Chapter 3

A certain Man who had bought a Blackamoor said he was convinced that it was all nonsense about black being the natural colour of his skin. "He has been dirty in his habits," said he, "and neglected by his former masters. Bring me some hot water, soap, and scrubbing-brushes, and a little sand, and we shall soon see what his colour is."

So he scrubbed, and his servants scrubbed till they were all tired. They made no difference in the colour of the Blackamoor; but the end of it all was that the poor fellow caught cold and died.

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A Wolf, wrapping himself in the skin of a Sheep, by that means got admission into a sheepfold, where he devoured several of the young Lambs. The Shepherd, however, soon found him out and hung him up to a tree, still in his assumed disguise.

Some other Shepherds, passing that way, thought it was a sheep hanging and cried to their friend: "What, brother! is that the way you serve Sheep in this part of the country?"

"No, friends," cried he, giving at the same time the carcass a swing around, so that they might see what it was; "but it is the way to serve Wolves, even though they be dressed in Sheep's clothing."

The Two Travellers

As two men were travelling through a wood, one of them took up an axe which he saw lying upon the ground. "Look here," said he to his companion, "I have found an axe."

"Don't say, 'I have found it,'" said the other, "but 'We have found it.' As we are companions, we ought to share it between us." The first would not agree to this idea, however.

They had not gone far when they heard the owner of the axe calling after them in a great passion. "We are in for it!" cried he who had the axe.

"Nay," answered the other, "say 'I'm in for it!'--not we. You would not let me share the prize, and I am not going to share the danger."

The Fox in the Well

An unlucky Fox, having fallen into a well, was able, by dint of great efforts, just to keep his head above water.

While he was struggling there and sticking his claws into the side of the Well, a Wolf came and looked in. "What! my dear brother," cried he, with affected concern, "can it really be you that I see down there? How cold you must feel! How long have you been in the water? How came you to fall in? I am so pained to see you. Do tell me all about it!"

"The end of a rope would be of more use to me than all your pity," answered the Fox.

"Just help me to get my foot on solid ground once more, and you shall have the whole story."

The Hen and the Fox

A Fox, having crept into an outhouse, looked up and down for something to eat, and at last espied a Hen sitting upon a perch so high that he could be no means come at her. He therefore had recourse to an old stratagem.

"Dear cousin," said he to her, "how do you do? I heard that you were ill and kept at home; I could not rest, therefore, till I had come to see you. Pray let me feel your pulse. Indeed, you do not look well at all."

He was running on in this impudent manner, when the Hen answered him from the roost: "Truly, dear Reynard, you are in the right. I was seldom in more danger than I am now. Pray excuse my coming down; I am sure I should catch my death."

The Fox, finding himself foiled by the Hen's cleverness, made off and tried his luck elsewhere.

The Ass and His Shadow

A Man, one hot day, hired an Ass, with his Driver, to carry some merchandise across a sandy plain. The sun's rays were overpowering, and unable to advance farther without a temporary rest he called upon the Driver to stop, and proceeded to sit down in the shadow of the Ass.

The Driver, however, a lusty fellow, rudely pushed him away, and sat down on the spot himself.

"Nay, friend," said the Driver, "when you hired this Ass of me you said nothing about the shadow. If now you want that, too, you must pay for it."

The Ass in the Lion's Skin

An Ass, finding a Lion's skin, put it on, and ranged about the forest. The beasts fled in terror, and he was delighted at the success of his disguise. Meeting a Fox, he rushed upon him, and this time he tried to imitate as well the roaring of the Lion.

"Ah," said the Fox, "if you had held your tongue I should have been deceived like the rest; but now you bray I know who you are!"

The Wolf and the Sheep

A Wolf, sorely wounded and bitten by dogs, lay sick and maimed in his lair. Parched with thirst, he called to a Sheep who was passing and asked her to fetch some water from a stream flowing close by. "For," he said, "if you will bring me drink, sister, I will find means to provide myself with meat."

"Yes," said the Sheep, "but if I should bring you the draught, you would doubtless make me provide the meat also."

Jupiter's Two Wallets

When Jupiter made Man, he gave him two Wallets; one for his neighbour's faults, the other for his own. He threw them over the Man's shoulder, so that one hung in front and the other behind.

The Man kept the one in front for his neighbour's faults, and the one behind for his own; so that, while the first was always under his nose, it took some pains to see the latter.

This custom, which began thus early, is not quite unknown at the present day.

The Satyr and the Traveller

A Satyr, ranging in the forest in winter, came across a Traveller, half starved with the cold. He took pity on him and invited him to go to his cave. On their way the Man kept blowing upon his fingers.

"Why do you do that?" said the Satyr, who had seen little of the world.

"To warm my hands, they are nearly frozen," replied the Man.

Arrived at the cave, the Satyr poured out a mess of smoking pottage and laid it before the Traveller, who at once commenced blowing at it with all his might.

"What, blowing again!" cried the Satyr. "Is it not hot enough?"

"Yes, faith," answered the Man, "it is hot enough in all conscience, and that is just the reason why I blow it."

"Be off with you!" cried the Satyr, in alarm; "I will have no part with a man who can blow hot and cold from the same mouth."

The Two Travellers and the Oyster

As two men were walking by the seaside at low water they saw an Oyster, and they both stooped at the same time to pick it up. Immediately, one pushed the other away, and a dispute ensued.

A third Traveller coming along at the time, they determined to refer the matter to him, as to which of the two had the better right to the Oyster.

While they were each telling his story the Arbitrator gravely took out his knife, opened the shell and loosened the Oyster.

When they had finished, and were listening for his decision, he just as gravely swallowed the Oyster, and offered them the two halves of the shell. "The Court," said he, "awards you each a Shell. The Oyster will cover the costs."

The Young Mouse, the Cock, and the Cat

A young Mouse, on his return to his hole after leaving it for the first time, thus recounted his adventures to his mother: "Mother," said he, "quitting this narrow place where you have brought me up, I was rambling about to-day like a Young Mouse of spirit, who wished to see and to be seen, when two such notable creatures came in my way! One was so gracious, so gentle and benign; the other, who was just as noisy and forbidding, had on his head and under his chin pieces of raw meat, which shook at every step he took; and then, all at once, beating his sides with the utmost fury, he uttered such a harsh and piercing cry that I fled in terror; and this, too, just as I was about to introduce myself to the other stranger, who was covered with fur like our own, only richer looking and much more beautiful, and who seemed so modest and benevolent that it did my heart good to look at her."

"Ah, my son," replied the Old Mouse, "learn while you live to distrust appearances. The first strange creature was nothing but a Fowl, that will ere long be killed, and, when put on a dish in the pantry, we may make a delicious supper of his bones, while the other was a nasty, sly, and bloodthirsty hypocrite of a Cat, to whom no food is so welcome as a young and juicy Mouse like yourself."

The Wolf and the Mastiff

A Wolf, who was almost skin and bone, so well did the Dogs of the neighbourhood keep guard over their masters' property, met, one moonshiny night, a sleek Mastiff, who was, moreover, as strong as he was fat. The Wolf would gladly have supped off him, but saw that there would first be a great fight, for which, in his condition, he was not prepared; so, bidding the Dog good-evening very humbly, he praised his prosperous looks.

"It would be easy for you," replied the Mastiff, "to get as fat as I am if you liked. Quit this forest, where you and your fellows live so wretchedly, and often die with hunger. Follow me, and you will fare much better.'

"What shall I have to do?" asked the Wolf.

"Almost nothing," answered the Dog; "only chase away the beggars and fawn upon the folks of the house. You will, in return, be paid with all sorts of nice things--bones of fowls and pigeons--to say nothing of many a friendly pat on the head."

The Wolf, at the picture of so much comfort, nearly shed tears of joy. They trotted off together, but, as they went along, the Wolf noticed a bare spot on the Dog's neck.

"What is that mark?" said he. "Oh, nothing," said the Dog.

"How nothing?" urged the Wolf. "Oh, the merest trifle," answered the Dog; "the collar which I wear when I am tied up is the cause of it."

"Tied up!" exclaimed the Wolf, with a sudden stop; "tied up? Can you not always run where you please, then?"

"Well, not quite always," said the Mastiff; "but what can that matter?"

"It matters so much to me," rejoined the Wolf, "that your lot shall not be mine at any price"; and, leaping away, he ran once more to his native forest.

The Tail of the Serpent

The Tail of a Serpent once rebelled against the Head, and said that it was a great shame that one end of any animal should always have its way, and drag the other after it, whether it was willing or no. It was in vain that the Head urged that the Tail had neither brains nor eyes, and that it was in no way made to lead.

Wearied by the Tail's importunity, the Head one day let him have his will. The Serpent now went backward for a long time quite gayly, until he came to the edge of a high cliff, over which both Head and Tail went flying, and came with a heavy thump on the shore beneath.

The Head, it may be supposed, was never again troubled by the Tail with a word about leading.

The Falcon and the Capon

A Capon, who had strong reasons for thinking that the time of his sacrifice was near at hand, carefully avoided coming into close quarters with any of the farm servants or domestics of the estate on which he lived. A glimpse that he had once caught of the kitchen, with its blazing fire, and the head cook, like an executioner, with a formidable knife chopping off the heads of some of his companions, had been sufficient to keep him ever after in dread.

Hence, one day when he was wanted for roasting, all calling, clucking, and coaxing of the cook's assistants were in vain.

"How deaf and dull you must be," said a Falcon to the Capon, "not to hear when you are called, or to see when you are wanted! You should take pattern by me. I never let my master call me twice."

"Ah," answered the Capon, "if Falcons were called like Capons, to be run upon a spit and set before the kitchen fire, they would be just as slow to come and just as hard of hearing as I am now."

The Crow and the Pitcher

A Crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a Pitcher, hoping to find some water in it.

He found some there, to be sure, but only a little drop at the bottom which he was quite unable to reach.

He then tried to overturn the Pitcher, but it was too heavy. So he gathered up some pebbles, with which the ground near was covered and, taking them one by one in his beak, dropped them into the Pitcher.

By this means the water gradually reached the top, and he was enabled to drink at his ease.

The Eagle and the Owl

The Eagle and the Owl, after many quarrels, swore that they would be fast friends forever, and that they would never harm each other's children.

"But do you know my little ones?" said the Owl. "If you do not, I fear it will go hard with them when you find them."

"Nay, then, I do not," replied the Eagle.

"The greater your loss," said the Owl; "They are the sweetest prettiest things in the world. Such bright eyes! such charming plumage! such winning little ways! You'll know them now from my description."

A short time after the Eagle found the owlets in a hollow tree.

"These hideous little staring frights, at any rate, cannot be neighbour Owl's delicious pets," said the Eagle; "so I may make away with them without the least misgiving."

The Owl, finding her young ones gone, loaded the Eagle with reproaches.

"Nay," answered the Eagle, "blame yourself rather than me. If you paint with such flattering colours, it is not my fault if I do not recognize your portraits."

The Buffoon and the Countryman

On the occasion of some festivities that were given by a Roman nobleman, a Merry-Andrew of a fellow caused much laughter by his tricks upon the stage, and, more than all, by his imitation of the squeaking of a Pig, which seemed to the hearers so real that they called for it again and again.

A Countryman, however, in the audience, thought the imitation was not perfect; and he made his way to the stage and said that, if he were permitted, he to-morrow would enter the lists and squeak against the Merry-Andrew for a wager.

The mob, anticipating great fun, shouted their consent, and accordingly, when the next day came, the two rival jokers were in their places.

The hero of the previous day went first, and the hearers, more pleased than ever, fairly roared with delight.

Then came the turn of the Countryman, who having a Pig carefully concealed under his cloak, so that no one would have suspected its existence, vigorously pinched its ear with his thumbnail, and made it squeak with a vengeance.

"Not half as good--not half as good!" cried the audience, and many among them even began to hiss.

"Fine judges you!" replied the Countryman, rushing to the front of the stage, drawing the Pig from under his cloak, and holding the animal up on high. "Behold the performer that you condemn!"

The Old Man, His Son, and the Ass

An Old Man and his Little Boy were once driving an Ass before them to the next market-town, where it was to be sold.

"Have you no more wit," said a passerby, "than for you and your Son to trudge on foot and let your Ass go light?" So the Man put his Boy on the Ass, and they went on again.

"You lazy young rascal!" cried the next person they met; "are you not ashamed to ride and let your poor old Father go on foot?" The Man then lifted off the Boy and got up himself.

Two women passed soon after, and one said to the other, "Look at that selfish old fellow, riding along while his little Son follows after on foot!" The Old Man thereupon took up the Boy behind him.

The next traveller they met asked the Old Man whether or not the Ass was his own. Being answered that it was: "No one would think so," said he, "from the way in which you use it. Why, you are better able to carry the poor animal than he is to carry both of you."

So the Old Man tied the Ass's legs to a long pole, and he and his Son shouldered the pole and staggered along under the weight. In that fashion they entered the town, and their appearance caused so much laughter that the Old Man, mad with vexation at the result of his endeavours to give satisfaction to everybody, threw the Ass into the river and seizing his Son by the arm went his way home again.

The Lion, the Bear, the Monkey, and the Fox

The Tyrant of the Forest issued a proclamation commanding all his subjects to repair immediately to his royal den.

Among the rest, the Bear made his appearance, but pretending to be offended with the odour which issued from the Monarch's apartments, be was imprudent enough to hold his nose in his Majesty's presence.

This insolence was so highly resented that the Lion in a rage laid him dead at his feet.

The Monkey, observing what had passed, trembled for his skin, and attempted to conciliate favour by the most abject flattery. He began with protesting that, for his part, he thought the apartments were perfumed with Arabian spices; and, exclaiming against the rudeness of the Bear, admired the beauty of his Majesty's paws, so happily formed, he said, to correct the insolence of clowns.

This adulation, instead of being received as he expected, proved no less offensive than the rudeness of the Bear, and the courtly Monkey was in like manner extended by the side of Sir Bruin.

And now his Majesty cast his eye upon the Fox.

"Well, Reynard," Said he, "and what scent do you discover here?"

"Great Prince," replied the cautious Fox, "my nose was never esteemed my most distinguishing sense; and at present I would by no means venture to give my opinion, as I have unfortunately caught a terrible cold."

The Wolf and the Lamb

A flock of Sheep was feeding in the meadow while the Dogs were asleep, and the Shepherd at a distance playing on his pipe beneath the shade of a spreading elm.

A young, inexperienced Lamb, observing a half-starved Wolf peering through the pales of the fence, began to talk with him.

"Pray, what are you seeking for here?" said the Lamb.

"I am looking," replied the Wolf, "for some tender grass; for nothing, you know, is more pleasant than to feed in a fresh pasture, and to slake one's thirst at a crystal stream, both which I perceive you enjoy within these pales in their utmost perfection. Happy creature," continued he, "how much I envy you who have everything which I desire, for philosophy has long taught me to be satisfied with a little!"

"It seems, then," returned the Lamb, "those who say you feed on flesh accuse you falsely, since a little grass will easily content you. If this be true, let us for the future live like brethren, and feed together." So saying, the simple Lamb crept through the fence, and at once became a prey to the pretended philosopher, and a sacrifice to his own inexperience and credulity.

The Chameleon

Two Travellers happened on their journey to be engaged in a warm dispute about the colour of the Chameleon. One of them affirmed that it was blue and that he had seen it with his own eyes upon the naked branch of a tree, feeding in the air on a very clear day.

The other strongly asserted it was green, and that he had viewed it very closely and minutely upon the broad leaf of a fig-tree.

Both of them were positive, and the dispute was rising to a quarrel; but a third person luckily coming by, they agreed to refer the question to his decision.

"Gentlemen," said the Arbitrator, with a smile of great self-satisfaction, "you could not have been more lucky in your reference, as I happen to have caught one of them last night; but, indeed, you are both mistaken, for the creature is totally black."

"Black, impossible!" cried both the disputants!"

"Nay," quoth the Umpire, with great assurance, "the matter may be soon decided, for I immediately inclosed my Chameleon in a little paper box, and here it is." So saying, he drew it out of his pocket, opened his box, and, lo! it was as white as snow.

The Travellers looked equally surprised and equally confounded; while the sagacious reptile, assuming the air of a philosopher, thus admonished them: "Ye children of men, learn diffidence and moderation in your opinions. 'Tis true, you happen in this present instance to be all in the right, and have only considered the subject under different circumstances, but, pray, for the future allow others to have eyesight as well as yourselves; nor wonder if every one prefers to accept the testimony of his own senses."

The Eagle, the Jackdaw, and the Magpie

The kingly Eagle kept his court with all the formalities of sovereign state, and was duly attended by all his plumed subjects in their highest feathers.

These solemn assemblies, however, were frequently disturbed by the impertinent conduct of two, who assumed the importance of high-fliers; these were no other than the Jackdaw and the Magpie, who were forever contending for precedence which neither of them would give up to the other.

The contest ran so high that at length they mutually agreed to appeal to the sovereign Eagle for his decision in this momentous affair.

The Eagle gravely answered that he did not wish to make an invidious distinction by deciding to the advantage of either party, but would give them a rule by which they might determine between themselves; "for," added he, "the greater fool of the two shall in future always take precedence, but which of you it may be, yourselves must settle."

The Boy and the Filberts

A Boy once thrust his hand into a pitcher which was full of figs and filberts.

He grasped as many as his fist could possibly hold, but when he tried to draw it out the narrowness of the neck prevented him.

Not liking to lose any of them, but unwilling to draw out his hand, he burst into tears and bitterly bemoaned his hard fortune.

An honest fellow who stood by gave him this wise and reasonable advice: "Take only half as many, my boy, and you will easily get them."

The Passenger and the Pilot

In a violent storm at sea, the whole crew of a vessel was in imminent danger of shipwreck.

After the rolling of the waves was somewhat abated, a certain Passenger, who had never been at sea before, observing the Pilot to have appeared wholly unconcerned, even in their greatest danger, had the curiosity to ask him what death his father died.

"What death?" said the Pilot, "Why, he perished at sea, as my grandfather did before him."

"And are you not afraid of trusting yourself to an element that has proved thus fatal to your family?"

"Afraid? By no means; why, we must all die; is not your father dead?"

"Yes, but he died in his bed."

"And why, then, are you not afraid of trusting yourself to your bed?"

"Because I am perfectly secure there."

"It may be so," replied the Pilot; "but if the hand of Providence is equally extended over all places, there is no more reason for me to be afraid of going to sea than for you to be afraid of going to bed."

The Dog and the Crocodile

A Dog, running along the banks of the Nile, grew thirsty, but fearing to be seized by the monsters of that river, he would not stop to satiate his drought, but lapped as he ran.

A Crocodile, raising his head above the surface of the water, asked him why he was in such a hurry. He had often, he said, wished for his acquaintance, and should be glad to embrace the present opportunity.

"You do me great honour," said the Dog, "but it is to avoid such companions as you that I am in so much haste!"

A Matter of Arbitration

Two Cats, having stolen some cheese, could not agree about dividing the prize. In order, therefore, to settle the dispute, they consented to refer the matter to a Monkey.

The proposed Arbitrator very readily accepted the office, and, producing a balance, put a part into each scale. "Let me see," said he, "aye--this lump outweighs the other"; and immediately bit off a considerable piece in order to reduce it, he observed, to an equilibrium. The opposite scale was now heavier, which afforded our conscientious judge a reason for a second mouthful.

"Hold, hold," said the two Cats, who began to be alarmed for the event, "give us our shares and we are satisfied." "If you are satisfied," returned the Monkey, "justice is not; a cause of this intricate nature is by no means so soon determined." Upon which he continued to nibble first one piece then the other, till the poor Cats, seeing their cheese rapidly diminishing, entreated to give himself no further trouble, but to deliver to them what remained.