THE HORSE AND THE STAG

 


261. THE OLD MAN AND DEATH  An old man cut himself a bundle of sticks in a wood and started to carry them home. He had a long way to go, and was tired out before he had got much more than halfway. Casting his burden on the ground, he called upon Death to come and release him from his life of toil. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when, much to his dismay, Death stood before him and professed his readiness to serve him. He was almost frightened out of his wits, but he had enough presence of mind to stammer out, “Good sir, if you’d be so kind, pray help me up with my burden again.”


262. THE MISER A miser sold everything he had, and melted down his hoard of gold into a single lump, which he buried secretly in a . field. Every day he went to look at it, and would sometimes spend long hours gloating over his treasure. One of his men noticed his frequent visits to the spot, and one day watched him and discovered his secret. Waiting his opportunity, he went one night and dug up the old and stole it. Next day the miser visited the place as usual, and, finding his treasure gone, fell to tearing his hair and groaning over his loss. In this condition he was seen by one of his neighbors, who asked him what his trouble was. The miser told him of his misfortune; but the other replied, “Don’t take it so much to heart, my friend; put a brick into the hole, and take a look at it every day. You won’t be any worse off than before, for even when you had your gold it was of no earthly use to you.”


263. THE FOXES AND THE RIVER A number of foxes assembled on the bank of a river and wanted to drink. But the current was so strong and the water looked so deep and dangerous that they didn���t dare to do so, but stood near the edge encouraging one another not to be afraid. At last one of them, to shame the rest and show how brave he was, said, “I am not a bit frightened! See, I’ll step right into the water!” He had no sooner done so than the current swept him off his feet. When the others saw him being carried downstream they cried, “Don’t go and leave us! Come back and show us where we too can drink with safety.” But he replied, “I’m afraid I can’t yet. I want to go to the seaside, and this current will take me there nicely. When I come back I’ll show you with pleasure.”


264. THE HORSE AND THE STAG There was once a horse who used to graze in a meadow which he had all to himself. But one day a stag came into the meadow, and said he had as good a right to feed there as the horse, and moreover chose all the best places for himself. The horse, wishing to be revenged upon his unwelcome visitor, went to a man and asked if he would help him to turn out the stag. “Yes,” said the man, “I will by all means; but I can only do so if you let me put a bridle in your mouth and mount on your back.” The horse agreed to this, and the two together very soon turned the stag out of the pasture. But when that was done, the horse found to his dismay that in the man he had got a master for good.


265. THE FOX AND THE BRAMBLE In making his way through a hedge a fox missed his footing and caught at a bramble to save himself from falling. Naturally, he got badly scratched, and in disgust he cried to the bramble, “It was your help I wanted, and see how you have treated me! I’d sooner have fallen outright.” The bramble, interrupting him, replied, “You must have lost your wits, my friend, to catch at me, who am myself always catching at others.”

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