ed it to the hen. "But
where is your ring? Why do you not wear it?" The hen could not at
first answer, but after a little she tried to deceive the eagle, and
said: "Oh, pardon me, sir! Yesterday as I was walking in the garden
I met a large snake, and I was so frightened that I ran towards the
house. When I reached it I found that I had lost the ring, and I
looked everywhere for it; but alas! I have not yet found it."

The eagle looked keenly at the hen and said: "I would never have
believed that you would behave so badly. I promise you that, whenever
you have found my ring, I will come down again and take you for my
mate. As a punishment for breaking your promise you shall always
scratch the ground and look for the ring, and all your chickens that
I find I will snatch away from you. That is all. Good-by." Then he
flew away.

And ever since, all the hens all over the world have been scratching
to find the eagle's ring.

Note.--The bird of whom this story is told is the dapay, or brahman
kite. It is larger than most of our hawks and is more like the eagle
in appearance, although not very large.

CHAPTER 15

The Spider and the Fly.

Mr. Spider was once in love with Miss Fly. Several times he declared
his love, but was always repelled, for Miss Fly disliked his business.

One day, when she saw him coming, she closed the doors and windows
of her house and made ready a pot of boiling water.

Mr. Spider called to be allowed to enter the house, but Miss Fly's
only answer was to throw the boiling water at him.

"Well!" cried Mr. Spider, "I and my descendants shall be avenged upon
you and yours. We will never give you a moment's peace."

Mr. Spider did not break his word, for to this day we see his hatred
of the fly.

CHAPTER 16

The Battle of the Crabs.

One day the land crabs had a meeting. One of them said: "What shall
we do with the waves? They sing all the time so loudly that we cannot
possibly sleep well at night." "Do you not think it would be well
for all of us males to go down and fight them?" asked the eldest of
the crabs. "Yes," all replied. "Well, to-morrow all the males must
get ready to go."

The next day they started to go down to the sea. On the way they met
the shrimp. "Where are you going, my friends?" asked the shrimp. The
crabs answered: "We are going to fight the waves, because they will
not let us sleep at night."

"I don't think you will win the battle," said the shrimp. "