Fifty Famous Fables Part 8

As they started home, the blackbird said, "I hope I may never meet that stupid peac.o.c.k again. I can not bear him. Did you notice his feet? I felt like laughing every time I looked at them. His voice makes me shudder. What can anyone see to praise in that bird?"

"I did not notice his feet nor his voice," said the dove. "He has a n.o.ble form and his dress is very beautiful. The rainbow and the flowers are not more beautiful."

The blackbird turned away in shame. He wished to hear fault found with the peac.o.c.k, but the dove gave only the highest praise.

THE GREEDY DOG

"What a good time I shall have eating this meat when I get home!" said a dog as it started to cross a stream of water.

He stopped suddenly and looked down into the water. There was his shadow. "That dog has a larger piece of meat than I," he said. "I want that piece of meat and I will have it!"

He growled, but the dog in the water did not move nor did he drop his piece of meat.

He snapped at the dog in the water. He was soon sorry for that, for the meat slipped from his mouth and sank to the bottom of the stream, and the dog in the water lost his meat at the same time.

THE GOOSE THAT LAID GOLD EGGS

One day a farmer bought a goose and took it home.

The next day the goose laid an egg of solid gold.

"That is a wonderful goose," said the farmer, and he took the egg to a jeweler to find out its value.

"It is pure gold," said the jeweler, and he paid the farmer a big price for it.

Each day the goose laid a gold egg. The farmer had a dozen.

"I shall soon be a rich man," he said, "but I do wish the goose would lay more than one egg a day."

After the goose had laid many eggs, the farmer said, "That goose has many more gold eggs for me. I will not wait for one a day. I will kill the goose, open it, and get all the eggs at once."

So he killed the goose and opened it, but what do you think? There was not one egg to be found.

THE DONKEY AND HIS MASTERS

"How I hate this early rising!" said a donkey, with a great yawn. "I wish I might sleep till sunrise. Here I am, harnessed and ready to start to town before the roosters crow. And why? To take a little fruit and a few vegetables to market. Isn't that a foolish reason for spoiling my dreams!"

The master was tired of his donkey, for he never seemed willing to do his work. "I do hate a donkey with his ears turned backward," he said.

"He has no right to complain, for his work is really light, and he gets plenty of food and rest."

One day a tanner came along. He saw what a strong donkey the gardener drove, and asked his price. The gardener was glad to sell him. "I hope he will enjoy his new work," said the gardener. "He never seemed quite happy with me."

The tanner used the donkey to carry hides. These were heavy and bad-smelling. They almost made him sick.

"Oh, dear!" the donkey groaned one day. "I wish I were back with the gardener. The vegetables were fresh and I was often given a cabbage leaf or a beet top. I did have to get out early, to be sure, but I did not work late. Here I must work early and late, and if I turn out of the road to get a mouthful of gra.s.s, I am beaten soundly. I hate this work and this place."

The donkey was so ill-natured that the tanner sold him to a coal miner.

He was lowered into a coal mine, where he had to pa.s.s his time pulling loads of coal. The mine was dark, and he was kept very busy.

"This is very bad," he cried. "I wish I were with the gardener, or even with the tanner. Anything would be better than working in this dismal hole in the ground." But there he ended his unhappy life.

THE COBBLER AND THE RICH MAN

A cobbler worked in his shop from morning until night, and as he worked he sang. Tired people who heard him were rested, and sad men and women were cheered as they came near the shop. Children visited him and watched him at his work and heard him sing. They called him "Jolly Gregory."

"How can he sing when he works so hard and makes so little?" many asked; but still his singing went on.

Across the road from the cobbler lived a rich man. His home was beautiful, his clothes fine, and his fare the best that money could buy; but never in his life had he been known to give to anyone who needed help. He was really poor, for he lacked one thing which he very much wanted--sleep. Sometimes he could not get to sleep until early morning; then his neighbor's song would waken him. He wished that sleep could be bought for money.

One day he said to himself, "I believe I will help that cobbler over the way. He has a hard time to make enough money to buy his food and clothes." So he sent for the cobbler.

"Honest Gregory," he said "how much do you earn in a year?"

"How much a year?" replied the cobbler, scratching his head. "I never reckon my money in that way. It goes as fast as it comes, but I am glad to be able to earn it. I cobble on from day to day and earn a living."

"Well then, Gregory, how much do you earn each day?" asked the rich man.

"Why, sometimes more and sometimes less," answered the cobbler. "On many days--the holidays--I earn nothing. I wish there were fewer of these; but then we manage to live."

"You are a happy man now," said the rich man, "but I will make you happier," and he handed the cobbler five hundred dollars. "Go spend this money carefully. It will supply your needs for many days," he said.

The cobbler had never dreamed of so much money before. He thought it was enough to keep him in food and clothes all his life.

He took the money home and hid it, but he hid his joy with it. He stopped singing and became sad. He could not sleep for fear of robbers.

He thought that everyone who came into his shop was trying to find out his secret, or wished a gift. When a cat ran over the floor, he thought a thief had slipped through the door.

At last, poor man, he could bear it no longer. He took the money, hurried to the rich man, and cried, "Oh, give me back my songs and my sweet sleep! Here is your money, every cent of it. I made a poor trade."

The rich man looked at him and said, "I thought I had made you happy. I have not missed your songs, for, strange as it may seem, I have been sleeping soundly ever since I talked with you."