Quote:
Originally Posted by fightingrabbit
Moar info please.
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XXX.
An oyster who had got a large pebble between the valves of his shell, and was unable to get it out, was lamenting his sad fate, when—the tide being out—a monkey ran to him, and began making an examination.
"You appear," said the monkey, "to have got something else in here, too. I think I'd better remove that first."
With this he inserted his paw, and scooped out the animal's essential part.
"Now," said he, eating the portion he had removed, "I think you will be able to manage the pebble yourself."
To apprehend the lesson of this fable one must have some experience of the law.
XXXIX.
A spaniel at the point of death requested a mastiff friend to eat him.
"It would soothe my last moments," said he, "to know that when I am no longer of any importance to myself I may still be useful to you."
"Much obliged, I am sure," replied his friend; "I think you mean well, but you should know that my appetite is not so depraved as to relish dog."
Perhaps it is for a similar reason we abstain from cannibalism.
XL.
A cloud was passing across the face of the sun, when the latter expostulated with him.
"Why," said the sun, "when you have so much space to float in, should you be casting your cold shadow upon me?"
After a moment's reflection, the cloud made answer thus:
"I certainly had no intention of giving offence by my presence, and as for my shadow, don't you think you have made a trifling mistake?—not a gigantic or absurd mistake, but merely one that would disgrace an idiot."
At this the great luminary was furious, and fell so hotly upon him that in a few minutes there was nothing of him left.
It is very foolish to bandy words with a cloud if you happen to be the sun.
XLI.
A rabbit travelling leisurely along the highway was seen, at some distance, by a duck, who had just come out of the water.
"Well, I declare!" said she, "if I could not walk without limping in that ridiculous way, I'd stay at home. Why, he's a spectacle!"
"Did you ever see such an ungainly beast as that duck!" said the rabbit to himself. "If I waddled like that I should go out only at night."
MORAL, BY A KANGAROO.—People who are ungraceful of gait are always intolerant of mind.
XXXV.
Some doves went to a hawk, and asked him to protect them from a kite.
"That I will," was the cheerful reply; "and when I am admitted into the dovecote, I shall kill more of you in a day than the kite did in a century. But of course you know this; you expect to be treated in the regular way."
So he entered the dovecote, and began preparations for a general slaughter. But the doves all set upon him and made exceedingly short work of him. With his last breath he asked them why, being so formidable, they had not killed the kite. They replied that they had never seen any kite.
XXVIII.
A wolf went into the cottage of a peasant while the family was absent in the fields, and falling foul of some beef, was quietly enjoying it, when he was observed by a domestic rat, who went directly to her master, informing him of what she had seen.
"I would myself have dispatched the robber," she added, "but feared you might wish to take him alive."
So the man secured a powerful club and went to the door of the house, while the rat looked in at the window. After taking a survey of the situation, the man said:
"I don't think I care to take this fellow alive. Judging from his present performance, I should say his keeping would entail no mean expense. You may go in and slay him if you like; I have quite changed my mind."
"If you really intended taking him prisoner," replied the rat, "the object of that bludgeon is to me a matter of mere conjecture. However, it is easy enough to see you have changed your mind; and [pg 19] it may be barely worth mentioning that I have changed mine."
"The interest you both take in me," said the wolf, without looking up, "touches me deeply. As you have considerately abstained from bothering me with the question of how I am to be disposed of, I will not embarrass your counsels by obtruding a preference. Whatever may be your decision, you may count on my acquiescence; my countenance alone ought to convince you of the meek docility of my character. I never lose my temper, and I never swear; but, by the stomach of the Prophet! if either one of you domestic animals is in sight when I have finished the conquest of these ribs, the question of my fate may be postponed for future debate, without detriment to any important interest."
This fable teaches that while you are considering the abatement of a nuisance, it is important to know which nuisance is the more likely to be abated.
XXV.
A young cock and a hen were speaking of the size of eggs. Said the cock:
"I once laid an egg—"
"Oh, you did!" interrupted the hen, with a derisive cackle. "Pray how did you manage it?"
The cock felt injured in his self-esteem, and, turning his back upon the hen, addressed himself to a brood of young chickens.
"I once laid an egg—"
The chickens chirped incredulously, and passed on. The insulted bird reddened in the wattles with indignation, and strutting up to the patriarch of the entire barn-yard, repeated his assertion. The patriarch nodded gravely, as if the feat were an every-day affair, and the other continued:
"I once laid an egg alongside a water-melon, and compared the two. The vegetable was considerably the larger."
This fable is intended to show the absurdity of hearing all a man has to say.
There you are, some cool stuff from that link.