Leo Tolstoy

“ Listen, Wolf ! If you catch me again asleep in front of the yard, do not wait for the wedding."
THE GNAT AND THE LION A Gnat came to a Lion, and said: "Do you think that you have more strength than I? You are mistaken ! What does your strength consist in? Is it that you scratch with your claws, and gnaw with your teeth ? That is the way the women quarrel with their husbands. I am stronger than you : if you wish let us fight! "
And the Gnat sounded his horn, and began to bite the Lion on his bare cheeks and his nose. The Lion struck his face with his paws and scratched it with his claws. ”

“ Oh, how many of my brothers are perishing through hunger ! All evil comes from hunger."
The Dove said :
" According to my opinion, the evil does not come from hunger, but from love. If we lived singly, the trouble would not be so bad. One head is not poor, and if it is, it is only one. But here we live in pairs. And you come to like your mate so much that you have no rest : you keep thinking of her all the time, wondering whether she has had enough to eat, and whether she is warm. ”

“ Let a branch crackle in the forest, or a leaf rustle, and I am all atremble with fear, and my heart flutters as though it wanted to jump out, and I fly as fast as I can. Again, let a hare run by, or a bird flap its wings, or a dry twig break off, and you think that it is a beast, and you run straight up against him. ”

“ And when your mate flies away from you, you feel en- tirely lost, and you keep thinking that a hawk may have carried her off, or men may have caught her ; and you start out to find her, and fly to your ruin, --either into the hawk's claws, or into a snare. And when your mate is lost, nothing gives you any joy. You do not eat or drink, and all the time search and weep. Oh, so many of us perish in this way ! All the evil is not from hunger, but from love. ”

“ Or you run away from a dog and run into the hands of a man. Frequently you get frightened and run, not knowing whither, and at full speed rush down a steep hill, and get killed. We have no rest. All the evil comes from terror. ”

“ When the Lion stretched out the Wolf, the Fox laughed, and said :
" That's it, my friend : masters ought to be led to do good, not evil."
THE LION, THE ASS, AND THE FOX The Lion, the Ass, and the Fox went out to hunt. They caught a large number of animals, and the Lion told the Ass to divide them up. The Ass divided them into three equal parts and said : " Now, take them ! "
The Lion grew angry, ate up the Ass, and told the Fox to divide them up anew. The Fox collected them all into one heap, and left a small bit for herself. ”

“ THE FALCON AND THE COCK The Falcon was used to the master, and came to his hand when he was called ; the Cock ran away from his master and cried when people went up to him. So the Falcon said to the Cock :
" In you Cocks there is no gratitude ; one can see that you are of a common breed. You go to your masters only when you are hungry. It is different with us wild birds. We have much strength, and we can fly faster than anybody ; still we do not fly away from people, but of our own accord go to their hands when we are called. We remember that they feed us." ”

“ The Water-sprite brought out a gold axe, and asked : " Is this your axe ? "
The Peasant was glad, and called out : " It is mine, mine ! "
The Water-sprite did not give him the gold axe, and did not bring him back his own either, because he had told an untruth.
THE RAVEN AND THE FOX A Raven got himself a piece of meat, and sat down on a tree. The Fox wanted to get it from him. She went up to him, and said :
"Oh, Raven, as I look at you, - - from your size and beauty, you ought to be a king ! And you would certainly be a king, if you had a good voice." ”

“ THE HEN AND THE GOLDEN EGGS A master had a Hen which laid golden eggs. He wanted more gold at once, and so killed the Hen (he thought that inside of her there was a large lump of gold) , but she was just like any other hen.
THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN An Ass put on a lion's skin, and all thought it was a lion. Men and animals ran away from him. A wind sprang up, and the skin was blown aside, and the Ass could be seen. People ran up and beat the Ass. ”

“ The Peasant went to the shop, bought the oats, and drove home. When he came home, he gave the Horse some oats. The Horse ate them and thought :
" How stupid men are ! They are fond of exercising their wits on us, but they have less sense than we. ”

“ With your bark you only drive us against the hunter : he hears where we are running ; and he rushes out with his gun and kills us, and does not give you anything."
The Harrier said :
" That is not the reason why I bark. I bark because, when I scent your odour, I am angry, and happy because I am about to catch you ; I do not know why, but I cannot keep from barking."
THE OAK AND THE HAZELBUSH An old Oak dropped an acorn under a Hazelbush. The Hazelbush said to the Oak :
" Have you not enough space under your own branches? Drop your acorns in an open space. ”

“ It is hard to get the best of you. Besides, my stom- ach is empty, so I will devour you."
THE LION, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX An old, sick Lion was lying in his den. All the ani- mals came to see the king, but the Fox kept away. So the Wolf was glad of the chance, and began to slander the Fox before the Lion.
" She does not esteem you in the least," he said, " she has not come once to see the king." ”

“ THE CORN-CRAKE AND HIS MATE A Cora-crake had made a nest in the meadow late in the year, and at mowing time his Mate was still sitting on her eggs. Early in the morning the peasants came to the meadow, took off their coats, whetted their scythes, and started one after another to mow down the grass and to put it down in rows. The Corn-crake flew up to see what the mowers were doing. When he saw a peasant swing his scythe and cut a snake in two, he rejoiced and flew back to his Mate and said :
" Don't fear the peasants ! They have come to cut the snakes to pieces ”

“ You Fishes do not know that a calamity is in store for you : I have heard the people say that they are going to let off the pond, and catch every one of you. I know of a nice little pond back of the mountain. ”

“ The Dove fluttered upwards and flew away.
THE TURTLE AND THE EAGLE A Turtle asked an Eagle to teach her how to fly. The Eagle advised her not to try, as she was not fit for it ; but she insisted. The Eagle took her in his claws, raised her up, and dropped her : she fell on stones and broke to pieces.
THE POLECAT A Polecat entered a smithy and began to lick the filings. Blood began to flow from the Polecat's mouth, but he was glad and continued to lick ; he thought that the blood was coming from the iron, and lost his whole tongue.
THE LION AND THE MOUSE A Lion was sleeping. ”

“ But the Crab saw the fish-bones on the ground, and so squeezed the Heron's neck with his claws, and choked her to death. Then he crawled back to the pond, and told the Fishes.
THE WATER - SPRITE AND THE PEARL A Man was rowing in a boat, and dropped a costly pearl into the sea. The Man returned to the shore, took a pail, and began to draw up the water and to pour it out on the land. He drew the water and poured it out for three days without stopping.
On the fourth day the Water-sprite came out of the sea, and asked :
" Why are you drawing the water ? " ”

“ He died on the spot, and other wolves ate up the man, the goat, the boar, and the Wolf.
THE BIRDS IN THE NET A Hunter set out a net near a lake and caught a number of birds. The birds were large, and they raised the net and flew away with it. The Hunter ran after them. A Peasant saw the Hunter running, and said :
" Where are you running ? How can you catch up with the birds, while you are on foot ? ”

“ So it would have been better if we had remained at home from the start : he could have been sitting on the oven, and I eating oats."
THE TWO HORSES Two Horses were drawing their carts. The Front Horse pulled well, but the Hind Horse kept stopping all the time. The load of the Hind Horse was transferred to the front cart ”