Chapter 197 Adorned with his fine trappings, a stallion, who was on his way to war, came thundering along the road and aroused the envy of a poor ass, who was trudging along the same route with a heavy load on his back.“Get out of my way,” cried the proud horse, “or I’ll trample you […]
Chapter 196 A thrifty old widow had two hired maids whom she used to call to work at the first crow of the cock. The maids hated getting up so early in the morning and decided to wring the cock’s neck, since he was the one who woke their mistress and was the cause of
Chapter 195 A kid who had strayed from the herd was pursued by a wolf. When he saw that there was no hope of escape, he turned around and said to the wolf, “I must admit, indeed, that I am your victim, and since my life will now be very short, let it be a
Chapter 194 Some bees had built their comb in the hollow trunk of an oak tree. However, the drones claimed that they had done all the work and the comb belonged to them, not the bees. They brought their case to court before judge wasp, who knew something about both parties and thus addressed them
Chapter 193 A falconer caught a partridge in his net, and the bird cried out in sorrow, “Let me go, good falconer, and I promise you that I will serve you as a decoy and attract other partridges intoyour net.”“No,” the man said. “I might have done something else with you, but now I’m definitely
Chapter 192 Some cranes settled down in a farmer’s field that had recently been sown with wheat, and made it their feeding ground. For some time the farmer frightened them away by threatening them with an empty sling. But when the cranes discovered that he was only slinging air, they were no longer afraid of
Chapter 191 Once upon a time the mice were so distressed by the way a particular cat was persecuting them that they called a meeting to decide upon the best way to get rid of this perpetual annoyance. Many plans were discussed and rejected. At last a young mouse got up and proposed that a
Chapter 190 Some dogs, famished with hunger, saw some cowhides that a skinner had left in the bottom of a stream and tried desperately to get them. Since they were unable to reach them, however, they decided to drink up the stream to obtain the hides. Unfortunately they all burst from drinking before they ever
Chapter 189 One summer’s day, when everyone was suffering from extreme heat, a lion and a goat came to a small fountain at the same time to quench their thirst. They began right away to quarrel as to which one was entitled to drink the water first, and it seemed that each one would resist
Chapter 188 A long time ago, when the frogs led a free and easy life in the lakes and ponds, they became disgruntled because everyone lived according to his own whim, and chaos reigned. Consequently, they gathered together and petitioned Jupiter to let them have a king who would bring order into their lives and
Chapter 187 A foolish young heir, who had just taken possession of his wise father’s estate, had all the hedges surrounding his vineyard torn out because they did not bear any grapes. By tearing down these fences, however, he lay his grounds open to man and beast alike, and all his vines were soon destroyed.
Chapter 186 An oak that had been uprooted by a storm was carried down a river to the banks where many reeds were growing. The oak was astonished to see that things so slight and frail had withstood the storm when so great and strong a tree as he himself had been uprooted.“It’s really not
Chapter 185 A lion and a bear pounced upon a fawn at the same time and had a long, grueling fight over it. The struggle was so hard and even, that both of them eventually lay half-blinded and half-dead on the ground without enough strength to touch the prize that was stretched out between them.
Chapter 184 A monkey was sitting high up in a tree when he saw some fishermen laying their nets in a river. No sooner did the men set their nets and retreat a short distance to eat lunch than the monkey came down from the tree, thinking that he would try his hand at the
Chapter 183 After a gnat had been buzzing about the head of a bull for several minutes, he finally settled down upon a horn and begged the bull’s pardon for disturbing him. “If my weight causes you any inconvenience at all,” he said, “just tell me, and I’ll be off in a moment.”“Oh, don’t trouble