He said to her: "If your sister wishes for rain, and you for dry
weather, with which of the two am I to join my wishes?"

The Fir Tree and the Bramble.

A Fir Tree said boastingly to the Bramble: "You are useful for nothing
at all, while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses." The Bramble
made answer: "You poor creature, if you would only call to mind the axes
and saws which are about to hew you down, you would have reason to wish
that you had grown up a Bramble, not a Fir Tree."

Better poverty without care, than riches with.

The Fox and the Monkey.

A Monkey once danced in an assembly of the Beasts, and so pleased them
all by his performance that they elected him their king. A Fox envying
him the honor, discovered a piece of meat lying in a trap, and leading
the Monkey to the place where it was, said "that she had found a store,
but had not used it, but had kept it for him as treasure trove of his
kingdom, and counseled him to lay hold of it." The Monkey approached
carelessly, and was caught in the trap; and on his accusing the Fox of
purposely leading him into the snare, she replied: "O Monkey, and are
you, with such a mind as yours, going to be king over the Beasts?"

The Farmer and His Sons.

A Farmer being on the point of death, wished to insure from his sons the
same attention to his farm as he had himself given it. He called them to
his bedside, and said: "My sons, there is a great treasure hid in one of
my vineyards." The sons, after his death, took their spades and
mattocks, and carefully dug over every portion of their land. They found
no treasure, but the vines repaid their labor by an extraordinary and
superabundant crop.

The Cat and the Birds.

A Cat, hearing that the Birds in a certain aviary were ailing, dressed
himself up as a physician, and, taking with him his cane and the
instruments becoming his profession, went to the aviary, knocked at the
door, and inquired of the inmates how they all did, saying that if they
were ill, he would be happy to prescribe for them and cure them. They
replied: "We are all very well, and shall continue so, if you will only
be good enough to go away, and leave us as we are."

The Stag, the Wolf and the Sheep.

A Stag asked a Sheep to lend him a measure of wheat, and said that the
Wolf would be his surety. The Sheep, fearing some fraud was intended,
excused herself, saying: "The Wolf is accustomed to seize what he