Part 7

The proposal was hailed with applause and agreed to unanimously. Whereupon an old Mouse, who had sat in silence, got up and said, “That is well, but who will bell the Cat?” The Mice looked one at another, but no one answered.

The old Mouse said, “It is easy to advise; what is wanted is some one to act.”

THE KID AND THE WOLF

A KID, coming alone from its pasture, was pursued by a Wolf. With great presence of mind the kid turned and said: “I know, Friend Wolf, that you mean to kill me; but as my life is to be short, let it be a merry one. Do you pipe and let me have one more dance before I die.” While the Wolf was piping and the Kid was dancing, some Dogs, hearing the music, ran to the place to see what was going on; and the Wolf was glad to take himself off as fast as his legs would carry him.

THE HAWK AND THE NIGHTINGALE

THE Nightingale, sitting aloft upon an oak, was seen by a Hawk, who swooped down and seized her. The Nightingale earnestly prayed the Hawk to let her go, saying that she was not big enough to satisfy the hunger of a Hawk, who ought to find plenty of larger birds. “Do you happen to see many large birds flying about?” the Hawk asked. “I should be foolish, indeed, to let you go for the sake of larger birds that are not in sight. A morsel is better than nothing.”

THE CROW AND THE PITCHER

A CROW who was nearly perishing with thirst spied a pitcher with a little water in it. Reaching down, he found the water so low that, stooping and straining as he might, he was unable to reach it with his beak. Thereupon he tried to overturn and break the Pitcher. This he was not strong enough to do. At last, seeing some small pebbles, he brought a great many and dropped them one by one, and so raised the water to the brim and quenched his thirst.

THE ANT AND THE DOVE

GOING to a fountain to quench his thirst, an Ant tumbled in and was ready to drown. But a Dove happened to be perching on a neighboring tree and saw the Ant’s danger. Plucking a leaf, the Dove dropped it down into the water, so that the Ant mounting upon it was blown safely to the shore. A Fowler, shortly after, spread his net to entrap the unwary Dove. This the Ant perceived, and bit the Fowler’s heel. Distracted by the pain, the Fowler dropped his net with a quick start, and the Dove, aroused to a sense of danger, flew away.

One good turn deserves another.

THE OX AND THE FROG

AN Ox, grazing in a swampy meadow, chanced to set his foot among a number of young Frogs and trampled nearly all of them to death. One that escaped ran off to his mother with the dreadful news. “It was a beast—such a big four-footed beast—that did it.”

“Big?” asked the old Frog, and she puffed herself out, “as big as this?”

“A great deal bigger,” said the little one.

“Well, was it so big?” and she swelled herself out yet more.

“Indeed, Mother, but it was; and if you were to burst yourself you would never reach half its size.” Vexed that her child should disparage her powers, the Mother Frog made one more trial and burst herself indeed.

THE BAT AND THE WEASELS

A BAT, falling to the ground, was caught by a Weasel, whom he entreated not to take his life. The Weasel protested that it was against nature for a weasel to let a bird go. Whereupon the Bat insisted that he was not a bird, and to prove it, called attention to his mouselike head and ears, which so confused the Weasel that he let the Bat go.

Some time afterward, on another flight, the Bat fell again to the ground, and another Weasel caught him. On perceiving that the Weasel thought he was a mouse, the Bat contended that he had wings and therefore was not a mouse, and was again allowed to go free.

THE FOX AND THE GOAT

A FOX who had fallen into a deep well was casting about to find how he should get out again. At length a Goat came to the place, and seeing Reynard, asked whether the water was good, and if there was plenty.

Hiding the real danger in his case, the Fox replied: “The best in the world, and so much of it that it cannot be exhausted. Come down and see.” Whereupon the Goat jumped down without more ado. Upon this the crafty Fox jumped upon her horns and nimbly leaped out, remarking to the deluded Goat, “If you had brains to match your beard, you would have looked before you leaped.”

THE WOMAN AND HER HEN

A THRIFTY Woman kept a Hen that could be depended on to lay an egg every morning. The watchful Woman thought within herself, “If I were to double my Hen’s allowance of barley, she would lay twice a day.” So she tried her plan, and the Hen became so fat and sleek that she left off laying at all.

Thrift sometimes overreaches, and figures are not always facts.

THE DOG IN THE MANGER

A DOG once made his bed in a manger and lay there snarling and growling at whoever came by. The Oxen coming for their provender said: “What a miserable cur! neither to eat the grain himself nor to let any one else eat it!”

THE MOUSE, THE FROG, AND THE HAWK

A MOUSE in an evil day made the acquaintance of a Frog, and together they set off on their travels. On pretense of affection and of keeping his companion safe from harm, the Frog tied the Mouse’s forefoot to his own hind leg, and thus they proceeded. It worked well enough till they came to some water, and the Frog, bidding the Mouse to have good courage, plunged in and began to swim across. They were barely halfway when the Frog took a sudden plunge to the bottom, dragging the unfortunate Mouse after him. But the struggling of the Mouse made so great a commotion in the water that it attracted the attention of a Hawk, who, pouncing down and bearing away the Mouse, carried the Frog also.

Alliances that are ill-matched generally end in disaster; and the one who compasses the destruction of his neighbor is often caught in his own snare.

THE SHEPHERD BOY AND THE WOLF

A SHEPHERD boy, tending his flock on the edge of a village, used to amuse himself at times by crying out, “Wolf! Wolf!” Twice or thrice his trick succeeded. The whole village ran to his assistance, only to be laughed at for their pains. At last, one day, the Wolf came indeed. The Boy cried out as before, and this time in earnest. But the villagers, supposing him to be at his old sport, paid no heed to his cries, and the Wolf devoured the sheep.

THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH

AFTER toiling all day and catching nothing, a Fisherman pulled up a little Fish. The Fish besought him to let him go, for he was small now, but by and by he would grow to be a big fish and so be worth catching. But the Fisherman answered, “No, no, I have you now, it would be foolish for me to let you go; I might not get you when you had grown bigger.”

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

THE FOX AND THE CROW

A CROW snatched a piece of cheese out of a window and flew with it up into a tree, to eat it at leisure. A Fox passing by chanced to look up and saw her. He coveted the prize and thus made his approaches to secure it. “O Crow,” said he, “how beautiful are thy wings and how bright are thine eyes! how graceful thy neck! What a pity that such a bird should want only a voice!” Yielding to the flattery, the Crow opened her mouth to surprise the Fox with her caw, when down dropped the cheese, which the Fox, snapping up, ate as he walked away, remarking that whatever he had said of her voice he did not say of her brains.

THE PARTRIDGE AND THE FOWLER

A PARTRIDGE, having been taken in the net of a Fowler, cried out piteously, “Spare me, good Master Fowler, and I promise you, on my word, that I will decoy other partridges into your net.”

“No,” replied the man, “whatever I might have done, I am determined now not to let you go; for no death is too bad for one who is ready to betray his friends.”

THE THIRSTY PIGEON

A PIGEON, pressed by thirst and seeing a glass of water painted on a sign, supposed it to be real. Dashing down at it with all her might, she struck against the hard board, and breaking her wing, she fell helpless to the ground and was soon captured by one who passed by.

Great haste is not always good speed.

THE THREE TRADESMEN

THERE was a certain city in danger of being besieged, and a council was called accordingly, to consider the best means of fortifying it. A Bricklayer gave his judgment that no material was so good for the purpose as brick. A Carpenter begged leave to suggest that timber would be preferable, upon which a Currier started up and said, “Sirs, when all has been said that can be said, there is nothing in the world like leather.”

THE HARES AND THE FROGS

IN DESPERATION over the hard times they had on account of their many enemies, the Hares came together and, after rehearsing their situation, came to the sad conclusion that nothing was left to them but to drown themselves as the most miserable and unfortunate of creatures. They repaired to a pond to throw themselves off a rock into the water and thus make an end of their troubles. A shoal of frogs were sitting around the edge of the pond, and at the approach of the Hares they were startled, and with the greatest confusion jumped into the water. Whereupon the foremost of the Hares said to his fellows: “Nay, then, friends, our case may not be as desperate as we thought. Here are other creatures more faint-hearted than are we.”

THE EAGLE AND THE FOX

AN EAGLE and a Fox had lived together as good neighbors, the former on the summit of a high tree, the latter in a hole at the foot of it. One day when the Fox was abroad, the Eagle swooped down and snatched the Fox’s cub and carried it up to her nest, thinking that her high dwelling made her secure from the Fox’s revenge. The Fox returning upbraided the Eagle for such a breach of confidence and begged to have her young one returned to her. Finding that her entreaties availed nothing, the Fox snatched a brand from an altar fire which had been lighted hard by and proceeded to involve the whole tree in flames. The Eagle, to protect her nest and her own young ones, restored the cub to its mother, which she would not do in answer to the most earnest entreaties.

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Æsop: Fables (Stickney). Illustrated by Bull The Herford Æsop. Fifty Fables in Verse. Illustrated by the author

Andersen: Fairy Tales. First Series (Stickney). Illustrated by Hart Second Series (Stickney). Illustrated by Hart

Arabian Nights’ Entertainments (Lane). Illustrated by Winckler

Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress. Illustrated by Bennett

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Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Long). Illustrated by Herford

Cervantes: Don Quixote (Wheaton)

Chamisso: Peter Schlemihl (Alger)

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Cooper: The Spy (Griffin). Illustrated by Bridgman

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Fouqué: Undine (Alger)

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Grimm: Fairy Tales. Part I (Wiltse) Part II (Wiltse)

Grote and Ségur: Two Great Retreats

Hale: Man without a Country

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Irving: Alhambra (Robinson). Illustrated by Black Sketch Book (Six Selections) (Sprague and Scates)

Jefferies: Sir Bevis (Kelley)

Johnson: Rasselas

Kingsley: The Heroes (Ball). Illustrated by Otho Cushing Water Babies (Stickney). Illustrated by Young

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Saintine: Picciola (Alger)

Scott: Guy Mannering (Yonge) Ivanhoe (Lewis). Illustrations after those in the Abbotsford Edition Lady of the Lake (Ginn) Lay of the Last Minstrel (Allen). Illustrated by Reilly Marmion Quentin Durward (Bruère) Rob Roy (Yonge) Tales of a Grandfather (Ginn) The Talisman (Holbrook)

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