dog heard him he gave a loud bark. At this the man sprang from his
bed to look out, but saw no one, nor did he hear the least sound, so
he bade the dog be still, and then went back to sleep. The thief in
the mean time had hid in the shed in a state of great fear; but when
he found that the dog was bound by a chain, and did not now bark,
he crept to the door of the house, and took out his bunch of false
keys to try the lock. The dog saw him, and set up his loud bark, so
the man of the house put his head out once more to look round him,
but as he saw no one, and found that all was now quite still, in a
great rage he cries out, “Down, you brute! Down, I tell you! You
will not let me have a wink of sleep!” So the dog left off, and in
the mean time the thief made his way to the house, and took all that
he could find. The next day when the man saw what had been done, he
said, “This will teach me to give ear to the voice of a warm and true
friend when he warns me.”
THE FLY AND THE ANT.
A fly and an ant came to words as to which stood first in rank. The
fly said, “How can you place your mean state by the side of mine?
Look how I soar up in the air, skip round the head of a king, and
kiss the lips of a queen! I toil not, nor stoop to work, but live
a life of ease. What is there you can have to say to this?” “Why,”
quoth the ant, in a sharp tone, “to be made much of by kings and
queens is a great thing, I grant, if they send for you, but not if
they deem you a pest. In good sooth, I think it is but your small
size that screens you from their wrath; and as to work, you will
learn the use of it when the frost and snow pinch, and the cold winds
blow, while I shall reap the fruits of my toil. To be free with you,
I think you will find no pains, no gains.”
One tale is good, till the next is told.
[Illustration: THE FLY AND THE ANT.]
THE WOLF, AND THE FOX IN THE WELL.
A fox fell down a deep well, in the sides of which he stuck his
claws, and so, for a while, kept his head up. A wolf came to take a
peep down the well, and when the fox saw him, he said, “Oh, I beg of
you to run for a rope, or some such thing, to pull me out, for I am
at the point of death!” “Poor friend! you are in a sad strait,” said
the wolf; “I grieve for you, with all my heart! How long have you
been here?” “Nay,” said the fox, “if you wish me well, don’t stand
there to say soft words to me, but get me some help, and that soon,
or I must die.” The wolf then gave one more sigh, and went home, and
the poor fox sank, to rise no more.
A long tongue hath a short hand.
[Illustration: The Wolf, and the Fox in the Well.--Page 52.
_Æsop._]
THE CAT AND THE MICE.
An old dame dwelt in a house that had such swarms of mice in it that
she got a cat, who caught and ate them one by one. But in course of
time all the mice kept on the top shelves to be out of the cat’s
reach, and puss saw that at this rate she should starve. So she hit
on a plan, which was to hang in a bag, by her hind legs, from a peg
in the shelf, that she might pass for dead. The young mice took no
heed of her, but the old ones gave a peep round the edge of the
shelf, and said, “Ah, you sly thing! We see you! Hang there as long
as you please, but we would not trust a child of ours to go near you,
though you were full of straw.”
Old birds are not caught with chaff.
[Illustration: The Cat and the Mice.--Page 52.
_Æsop._]
THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLD EGG.
In the good old times, a man and his wife had a goose that each day
of her life laid a gold egg; but they thought that one egg from the
time the sun rose till he set was slow work, and in the hopes that
they should seize all the eggs at once, they put the goose to death.
But to their great grief they found that their goose was just the
same as all geese. “Ah, my dear,” quoth the old man, “he who has much
would have more.” “True,” said his wife, with a sigh, “and so comes
to lose all.”
[Illustration: The Goose with the Gold Egg.--Page 54.
_Æsop._]
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
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?”
[Illustration]
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.
The wind and the sun once came to high words as to which had the most
strength. Just then by chance a man came by, so they let the point
rest on this, that he who got this man’s cloak off first, should win
the day. The wind was the first to try, and he blew with all his
might and main a fierce blast; but the man wrapt his cloak all the
more close round him. Next came the sun, who broke out with his warm
beams, and cast his bright rays on the man, till at length he grew
faint with the heat, and was glad to part with his cloak, which he
flung to the ground.
Kind means are best.
[Illustration]
THE MAN, THE HORSE, AND THE ASS.
Once on a time a horse and an ass went on the high road, side by
side, and the man who kept them went on foot. The poor ass had told
the horse that if he would share the load with him he should soon
get well; but that if he did not lend him some help, the weight of
it would kill him. But the horse took no heed of this, and bade him
go on, till from the weight of the load he fell down dead. When the
man found the poor ass was dead, he put the load on the back of the
horse, and the dead ass too.
One may bear till his back break.
THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN.
Once on a time, as a blind man went on his way, he came to a bad part
of the road, and knew not how to get on. By chance a lame man sat
on a bank near, so the blind man said to him, “Hark you to what I
say. I have thought of a plan which will help us both on our way--my
feet shall be thy feet, and thine eyes shall be mine.” “With all my
heart,” said the lame man; and off they set. “Stop,” said he, “I see
a purse that lies on the road, and if you go straight on, and then
turn to the left, you will come to it.” This the blind man did, and
at last he took it up. “Give it to me,” said the lame man, who was
on the blind man’s back. “Not so,” said his friend; “but for my
feet you would not have come so far, so now I shall keep it.” “Nay,”
said the lame man; “but for my sight you would not have known it was
there.”
All keys hang not on one bunch.
[Illustration: THE BLIND MAN AND THE LAME MAN.]
THE HOG, OX, COW, DOG, AND SHEEP.