e Travellers came into his presence he
asked them what they thought of him as a King. The lying Traveller
said, "Sire, every one must see that you are a most noble and mighty
monarch." "And what do you think of my subjects?" continued the King.
"They," said the Traveller, "are in every way worthy of their royal
master." The Ape was so delighted with his answer that he gave him
a very handsome present. The other Traveller thought that if his
companion was rewarded so splendidly for telling a lie, he himself
would certainly receive a still greater reward for telling the truth;
so, when the Ape turned to him and said, "And what, sir, is your
opinion?" he replied, "I think you are a very fine Ape, and all your
subjects are fine Apes too." The King of the Apes was so enraged at
his reply that he ordered him to be taken away and clawed to death.

THE ASS AND HIS BURDENS

A Pedlar who owned an Ass one day bought a quantity of salt, and
loaded up his beast with as much as he could bear. On the way home the
Ass stumbled as he was crossing a stream and fell into the water. The
salt got thoroughly wetted and much of it melted and drained away, so
that, when he got on his legs again, the Ass found his load had become
much less heavy. His master, however, drove him back to town and
bought more salt, which he added to what remained in the panniers, and
started out again. No sooner had they reached a stream than the Ass
lay down in it, and rose, as before, with a much lighter load. But his
master detected the trick, and turning back once more, bought a large
number of sponges, and piled them on the back of the Ass. When they
came to the stream the Ass again lay down: but this time, as the
sponges soaked up large quantities of water, he found, when he got up
on his legs, that he had a bigger burden to carry than ever.

You may play a good card once too often.

THE SHEPHERD'S BOY AND THE WOLF

A Shepherd's Boy was tending his flock near a village, and thought it
would be great fun to hoax the villagers by pretending that a Wolf was
attacking the sheep: so he shouted out, "Wolf! wolf!" and when the
people came running up he laughed at them for their pains. He did
this more than once, and every time the villagers found they had been
hoaxed, for there was no Wolf at all. At last a Wolf really did come,
and the Boy cried, "Wolf! wolf!" as loud as he could: but the people
were so used to hearing him call that they to