THE MAN, THE HORSE, THE OX, AND THE DOG

 


231. THE DOGS AND THE FOX  Some dogs once found a lion’s skin, and were worrying it with their teeth. Just then a fox came by and said, “You think yourselves very brave, no doubt; but if that were a live lion, you’d find his claws a good deal sharper than your teeth.”


232. THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE HAWK  Anightingale was sitting on a bough of an oak and singing, as her custom was. A hungry hawk presently spied her, and darting to the spot seized her in his talons. He was just about to tear her in pieces when she begged him to spare her life. “I’m not big enough,” she pleaded, “to make you a good meal. You ought to seek your prey among the bigger birds.” The hawk eyed her with some contempt. “You must think me very simple,” said he, “if you suppose I am going to give up a certain prize on the chance of a better, of which I see at present no signs.”


233. THE ROSE AND THE AMARANTH  A rose and an amaranth 7 blossomed side by side in a garden, and the amaranth said to her neighbor, “How I envy you . your beauty and your sweet scent! No wonder you are such a universal favorite.” But the rose replied with a shade of sadness in her voice, “Ah, my dear friend, I bloom but for a time. My petals soon wither and fall, and then I die. But your flowers never fade, even if they are cut; for they are everlasting.”


234. THE MAN, THE HORSE, THE OX, AND THE DOG  One winter’s day during a severe storm a horse, an ox, and a dog came and begged for shelter in the house of a man. He readily admitted them, and, as they were cold and wet, he lit a fire for their comfort; and he put oats before the horse, and hay before the ox, while he fed the dog with the remains of his own dinner. When the storm abated, and they were about to depart, they determined to show their gratitude in the following way. They divided the life of man among them, and each endowed one part of it with the qualities which were peculiarly his own. The horse took youth, and hence young men are high-mettled and impatient of restraint; the ox took middle age, and accordingly men in middle life are steady and hard-working; while the dog took old age, which is the reason why old men are so often peevish and ill-tempered, and, like dogs, attached chiefly to those who look to their comfort, while they are disposed to snap at those who are unfamiliar or distasteful to them.


235. THE WOLVES, THE SHEEP, AND THE RAM The wolves sent a deputation to the sheep with proposals for a lasting peace between them, on condition of their giving up the sheepdogs to instant death. The foolish sheep agreed to the terms; but an old ram, whose years had brought him wisdom, interfered and said, “How can we expect to live at peace with you? Why, even with the dogs at hand to protect us, we are never secure from your murderous attacks!”

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