The Talking Beasts Part 3

The other fell flat on his face and held his breath.

The Bear came up and smelled at him, and, taking him for dead, went off again into the wood. The man in the tree then came down, and, rejoining his companion, asked him, with a mischievous smile, what was the wonderful secret that the Bear had whispered into his ear,

"Why," replied the other sulkily, "he told me to take care for the future and not to put any confidence in such cowardly rascals as you are!"

The Fox Without a Tail

A Fox was once caught in a trap by his tail, and in order to get away was forced to leave it behind him. Knowing that without a tail he would be a laughing-stock for all his fellows, he resolved to try to induce them to part with theirs. At the next a.s.sembly of Foxes, therefore, he made a speech on the unprofitableness of tails in general, and the inconvenience of a Fox's tail in particular, adding that he had never felt so easy as since he had given up his own.

When he had sat down, a sly old fellow rose, and waving his long brush with a graceful air, said, with a sneer, that if, like the last speaker, he had been so unfortunate as to lose his tail, nothing further would have been needed to convince him; but till such an accident should happen, he should certainly vote in favour of tails.

The Crab and Its Mother

One fine day two Crabs came out from their home to take a stroll on the sand. "Child," said the mother, "you are walking very ungracefully.

You should accustom yourself to walking straight forward without twisting from side to side."

"Pray, mother," said the young one, "do but set the example yourself, and I will follow you!"

The Jackdaw with Borrowed Plumes

A Jackdaw, having dressed himself in feathers which had fallen from some Peac.o.c.ks, strutted about in the company of those birds and tried to pa.s.s himself off as one of them.

They soon found him out, however, and pulled their plumes from him so roughly, and in other ways so battered him, that he would have been glad to rejoin his humble fellows, but they, in their turn, would have nothing to do with him, and driving him from their society, told him to remember that it is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.

The Farmer and His Dog

A Farmer who had just stepped into the field to close a gap in one of his fences found on his return the cradle, where he had left his only child asleep, turned upside down, the clothes all torn and b.l.o.o.d.y, and his Dog lying near it besmeared also with blood. Convinced at once that the creature had destroyed his child, he instantly dashed out its brains with the hatchet in his hand; when, turning up the cradle, he found the child unhurt and an enormous serpent lying dead on the floor, killed by the faithful Dog, whose courage and fidelity in preserving the life of his son deserved another kind of reward.

These affecting circ.u.mstances afforded him a striking lesson upon how dangerous it is hastily to give way to the blind impulse of a sudden pa.s.sion.

The Fox and the Countryman

A Fox, having been hunted hard and chased a long way, saw a Countryman at work in a wood and begged his a.s.sistance to some hiding-place. The man said he might go into his cottage, which was close by.

He was no sooner in than the huntsmen came up. "Have you seen a Fox pa.s.s this way?" said they. The Countryman said "No," but pointed at the same time toward the place where the Fox lay. The huntsmen did not take the hint, however, and made off again at full speed.

The Fox, who had seen all that took place through a c.h.i.n.k in the wall, thereupon came out and was walking away without a word.

"Why, how now!" said the Countryman, "haven't you the manners to thank your host before you go?"

"Nay, nay," said the Fox; "if you had been as honest with your finger as you were with your tongue, I shouldn't have gone without saying good-bye."

Belling the Cat

A certain Cat that lived in a large country house was so vigilant and active in the performance of her duties that the Mice, finding their numbers grievously thinned, held a council with closed doors to consider what they had best do.

Many plans had been started and dismissed, when a young Mouse, rising and catching the eye of the President, said that he had a proposal to make that he was sure must meet with the approval of all. "If," said he, "the Cat should wear around her neck a little bell, every step she took would make it tinkle; then, ever forewarned of her approach, we should have time to reach our holes. By this simple means we should live in safety and defy her power."

The speaker resumed his seat with a complacent air, and a murmur of applause arose from the audience.

An old gray Mouse, with a merry twinkle in his eye, now got up and said that the plan of the last speaker was an admirable one, but he feared it had one drawback. He had not told them who should put the bell around the Cat's neck!

The Old Woman and Her Maids

A certain Old Woman had several Maids, whom she used to call to their work every morning at the crowing of the c.o.c.k.

The Maids, finding it grievous to have their sweet sleep disturbed so early, killed the c.o.c.k, thinking that when he was quiet they might enjoy their warm beds a little longer.

The Old Woman, however, vexed at the loss of the c.o.c.k, and suspecting them to be concerned in his death, from that time made them rise soon after midnight!

The Dog in the Manger

There was once a Dog who lay all day long in a manger where there was plenty of hay. It happened one day that a Horse, a Cow, a Sheep, and a Goat came one by one and wanted to eat the hay. The Dog growled at them and would not let them have so much as a mouthful. Then an Ox came and looked in, but the Dog growled at him also.

"You selfish fellow," said the Ox; "you cannot eat the hay. Why do you want to keep it all to yourself?"

The Old Man and His Sons

An old Man had many Sons, who were always falling out with one another.

He had often exhorted them to live together in harmony, but without result.

One day he called them around him and, producing a bundle of sticks, bade them each in turn to break it across. Each put forth all his strength, but the bundle still resisted their efforts.

Then, cutting the cord which bound the sticks together, he told his Sons to break them separately. This was done with the greatest ease.

"See, my Sons," exclaimed he, "the power of unity! Bound together by brotherly love, you may defy almost every mortal ill; divided, you will fall a prey to your enemies."

Hercules and the Wagoner