"Pray forgive me," meekly answered the Lamb; "I should be sorry in any way to
displease you, but as the stream runs from you toward me, you will see that such
cannot be the case."
"That's all very well," said the Wolf; "but you know you spoke ill of me behind
my back a year ago."
"Nay, believe me," replied the Lamb, "I was not then born."
"It must have been your brother, then," growled the Wolf.
"It cannot have been, for I never had any," answered the Lamb.
"I know it was one of your lot," rejoined the Wolf, "so make no more such idle
excuses." He then seized the poor Lamb, carried him off to the woods, and ate
him, but before the poor creature died he gasped out, feebly, "Any excuse will
serve a tyrant."
Aesop and His Fellow Servants
A merchant, who was at one time Aesop's master, on a certain occasion ordered
all things to be made ready for an intended journey. When the burdens were
divided among the Servants, Aesop asked that he might have the lightest. He
was told to choose for himself, and he took up the basket of bread. The other
Servants laughed, for that was the largest and heaviest of all the burdens.
When dinner-time came, Aesop, who had with some difficulty sustained his
load, was told to distribute an equal share all around. He did so, and this
lightened his burden one half, and when supper-time arrived he got rid of the
rest.
For the remainder of the journey he had nothing but the empty basket to carry,
and the other Servants, whose loads seemed to get heavier and heavier at every
step, could not but applaud his ingenuity.
The Kite and the Pigeons