Look and see which way the
wind blows before you commit yourself.
A Dog and a Sow were arguing and each claimed that
its own young ones were finer than those of any other
animal. “Well,” said the Sow at last,
“mine can see, at any rate, when they come into
the world: but yours are born blind.”
A Crow was sitting on a branch of a tree with a piece
of cheese in her beak when a Fox observed her and
set his wits to work to discover some way of getting
the cheese. Coming and standing under the tree
he looked up and said, “What a noble bird I
see above me! Her beauty is without equal, the
hue of her plumage exquisite. If only her voice
is as sweet as her looks are fair, she ought without
doubt to be Queen of the Birds.” The Crow
was hugely flattered by this, and just to show the
Fox that she could sing she gave a loud caw. Down
came the cheese, of course, and the Fox, snatching
it up, said, “You have a voice, madam, I see:
what you want is wits.”
There was once a Groom who used to spend long hours
clipping and combing the Horse of which he had charge,
but who daily stole a portion of his allowance of
oats, and sold it for his own profit. The Horse
gradually got into worse and worse condition, and at
last cried to the Groom, “If you really want
me to look sleek and well, you must comb me less and
feed me more.”
A Wolf came upon a Lamb straying from the flock, and
felt some compunction about taking the life of so
helpless a creature without some plausible excuse;
so he cast about for a grievance and said at last,
“Last year, sirrah, you grossly insulted me.”
“That is impossible, sir,” bleated the
Lamb, “for I wasn’t born then.”
“Well,” retorted the Wolf, “you
feed in my pastures.” “That cannot
be,” replied the Lamb, “for I have never
yet tasted grass.” “You drink from
my spring, then,” continued the Wolf. “Indeed,
sir,” said the poor Lamb, “I have never
yet drunk anything but my mother’s milk.”
“Well, anyhow,” said the Wolf, “I’m
not going without my dinner”: and he sprang
upon the Lamb and devoured it without more ado.
A Peacock taunted a Crane with the dullness of her
plumage. “Look at my brilliant colours,”
said she, “and see how much finer they are than
your poor feathers.” “I am not denying,”
replied the Crane, “that yours are far gayer
than mine; but when it comes to flying I can soar
into the clouds, whereas you are confined to the earth
like any dunghill cock.”
A Cat heard that the Birds in an aviary were ailing.
So he got himself up as a doctor, and, taking with
him a set of the instruments proper to his profession,
presented himself at the door, and inquired after
the health of the Birds. “We shall do very
well,” they replied, without letting him in,
“when we’ve seen the last of you.”
