THE FOX AND THE LEOPARD

 


256. HERCULES AND PLUTUS When Hercules was received among the gods and was entertained at a banquet by Jupiter, he responded courteously to the greetings of all with the exception of Plutus, the god of wealth. When Plutus approached him, he cast his eyes upon the ground, and turned away and pretended not to see him. Jupiter was surprised at this conduct on his part, and asked why, after having been so cordial with all the other gods, he had behaved like that to Plutus. “Sire,” said Hercules, “I do not like Plutus, and I will tell you why. When we were on earth together I always noticed that he was to be found in the company of scoundrels.”


257. THE FOX AND THE LEOPARD  A fox and a leopard were disputing about their looks, and each claimed to be the more handsome of the two. The leopard said, “Look at my smart coat. You have nothing to match that.” But the fox replied, “Your coat may be smart, but my wits are smarter still.”


258. THE FOX AND THE HEDGEHOG A fox, in swimming across a rapid river, was swept away by the current and carried a long way downstream in spite of his struggles, until at last, bruised and exhausted, he managed to scramble onto dry ground from a backwater. As he lay there unable to move, a swarm of horseflies settled on him and sucked his blood undisturbed, for he was too weak even to shake them off. A hedgehog saw him, and asked if he should brush away the flies that were tormenting him; but the fox replied, “Oh, please, no, not on any account, for these flies have sucked their fill and are taking very little from me now. But if you drive them off, another swarm of hungry ones will come and suck all the blood I have left, and leave me without a drop in my veins.”


259. THE CROW AND THE RAVEN A crow became very jealous of a raven, because the latter was regarded by men as a bird of omen which foretold the future, and was accordingly held in great respect by them. She was very anxious to get the same sort of reputation herself; and, one day, seeing some travelers approaching, she flew onto a branch of a tree at the roadside and cawed as loud as she could. The travelers were in some dismay at the sound, for they feared it might be a bad omen, till one of them, spying the crow, said to his companions, “It’s all right, my friends, we can go on without fear, for it’s only a crow and that means nothing.” Those who pretend to be something they are not, only make themselves ridiculous.


260. THE WITCH A witch professed to be able to avert the anger of the gods by means of charms, of which she alone possessed the secret; . and she drove a brisk trade, and made a fat livelihood out of it. But certain persons accused her of black magic and carried her before the judges, and demanded that she should be put to death for dealings with the devil. She was found guilty and condemned to death; and one of the judges said to her as she was leaving the dock, “You say you can avert the anger of the gods. How comes it, then, that you have failed to disarm the enmity of men?”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE PARROT AND THE CAT

Image
  241. THE WILY LION  A lion watched a fat bull feeding in a meadow, and his mouth watered when he thought of the royal feast he would make, but he did not dare to attack him, for he was afraid of his sharp horns. Hunger, however, presently compelled him to do something; and as the use of force did not promise success, he determined to resort to artifice. Going up to the bull in friendly fashion, he said to him, “I cannot help saying how much I admire your magnificent figure. What a fine head! What powerful shoulders and thighs! But, my dear friend, what in the world makes you wear those ugly horns? You must find them as awkward as they are unsightly. Believe me, you would do much better without them.” The bull was foolish enough to be persuaded by this flattery to have his horns cut off; and, having now lost his only means of defense, fell an easy prey to the lion. 242. THE PARROT AND THE CAT  A man once bought a parrot and gave it the run of his house. It reveled in its liberty, and
Read more

THE SHEPHERD’S BOY AND THE WOLF

Image
  46. THE SHEPHERD’S BOY AND THE WOLF   A shepherd’s boy was tending his flock near a village and thought it would be great fun to hoax the villagers by pretending that a wolf was attacking the sheep; so he shouted out, “Wolf! Wolf!” and when the people came running up he laughed at them for their pains. He did this more than once, and every time the villagers found they had been hoaxed, for there was no wolf at all. At last, a wolf really did come, and the boy cried, “Wolf! Wolf?” as loud as he could. But the people were so used to hearing him call that they took no notice of his cries for help. And so the wolf had it all his own way and killed off sheep after sheep at his leisure. You cannot believe a liar even when he tells the truth. 47. THE FOX AND THE GOAT  A fox fell into a well and was unable to get out again. By and by a thirsty Goat came by, and seeing the fox in the well asked him if the water was good. “Good?” said the fox. “It’s the best water I ever tasted in all my life.
Read more

THE MAN AND THE LION

Image
  76. THE FROGS ASKING FOR A KING   Time was when the frogs were discontented because they had no one to rule over them, so they sent a deputation to Jupiter to ask him to give them a king. Jupiter, despising the folly of their request, cast a log into the pool where they lived, and said that that should be their king. The frogs were terrified at first by the splash and scuttled away into the deepest parts of the pool. But by and by, when they saw that the log remained motionless, one by one they ventured to the surface again, and before long, growing bolder, they began to feel such contempt for it that they even took to sitting upon it. Thinking that a king of that sort was an insult to their dignity, they sent to Jupiter a second time and begged him to take away the sluggish king he had given them and to give them another and a better one. Jupiter, annoyed at being pestered in this way, sent a stork to rule over them, who no sooner arrived among them than he began to catch and eat th
Read more