The Dolphins quarrelled with the Whales, and before
very long they began fighting with one another.
The battle was very fierce, and had lasted some time
without any sign of coming to an end, when a Sprat
thought that perhaps he could stop it; so he stepped
in and tried to persuade them to give up fighting
and make friends. But one of the Dolphins said
to him contemptuously, “We would rather go on
fighting till we’re all killed than be reconciled
by a Sprat like you!”
A Fox and a Monkey were on the road together, and
fell into a dispute as to which of the two was the
better born. They kept it up for some time, till
they came to a place where the road passed through
a cemetery full of monuments, when the Monkey stopped
and looked about him and gave a great sigh. “Why
do you sigh?” said the Fox. The Monkey
pointed to the tombs and replied, “All the monuments
that you see here were put up in honour of my forefathers,
who in their day were eminent men.” The
Fox was speechless for a moment, but quickly recovering
he said, “Oh! don’t stop at any lie, sir;
you’re quite safe: I’m sure none
of your ancestors will rise up and expose you.”
Boasters brag most when they
cannot be detected.
There was once a man who had an Ass and a Lap-dog.
The Ass was housed in the stable with plenty of oats
and hay to eat and was as well off as an ass could
be. The little Dog was made a great pet of by
his master, who fondled him and often let him lie
in his lap; and if he went out to dinner, he would
bring back a tit-bit or two to give him when he ran
to meet him on his return. The Ass had, it is
true, a good deal of work to do, carting or grinding
the corn, or carrying the burdens of the farm:
and ere long he became very jealous, contrasting his
own life of labour with the ease and idleness of the
Lap-dog. At last one day he broke his halter,
and frisking into the house just as his master sat
down to dinner, he pranced and capered about, mimicking
the frolics of the little favourite, upsetting the
table and smashing the crockery with his clumsy efforts.
Not content with that, he even tried to jump on his
master’s lap, as he had so often seen the dog
allowed to do. At that the servants, seeing the
danger their master was in, belaboured the silly Ass
with sticks and cudgels, and drove him back to his
stable half dead with his beating. “Alas!”
he cried, “all this I have brought on myself.
Why could I not be satisfied with my natural and honourable
position, without wishing to imitate the ridiculous
antics of that useless little Lap-dog?”
A Fir-tree was boasting to a Bramble, and said, somewhat
contemptuously, “You poor creature, you are of
no use whatever. Now, look at me: I am useful
for all sorts of things, particularly when men build
houses; they can’t do without me then.”
But the Bramble replied, “Ah, that’s all
very well: but you wait till they come with axes
and saws to cut you down, and then you’ll wish
you were a Bramble and not a Fir.”
