“ The Lion arose and followed the Wild Dog, and when they were come to where the hunter was, the hunter prepared himself: he had put on his forest garment, had sewn the bill of a long bird to his cap, and put it on his head, and he walked as a bird. The Wild Dog, seeing him, said to the Lion:
"Brother Lion, yonder is that black bird. Go and catch him, and when thou hast caught him, please give me one of his legs, for I want it for a charm." ”

“ The Bear should hold himself prepared to storm;
The Fox all secret stratagems should fix;
The Monkey should amuse the foe by tricks.
"Dismiss," said one, "the blockhead Asses,
And Hares, too cowardly and fleet."
"No," said the King; "I use all classes;
Without their aid my force were incomplete.
The Ass shall be our trumpeter, to scare
Our enemy. And then the nimble Hare
Our royal bulletins shall homeward bear."
A monarch provident and wise
Will hold his subjects all of consequence,
And know in each what talent lies.
There's nothing useless to a man of sense. ”

“ Suppose I go and see," said the Mouse-deer. Then the Mouse-deer went to see what was wrong, and asked: "What is the matter with you, Friend Elephant, that we hear you bellowing and bellowing every single day and every single night, just now, too, when the Rains are upon us? You are far too noisy."
But the Elephant said: "It is no mere empty noise, Friend Mouse-deer; I have got into a dreadful scrape." "What sort of a scrape?" inquired the Mouse-deer. "I made a wager with Friend Tiger about shaking down a Monkey, and he beat me." "What was the stake?" asked the Mouse-deer. ”

“ I have eaten up one hundred elephants, a hundred tigers, a thousand wolves, and ninety-nine lions. One more lion has been wanting. I have waited long and patiently. Heaven has, after all, been kind to me," said the Goat, and shook his horns and his beard, and made a start as if he were about to spring upon the Lion.
The latter said to himself: "This animal looks like a Goat, but it does not talk like one, so it is very likely some wicked spirit in this shape. Prudence often serves us better than valour, so for the present I shall return to the wood," and he turned back. ”

“ The Farmer and the Stork
A Farmer placed nets on his newly sown plough lands, and caught a quantity of Cranes, which came to pick up his seed. With them he trapped a Stork also.
The Stork, having his leg fractured by the net, earnestly besought the Farmer to spare his life. "Pray, save me, master," he said, "and let me go free this once. My broken limb should excite your pity. Besides, I am no Crane. I am a Stork, a bird of excellent character; and see how I love and slave for my father and mother. Look, too, at my feathers, they are not the least like to those of a Crane." ”

“ Mule, Jackal, and Lion
The Mule, the Jackal, and the Lion went in company.
"We will eat the one whose race is bad," they said to each other.
"Lion, who is your father?"
"My father is a lion, and my mother is a lioness."
"And you, Jackal, what is your father?"
"My father is a jackal, and my mother too."
"And you, Mule, what is your father?"
"My father is an ass, and my mother is a mare."
"Your race is bad; we will eat you."
He answered them: "I will consult an old man. If he says that my race is bad, you may devour me." ”

“ And to-morrow I shall forget that I drank to-day.'
"'Boastful one,' said the Mosquitoes, 'we do not believe that you have the power to destroy all our people. If you wish battle, we shall see. We know your name is great and that all animals bow their heads before you; but our people can kill you.'
"The Lion jumped high in his rage and said, 'No other creature in the wilderness has dared to say these things to me—the king. Have I come to the vile well of the silly Mosquitoes for wisdom?' And he held his head high, and gave the mighty roar of battle, and made ready to kill all the Mosquitoes. ”

“ The Lion nodded the head of approval, and said: "The people may be at peace in the just reign of that ruler who does not place his head on the pillow of repose." He then sent for the Tiger, and having distinguished him with special honours, committed that jungle to him, and, having bestowed on him the place of his sire, conferred on him, in addition, the dignity of being his heir.
And the use of this fable is, that thou mayest learn that to no one does the sun of his wish rise from the eastern quarter of hope without the diligent use of great exertion. ”

“ One day, when at early dawn the Eagle is hastening back from the chase, bringing a rich breakfast to his family, as he drops down from the sky he sees—his oak has fallen, and has crushed beneath it his mate and his little ones!
"Wretched creature that I am!" he cries, anguish blotting out from him the light; "for my pride has fate so terribly punished me, and because I gave no heed to wise counsel. But could one expect that wise counsel could possibly come from a miserable Mole?" ”

“ So, as thou art distinguished amongst those of thy own species, noted for skill in religious matters, and as a repository of confidence, and as the birds here are always speaking before me in praise of thy good qualities, I am come to hear from thy mouth, who art so old in wisdom, the duties of religion. Thou, master, art acquainted with the customs of life; but these young birds, who are in ignorance, would fain drive me, who am a stranger, away. The duties of a housekeeper are thus enjoined:
"Hospitality is commanded to be exercised, even toward an enemy, when he cometh to thine house. ”

“ Quit this forest, where you and your fellows live so wretchedly, and often die with hunger. Follow me, and you will fare much better.'
"What shall I have to do?" asked the Wolf.
"Almost nothing," answered the Dog; "only chase away the beggars and fawn upon the folks of the house. You will, in return, be paid with all sorts of nice things—bones of fowls and pigeons—to say nothing of many a friendly pat on the head."
The Wolf, at the picture of so much comfort, nearly shed tears of joy. They trotted off together, but, as they went along, the Wolf noticed a bare spot on the Dog's neck. ”

“ Said Reynard, "Would you have it thought,
You Ape, that you can fill a throne,
And guard the rights of all, alone.
Not knowing how to guard your own?"
The beasts all gathered from the farce,
That stuff for kings is very scarce.
The Rat and the Oyster
A country Rat of little brains,
Grown weary of inglorious rest,
Left home with all its straws and grains,
Resolved to know beyond his nest.
When peeping through the nearest fence,
"How big the world is, how immense!"
He cried; "there rise the Alps, and that
Is doubtless famous Ararat." ”

“ A king must be a judge and a minister as well as a warrior. The Panther is good for nothing but fighting; so it, too, is unfit to educate royal children.
To be brief, not a single beast, not even the Elephant himself, who was as much esteemed in the forest as Plato used to be in Greece, seemed wise enough to satisfy the Lion.
By good fortune, or the opposite—we shall find out which—another king, the king of birds, the Eagle, an old acquaintance and friend of the Lion, heard of that monarch's difficulty, and, wishing to do his friend a great kindness, offered to educate the young Lion himself. ”

“ We might say that it is a lost art, but perhaps the world is too old to be taught in that precise way, and though the story writers are as busy as ever, the story-tellers (alas!) are growing fewer and fewer.
If your ear has been opened by faery tales you will have learned already to listen to and interpret a hundred voices unheard by others. A comprehension of faery language leads one to understand animal conversation with perfect ease, so open the little green doors that lead into the forest, the true Land of Fable. Open them softly and you will hear the Beasts talk Wisdom. ”

“ The Wolf sees a Cat on a partition fence, and says pleadingly, "Vaska, my friend, tell me quickly, which of the moujiks here is the kindest, so that I may hide myself from my evil foes? Listen to the cry of the dogs and the terrible sound of the horns? All that noise is actually made in chase of me!"
"Go quickly, and ask Stefan," says Vaska, the Cat; "he is a very kind man."
"Quite true; only I have torn the skin off one of his sheep."
"Well, then, you can try Demian." ”

“ The Cat of the old woman inquired: "What sort of a thing may fat meat be? and what kind of relish has bread, made of fine flour? I, during my whole life, have never seen nor tasted aught save the old woman's broths, and mouse's flesh."
The Neighbour-Cat laughed, and said: "Therefore it is that one cannot distinguish thee from a spider, and this form and appearance that thou hast is a reproach to our whole race. If thou shouldst see the court of the Sultan and smell the odour of those delicious viands, thou wouldst acquire a fresh form." ”

“ The Fox is clever, but it is terribly addicted to lying, and a liar is perpetually getting into trouble. "No," thought the Lion, "the science of falsehood is not one which princes ought to study."
Should he trust him to the Mole? All who speak of that animal say that it is an extreme admirer of order and regularity; that it never takes a step till it has examined the ground before it, and that it cleans and shells with its own paws every grain of corn that comes to its table. In fact, the Mole has the reputation of being very great in small affairs ”

“ The Mule went to the Lion and the net fell and caught them both. At sunrise the Hunter came and found the Mule and the Lion in his net. The Mule begged earnestly and said, "Hunter, you know me and you know my mother. We are your friends and we do no wrong. Set me free, oh, hunter, set me free!"
The Hunter said, "No, I will not set you free. You may be good, but you are in bad company and must take what it brings. I will take you and the Lion both to the market place and sell you for silver. That is my right. I am a hunter. If you get in my net, that is your business. ”

“ The "Hitopadesa" was a very fountain of riches, as old as the hills themselves, precious and inexhaustible. In its innumerable translations it passed down the stream of time, and the fables known as Aesop's made their way among all races of people in the same marvellous way. No one knows whether Aesop—through the Assyrians with whom the Phrygians had commercial relations—borrowed his stories from the Orientals or whether they borrowed from him. One thing is certain, nothing persists so strongly and lives so long as a fable or folk tale. ”

“ One day the Partridge said: "O crazy, black-faced one! I observe that thou art ever hovering about me, and art always watching my motions. What is it that thou dost want?"
The Crow replied: "O thou of graceful manners and sweet smiling face, know that having conceived a desire to learn thy gait, I have followed thy steps for a long time past, and wish to acquire thy manner of walking, in order that I may place the foot of preeminence on the head of my fellows." ”

“ But the Lion held his head high with pride and anger and said, 'What are you, oh, small of the small? I will kill every one of your useless people. When I drink, I will open my mouth only a little wider, and you shall be swallowed like the water. ”

“ The Lion said to the Wild Dog that he did not fear any one in the forest except these four, viz., tree-leaves, grass, flies, and earth, and when the Wild Dog said, "There is certainly one stronger than thou," the Lion replied to the Wild Dog, "I kill the young ones of the elephant, the wild cow, and the leopard, and bring them to my children to be eaten. If I give one roar, all the beasts of the forest tremble, every one of them, on hearing me roar; none is greater than I within this forest." ”

“ O unfortunate! thy place is now in the possession of a Lion such that from terror of him the wild birds will not fly over that wilderness, and from fear of him the elephant will not approach. We have not strength to fight with him and thou too art not able to enter with him the arena of strife. Our opinion demands that thou shouldst betake thyself to his court, and with perfect loyalty enter his service. ”

“ You've quarrelled with all the village," cried Vaska to the Wolf. "What sort of protection can you hope for here? No, no; our moujiks are not so destitute of sense as to be willing to save you to their own hurt. And, really, you have only yourself to blame. What you have sown, that you must now reap."
The Eagle and the Mole
An Eagle and his mate flew into a deep forest and determined to make it their permanent abode. So they chose an oak, lofty and wide-spreading, and began to build themselves a nest on the top of it, hoping there to rear their young in the summer. ”

“ FABLES FROM THE HITOPADESA The Traveller and the Tiger
A traveller, through lust of gold, being plunged into an inextricable mire, is killed and devoured by an old tiger.
As I was travelling on the southern road, once upon a time, I saw an old Tiger seated upon the bank of a large river, with a bunch of kusa grass in his paw, calling out to every one who passed: "Ho! ho! traveller, take this golden bracelet," but every one was afraid to approach him to receive it. ”

“ He is the strongest of all animals. He catches many creatures for his food, but once he lost a battle with one of the least of the wilderness creatures. Do you know what it was?"
"A bird could fight and then fly away. Was it a bird?"
"No, my son."
"A man is stronger than a lion."
"No; do you not remember the woodcutter who could put down five strong men? One night a wilderness lion caught and killed him."
"Then what was the smallest of all creatures of the wilderness that battled with a lion?" ”