The Travellers and the Bear
Two Men, about to journey through a forest, agreed to stand by each other in any
dangers that might befall. They had not gone far before a savage Bear rushed out
from a thicket and stood in their path.
One of the Travellers, a light, nimble fellow, climbed up into a tree.
The other fell flat on his face and held his breath.
The Bear came up and smelled at him, and, taking him for dead, went off again
into the wood. The man in the tree then came down, and, rejoining his
companion, asked him, with a mischievous smile, what was the wonderful secret
that the Bear had whispered into his ear,
"Why," replied the other sulkily, "he told me to take care for the future and not
to put any confidence in such cowardly rascals as you are!"
The Fox Without a Tail
A Fox was once caught in a trap by his tail, and in order to get away was forced
to leave it behind him. Knowing that without a tail he would be a laughing-stock
for all his fellows, he resolved to try to induce them to part with theirs. At the
next assembly of Foxes, therefore, he made a speech on the unprofitableness of
tails in general, and the inconvenience of a Fox's tail in particular, adding that he
had never felt so easy as since he had given up his own.
When he had sat down, a sly old fellow rose, and waving his long brush with a
graceful air, said, with a sneer, that if, like the last speaker, he had been so
unfortunate as to lose his tail, nothing further would have been needed to
convince him; but till such an accident should happen, he should certainly vote
in favour of tails.
The Crab and Its Mother
One fine day two Crabs came out from their home to take a stroll on the sand.
"Child," said the mother, "you are walking very ungracefully. You should