he Eagle
consented to do the best he could for him, and picked him up in his
talons. Soaring with him to a great height in the sky he then let him
go, and the wretched Tortoise fell headlong and was dashed to pieces
on a rock.

THE KID ON THE HOUSETOP

A Kid climbed up on to the roof of an outhouse, attracted by the
grass and other things that grew in the thatch; and as he stood there
browsing away, he caught sight of a Wolf passing below, and jeered at
him because he couldn't reach him. The Wolf only looked up and said,
"I hear you, my young friend; but it is not you who mock me, but the
roof on which you are standing."

THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL

A fox once fell into a trap, and after a struggle managed to get free,
but with the loss of his brush. He was then so much ashamed of his
appearance that he thought life was not worth living unless he could
persuade the other Foxes to part with their tails also, and thus
divert attention from his own loss. So he called a meeting of all the
Foxes, and advised them to cut off their tails: "They're ugly things
anyhow," he said, "and besides they're heavy, and it's tiresome to be
always carrying them about with you." But one of the other Foxes said,
"My friend, if you hadn't lost your own tail, you wouldn't be so keen
on getting us to cut off ours."

THE VAIN JACKDAW

Jupiter announced that he intended to appoint a king over the birds,
and named a day on which they were to appear before his throne, when
he would select the most beautiful of them all to be their ruler.
Wishing to look their best on the occasion they repaired to the banks
of a stream, where they busied themselves in washing and preening
their feathers. The Jackdaw was there along with the rest, and
realised that, with his ugly plumage, he would have no chance of being
chosen as he was: so he waited till they were all gone, and then
picked up the most gaudy of the feathers they had dropped, and
fastened them about his own body, with the result that he looked gayer
than any of them. When the appointed day came, the birds assembled
before Jupiter's throne; and, after passing them in review, he was
about to make the Jackdaw king, when all the rest set upon the
king-elect, stripped him of his borrowed plumes, and exposed him for
the Jackdaw that he was.

THE TRAVELLER AND HIS DOG

A Traveller was about to start on a journey, and said to his Dog, who
was stretching himself by the