The Dog & His Reflection

A Dog, to whom the butcher had thrown a bone, was

hurrying home with his prize as fast as he could go. As he
crossed a narrow footbridge, he happened to look down and saw
himself reflected in the quiet water as if in a mirror. But the
greedy Dog thought he saw a real Dog carrying a bone much
bigger than his own.

If he had stopped to think he would have known better.

But instead of thinking, he dropped his bone and sprang at the
Dog in the river, only to find himself swimming for dear life to
reach the shore. At last he managed to scramble out, and as he
stood sadly thinking about the good bone he had lost, he
realized what a stupid Dog he had been.

It is very foolish to be greedy.

The Hare & the Tortoise

 A Hare was making fun of the
Tortoise one day for being so slow.
"Do you ever get anywhere?" he
asked with a mocking laugh.

"Yes," replied the Tortoise, "and I

get there sooner than you think. I'll run
you a race and prove it."

The Hare was much amused at the

idea of running a race with the Tortoise,
but for the fun of the thing he agreed.
So, the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the
distance and started the runners off.

The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the
Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a
race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap
until the Tortoise should catch up.

The Tortoise meanwhile kept going

slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed
the place where the Hare was sleeping. But
the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when
at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near
the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but
he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.

The race is not always to the swift.

 The Mother & the Wolf

Early one morning a hungry

Wolf was prowling around a cottage
at the edge of a village, when he
heard a child crying in the house.
Then he heard the Mother's voice
say:

"Hush, child, hush! Stop your

crying, or I will give you to the
Wolf!"

Surprised but delighted at the prospect of so delicious a

meal, the Wolf settled down under an open window, expecting
every moment to have the child handed out to him. But though
the little one continued to fret, the Wolf waited all day in vain.
Then, toward nightfall, he heard the Mother's voice again as she
sat down near the window to sing and rock her baby to sleep.

"There, child, there! The Wolf shall not get you. No, no!
Daddy is watching and Daddy will kill him if he should come
near!"

Just then the Father came within sight of the home, and the
Wolf was barely able to save himself from the Dogs by a clever
bit of running.

Do not believe everything you hear.

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

 A certain Wolf could not get
enough to eat because of the
watchfulness of the Shepherds.
But one night he found a sheep
skin that had been cast aside and
forgotten. The next day, dressed in
the skin, the Wolf strolled into the
pasture with the Sheep. Soon a
little Lamb was following him about and was quickly led away
to slaughter.

That evening the Wolf

entered the fold with the
flock. But it happened that
the Shepherd took a fancy
for mutton broth that very
evening, and, picking up a
knife, went to the fold.
There the first he laid hands
on and killed was the Wolf.

The evil doer often comes to harm through his

own deceit.

The Frog & the Mouse

 A young Mouse in search of adventure was running along
the bank of a pond where lived a Frog. When the Frog saw the
Mouse, he swam to the bank and croaked:

"Won't you pay me a visit? I can promise you a good time

if you do."

The Mouse did not need much coaxing, for he was very
anxious to see the world and everything in it. But though he
could swim a little, he did not dare risk going into the pond
without some help.

The Frog had a plan. He tied the Mouse's leg to his own
with a tough reed. Then into the pond he jumped, dragging his
foolish companion with him. The Mouse soon had enough of it
and wanted to return to shore; but the treacherous Frog had
other plans. He pulled the Mouse down under the water and
drowned him. But before he could untie the reed that bound
him to the dead Mouse, a Hawk came sailing over the pond.
Seeing the body of the Mouse floating on the water, the Hawk
swooped down, seized the Mouse and carried it off, with the
Frog dangling from its leg. Thus, at one swoop he had caught
both meat and fish for his dinner.

Those who seek to harm others often come to harm themselves through their
own deceit.

The Fox & the Leopard

 A Fox and a Leopard, resting lazily after a generous
dinner, amused themselves by disputing about their good looks.
The Leopard was very proud of his glossy, spotted coat and
made disdainful remarks about the Fox, whose appearance he
declared was quite ordinary.

The Fox prided himself on his fine bushy tail with its tip
of white, but he was wise enough to see that he could not rival
the Leopard in looks. Still, he kept up a flow of sarcastic talk,
just to exercise his wits and to have the fun of disputing. The
Leopard was about to lose his temper when the Fox got up,
yawning lazily.

"You may have a very smart coat," he said, "but you

would be a great deal better off if you had a little more
smartness inside your head and less on your ribs, the way I am.
That's what I call real beauty."

A fine coat is not always an indication of an attractive mind.

The Cock & the Fox

One bright evening as the sun was
sinking on a glorious world a wise old
Cock flew into a tree to roost. Before
he composed himself to rest, he
flapped his wings three times and
crowed loudly. But just as he was
about to put his head under his wing,
his beady eyes caught a flash of red
and a glimpse of a long-pointed nose,
and there just below him stood Master
Fox.
 "Have you heard the wonderful news?" cried the Fox in a
very joyful and excited manner.
"What news?" asked the Cock very calmly. But he had a
queer, fluttery feeling inside him, for, you know, he was very
much afraid of the Fox.
"Your family and mine and all other animals have agreed to
forget their differences and live in peace and friendship from
now on forever. Just think of it! I simply cannot wait to embrace
you! Do come down, dear friend, and let us celebrate the joyful
event."
"How grand!" said the Cock. "I certainly am delighted at
the news." But he spoke in an absent way, and stretching up on
tiptoes, seemed to be looking at something afar off.
"What is it you see?" asked the Fox a little anxiously.
"Why, it looks to me like a couple of Dogs coming this
way. They must have heard the good news and—"
But the Fox did not wait to hear more. Off he started on a
run.
"Wait," cried the Cock. "Why do you run? The Dogs are
friends of yours now!"
"Yes," answered the Fox. "But they might not have heard
the news. Besides, I have a very important errand that I had
almost forgotten about."
The Cock smiled as he buried his head in his feathers and
went to sleep, for he had succeeded in outwitting a very crafty
enemy.

The trickster is easily tricked.

The Fox & the Goat

A Fox fell into a well, and though it was
not very deep, he found that he could not get
out again. After he had been in the well a long
time, a thirsty Goat came by. The Goat thought
the Fox had gone down to drink, and so he
asked if the water was good.
"The finest in the whole country," said the
crafty Fox, "jump in and try it. There is more than enough for
both of us."
 The thirsty Goat immediately jumped in
and began to drink. The Fox just as quickly
jumped on the Goat's back and
leaped from the tip of the Goat's
horns out of the well
The foolish Goat now saw what a plight he had got into,
and begged the Fox to help him out. But
the Fox was already on his way to the
woods
"If you had as much sense as you
have beard, old fellow," he said as he ran,
"you would have been more cautious
about finding a way to get out again
before you jumped in."

Look before you leap. Do not just blindly walk into

anything without thinking

The Fox & the Stork

The Fox one day thought of a plan to amuse
himself at the expense of the Stork, at whose
odd appearance he was always laughing.
"You must come and dine with me
today," he said to the Stork, smiling to himself
at the trick he was going to play. The Stork
gladly accepted the invitation and arrived in
good time and with a very good appetite.
For dinner the Fox served soup. But it
was set out in a very shallow dish, and all the Stork
could do was to wet the very tip of his bill. Not a drop of soup could he
get. But the Fox lapped it up easily, and, to increase the
disappointment of the Stork, made a great show of enjoyment.
 The hungry Stork was much displeased at the trick, but he was a
calm, even-tempered fellow and saw no good in flying into a rage.
Instead, not long afterward, he invited the Fox to dine with him in turn.
The Fox arrived promptly at the time that had been set, and the Stork
served a fish dinner that had a very
appetizing smell. But it was served in a
tall jar with a very narrow neck. The Stork
could easily get at the food with his long
bill, but all the Fox could do was to lick
the outside of the jar, and sniff at the
delicious odor. And when the Fox lost his
temper, the Stork said calmly:
“Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can
stand the same treatment yourself.”

People will treat you the same way you treat them.

The Shepherd Boy & the Wolf

A Shepherd Boy tended his

master's Sheep near a dark forest not
far from the village. Soon he found
life in the pasture very dull. All he
could do to amuse himself was to talk
to his dog or play on his shepherd's
pipe.
One day as he sat watching the
Sheep and the quiet forest, and
thinking what he would do should he
see a Wolf, he thought of a plan to
amuse himself.
His Master had told him to call
for help should a Wolf attack the
flock, and the Villagers would drive it
away. So now, though he had not seen
anything that even looked like a Wolf,
he ran toward the village shouting at
the top of his voice, "Wolf! Wolf!"
 As he expected, the Villagers who heard the cry dropped their
work and ran in great excitement to the pasture. But when they got
there, they found the Boy doubled up with laughter at the trick he
had played on them.
A few days later the Shepherd Boy again shouted, "Wolf!
Wolf!" Again, the Villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at
again.
Then one evening as the sun was setting behind the forest and
the shadows were creeping out over the pasture; a Wolf really did
spring from the underbrush and fall upon the Sheep.
In terror the Boy ran toward the village shouting "Wolf! Wolf!"
But though the Villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him
as they had before. "He cannot fool us again," they said.
The Wolf killed a great many of the Boy's sheep and then
slipped away into the forest.

Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth.

The Milkmaid & Her Pail

A Milkmaid had been out to milk the
cows and was returning from the field with
the shining milk pail balanced nicely on her
head. As she walked along, her pretty head
was busy with plans for the days to come.

"This good, rich milk," she mused,

"will give me plenty of cream to churn. The
butter I make I will
take to market, and
with the money I get
for it I will buy a lot of eggs for hatching.
How nice it will be when they are all
hatched and the yard is full of fine young
chicks. Then when May Day comes, I will
sell them, and with the money I'll buy a
lovely new dress to wear to the fair. All the young men will
look at me. They will come and try to make love to me, —but I
shall very quickly send them about their business!"

As she thought of how she would settle that matter, she

tossed her head scornfully, and down fell the pail of milk to the
ground. And all the milk flowed out, and with-it vanished
butter and eggs and chicks and new dress and all the
milkmaid's pride.

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

The Fox & the Monkey

At a great meeting of the

Animals, who had gathered to
elect a new ruler, the Monkey
was asked to dance. This he did
so well, with a thousand funny
capers and grimaces, that the
Animals were carried entirely off
their feet with enthusiasm, and
then and there, elected him their
king.
The Fox did not vote for the Monkey and was much
disgusted with the Animals for electing so unworthy a ruler.
One day he found a trap with a bit of meat in it. Hurrying
to King Monkey, he told him he had found a rich treasure,
which he had not touched because it belonged by right to his
majesty the Monkey.
 The greedy Monkey followed the Fox to the trap. As soon
as he saw the meat he grasped eagerly for it, only to find
himself held fast in the trap. The Fox stood off and laughed.
"You pretend to be our king," he
said, "and cannot even take care of
yourself!"
Shortly after that, another
election among the Animals was held.

The true leader proves himself by his qualities.

Belling the Cat

The Mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free

themselves of their enemy, the Cat. At least they wished to find
some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have
time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they
lived in such constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared
stir from their dens by night or day.
Many plans were discussed, but none of them was thought
good enough. At last, a very young Mouse got up and said:
"I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be
successful.
 All we have to do is to hang a bell about the Cat's neck.
When we hear the bell ringing, we will know immediately that
our enemy is coming."
All the Mice were much surprised that they had not thought
of such a plan before. But in the midst of the rejoicing over their
good fortune, an old Mouse arose and said:
"I will say that the plan of the young Mouse is very good.
But let me ask one question: Who will bell the Cat?"

It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it.
Some things are easier said than done.

The Town Mouse & the Country Mouse

A Town Mouse once visited a relative
who lived in the country. For lunch the
Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots,
and acorns, with a dash of cold water for
drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly,
nibbling a little of this and a little of that,
and by her manner making it very plain that
she ate the simple food only to be polite.

After the meal the friends had a long

talk, or rather the Town Mouse talked about
her life in the city while the Country Mouse
listened. They then went to bed in a cozy
nest in the hedgerow and slept in quiet and
comfort until morning. In her sleep the
Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town
Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had
described for her. So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the
Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, she gladly said yes.
When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived,
they found on the table in the dining room the leavings of a very fine
banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses,
indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine. But just as
the Country Mouse was about to nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard
a Cat mew loudly and scratch at the door. In great fear the Mice
scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time,
hardly daring to breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast,
the door opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the table,
followed by the House Dog.
 The Country Mouse stopped in the
Town Mouse's den only long enough to pick
up her carpet bag and umbrella.
"You may have luxuries and dainties
that I have not," she said as she hurried
away, "but I prefer my plain food and simple
life in the country with the peace and
security that go with it."

Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty.