Goad on your bullocks,
and never more pray to me for help, until you have done your best to
help yourself, or depend upon it you will henceforth pray in vain."

Self-help is the best help.

The Ants and the Grasshopper

THE ANTS were spending a fine winter's day drying grain collected in
the summertime. A Grasshopper, perishing with famine, passed by and
earnestly begged for a little food. The Ants inquired of him, "Why did
you not treasure up food during the summer?" He replied, "I had not
leisure enough. I passed the days in singing." They then said in
derision: "If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must
dance supperless to bed in the winter."

The Traveler and His Dog

A TRAVELER about to set out on a journey saw his Dog stand at the
door stretching himself. He asked him sharply: "Why do you stand there
gaping? Everything is ready but you, so come with me instantly." The
Dog, wagging his tail, replied: "O, master! I am quite ready; it is you
for whom I am waiting."

The loiterer often blames delay on his more active friend.

The Dog and the Shadow

A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his
mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another
Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go
of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece
from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water,
because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.

The Mole and His Mother

A MOLE, a creature blind from birth, once said to his Mother: "I am sure
than I can see, Mother!" In the desire to prove to him his mistake, his
Mother placed before him a few grains of frankincense, and asked, "What
is it?" The young Mole said, "It is a pebble." His Mother exclaimed:
"My son, I am afraid that you are not only blind, but that you have lost
your sense of smell."

The Herdsman and the Lost Bull

A HERDSMAN tending his flock in a forest lost a Bull-calf from the fold.
After a long and fruitless search, he made a vow that, if he could only
discover the thief who had stolen the Calf, he would offer a lamb in
sacrifice to Hermes, Pan, and the Guardian Deities of the forest. Not
long afterwards, as he ascended a small hillock, he saw at its foot a
Lion feeding on the Calf. Terrified at the sight, he lifted his eyes and
his hands to heaven, and said: "Just now