THE ASS AND HIS DRIVER


 181. THE KINGDOM OF THE LION  When the lion reigned over the beasts of the earth he was never cruel or tyrannical, but as gentle and just as a king ought to be. During his reign he called a general assembly of the beasts and drew up a code of laws under which all were to live in perfect equality and harmony. The wolf and the lamb, the tiger and the stag, the leopard and the kid, the dog and the hare, all should dwell side by side in unbroken peace and friendship. The hare said, “Oh! How I have longed for this day when the weak take their place without fear by the side of the strong!”


182. THE ASS AND HIS DRIVER  An ass was being driven down a mountain road, and after jogging along for a while sensibly enough he suddenly quitted the track and rushed to the edge of a precipice. He was just about to leap over the edge when his driver caught hold of his tail and did his best to pull him back. But pull as he might he couldn’t get the ass to budge from the brink. At last he gave up, crying, “All right, then, get to the bottom your own way; but it’s the way to sudden death, as you’ll find out quick enough.”


183. THE LION AND THE HARE A lion found a hare sleeping in her form and was just going to devour her when he caught sight of a passing stag. Dropping the hare, he at once made for the bigger game; but finding, after a long chase, that he could not overtake the stag, he abandoned the attempt and came back for the hare. When he reached the spot, however, he found she was nowhere to be seen, and he had to go without his dinner. “It serves me right,” he said. “I should have been content with what I had got, instead of hankering after a better prize.”


184. THE WOLVES AND THE DOGS  Once upon a time the wolves said to the dogs, “Why should we continue to be enemies any longer? You are very like us in most ways. The main difference between us is one of training only. We live a life of freedom; but you are enslaved to mankind, who beat you, and put heavy collars round your necks, and compel you to keep watch over their flocks and herds for them, and, to crown all, they give you nothing but bones to eat. Don’t put up with it any longer, but hand over the flocks to us, and we will all live on the fat of the land and feast together.” The dogs allowed themselves to be persuaded by these words, and accompanied the wolves into their den. But no sooner were they well inside than the wolves set upon them and tore them to pieces. Traitors richly deserve their fate.


185. THE BULL AND THE CALF  A full-grown bull was struggling to force his huge bulk through the narrow entrance to a cow house where his stall was, when a young calf came up and said to him, “If you’ll step aside a moment, I’ll show you the way to get through.” The bull turned upon him an amused look. “I knew that way,” said he, “before you were born.”

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