+<p>All keys hang not on one bunch.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_73.jpg"
+ alt="Blind and Lame">
+ <p class="caption allsmcap">THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_HOG_OX_COW_DOG_AND_SHEEP">THE HOG, OX, COW, DOG, AND SHEEP.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day a hog, an ox, a cow, a dog, and a sheep all
+met in a straw yard. The hog told the rest that he
+thought that beast stood first in rank who was kept most
+for his own sake, and not for the sake of the work that he
+did. “Now, which of you,” said he, “can boast of this
+so well as I can?” To the horse he spoke first. “As for
+you, though you are well fed, and have grooms to wait
+on you, and make you sleek and clean, yet all this is for
+the sake of your work. Do not I see the man on the
+farm take you out at break of day, put you in chains, or
+bind you fast to the shafts of a cart with a load in it, and
+keep you out till noon? Then, in the space of an hour
+does he not take you to work once more till dusk? I
+may say just the same of the ox, save that he does not
+work for such good fare.” To the cow he spoke next:
+“You, who are so fond of your straw and grains, you are
+thought worth your cost for your milk, which they drain
+from you twice a day; and your young ones, who should
+by right have the milk, are torn from you to go no one
+knows where.” Then thus spoke he to the sheep: “They
+turn you out to shift as well as you can on the bare hills.
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>
+You pay dear for your keep, for you have to part with
+your warm coats once a year, and at night starve with the
+cold. As for the dog, he has to keep watch all the live
+long night, while the rest of us are wrapt in soft sleep.
+In short, you are all slaves, kept for use; while I, on my
+part, have a warm sty, with food close to my snout, all
+day and free of cost. All they want from me is to see
+me eat my food from the trough, bask in the sun, and live
+at my ease.” Thus spoke the hog. But in a short time
+the frost set in, and, as it was a bad time for all kinds of
+food, the man was in great straits to keep his live stock
+till the spring. “How can I feed them all?” thought he.
+“I must part with those I can best spare. As for my
+horse and ox, I shall have <i>work</i> for them—they must be
+kept, cost what it will. My cows will not give much milk
+in the frost, it may be, but they will calve in the spring,
+and will thrive in the new grass; the sheep will do as
+long as there is a blade on the hills; and if a deep fall of
+snow should come, I must give them hay, for I count on
+their wool to make out my rent with. But my hog will
+eat me out of house and home; so, as he <i>yields</i> naught, I
+must kill him at once.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DRUM_AND_THE_VASE">THE DRUM AND THE VASE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A drum</span> was heard to boast, in these words, to a vase
+of sweet herbs, “Hark at my loud, strong tone which
+rends the sky. When men hear my voice they march to
+arms, and join the fight with joy!” “Be not too proud,”
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>
+said the vase; “as for me, I grant you there is a chain on
+my lips. I speak not, but I am full of good things, while
+thou hast naught in thee but noise, and must be struck to
+give it out.”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FROGS_AND_THEIR_KING">THE FROGS AND THEIR KING.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the days of yore the frogs met to beg of Jove to
+send them a king. So he threw them a log, and said,
+“There’s a king for you—a good, mild one!” Well,
+King Log came on the pond with such a splash, that the
+frogs took fright at him. Some sought the mud, and
+some the reeds; and, for a long time, there was not one
+that would dare to take a peep. By and by, when they
+saw that King Log lay quite still, they said, “See, he
+sleeps!” Some came round him, and up to him, till, one
+by one they leapt on his back, and at last held him quite
+in scorn. So, with harsh croaks, they beg of Jove to
+change him for one with more life; in short, a king that
+would move. Jove then sent them an eel, and he, too,
+was too tame for them; and, a third time, they ask of
+Jove to choose for them a king with more strength of will.
+This time, he sent them a stork, who, day by day, made
+the frogs his prey, till there were none left to croak on
+the lake, save one, and he shook his head, and said, “If
+we had had the sense to keep well, there would have been
+no need to mend our state. Now we have found to our
+loss what we did not seek.”</p>
+
+<p>Set not the Fox to keep the Geese.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_77.jpg"
+ alt="Frogs and their King">
+ <p class="caption">The Frogs and their King—Page 76.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_STAG_THE_CROW_AND_THE_WOLF">THE STAG, THE CROW, AND THE WOLF.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A wolf</span> saw a plump stag, and thought, How can I
+feast on his flesh? Then he drew near, and said, “All
+hail be to thee!” and made friends with the stag. “Hey
+day! whom have you here?” quoth a crow that flew by.
+The stag told him that he was a good wolf. “Have a
+care!” said the crow; “trust him not.” Yet the stag
+took no heed of his words, but let the wolf lead him at
+night to feed in a field that had a crop of ripe wheat in it.
+Now, there was a trap in the field, and the poor stag was
+caught by the feet. “This is well,” thought the wolf;
+“for when his flesh is cut up, the bones, and what is left,
+will be for me.” The crow flew to the spot, but could
+give his friend no aid. The next day the man who set
+the snare came with a knife in his hand to kill the stag.
+“If you care for your life,” quoth the crow, “lie quite
+still, and seem to be dead; but when I give a caw, start
+up at once, and take to your heels as fast as you can.”
+So the stag lay down quite stiff, held his breath, and shut
+his eyes. When the man came up, he thought the stag
+was dead, and took him from the toils, and went a few
+steps off to fold up the net, when the crow’s voice was
+heard, and the stag ran off at full speed. In the mean
+time the wolf came up to seek for his feast, and was slain
+by the man.</p>
+
+<p>Bad faith is like to fall back on the head of those who
+make use of it.
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_FIELD_OF_CORN">THE FIELD OF CORN.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">An</span> old man had a field, and when he fell ill, he sent for
+his three sons, that he might take leave of them, and give
+them his last charge. “My sons,” said he, “there is one
+thing which, with my last breath, I charge you to do, and
+that is, to seek out a rich gift which I have left you, and
+which you will find in my field—” Here the poor old
+man’s voice grew faint, and his head sank down on his
+breast in death. The sons were in too much grief for
+their loss to put in force that which the old man had bade
+them do, till want drove them to seek for what they
+thought must be a hoard of gold in the field; so they
+made a search from end to end of it, till there was not a
+clod they did not turn, in the hunt. At last they gave it
+up. “It is strange that the old man should have set us
+on this long search for a thing that is not here,” said Jack.
+“Come,” said Dick, “since we have gone through so much
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>
+toil on the field, we may as well sow it with corn, and so
+make the most of it.” At this bright thought they set to
+work to sow the grain, and in due time a crop sprang up,
+five times as large as those crops which grew there in the
+old man’s time. The thought now struck the youths that
+this was the wealth the old man meant, and that it was his
+wish that they should earn their bread by the sweat of
+their brow.</p>
+
+<p>Seek till you find, and you will not lose by the toil.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter60">
+ <img src="images/i_79.jpg"
+ alt="Illustration without caption">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_HAWK_THE_ROOKS_AND_THE_CAT">THE HAWK, THE ROOKS, AND THE CAT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the trunk of an old elm tree dwelt a large bird of
+prey, with claws blunt, and eyes blind with age. The
+rooks fed him from their own store, while he, on his part,
+took charge of their young ones when the old birds went
+in search of food. One day, a cat—“Long Ear” by
+name—came to prey on the young rooks, who, when they
+saw her, gave a loud scream. The old hawk heard it, and
+said, “Who is that?” “I am a cat,” said “Long Ear.”
+“Ha!” quoth the hawk, “Cats love flesh, and the young
+rooks dwell here—that’s all I know. Get you gone at
+once, or I will put you to death!” “Not so,” said the
+cat. “I eat no meat now; and all the beasts of the field
+and the birds of the air love me—for I am good. I pray
+of you to let me stay, for you are old and wise, and can
+teach me much.” By this praise sly puss made the old
+hawk put his trust in her, so he let her stay in the trunk
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>
+of the tree. Day by day she ate some of the young birds,
+and took all the bones that were left from the feast to a
+hole in the stem of the old elm tree, that the death of the
+young rooks might be laid to the charge of the hawk.
+The old birds were in great grief for the loss of their
+young ones; and when they saw the bones in the hole of
+the tree, they of course laid the blame on the hawk, and
+they all flew at the poor old bird and put him to death.
+He said with his last breath, “Ah me! How much worse
+than a foe is a false friend!”</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_COCK_AND_THE_FOX">THE COCK AND THE FOX.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A cock</span> stood on the top of a rick, and gave a loud
+crow. A fox, who saw him, thought he would just do for
+a meal; but though the cock could fly down to him, he
+could not climb up to the cock; so he said, “Have you
+heard the news?”</p>
+
+<p><i>Cock.</i>—What news?</p>
+
+<p><i>Fox.</i>—Peace has been sworn by bird and beast.</p>
+
+<p><i>Cock.</i>—Do you say so? Let me hear how it came to pass.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fox.</i>—Well, the birds and the beasts have met, and
+have sworn a truce. We are now quite safe by night and
+day. The wolf will no more tear the lamb, nor the fox
+kill the kid; the cat will not catch the mice, nor the dog
+bark at the sheep; and from this time all will live in
+peace: so come down, that I may wish you joy on this
+new state of things.
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span></p>
+
+<p>The cock did not say much, but gave his neck a stretch,
+and made a feint that he saw some foe at hand.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fox.</i>—What is it you see?</p>
+
+<p><i>Cock.</i>—Why, I think I see a pack of hounds. No
+doubt they come this way to tell the good news.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fox.</i>—Oh, then, I must be gone!</p>
+
+<p><i>Cock.</i>—No; pray, sir, do not go; I am just on the
+point of a flight down to you. You can have no fear of
+dogs in this time of peace.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fox.</i>—Why, no—no—but—ten to one they have not
+heard the news.</p>
+
+<p><i>Cock.</i>—If the sky falls, we shall catch larks. You
+might as well try to make me think the moon is made
+of green cheese!</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_WOLF_AND_THE_STORK">THE WOLF AND THE STORK.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A wolf</span> had a bone that stuck in his throat, and gave
+him so much pain, that he ran with a howl, up and down,
+to ask all whom he met to lend him a kind hand, and said
+he would give a large sum to bird or beast who would
+take it out. At last a crane, who heard of the bribe, came
+up, put her long bill down the wolf’s throat, and drew out
+the bone. The crane then said, “Now, where is the fee
+which you spoke of?” “Wretch that you are!” said the
+wolf, “to ask for more than this—that you should put
+your head in a wolf’s mouth, and bring it safe out!”</p>
+
+<p>A bribe walks in, and gives no knock.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+ <img src="images/i_82fp.jpg"
+ alt="Title or description">
+ <p class="caption">The Wolf and the Stork.—Page 82.</p>
+ <p class="captionrt">Æsop.</p>
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_JAY_AND_THE_OWL">THE JAY AND THE OWL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day an old owl, who sat in a dark barn, had a call
+from a jay. The owl sat quite still in his nook, save when
+he saw a mouse, and did not speak a word, so that the
+jay had all the talk. When he had thus spent an hour or
+so, he took his leave, full of glee, with a heart as gay as
+his plumes, and said as he went that he must love that
+dear old owl, and that he did not know when he had had
+a chat to cheer him up so much.</p>
+
+<p>If you wish to please your friend, sit still, and let him
+talk.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_NURSE_AND_THE_SNAKE">THE NURSE AND THE SNAKE.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A child</span> that was at play in a field, by chance trod on
+a snake which stung him to death. The nurse, in a great
+rage, hit the snake a blow which struck off his tail. The
+next day she came to the snake’s hole to coax him with
+some salt and meal, that she might kill him. “I pray
+thee come forth,” said the nurse, “and let us make it up
+on both sides”; but she could in no way get the snake to
+leave his hole. All he would do was to give a hiss, and
+tell her that as long as she thought of the dead child, and
+he thought of the tail, they could not be friends.</p>
+
+<p>He who does you a wrong is sure not to love you.
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_LARK_AND_THE_FINCH">THE LARK AND THE FINCH.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A poor</span> lark was kept in a cage that hung on a wall, in
+a town that was full of dust and dirt. One day, as he
+stood on his piece of dead turf, to trill out his sweet song,
+a finch, who by chance flew that way, said, “How canst
+thou sing so blithe a strain, shut up in that vile cage?”
+“Finch, finch,” rang out the lark, in his clear tones,
+“know you not that if I did not sing while I am shut up
+here, I should fail to call to mind my song, when the time
+came for me to mount up to the sky?”</p>
+
+<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">It is meet for us to sing hymns of praise while we are</span><br>
+on earth, to fit us for our flight to realms of bliss.
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_DOVE_AND_THE_ANT">THE DOVE AND THE ANT.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A hot</span> day in June drove a poor ant to take a sip from
+a clear brook, when she fell in, and went down with the
+stream. A dove that sat in a tree close by saw the ant
+fall, so she threw a leaf down to her in the brook, which
+the ant clung to, and so was brought safe to land. In a
+few days from this time, the ant saw a man take aim with
+his bow to shoot the dove, and, just in the nick of time,
+she stung him on the heel. This made him give a start,
+and spoilt his aim, so that the dove flew off safe and
+sound.</p>
+
+<p>Live, and let live.
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_MAID_AND_HER_MILK_PAIL">THE MAID AND HER MILK PAIL.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One</span> day, as a young maid went down the road with
+her pail of milk on her head, she was heard to say, “This
+pail of milk will fetch me so much, which sum I will lay
+out in eggs; these eggs will bring a score of chicks, and
+they will be fit to sell just at the time when fowls bear a
+good price; so that on May day I shall have a new gown.
+Let me see,—yes, green will suit me best, and green it
+shall be. In this dress I will go to the fair, and all who
+are there will pay their court to me; but with a proud
+look I shall turn from them.”</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter60">
+ <img src="images/i_85.jpg"
+ alt="No caption">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+
+<p>Wrapt in this dream of joy, she gave a toss of the head
+to suit the words, when down came the pail of milk, and
+with it the eggs, the chicks, the green gown, and all the
+bright thoughts of what she would do at the fair.</p>
+
+<p>Count not your chicks till they are out of the shell.
+Each “may be” hath a “may not be.”
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_HARE_AND_HER_FRIENDS">THE HARE AND HER FRIENDS.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A hare</span> that was known to be good and kind was a
+friend to all the beasts of the field. One day the hounds
+caught sight of her, and gave her such a hard chase that
+at last she lay quite faint by the side of the road. To her
+great joy a horse came by. “Let me mount you,” said
+she, “and the hounds will then be thrown off the scent.”
+“Poor Puss,” said the horse, with a sigh, “it makes me
+sad to see you thus; but look up—all your friends are
+near.” She next sought aid from the bull. “I would
+lend you help, and be sure I wish you well,” said he;
+“but I am the head of the herd, and I must now join it.”
+The goat, who came next, said, “I fear my coat is too
+rough for you; there’s the sheep with his soft wool.” But
+the sheep told her that she was too weak to bear her
+weight, and that hounds eat sheep as well as hares. A
+young calf was the poor hare’s last chance, and he said,
+“If those who have gone by, who are grown up, did not
+help you, what good can I do, who am but young and
+weak?” Just then the hounds came in sight, and the
+calf ran off, and left the poor hare to her fate. “Ah!”
+said she, “friends are like bees: on bright days they
+swarm, but when clouds shut out the sun they are not to
+be found, though sought.”</p>
+
+<p>When your friend is in want, lose no time, but help him.
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="THE_ASS_AND_THE_LAP_DOG">THE ASS AND THE LAP DOG.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Once</span> on a time there was a man who had a pet dog, of
+which he was so fond that he let him eat from his own
+plate, and sit on his knee. The same man kept an ass
+that drew wood all day, and had to take his turn at the
+mill at night. “What a hard fate is mine!” said he; “I
+work night and day, while the lap dog leads a life of ease.
+No doubt my lord would get as fond of his ass as he is of
+his dog, if I could but win him by the same tricks.”</p>
+
+<p>At this thought he broke from the stall, set off to the
+room where the man was, sprang to his face to lick it, and
+gave a loud bray in his ear. But now the ass had gone
+too far with his rough play; for the men of the farm came
+in with clubs, sticks, and staves to beat him.</p>
+
+
+<p class="p2 center">THE END.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="Advertisement"><b>BURT’S SERIES of ONE SYLLABLE BOOKS</b></h2>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figright">
+ <img src="images/advert.jpg"
+ alt="advertisement">
+</div><!--end figcenter-->
+
+<p class="center"><b>12 Titles. Handsome Illuminated Cloth Binding.</b></p>
+
+<p>A series of Classics, selected specially for young people’s
+reading, and told in simple language for youngest readers.
+Printed from large type, with many illustrations.</p>
+
+<div class="linebox">
+<p class="center"><b>Price, 50 Cents per Volume.</b></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>AESOP’S FABLES.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By
+<span class="smcap">Mary Godolphin</span>. With 41 illustrations. Illuminated
+cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">(Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable for
+young people. By <span class="smcap">Harriet T. Comstock</span>. With many
+illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>BIBLE HEROES.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">Told in words of one syllable for young people. By <span class="smcap">Harriet T. Comstock</span>. With
+many illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">(Selections.) Retold in words of one syllable. By <span class="smcap">Jean S. Rémy</span>. With many illustrations.
+Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>GULLIVER’S TRAVELS.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent"><span class="smcap">In</span>to several remote regions of the world. Retold in words of one syllable for young
+people. By J. C. G. With 32 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>LIFE OF CHRIST.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">Told in words of one syllable for young people By <span class="smcap">Jean S. Rémy</span>. With many illustrations.
+Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">Told in words of one syllable for young people. By <span class="smcap">Jean S. Rémy</span>. With 24 large
+portraits. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>PILGRIM’S PROGRESS.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">Retold in words of one syllable for young people, By <span class="smcap">Samuel Phillips Day</span>. With
+33 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>REYNARD THE FOX.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">The Crafty Courtier. Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By <span class="smcap">Samuel
+Phillips Day</span>. With 23 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>ROBINSON CRUSOE.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">His life and surprising adventures retold in words of one syllable for young people.
+By <span class="smcap">Mary A. Schwacofer</span>. With 32 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>SANFORD AND MERTON.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. By <span class="smcap">Mary Godolphin</span>. With 20
+illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="unindent"><b>SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON.</b></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p class="unindent">Retold in words of one syllable for young people. Adapted from the original. With
+31 illustrations. Illuminated cloth.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publisher, <b>A. L.
+BURT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York</b>.
+</p>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76243 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+
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diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
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+This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this book outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+book #76243 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76243)