of a clam or an
oyster; and when the silly fish came to make a dinner of this dainty
morsel, he would catch him in his claws, and eat him.

He pretended to have a good deal of honor, though. He was quite a
pious crab, according to his own account of himself. When he had
caught a fish by his cunning, he used to say, "Poor fellow! it is his
own fault, not mine. He ought to have kept out of the trap. If one
does not know enough to keep away from my claws, he _ought_ to be
caught. Poor fellow! I'm sorry for him; but it can't be helped."

That is the way he took to quiet his own conscience, and to excuse
himself to others, when they complained of his deceitful conduct.

An old fox, having heard of our crab's mode of catching fish, and
what he said about it, determined to set a trap for the crab. He did
so. He went down to the sea shore, and thrust his long, bushy tail
into the water. The crab, thinking he had got another dinner by his
wit, seized the fox's tail with his claws. But the fox, giving a
sudden spring, brought the crab out of the water, and prepared to make
a meal of him at his leisure.

The crab complained, and accused the fox of being a deceitful fellow,
and a murderer to boot.

"But," said Reynard, "I have only acted according to your own rule. If
one does not know enough to keep away from a fox's tail, he _ought_
to be caught. It is the same thing as if he caught himself."

"Ah!" said the crab, with a sigh, "I made that rule for others, and
not for myself. I see now that _there is a flaw in it_."

VIII.

THE GREEDY FLY.

A FABLE.

A fly, who was a great lover of sweet things, came across a cup full
of molasses. He alighted on the edge of the cup, and commenced sipping
the molasses. It pleased him very much. He thought he had never tasted
anything so good before. At length, beginning to be surfeited with his
dinner, instead of flying away, and going about his business, until
he should be hungry again, he plunged into the molasses, so as to
enjoy as much of it as he could.

Mistaken fly! He fared very much as you might suppose he would. He
lost his life in the molasses.

MORAL.

That is just the way with thousands, who have fewer legs and ought to
have more brains than this fly. They are not content with a right and
proper use of the good things which God has given them. They plunge
into a sea of pleasure, so as to enjoy as much of it as they possibly
can. But such a surfeit, instead