The Man and the Serpent

A Countryman’s son by accident trod upon a Serpent’s
tail, which turned and bit him so that he died. The father
in a rage got his axe, and pursuing the Serpent, cut off part
of its tail. So the Serpent in revenge began stinging several
of the Farmer’s cattle and caused him severe loss. Well, the
Farmer thought it best to make it up with the Serpent, and
brought food and honey to the mouth of its lair, and said
to it: ‘Let’s forget and forgive; perhaps you were right to
punish my son, and take vengeance on my cattle, but
surely I was right in trying to revenge him; now that we
are both satisfied why should not we be friends again?’
‘No, no,’ said the Serpent; ‘take away your gifts; you
can never forget the death of your son, nor I the loss of
my tail.’
Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.

The Wolf and the Crane

A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed,
when suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat
and he could not swallow it. He soon felt terrible pain in
his throat, and ran up and down groaning and groaning
and seeking for something to relieve the pain. He tried to
induce every one he met to remove the bone. ‘I would
give anything,’ said he, ‘if you would take it out.’ At last
the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lie on his
side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then the
Crane put its long neck down the Wolf’s throat, and with
its beak loosened the bone, till at last it got it out.
‘Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?’
said the Crane.
The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: ‘Be
content. You have put your head inside a Wolf’s mouth
and taken it out again in safety; that ought to be reward
enough for you.’
Gratitude and greed go not together.

The Lion’s Share

The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the
Jackal, and the Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at
last they surprised a Stag, and soon took its life. Then
came the question how the spoil should be divided.
‘Quarter me this Stag,’ roared the Lion; so the other
animals skinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion
took his stand in front of the carcass and pronounced
judgment: The first quarter is for me in my capacity as
King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share
comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth
quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you
will dare to lay a paw upon it.’
‘Humph,’ grumbled the Fox as he walked away with
his tail between his legs; but he spoke in a low growl
.’You may share the labours of the great, but you will not
share the spoil.’

The Dog and the Shadow

It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was
carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on
his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a
running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw
his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking
it was another dog with another piece of meat, he made
up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap at the
shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the
piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was
never seen more.
Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the
shadow.

The Wolf and the Lamb

Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a
hillside, when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb
just beginning to drink a little lower down. ‘There’s my
supper,’ thought he, ‘if only I can find some excuse to
seize it.’ Then he called out to the Lamb, ‘How dare you
muddle the water from which I am drinking?’
‘Nay, master, nay,’ said Lambikin; ‘if the water be
muddy up there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs
down from you to me.’
‘Well, then,’ said the Wolf, ‘why did you call me bad
names this time last year?’
‘That cannot be,’ said the Lamb; ‘I am only six months
old.’
‘I don’t care,’ snarled the Wolf; ‘if it was not you it was
your father;’ and with that he rushed upon the poor little
Lamb and .WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA
WARRA .ate her all up. But before she died she gasped
out .’Any excuse will serve a tyrant.’