The Talking Beasts | Page 8

said, with a sneer, that if, like the last speaker, he had been so unfortunate as to lose his tail, nothing further would have been needed to convince him; but till such an accident should happen, he should certainly vote in favour of tails.

The Crab and Its Mother
One fine day two Crabs came out from their home to take a stroll on the sand. "Child," said the mother, "you are walking very ungracefully. You should accustom yourself to walking straight forward without twisting from side to side."
"Pray, mother," said the young one, "do but set the example yourself, and I will follow you!"

The Jackdaw with Borrowed Plumes
A Jackdaw, having dressed himself in feathers which had fallen from some Peacocks, strutted about in the company of those birds and tried to pass himself off as one of them.
They soon found him out, however, and pulled their plumes from him so roughly, and in other ways so battered him, that he would have been glad to rejoin his humble fellows, but they, in their turn, would have nothing to do with him, and driving him from their society, told him to remember that it is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.

The Farmer and His Dog
A Farmer who had just stepped into the field to close a gap in one of his fences found on his return the cradle, where he had left his only child asleep, turned upside down, the clothes all torn and bloody, and his Dog lying near it besmeared also with blood. Convinced at once that the creature had destroyed his child, he instantly dashed out its brains with the hatchet in his hand; when, turning up the cradle, he found the child unhurt and an enormous serpent lying dead on the floor, killed by the faithful Dog, whose courage and fidelity in preserving the life of his son deserved another kind of reward.
These affecting circumstances afforded him a striking lesson upon how dangerous it is hastily to give way to the blind impulse of a sudden passion.

The Fox and the Countryman
A Fox, having been hunted hard and chased a long way, saw a Countryman at work in a wood and begged his assistance to some hiding-place. The man said he might go into his cottage, which was close by.
He was no sooner in than the huntsmen came up. "Have you seen a Fox pass this way?" said they. The Countryman said "No," but pointed at the same time toward the place where the Fox lay. The huntsmen did not take the hint, however, and made off again at full speed.
The Fox, who had seen all that took place through a chink in the wall, thereupon came out and was walking away without a word.
"Why, how now!" said the Countryman, "haven't you the manners to thank your host before you go?"
"Nay, nay," said the Fox; "if you had been as honest with your finger as you were with your tongue, I shouldn't have gone without saying good-bye."

Belling the Cat
A certain Cat that lived in a large country house was so vigilant and active in the performance of her duties that the Mice, finding their numbers grievously thinned, held a council with closed doors to consider what they had best do.
Many plans had been started and dismissed, when a young Mouse, rising and catching the eye of the President, said that he had a proposal to make that he was sure must meet with the approval of all. "If," said he, "the Cat should wear around her neck a little bell, every step she took would make it tinkle; then, ever forewarned of her approach, we should have time to reach our holes. By this simple means we should live in safety and defy her power."
The speaker resumed his seat with a complacent air, and a murmur of applause arose from the audience.
An old gray Mouse, with a merry twinkle in his eye, now got up and said that the plan of the last speaker was an admirable one, but he feared it had one drawback. He had not told them who should put the bell around the Cat's neck!

The Old Woman and Her Maids
A certain Old Woman had several Maids, whom she used to call to their work every morning at the crowing of the Cock.
The Maids, finding it grievous to have their sweet sleep disturbed so early, killed the Cock, thinking that when he was quiet they might enjoy their warm beds a little longer.
The Old Woman, however, vexed at the loss of the Cock, and suspecting them to be concerned in his death, from that time made them rise soon after midnight!

The Dog in the Manger
There was once a Dog who lay all day long in a manger where there was plenty of hay. It