Part 4

THE FOX AND THE STORK.

[Illustration]

One day the fox had a mind to play the wag with the stork, and said, “You must come and dine with me to day, for I have had good luck, and the soup will be rich.” When the time came for them to dine, the stork found to her grief, that the dish in which the soup was put was so flat that she could but dip in the point of her bill, while the fox could lap it up with his tongue. “It grieves me,” said he, “to see you make so poor a meal; I fear it is not to your mind.” The stork did not say much, but told her host that it was now his turn to come and dine with her. So he came, true to the hour. “Good day,” quoth the stork. “Now I hope you will feel that you are quite at home.” The smell of the stew was fine, but it was put in a jar with a thin neck, down which the stork thrust her long bill with ease, but all the fox could do was to lick the brim of it; and when the time came for him to take his leave, he made his bow with a bad grace. The stork told him that she had but paid him off in his own coin.

Tit for tat.

Good cat, good rat.

[Illustration: The Fox and the Stork.--Page 54. _Æsop._]

THE DAW AND THE JAY.

Once on a time there was a daw, who was so vain that he must needs leave his old friends (the jacks), and go quite out of his sphere to pass for a jay. So he stuck the bright plumes that fell from those gay birds on his own back, that he might look like them. But they soon found him out, took off his plumes, fell on him with their sharp bills, and made him smart for his pride. Full of shame, he hung down his head, and once more went to flock with those of his own tribe, but they knew his vain ways too well, and told him they did not now choose to own him; and one of them said, “If you had been true to your own friends, you would not have had such hard cuts from those whom you have just left, nor would you have had to bear the slights which we now feel we must put on you.”

THE HART AND THE VINE.

Some men sought out a hart for the chase, when one made a rush out of the wood, and hid from them in the shade of a thick vine, so that they quite lost sight of him. It was the best hide and seek that could be, and so thought the stag, but he hid not for sport, but for dear life. There he lay, still as a mouse. In a short time he took heart to browse on the leaves of the vine, which hung so green and fresh just at his nose. He saw no harm in one more crop, and then one more, till he quite lost sight of what he had come there for. More than this, he so shook the tree when he took a bite, that he drew the eyes of the men to the spot, and as the vine was now too thin of leaves to hide him, they shot at him, and he fell down dead.

Where the hedge is thin, men will see through it.

THE OWLS AND THE WREN.

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Two owls sat on the branch of a tree. “How strange is it,” said one of them, “that in the old days of Greece, men best knew our worth, for owls were then thought to be the type of all that is wise.” “Not so,” said the wren, who heard them, “and if you were less vain, you would know well that in those days men wore owls on their shields to show that they should not judge by mere looks. If they did, they would take an owl to be a wise bird; for, though he has but a small wit, he has a large head.”

THE LEAP AT RHODES.

A man who had been in all parts of the world told his old friends when he came home of the great feats he had done. These tales they at first heard with great glee; but in time they found out that he shot with a long bow, nay, more than this, that he told lies, and when he once did that, he set less and less guard on his tongue, till he made those who heard him stare. “How comes it,” said they, “that this man, who when at home could boast of no great feats, should, when he goes to strange lands, do such great things?” One day he told them that there was no place in the world where men leapt like the men at Rhodes; “but I beat them all,” said he, “for I took a leap there of two score yards.” A grave old man, who sat near him, said with a sneer, “Sir, if your tale be true, think this place to be Rhodes, and, to prove your words, take the leap once more.” The man kept his seat, and had no more to say.

THE DOG IN THE OX’S STALL.

A dog once made his bed on some hay in a stall, and an ox, who was much in want of food, came near to eat some of it. Up sprang the fierce cur, with a growl and a snarl, and would not let him touch it. At this the ox said, “Fie on thee, thou cur! Thou dost not feed on hay, yet, in thy spite, thou must needs stand in the way of those who do.” With this, a man on the farm took the dog up by the neck, and laid his whip on his back till he ran off in shame.

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THE NURSE AND THE WOLF.

A wolf that was in search of food, was seen to prowl near a house where he heard a child cry, and its nurse chide it in these words--“Now leave off at once, or I will throw you out of doors to the wolf!” So the wolf sat near the house for a long time in the hopes that he should see her words made good. At last the child, worn out by its cries, fell off to sleep. In a short time the wolf heard the nurse say, “There’s a good dear then; if the fierce old wolf comes for my babe, we will beat him to death, we will.” The wolf now thought it high time to be off, and said, as he went, “If folk say that which they do not mean at one hour, and mean that which they do not say the next, what can a child or a wolf think of it?”

[Illustration: The Nurse and the Wolf.--Page 60. _Æsop._]

THE OLD BLIND DAME.

Once on a time an old dame that was blind sent for Dr. Dash to cure her. She told him that if he brought back her sight he should have a large fee, but that if he did not cure her, he was to have no fee at all. Well, day by day Dr. Dash made his call on the dame, and one by one he took off all her goods. At last, when he had swept the house clear of them, he set to work on the case, and made a cure of it; so once more, to her great joy, the old dame could see. “I must ask you for my fee,” said Dr. Dash; but the dame put him off from time to time, and did not pay him. At last he went to law; and when she came to the court, she spoke thus to the judge: “What Dr. Dash tells you is quite true, in so far as I said I would give him a large fee if he brought back my sight. Now, then, he tells me my eyes are well, but I say they are not; for till my bad sight had come on, I could see all sorts of goods in my house, while now, when he tells me he has made a cure of my eyes, I can see none there; and I think, my lord, that he who plays tricks ought to take a joke!”

THE COCK, THE DOG, AND THE FOX.

A dog and a cock had been in a wood, and as night came on, they went to rest. The cock flew on the bough of a tree to roost, while the dog slept in a hole in the trunk of it. At break of day the cock set up a loud shrill crow, which was heard by a fox, who soon ran to the place whence the sound came, and said, “Let me beg of you to fly down, that I may greet you, and praise you for so sweet a song.” “I would first ask you,” said the cock, “to wake up my friend, who lies in the trunk of this tree.” “By all means,” quoth the fox, who thought he should find a nest, with the hen and her young chicks in it; so he thrust his head in the hole, and was torn to death by the dog, who said, with a loud bark, “Paid in his own coin.”

[Illustration: The Cock, the Dog, and the Fox.--Page 61. _Æsop._]

THE BOAR AND THE HORSE.

In days of old a horse came to drink at a pond, when he saw that a boar lay in the mud at the edge, which made the pool thick and foul. Fierce neighs and grunts were soon heard, and but for the fear the horse had of the boar’s huge tusks, they would have fought. At last the horse found a man to help him, who soon made a bit and a rein, took his bow, got on his back, and off they both set. The boar, struck with awe at so strange a sight, ran off as fast as he could, but the horse soon came up to him, and the man shot him dead. Now that there was no cause for fear, the horse would fain be once more free; so he said, “I pray thee take off this rein.” “Nay, that I will not do, my friend,” quoth the man; “for now that I have found out thy use, I will keep thee to ride on.”

A man may beat the bush, and his friend catch the bird.

THE APE MADE KING.

The beasts once chose an ape for their king. From morn till night he would play all his droll tricks to please them, and they could not rest till they had put him on a throne, with a king’s crown on his head. They did all they could to swell his pomp, and the beasts took him to be as wise as he was great--all but the fox, who knew what a bad choice they had made. One day, as the fox was on his way to the court, he saw a trap in a ditch with nuts, figs, and dates for a bait. He told the ape of all these good things, and said that as they were found on a piece of waste land, they were the king’s by right. The ape, who did not dream of fraud, went to claim them; but as soon as he had laid his paw on the bait, he was caught in the trap. Stung with rage and pain, he gave the fox all the hard names he could think of; but all the fox said was, “Are you a king, and not up to trap?”

THE FROG, THE MOUSE, AND THE HAWK.

By chance a mouse made friends with a frog, who spent his life for the most part in a pool. The frog one day, by way of sport, bound the foot of the mouse to his own, and step by step led him to the pool in which he spent most of his time, till at last he got to the brink, when he gave a leap which took them both in the midst of the pond. The frog, who was fond of a swim, went now here, now there, with a croak which would seem to say that all was right, and that he thought he had done a great feat. But the poor mouse could not stand it long, as the dry ground was his home, and he was soon seen to float on the pool quite dead, but still bound fast to the frog. By and by a hawk stuck his claws in the mouse, and flew off with him; but the frog, who could not get loose from the mouse, had to share the same fate, and the hawk made a meal of both.

Harm hatch, harm catch.

[Illustration: The Frog, the Mouse, and the Hawk.--Page 63. _Æsop._]

THE JUDGE AND THE POOR MAN.

A man who kept a small farm came to the house of a judge. “Well, my man,” said the judge, “what do you come to me for?” “If you please, my lord, I have a sad tale to tell.” “Ha, the old tale! You folk with your small farms fall out, and then you come to plague me.” “Nay, my lord, this time it is with you and me. I have a bull that breaks out of his bounds, and he has got to your best field of corn, and has spoilt half of it; now I want to know what you would have me do in this case?” “Well, I must say you are a staunch old man to come and tell me of it, and I shall send my man John to look at the waste, and what he says it comes to you must pay. As to your bull, as you say he breaks out of his bounds, you must kill him, and that at once.” “Bless my heart!” said the man, “what was it I told you? I have but two small cows in the world. No, it was that red bull of yours, my lord, which locks and bars will not keep in; it is he that breaks through the fence of my corn field, and fine work he has made of it; but as you say you will send your man to make things right, I thank you, and take my leave.” “No,” said the judge, “you must not play me such a trick as this. I would not part with that red bull for all the world, and as to the field of corn, of course you must take your chance.”

The law will catch small flies, but wasps will break through.

We weigh not in the same scale the ills we do and the ills we feel.

THE STAG IN THE OX’S STALL.

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A pack of hounds drove a poor stag out of a wood, and in a great fright he made off to a farm that was near, and hid in a heap of straw in an ox’s stall. “What can have brought you to such a place as this, where you are sure to meet with your doom?” said the ox. “Oh,” cries the stag, “if you will but help to hide me for a while, I shall do well, and by and by I will move off.” It grew dusk, and the men on the farm came in and out, but did not see the stag, so he now thought it time to leave. “Nay,” quoth the ox, “wait a while; there is the man who owns the farm to come yet, and should he pass this way, I would not give the straw you hide in for your life.” While the ox spoke, the man came up and cast his eyes on the stag, and made a prize of him. “That is a bad game,” said he, “where none wins.”

[Illustration: The Stag in the Ox’s Stall.--Page 65. _Æsop._]

THE GOAT AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.

A fox, who was a great rogue, fell down a deep well. Just then, a goat came up who had a mind to slake his thirst, so he said to the fox, “Is the well a sweet one?” “Sweet!” says the fox; “it is the best well I have drunk from for along time. Come and try it.” At this the goat leapt in; and the fox--who put his feet on the goat’s horns--sprang out, and said, “If you had as much brain as you have beard, you would ‘Look ere you leap,’ for

‘Those who trust ere they try, They will grieve ere they die.’”

The poor goat put his head up, and said, “True, I see too late that I have lent you a stick to break my own head with.”

[Illustration: The Goat and the Fox in the Well.--Page 66. _Æsop._]

THE APE, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX.

A wolf one day brought a fox up to the Bench for theft. The ape, who was the judge, knew well that both were knaves; so he said, “I know you well of old, my friends; and as I wish to be just, I shall lay the same fine on both of you: on you, Sir Wolf, for you have no right to bring the charge; and on you, Sir Fox, for there can be no doubt that the charge is a true one.”

Set a thief to catch a thief.

THE FOX AND THE CAT.

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A fox and a cat once met on a heath, and had a long chat on things of state. The fox said, “Let the war turn out as bad as it may, it is all one to me, for I have lots of plans by which to save my life. But now, pray tell me, puss, if the foe should come, what course do you mean to take?” “Nay,” says the cat, “I have but one shift, and if that will not do, I am lost.” Just then a pack of hounds came on them in full cry. Puss, by the help of her one trick, ran up a tree, from the top branch of which she saw that the fox, who had not the skill to get out of sight, was torn to death by the hounds. “Great boast, small roast,” quoth the cat, “but he plays well that wins.”

Illustration: The Fox and the Cat.--Page 67. _Æsop._]

THE MULES AND THE THIEVES.

Two mules were once on the road, one of which had bags of gold on his back, and rang his bells with a proud toss of the neck, as if he felt vain of his load; and one took but sacks of grain, and hung down his head as he trod the way. They had not gone far, when three thieves, who lay in wait for them in a wood close by, ran out, took the bags of gold from off the back of the mule, and put him to death, as well as the men with him. But the mule who was the drudge stood quite safe, and said he should count the scorn in which he was held as so much gain, for he was best off in the end.

THE BALD KNIGHT.

In the good old times there was a brave knight who had lost all his hair, and wore a wig. As he rode in the hunt a gust of wind blew his wig off, and a loud laugh rang forth from those who saw his bald pate. When the knight found his wig was in the air, he, of course, felt much put out, for it was his false hair that made him look young; but he thought the best way to pass it off would be to take the laugh in his own hands; so he said, “How could I hope to keep strange hair on my head, when my own would not stay there!”

He must stoop that has a low door.

THE WAR HORSE.

There was a man who in time of war took great pains with his horse, and fed him on as much corn and hay as he could eat. But when the war was at an end all he gave him was chaff, and he put him to draw great loads of wood; in short, made a slave and a drudge of him. When the war broke out once more, and there was a call to arms, the man, clad in his coat of mail, sprang on the back of his steed, and went off to join the fight. But soon the horse fell down with all his weight of steel. “You must now go to the war on foot,” said he; “for if you turn me from a horse to an ass, how can you think that I can all at once turn from an ass to a horse?”

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THE WOLF IN A SHEEP’S SKIN.

Once on a time a wolf put on a sheep’s skin, by which means he got shut in the fold at night. By and by the man of the farm came in to kill one of his flock for food, and as luck would have it, he chose out the wolf. But when he saw how it was, he put a rope round his neck, and hung him to the branch of a tree. Some folks who came by said, “What! do you hang sheep?” “No,” said the man, “but I hang a wolf when I can catch him, though in the garb of a sheep.”

You may find more than one face in a hood.

THE DOG WHO WENT OUT TO SUP.

A man made a great feast, and his dog Tray said to Gyp, who was a great friend of his, “Come and sup with us to-night. Eight o’clock is the time; but if you are there an hour too soon, you will find there is much to be done.” Gyp lay in the sun a while, to wink and wait. He thought of fish, flesh, and fowl, tripe and toast, and made a feast in his heart that might grace a bill of fare for a king. At length the time came, and he set off to the cook’s room, where he found all hands hard at work. Gyp went with a skulk, now here, now there; gave a peep at this dish, and smelt at that, and with a wag of his tail, as much as to say, “O rare! What a feast have I in store!” This wag of the tail brought the eyes of the cook on him, and he said, “How now? what’s this I spy? A cur! who let him in? A nice sort of guest, to be sure. I shall soon pack you off.” The cook then brought poor Gyp to view, and threw him out at the back door.

There’s oft a slip ’twixt cup and lip.

THE WIND AND THE SUN.