At this moment a Sparrow, who had overheard their conversation, said to them:
"You may go on praising each other till you are hoarse, my friends; but your
music is utterly worthless."
Why was it, that, not fearing to sin, the Cuckoo praised the Cock?
Simply because the Cock praised the Cuckoo.
The Peasant and the Robber
A Peasant who was beginning to stock his little farm had bought a cow and a
milk-pail at the fair, and was going quietly home by a lonely path through the
forest, when he suddenly fell into the hands of a Robber. The Robber stripped
him as bare as a lime-tree.
"Have mercy!" cried the Peasant. "I am utterly ruined. You have reduced me to
beggary. For a whole year I have worked to buy this dear little cow. I could
hardly bear to wait for this day to arrive."
"Very good," replied the Robber, touched with compassion; "Don't cry out so
against me. After all, I shall not want to milk your cow; so I'll give you back
your milk-pail."