A BOAR stood whetting his tusks against a tree.
“What do you mean,” asked a Fox, “by such warlike preparation? There is no enemy in sight.”
“When the enemy is in sight,” said the Boar, “it is time to think of something else.”
AS A WAGONER drove his wagon through a miry lane, the wheels stuck fast in the clay, so that the horses could proceed no further.
The Man, without making the least effort to remedy the matter, fell upon his knees and began to call upon Hercules to come and help him out of his trouble.
“Lazy fellow,” said Hercules, “lay your own shoulder to the wheel. Stir yourself and do what you can. Then, if you want aid from the gods, you shall have it. Remember the proverb, Heaven helps those who help themselves.”
TWO Mules, laden with packs, were trudging along the highway. One carried panniers filled with money, the other sacks of grain.
The Mule that carried the treasure walked with head erect and stately step, jingling the bells about his neck as he went.
His companion followed at a quiet, easy pace.
Suddenly a band of Robbers sprang upon them, attracted by the strong, proud step and the jingling bells. The Mule that carried the gold made so great an ado that the Robbers seized his pack, wounding him with their weapons, and, hearing footsteps, fled.
“I am glad,” said the other, “that I was thought of so little consequence, for I have lost nothing, nor am I hurt with any wound.”
THE Swallow and the Crow were once contending about their plumage. The Crow finally put an end to the dispute by saying, “Your feathers are well enough now while it is warm, but mine protect me against the winter.”
A BEE made Jupiter a present of a pot of honey, which was so kindly taken that he bade her ask what she would in exchange.
The Bee, who was nursing a private spite for the loss of some of her winter’s store, desired of Jupiter that wherever she should set her sting it might be mortal.
Jupiter was loath to leave mankind at the mercy of a little spiteful insect, and was annoyed at the ill nature shown in her wish. He said, therefore, that while, for his promise’s sake, he would give her the power to harm, she must be careful how she used the power, for where she planted her sting, she would leave it, and would thereby risk her own life.
Ill will often does greater harm to the one who acts from it than to the one on whom it falls.
AS TWO men were traveling through a wood, one of them took up an ax which he saw lying upon the ground. “Look here,” said he to his companion; “I have found an ax.”
“Don’t say I have found it,” said the other, “but we. As we are companions, we ought to share it between us.”
“No,” said the first, “I found the ax. It is mine.”
They had not gone far when they heard the owner of the ax pursuing them, and calling out to them in great passion.
“We are in for it now,” said he who had the ax.
“Nay,” said the other; “say I am in for it, not we. When you thought you had a prize, you would not let me share it with you, and now you cannot expect me to share in the danger.”
A KID, mounted on a high rock where she felt safe, bestowed all manner of abuse upon a Wolf on the ground below.
The Wolf replied: “Do not think, silly little creature, that you can annoy me. This ill language that you are using I regard as coming, not from you, but from the safe place on which you stand. You would be in a different mood if you were down here by my side.”
A GOURD was once planted close beside a large and noble Pine Tree. The season was kindly, and the Gourd shot itself up in a short time, climbing by the boughs and twining about them, till it covered and overtopped the Tree itself.
The leaves were so large and the flowers and fruit so fair that the Gourd, comparing them with the slender needles of the Pine, had the assurance to think itself of greater value in the comparison.
“Why,” said the Gourd, “you have been more years in growing to this stature than I have been days.”
“That is true,” said the Pine; “but after the many winters and summers that I have endured, the many blasting colds and parching heats, you see me the very same that I was long years ago. Nothing has overcome me. But when your race is put to the proof, the first blight or frost is sure to bring down that pride of yours. In an hour you are stripped of all your glory.”
A HOUND, having started a Hare which proved to be a capital runner, at length gave up the chase. His master, seeing it, said, “The little one is the best runner, eh?”
“Ah, Master,” answered the Dog, “it’s all very well to laugh; but you do not see the difference between us. He was running for his life, while I was only running for my dinner.”
AN Owl, who was sitting in a hollow tree, dozing away a long summer afternoon, was much disturbed by a rogue of a Grasshopper, singing in the grass below.
So far from moving away at the request of the Owl, or keeping quiet, the Grasshopper sang all the more, saying that honest people got their sleep at night.
The Owl waited in silence for a while, and then artfully addressed the Grasshopper thus: “I suppose I ought to be angry with you, my dear, for I confess I would rather sleep than listen to your singing. But if one cannot be allowed to sleep, it is something to be kept awake by such a pleasant little pipe as yours. And now it occurs to me that I have some delicious nectar with which to reward a musician who sings so sweetly. If you will take the trouble to come up, you shall have a drop. It will clear your voice nicely.”
The silly Grasshopper came hopping up to the Owl, who at once caught and killed him, and so finished her nap in comfort.
A MULE, laden with choice provision of several sorts, was on his way to the field. His master and the reapers were at work there, and the provision that he carried was for the refreshment of both man and beast.
Seeing a large, strong thistle by the roadside, he stopped to eat it. “Many people would wonder,” thought he, “that, with such dainty food upon my back, I should have appetite for the despised thistle; but to me the bitter, prickly weed has a more savory relish than anything else in the world. Let others choose what they will, but give me a fine, juicy thistle like this, and I shall be content. Every one to his taste. It is wisely ordered that what one rejects should be the choice of another. A wise man has said that a weed is a plant that people have not yet found a use for.”
A STAG, whose joints had become stiff with age, was at great pains to gather an abundant supply of food—enough, as he thought, for the remainder of his days.
He stretched himself beside it, in a quiet, sunny corner of his pasture, and now dozing, now nibbling, was passing a happy old age.
He had been a favorite among his companions, and they now came often, and in great numbers, to call upon him and wish him good luck. He made them welcome in a hospitable manner, and each, as often as he came, helped himself to a little of the food so abundantly provided.
The end of the matter was, that the poor Stag died, not so much from either sickness or old age as from want of the food which his friends had eaten for him. Before doing a thing, it is well sometimes to consider, “What if every one should do it?”
A WOLF, passing by, saw some Shepherds in a hut, eating for their dinner a haunch of mutton. Approaching them, he said: “Ah! gentlemen, you are feasting on mutton. I like your taste. But what a hue and cry you would raise if I were to do it.”
A BOY was once stung by a Nettle. Crying with pain, he ran home and told his mother, saying, “Although it pains me so much, I did but touch it ever so gently, for I had been hurt by it before.”
“That was just it,” said his mother. “It was that which gave you so bad a sting. The next time you have occasion to touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, with courage and resolution. It will be as soft as silk in your hand and will not hurt you in the least. And you will meet many persons, as well as things, that must be handled in the same way, if you would escape discomfort from them.”
THE Hares waged war with the Eagles and called upon the Foxes to help them.
The Foxes replied: “We would willingly have helped you, if we had not known so well who you were and with whom you were fighting. Before we can commit ourselves, we must count the cost.”
A WOODMAN, felling a tree by the side of a river, let his ax drop by accident into the stream.
Being thus suddenly deprived of the tool by means of which he gained his livelihood, he sat down upon the bank and lamented his hard fate.
To his surprise Mercury appeared and asked him what was the matter. Having heard the story of the man’s misfortune, he dived to the bottom of the river, and bringing up a golden ax, inquired if that was the one he had lost.
On his saying that it was not his, Mercury dived a second time, and returning with a silver ax in his hand, again demanded of the Woodman if it was his.
This also the Woodman refused, saying that it was none of his. Mercury disappeared a third time and brought up the ax that the man had lost. This the poor man took with joy and thankfulness.
So pleased was Mercury with the honesty of the man, that he gave him the other two axes in addition to his own.
The Woodman, on his return home, related to his companions all that had happened. One of them resolved to see if he could secure the same good fortune to himself.
He ran to the river and threw his ax in, then sat down upon the bank to lament his sad fate.
Mercury appeared as before and demanded to know the cause of his grief. After hearing the man’s account, he dived and brought up a golden ax and asked the man if that was his.
Transported at the sight of the precious metal, the fellow eagerly answered that it was, and greedily attempted to snatch it. The god, detecting his falsehood and greed, not only declined to give him the golden ax but refused to recover for him his own.
A RAT, traveling on the highway, met a huge Elephant, bearing his royal master and the master’s favorite dog, cat, parrot, and monkey. Behind them came a retinue of servants and many courtiers.
An admiring crowd followed the great beast and his attendants, so that the entire road was filled.
“How foolish you are,” said the Rat to the people, “to make such a fuss at seeing an elephant. Is it his great bulk that you so much admire? Mere size is nothing. At most it can only frighten little girls and boys, and I can do that as well. I am a beast as well as he. I have as many legs, and ears, and eyes. If you will take the trouble to compare us, you will see that I have finer parts. What right, then, has he to take up all the highway, which belongs to me as well as to him?”
At this moment, the Cat from her high place spied the Rat. She jumped to the ground and soon convinced him that he was not an Elephant.
A HUSBANDMAN pitched a net in his fields, to take the cranes and wild geese that came daily to feed upon the newly sown corn.
In this net he captured several cranes and geese, and among them, on one occasion, was a Stork. The cranes and geese accepted their lot as one of the chances to which such lives as theirs were subject; but the Stork was in very sad case and pleaded hard for his life.
Among other reasons why he should not be put to death, the Stork urged that he was neither goose nor crane but a poor, harmless Stork, who performed his duty to his parents as well as ever he could, feeding them when they were old, and carrying them, when required, from place to place upon his back.
“All this may be true,” replied the Husbandman; “but, as I have taken you in bad company, and in the same crime, you must expect to suffer the same punishment.”
A SATYR, ranging in the forest in winter, once came across a Traveler who was half starved and nearly frozen.
He took pity upon him and invited him to come to his cave for food and shelter.
On their way, the Man kept blowing upon his fingers. “Why do you do that?” said the Satyr, who had seen but little of the world of men.
“To warm my hands,” replied the Man; “they are nearly frozen.”
Arriving at the cave, the Satyr poured out a smoking mess of pottage and set it before the Traveler, who eagerly seized it and began to blow upon it with all his might.
“What, blowing again!” exclaimed the Satyr. “Is it not hot enough?”
“It is, indeed,” answered the Man; “that is the very reason why I am blowing it. I want to cool it enough to be able to eat it.”
Upon this the Satyr exclaimed in alarm, “Be off with you! I will have no part with a Man who can blow hot and cold from the same mouth.”
A STAG, one hot day, came to drink from a clear lake, and stopped to look at his own image in the water.
“How beautiful are my fine spreading horns!” said he. “How strong and graceful they are, branching from each side of my head! What a pity it is that my legs should be so thin and ugly!”
Just at this moment a lion came crashing through the forest and made ready to spring upon him. Away went the stag! and the legs that he had despised would soon have carried him out of danger; but when he came to the thick woods, his beautiful antlers, of which he had been so vain, caught in the branches and held him fast until the lion came up and seized him.
A PEASANT had in his garden an Apple Tree which for year after year had borne no fruit, but served only as a harbor for sparrows and grasshoppers.
Seeing no good to himself in the tree, he resolved to cut it down, and, taking his ax in his hand, he made a bold stroke at its roots.
Each in his own way, the grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree that sheltered them. “We will do our best to make up to you the worth of the wood, if you will spare it,” they said, “lightening your labor by our cheering songs.” But he paid no heed to them and gave a second and a third blow with his ax.
When he reached the hollow of the tree, he found a hive full of honey. He tasted the honeycomb and at once threw down his ax. From that time the greatest of care was taken of the tree, and the sparrows and grasshoppers still found shelter in it. They could not forget, however, that the man had only saved their home for them from self-interest.
ACCORDING to an old legend, the first man was made by Jupiter, the first bull by Neptune, and the first house by Minerva.
On the completion of their labors, a dispute arose as to which had made the most perfect work.
They agreed to rest the decision with Momus, a judge, and to abide by his word.
Momus, however, being very envious of the handicraft of each, found fault in turn with all.
He criticized the work of Neptune because he had not made the horns of the bull below the eyes, that the animal might better see where to strike.
He condemned the work of Jupiter because he had not placed the heart of man on the outside, so that every one might read the thoughts of the evil-disposed and take precautions against intended mischief.
And last of all, he inveighed against Minerva, not because of any fault in the house itself but because she had not contrived iron wheels in its foundation, so that its inhabitants might more easily remove if a neighbor proved unpleasant.
Indignant at such inveterate fault-finding, Jupiter drove Momus from his office as judge and expelled him from the mansions of Olympus.
A RUSHLIGHT, in love with its own brilliancy, once boasted that its light was brighter even than that of the sun, the moon, and the stars.
Just then a door opened, and a puff of wind blew it out.
As the owner relighted it, he said: “Cease now your boasting. Be content to shine in silence. Heavenly lights do not blow out. Know that not even the stars need to be relit.”
A GROOM, who used to steal a Horse’s corn and sell it, was yet very busy all the day long in grooming and wisping him. “If you really wish me,” said the Horse, “to look sleek and fine, give me less currying and more corn.”
A TRUMPETER who had been taken prisoner in a battle begged hard for his life. “Spare me, I entreat you,” said he; “put me not to death without cause. I have killed no one, nor do I carry arms, but only this trumpet.”
“For that very reason,” said they who held him captive, “you shall the more surely die; for though without the spirit to fight yourself, you stir up others to violence and bloodshed.”
He who incites to strife is worse than he who takes part in it.
A MAN who had traveled in foreign parts bragged, on his return home, of the great feats he had performed in different places. In Rhodes, for instance, he had taken so extraordinary a leap that no man could approach it; and, he said, he had witnesses there to prove that it was so.
“It is quite possible,” said one who heard him boasting of it, “but just suppose this to be Rhodes, and try the leap again.”
A FOOLISH young Heir, who had come into possession of his wise father’s estate, broke up all the Hedges about his Vineyard because they bore no grapes. The throwing down of these fences laid his grounds open to man and beast, and his vines were presently destroyed. The simple fellow learned, when it was too late, that it was quite as necessary to protect his Vineyard as to possess it.
A LITTLE starveling Mouse had made his way with some difficulty into a basket of corn, where, finding the entertainment much to his liking, he stuffed and crammed himself to such an extent that when he was ready to get out again, he found the hole by which he had entered too small to allow his puffed-out body to pass through. A Weasel, who was drawn to the spot by his cries, thus counseled him: “Stay where you are, my friend, and fast till you are thin; for you will never come out till you reduce yourself to the same condition as when you went in.”
A WOLF, that had been bitten by a dog and was unable to move, begged a Sheep that passed by to take pity on his sad case and fetch him some water from a stream. “If you will bring me a drink,” said he, “I will find meat myself.”
“Yes,” said the Sheep, “I make no doubt of it; for if I come near enough to give you the drink, you will make mincemeat of me.”
A CERTAIN widow, who had only a single Sheep and wished to make the most of his wool, sheared him so closely as to cut his skin as well as his fleece. The Sheep, smarting under this treatment, cried out: “Why do you torture me thus? It is no gain to yourself. My blood will not add to the weight of the wool. If you are after flesh send for the Butcher, who will end my misery; but if it is only wool that you want, send for the Shearer, who will clip my fleece without drawing my blood.”
A MAN and a Lion were once journeying together and came at length to high words as to which was the braver and stronger creature of the two. As the dispute waxed warmer they happened to pass, on the roadside, the statue of a man strangling a lion. “See there,” said the Man. “What more proof can you have of our undeniable superiority than that?”
“That,” said the Lion, “is a man’s version of the story; let us be the sculptors, and for one lion under the feet of a man, you shall have twenty men under the paws of lions.”
A GREAT stir was once made as to which of the Beasts could boast of the largest family. They came in turn to the Lioness. “And how many,” was asked, “do you have at a birth?”
“One,” she replied; “but that one is a Lion!”
Quality is before quantity.
AN Old Man once found a rude Boy in his Apple Tree and sternly ordered him to come down. The young rogue answered that he would not.
“Then I will fetch you down,” said the Old Man. So he threw twigs and bundles of grass up at him, but this only made the young scapegrace laugh.
“Very well,” said the Old Man. “If neither words nor grass will bring you down, I will try what virtue there is in stones.” With that he pelted the Boy heartily with stones, which soon brought him down from the tree to beg the Old Man’s pardon.
A CERTAIN man had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid him a Golden Egg each day of the year. For a while the man rejoiced in his daily gain, but becoming impatient with so slow an income, he killed the Goose, to get all at once the gold which he thought was inside her. When he had laid her open, he found that she was exactly like all other geese.
Wanting more, he lost all.
AN Old Laborer, bent with age and toil, was gathering brush in a forest. Growing tired and hopeless, he threw down his bundle and cried out: “I can bear this no longer! If only Death would come and relieve me!”
As he spoke Death came and asked him what it was that he wanted. “Pray, good sir,” replied the Man, “do me but the favor to lift this bundle of sticks to my back.”
A MAN who had two Daughters married one to a Gardener, the other to a Potter. Going to visit at the Gardener’s, he asked his Daughter how it fared with her. “Excellently well,” said she; “we have all that we want if only we may have a heavy rain to water our plants.”
Going on to the Potter’s, he asked his other Daughter how matters went with her. “There is nothing that we want but that this fine weather and hot sun may continue, so that our tiles will bake well.”
“Alas,” said the Father, “if you wish for fine weather, and your sister for rain, which shall I myself pray for?”
A LION who was too old and feeble to hunt for prey saw that he must get it, if at all, by cunning. He crept into a corner of his den and feigned sickness. All the animals that came by went in to take a look at him, and, as they came, he sprang upon them and ate them up. Now, when this had happened to a good many, the Fox, who had guessed the trick, came by. From a safe distance he called to the Lion, asking how he did. The Lion said he was very sick and asked the Fox to come in and see him. “So I would, gladly,” replied the Fox, “but I notice that all the footprints point into the den, and there are none pointing out.”
IN DAYS of old, a mighty rumbling was heard in a Mountain. It was said to be in Labor, and multitudes of people flocked together, from near and from far, to see what the great Mountain would produce. After long expectation and wise conjecturing from the bystanders, out popped—a mouse.
A magnificent promise, but a paltry performance.
THE Camel, in days of yore, besought Jupiter to grant him horns, because it was a great grief to him to see other animals furnished with what he had not. Jupiter not only refused him horns but cropped his ears short for his foolish importunity.
By asking for what we do not need, we may lose what we already have.
THE Moon once asked her Mother to make her a little coat that would fit her well. “How,” replied the Mother, “can I make a cloak to fit you, when now you are a New Moon, and then a Full Moon, and then again neither the one nor the other?”
A HORSE once had the whole range of a meadow to himself; but when a Stag came and threatened to damage the pasture, the Horse asked a Man to assist him in ridding him of the Stag. “I will,” said the Man, “if you will let me put a bit in your mouth and get upon your back so as to go and find weapons.” The Horse consented, and the Man accordingly mounted. But instead of being revenged on the Stag, the Horse has been from that time the slave of Man.
Revenge is dearly punished at the price of liberty.
A GREAT Cloud passed rapidly over a country which was parched by heat, but did not let fall a single drop to refresh it. Presently it poured copious streams of rain into the sea and, when it had done so, began to boast of its generosity in the hearing of the neighboring Mountain.
But the Mountain replied: “What good have you done by such generosity? and how can any one help being pained at the sight of it? If you had poured your showers over the land, you might have saved a whole district from famine. But as to the sea, my friend, it has plenty of water already, without additions from you.”
ONCE upon a time the Elephant stood high in the good graces of the Lion. The forest immediately began to talk of the matter, and, as usual, many guesses were made as to the means by which the Elephant had gained such favor.
“It is no beauty,” say the beasts to each other, “and it is not amusing; and what habits it has! what manners!”
“If it had possessed such a bushy tail as mine, I should not have wondered,” says the Fox.
“Or, sister,” says the Bear, “if it had gotten into favor on account of its claws, no one would have found the matter at all extraordinary; but it has no claws at all, as we all know well.”
“Isn’t it its tusks that have gotten it into favor?” thus the Ox broke in upon their conversation. “Haven’t they, perhaps, been mistaken for horns?”
Then said the Ass, shaking its ears, “Is it possible that you don’t know how it has succeeded in making itself liked, and in becoming distinguished. Why, I have guessed the reason. If it hadn’t been remarkable for its long ears, it would never in the world have gotten into favor.”