a goat strayed away from the flock, tempted by a patch of clover. the goatherd tried to call it back, but in vain. it would not obey him. then he picked up a stone and threw it, breaking the goat's horn.
the goatherd was frightened.
"do not tell the master," he begged the goat.
"no," said the goat, "that broken horn can speak for itself!"
wicked deeds will not stay hid.
a miser had buried his gold in a secret place in his garden. every day he went to the spot, dug up the treasure and counted it piece by piece to make sure it was all there. he made so many trips that a thief, who had been observing him, guessed what it was the miser had hidden, and one night quietly dug up the treasure and made off with it.
when the miser discovered his loss, he was overcome with grief and despair. he groaned and cried and tore his hair.
a passerby heard his cries and asked what had happened.
"my gold! o my gold!" cried the miser, wildly, "someone has robbed me!"
"your gold! there in that hole? why did you put it there? why did you not keep it in the house where you could easily get it when you had to buy things?"
"buy!" screamed the miser angrily. "why, i never touched the gold. i couldn't think of spending any of it."
the stranger picked up a large stone and threw it into the hole.
"if that is the case," he said, "cover up that stone. it is worth just as much to you as the treasure you lost!"
a possession is worth no more than the use we make of it.
there was once a wolf who got very little to eat because the dogs of the village were so wide awake and watchful. he was really nothing but skin and bones, and it made him very downhearted to think of it.
one night this wolf happened to fall in with a fine fat house dog who had wandered a little too far from home. the wolf would gladly have eaten him then and there, but the house dog looked strong enough to leave his marks should he try it. so the wolf spoke very humbly to the dog, complimenting him on his fine appearance.
"you can be as well-fed as i am if you want to," replied the dog. "leave the woods; there you live miserably. why, you have to fight hard for every bite you get. follow my example and you will get along beautifully."
"what must i do?" asked the wolf.
"hardly anything," answered the house dog. "chase people who carry canes, bark at beggars,[pg 83] and fawn on the people of the house. in return you will get tidbits of every kind, chicken bones, choice bits of meat, sugar, cake, and much more beside, not to speak of kind words and caresses."
the wolf had such a beautiful vision of his coming happiness that he almost wept. but just then he noticed that the hair on the dog's neck was worn and the skin was chafed.
"what is that on your neck?"
"nothing at all," replied the dog.
"what! nothing!"
"oh, just a trifle!"
"but please tell me."
"perhaps you see the mark of the collar to which my chain is fastened."
"what! a chain!" cried the wolf. "don't you go wherever you please?"
"not always! but what's the difference?" replied the dog.
"all the difference in the world! i don't care a rap for your feasts and i wouldn't take all the tender young lambs in the world at that price." and away ran the wolf to the woods.
there is nothing worth so much as liberty.
a fox, swimming across a river, was barely able to reach the bank, where he lay bruised and exhausted from his struggle with the swift current. soon a swarm of blood-sucking flies settled on him; but he lay quietly, still too weak to run away from them.
a hedgehog happened by. "let me drive the flies away," he said kindly.
"no, no!" exclaimed the fox, "do not disturb them! they have taken all they can hold. if you drive them away, another greedy swarm will come and take the little blood i have left."
better to bear a lesser evil than to risk a greater in removing it.
a bat blundered into the nest of a weasel, who ran up to catch and eat him. the bat begged for his life, but the weasel would not listen.
"you are a mouse," he said, "and i am a sworn enemy of mice. every mouse i catch, i am going to eat!"
"but i am not a mouse!" cried the bat. "look at my wings. can mice fly? why, i am only a bird! please let me go!"
the weasel had to admit that the bat was not a mouse, so he let him go. but a few days later, the foolish bat went blindly into the nest of another weasel. this weasel happened to be a bitter enemy of birds, and he soon had the bat under his claws, ready to eat him.
"you are a bird," he said, "and i am going to eat you!"
"what," cried the bat, "i, a bird! why, all birds have feathers! i am nothing but a mouse. 'down with all cats,' is my motto!"
and so the bat escaped with his life a second time.
set your sails with the wind.
