THE HOUND AND THE HARE

 


131. THE HOUND AND THE HARE  A young hound started a hare, and, when he caught her up, would at one moment snap at her with his teeth as though he were about to kill her, while at another he would let go his hold and frisk about her, as if he were playing with another dog. At last the hare said, “I wish you would show yourself in your true colors! If you are my friend, why do you bite me? If you are my enemy, why do you play with me?” He is no friend who plays double.


132. THE LION, THE MOUSE, AND THE FOX  A lion was lying asleep at the mouth of his den when a mouse ran over his back and tickled him so that he woke up with a start and began looking about everywhere to see what it was that had disturbed him. A fox who was looking on thought he would have a joke at the expense of the lion, so he said, “Well, this is the first time I’ve seen a lion afraid of a mouse.” “Afraid of a mouse?” said the lion testily. “Not I! It’s his bad manners I can’t stand.”


133. THE TRUMPETER TAKEN PRISONER  A trumpeter marched into battle in the van of the army and put courage into his comrades by his warlike tunes. Being captured by the enemy, he begged for his life, and said, “Do not put me to death. I have killed no one. Indeed, I have no weapons, but carry with me only my trumpet here.” But his captors replied, “That is only the more reason why we should take your life; for, though you do not fight yourself, you stir up others to do so.”


134. THE WOLF AND THE CRANE A wolf once got a bone stuck in his throat. So he went to a crane and begged her to put her long bill down his throat and pull it out. “I’ll make it worth your while,” he added. The crane did as she was asked and got the bone out quite easily. The wolf thanked her warmly and was just turning away, when she cried, “What about that fee of mine?” “Well, what about it?” snapped the wolf, baring his teeth as he spoke. “You can go about boasting that you once put your head into a wolfs mouth and didn’t get it bitten off. What more do you want?”


135. THE EAGLE, THE CAT, AND THE WILD SOW  An eagle built her nest at the top of a high tree; a cat with her family occupied a hollow in the trunk halfway down; and a wild sow and her young took up their quarters at the foot. They might have got on very well as neighbors had it not been for the evil cunning of the cat. Climbing up to the eagle’s nest, she said to the eagle, “You and I are in the greatest possible danger. That dreadful creature, the sow, who is always to be seen grubbing away at the foot of the tree, means to uproot it, that she may devour your family and mine at her ease.” Having thus driven the eagle almost out of her senses with terror, the cat climbed down the tree, and said to the sow, “I must warn you against that dreadful bird, the eagle. She is only waiting her chance to fly down and carry off one of your little pigs when you take them out, to feed her brood with.” She succeeded in frightening the sow as much as the eagle. Then she returned to her hole in the trunk, from which, feigning to be afraid, she never came forth by day. Only by night did she creep out unseen to procure food for her kittens. The eagle meanwhile was afraid to stir from her nest, and the sow dared not leave her home among the roots; so that in time both they and their families perished of hunger, and their dead bodies supplied the cat with ample food for her growing family.

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