The Talking Beasts | Page 6

of fresh grass. In a short time,
according to his wish, the warm weather and the fresh grass came on,
but brought with them so much toil and business that he was soon as
weary of the spring as before of the winter, and he now became
impatient for the approach of summer. The summer arrived; but the
heat, the harvest work and other drudgeries and inconveniences of the
season set him as far from happiness as before, which he now flattered
himself would be found in the plenty of autumn. But here, too, he was
disappointed; for what with the carrying of apples, roots, fuel for the
winter, and other provisions, he was in autumn more fatigued than ever.
Having thus trod around the circle of the year, in a course of restless
labour, uneasiness and disappointment, and found no season, nor
station of life without its business and its trouble, he was forced at last
to acquiesce in the comfortless season of winter, where his complaint

began, convinced that in this world every situation has its
inconvenience.

The Boasting Traveller
A Man was one day entertaining a lot of fellows in an ale-house with
an account of the wonders he had done when abroad on his travels. "I
was once at Rhodes," said he, "and the people of Rhodes, you know,
are famous for jumping. Well, I took a jump there that no other man
could come within a yard of. That's a fact, and if we were there I could
bring you ten men who would prove it."
"What need is there to go to Rhodes for witnesses?" asked one of his
hearers; "just imagine that you are there now, and show us your leap!"

The Lion and the Mouse
A Lion, tired with the chase, lay sleeping at full length under a shady
tree. Some Mice, scrambling over him while he slept, awoke him.
Laying his paw upon one of them, he was about to crush him, but the
Mouse implored his mercy in such moving terms that he let him go.
Now it happened that sometime afterward the Lion was caught in a net
laid by some hunters, and, unable to free himself, made the forest
resound with his roars. The Mouse, recognizing the voice of his
preserver, ran to the spot, and with his little sharp teeth gnawed the
ropes asunder and set the Lion free.

The Swallow and Other Birds
A Swallow, observing a Husbandman employed in sowing hemp,
called the little Birds together and informed them of what the farmer
was about. He told them that hemp was the material from which the
nets, so fatal to the feathered race, were composed; and advised them to

join unanimously in picking it up in order to prevent the consequences.
The Birds, either disbelieving his information or neglecting his advice,
gave themselves no trouble about the matter. In a little time the hemp
appeared above the ground, when the friendly Swallow again addressed
himself to them, and told them it was not yet too late, provided they
would immediately set about the work, before the seeds had taken too
deep root. But as they still rejected his advice, he forsook their society,
repaired for safety to towns and cities, there built his habitation and
kept his residence.
One day as he was skimming along the streets he happened to see a
large parcel of those very Birds imprisoned in a cage on the shoulders
of a bird-catcher.
"Unhappy wretches," said he. "You now feel punishment for your
former neglect; but those who, having no foresight of their own,
despise the wholesome admonition of their friends, deserve the
mischief which their own obstinacy or negligence brings upon their
heads."

The Fox and the Crow
A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and
settle on a branch of a tree. "That's for me, as I am a Fox," said Master
Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. "Good-day, Mistress
Crow," he cried. "How well you are looking to-day; how glossy your
feathers, how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that
of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from
you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds."
The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment
she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be
snapped up by Master Fox. "That will do," said he. "That was all I
wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice
for the future--Do not trust flatterers!"

The Dog and His Shadow
A Dog, bearing