A stray Lamb stood drinking early one morning on the bank of a
woodland stream. That very same morning a hungry Wolf came by
farther up the stream, hunting for something to eat. He soon got
his eyes on the Lamb. As a rule Mr. Wolf snapped up such
delicious morsels without making any bones about it, but this
Lamb looked so very helpless and innocent that the Wolf felt he
ought to have some kind of an excuse for taking its life.
"How dare you paddle around in my stream and stir up all the
mud!" he shouted fiercely. "You deserve to be punished severely
for your rashness!"
"But, your highness," replied the trembling Lamb, "do not be
angry! I cannot possibly muddy the water you are drinking up
there. Remember, you are upstream and I am downstream."
"You _do_ muddy it!" retorted the Wolf savagely. "And besides, I
have heard that you told lies about me last year!"
"How could I have done so?" pleaded the Lamb. "I wasn't born
until this year."
"If it wasn't you, it was your brother!"
"I have no brothers."
"Well, then," snarled the Wolf, "It was someone in your family
anyway. But no matter who it was, I do not intend to be talked
out of my breakfast."
And without more words the Wolf seized the poor Lamb and carried
her off to the forest.
_The tyrant can always find an excuse for his tyranny._
_The unjust will not listen to the reasoning of the innocent._