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

a kite, that had kept sailing around a dovecote for many days to no purpose, was at last forced by hunger to have recourse to stratagem. approaching the pigeons in his gentlest manner, he described to them in an eloquent speech how much better their state would be if they had a king with some firmness about him, and how well such a ruler would shield them from the attacks of the hawk and other enemies.

the pigeons, deluded by this show of reason, admitted him to the dovecote as their king. they found, however, that he thought it part of his kingly prerogative to eat one of their number every day, and they soon repented of their credulity in having let him in.