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The Fir-Tree and the BrambleA FIR-TREE said boastingly to the bramble, "You are useful for nothing at all; while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses." The bramble answered: "You poor creature, if you would only call to mind the axes and saws which are about to hew you down, you would have reason to wish that you had grown up a bramble, not a fir-tree." ❋ Better poverty without care, than riches with. The Gnat and the BullA GNAT settled on the horn of a bull, and sat there a long time. Just as he was about to fly off, he made a buzzing noise, and asked of the bull if he would like him to go. The bull replied, "I did not know you had come, and I shall not miss you when you go away." ❋ Some men are of more consequence in their own eyes than in the eyes of their neighbours. The Gnat and the LionA GNAT came and said to a lion, "I don't in the least fear you, nor are you stronger than I am. For in what does your strength consist? You can scratch with your claws and bite with your teeth an a woman in her quarrels. I repeat that I am altogether more powerful than you; and if you doubt it, let us fight and see who will conquer." The gnat, having sounded his horn, fastened himself on the lion and stung him on the nostrils and the parts of the face devoid of hair. While trying to crush him, the lion tore himself with his claws, till he punished himself severely. The gnat thus prevailed over the lion, and, buzzing about in a song of triumph, flew away. But shortly afterwards he became entangled in the meshes of a cobweb and was eaten by a spider. He greatly lamented his fate, saying, "Woe is me! that I, who can wage war successfully with the hugest beasts, should perish myself from this spider, the most inconsiderable of insects!" ❋ The Kid and the WolfA KID standing on the roof of a house, out of harm's way, saw a wolf passing by and at once began to taunt and revile him. The wolf, looking up, said, "Well hello, I hear you: yet it is not you who mock me, but the roof that you are standing on." ❋ Time and place often give the advantage to the weak over the strong. The Kid and the WolfA KID, returning without protection from the pasture, was pursued by a wolf. Seeing he could not escape, he turned round, and said: "I know, Friend Wolf, that I must be your prey, but before I die I would ask of you one favour you will play me a tune to which I may dance." The wolf complied, and while he was piping and the kid was dancing, some hounds hearing the sound ran up and began chasing the wolf. Turning to the kid, he said, "It is just what I deserve; for I, who am only a butcher, should not have turned piper to please you." ❋ Three Bulls and the LionTHREE BULLS for a long time pastured together. A lion lay in ambush in the hope of making them his prey, but was afraid to attack them while they kept together. Having at last by guileful speeches succeeded in separating them, he attacked them without fear as they fed alone, and feasted on them one by one at his own leisure. ❋ In union is strength sometimes. The Man Who Promised the ImpossibleA POOR man was very ill, and not expected to live. As the doctors were about to give up hope for him, he appealed to the Lords, promising to offer up to them a hundred oxen or less - and more gifts too - if only he recovered. The man's wife, who was at his side, asked him: "And where are you going to get the money to pay for all that?" The man told her: "Do you think I might get better so that the Lords can call me to account?" ❋ Men readily make promises which in reality they have no intention of keeping. The MiserA MISER sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it. The miser, on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbour, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, "Oh, do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it." ❋ The Bald KnightA BALD KNIGHT who wore a wig, went out to hunt. A sudden puff of wind blew off his hat and wig, at which a loud laugh rang forth from his companions. He pulled up his horse, and with great glee joined in the joke by saying, "What a marvel it is that hairs which are not mine should fly from me, when they have forsaken even the man on whose head they grew." ❋ Don't spend too much on a whig; its hair isn't yours anyway. ❋ Bald men don't really need better whig glue, but to renounce things that make discerning persons laugh at them. The Bee and Sir SuccessA BEE - the queen of the hive - ascended to the House of Lords to present Sir Success some honey fresh from her combs. Sir Success, delighted with the offering of honey, promised to give whatever she should ask. She therefore said, "Please give me a sting, that if any mortal shall approach to take my honey, I may kill him." Sir Success was much displeased, for he loved mankind, but could not refuse the request because of his promise. He thus answered the bee: "You shall have your request, but it will be at the peril of your own life. For if you use your sting, it shall remain in the wound you make, and then you will die from the loss of it." ❋ Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost. The Crab and Its MotherA CRAB said to her son, "Why do you walk so one-sided, my child? It is far more becoming to go straight forward." The young crab replied: "Quite true, dear Mother; and if you will show me the straight way, I will promise to walk in it." The mother tried in vain, and submitted without remonstrance to the reproof of her child. ❋ Example is more powerful than precept. The Crab and the FoxA CRAB, forsaking the seashore, chose a neighbouring green meadow as its feeding ground. A fox came across him, and being very hungry ate him up. Just as he was on the point of being eaten, the crab said, "I well deserve my fate, for what business had I on the land, when by my nature and habits I am only adapted for the sea?" ❋ Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness. The Goods and the IllsALL the goods were once driven out by the ills from that common share which they each had in the affairs of mankind; for the ills by reason of their numbers had prevailed to possess the earth. The goods wafted themselves to heaven and asked for a righteous vengeance on their persecutors. They begged Sir Success that they might no longer be associated with the ills, as they had nothing in common and could not live together, but were engaged in unceasing warfare; and that an indissoluble law might be laid down for their future protection. Sir Success granted their request and decreed that henceforth the ills should visit the earth in company with each other, but that the goods should one by one enter the habitations of men. Hence it arises that ills abound, for they come not one by one, but in troops, and by no means singly: while the goods proceed from Sir Success, and are given, not alike to all, but singly, and separately; and one by one to those who are able to discern them. ❋ What goods are, is detectable by the vision of the heart. The Hare and the HoundA HOUND started a hare from his lair, but after a long run, gave up the chase. A goat-herd seeing him stop, mocked him, saying "The little one is the best runner of the two." The hound replied, "You do not see the difference between us: I was only running for a dinner, but he for his life." ❋ Unpopular (hound) reforms may be most needed. The Hare and the TortoiseA HARE one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the tortoise, who replied, laughing: "Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. ❋ Slow but steady wins the race. The Hares and the FoxesTHE HARES waged war with the eagles, and called on the foxes to help them. They replied, "We would willingly have helped you, if we had not known who you were, and with whom you were fighting." ❋ Count the cost before you commit yourselves. The Hares and the FrogsTHE HARES, oppressed by their own exceeding timidity and weary of the perpetual alarm to which they were exposed, with one accord determined to put an end to themselves and their troubles by jumping from a lofty precipice into a deep lake below. As they scampered off in large numbers to carry out their resolve, the frogs lying on the banks of the lake heard the noise of their feet and rushed helter-skelter to the deep water for safety. On seeing the rapid disappearance of the frogs, one of the hares cried out to his companions: "Stay, my friends, do not do as you intended; for you now see that there are creatures who are still more timid than ourselves." ❋ The Hares and the LionsTHE HARES harangued the assembly, and argued that all should be equal. The lions made this reply: "Your words, hares, are good; but they lack both claws and teeth such as we have." ❋ The Huntsman and the FishermanA HUNTSMAN, returning with his dogs from the field, fell in by chance with a fisherman who was bringing home a basket well laden with fish. The huntsman wished to have the fish, and their owner experienced an equal longing for the contents of the game-bag. They quickly agreed to exchange the produce of their day's sport. Each was so well pleased with his bargain that they made for some time the same exchange day after day. Finally a neighbour said to them, "If you go on in this way, you will soon destroy by frequent use the pleasure of your exchange, and each will again wish to retain the fruits of his own sport." ❋ Abstain and enjoy. The Hen and the SwallowA HEN finding the eggs of a viper and carefully keeping them warm, nourished them into life. A swallow, observing what she had done, said, "You silly creature! Why have you hatched these vipers which, when they shall have grown, will inflict injury on all, starting with yourself?" ❋ A great question could deserve a top answer. |
