"
* * * * *
THE LION AND THE MOUSE
A mouse happened to run into the mouth of a sleeping lion, who roused
himself, caught him, and was just about eating him, when the little
fellow begged him to let him go, saying, "If I am saved, I shall be
everlastingly grateful." So, with a smile, the lion let him off. It
befell him not long after to be saved by the mouse's gratitude, for
when he was caught by some hunters and bound by ropes to a tree, the
mouse, hearing his roaring groans, came and gnawed the ropes, and set
him free, saying, "You laughed at me once, as if you could receive no
return from me, but now, you see, it is you who have to be grateful to
me."
The story shows that there come sudden changes of affairs, when the
most powerful owe everything to the weakest.
* * * * *
THE FOX AND THE GRAPES
A hungry fox discovered some bunches of grapes hanging from a vine
high up a tree, and, as he gazed, longed to get at them, and could
not; so he left them hanging there and went off muttering, "They're
sour grapes."
* * * * *
THE FROG AND THE OX
An ox, grazing in a swampy meadow, chanced to set his foot among a
parcel of young frogs, and crushed nearly the whole brood to death.
Pages:
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267