Fifty Famous Fables Part 4

The crow gave a loud "caw!" As she did so, the meat fell from her mouth. The fox snapped it up quickly.

Poor crow, she saw when too late that the fox was only fooling her.

THE VAIN CROW

"I hate a black dress, no matter how glossy," said a proud crow. "I have made up my mind to be a peac.o.c.k."

As he said this, he flew away to a barnyard where he found some feathers which the peac.o.c.k had shed. He picked these up with his bill and placed them among his own feathers.

Then he marched back and forth, looking at his fine new coat. He even tried to walk like the peac.o.c.k.

The peafowls came into the yard. They did not know at first what to make of the sight. Then they saw that the crow was trying to dress and act as they did. They flew at him, calling, "Away with the cheat! Away with the cheat!" They pulled out all the peac.o.c.k feathers and many of his own glossy black ones.

He was glad to get away alive, and flew back to his own family and old friends. But one of the crows had seen him in the barnyard and told the others how silly he had been acting.

"Where have you been?" they cried. "We know. We know. We will not have you in this flock. Away! away!" And they drove him from them.

Even the owls, whom he had always hated, made eyes at him and screamed, "Ch-ea-t! ch-ea-t!"

He flew into the forest. Here in a tree by a pond he lived a lonely life.

The tree-toads learned their queer song from him. This is his warning to them. "Don't, don't-be-cheat! Don't, don't-be-cheat!"

THE HORSE AND THE LOADED DONKEY

A man once owned a beautiful black horse and a very ugly donkey.

The horse always had plenty to eat and was well groomed, but the donkey was very poorly cared for.

One bright morning both animals were made ready for a long journey. A saddle was placed upon the horse, and a heavy pack of goods was loaded upon the donkey.

The donkey was a very patient animal. When well, he never complained of his hard lot, but this morning he staggered under the weight of his load. After going a short distance, he looked up at the proud horse and asked:

"Would you mind helping me to-day? I feel too ill to carry this heavy load. If you will help me, I shall soon be well and able to carry the whole load. If you refuse to help me, I shall surely fall by the way; then you will have to bear the burden alone."

The horse held his head very high while the donkey was talking; then he replied:

"Go on, you lazy beast! I am not a burden bearer. No, I will not take one ounce of your load."

The donkey groaned and moved forward a few steps, then fell to the ground dead.

The load was taken from the dead donkey's back and placed upon the horse.

At the close of the day the horse reached the end of his journey. Every bone in his body was aching, and he was so lame that he could hardly walk.

THE LEAVES AND THE ROOTS

"We cast cool shade upon the green gra.s.s," whispered the fluttering leaves. "We dress the tree in fresh and quiet green. It is bare and brown without us. The tired traveler and the panting beast are thankful for our shade. Children love to play under our shelter. At night the song birds of the woods fly to us for our protection. We hide the nests of mother birds. The light winds stay with us and caress us." And the leaves felt very proud and important.

"What you say is all very true, but you should not forget us," said a voice from the earth. "We are surely worth something."

"And who are you? Where do you grow?" asked the leaves.

"We are buried deep in the ground, far below you, but we feed the stem and make you grow. We are the roots. You owe your beauty to us. We are not beautiful as you are, but we do not die. Winter does not change us, but when it comes you fall. The tree stands firm, for it is held in place by us. If we should die, the tree would die and you would die with it."

THE BULL AND THE GNAT

A gnat perched upon the horn of a bull. "Dear sir," he said to the bull, "I am sorry to trouble you, but I am too worn out to go any farther. Does my weight tire you? When you can bear it no longer, I shall go on."

"You need not leave on my account," said the bull. "I did not know when you sat down and I shall not miss you when you leave."

THE FARMER AND HIS THREE SONS

A farmer who had worked hard all his life was taken sick. He knew that he must soon die. He called his three sons about his bed to give them some advice.

"My sons," said he, "keep all of the land which I leave you. Do not sell any of it, for there is a treasure in the soil. I shall not tell you where to hunt for it, but if you try hard to find it, and do not give up, you will surely succeed.

"As soon as the harvest is over, begin your search with plow, and spade, and rake. Turn every foot of earth, then turn it again and again. The treasure is there."

After the father died, the sons gathered in the harvest. As soon as the grain had been cared for, they planned to search for the hidden treasure. The farm was divided into three equal parts. Each son agreed to dig carefully his part.

Every foot of soil was turned by the plow or by the spade. It was next harrowed and raked, but no treasure was found. That seemed very strange.

"Father was an honest man and a wise man," said the youngest son. "He would never have told us to hunt for the treasure if it were not here.

Do you not remember that he said, 'Turn the soil again and again'? He surely thought the treasure worth hunting for."

"Our land is in such good condition now that we might as well sow winter wheat," said the oldest son. His brothers agreed to this and the wheat was sown.