an and his hounds.

Keep to your place, if you would succeed.

The Horse and the Stag.

[Illustration]

The Horse had the plain entirely to himself. A Stag intruded into his
domain and shared his pasture. The Horse, desiring to revenge himself
on the stranger, requested a man, if he were willing, to help him in
punishing the Stag. The man replied, that if the Horse would receive a
bit in his mouth, and agree to carry him, he would contrive very
effectual weapons against the Stag. The Horse consented, and allowed the
man to mount him. From that hour he found that, instead of obtaining
revenge on the Stag, he had enslaved himself to the service of man.

He who seeks to injure others often injures only himself.

The Lion and the Dolphin.

A Lion, roaming by the sea-shore, saw a Dolphin lift up its head out of
the waves, and asked him to contract an alliance with him; saying that
of all the animals, they ought to be the best friends, since the one was
the king of beasts on the earth, and the other was the sovereign ruler
of all the inhabitants of the ocean. The Dolphin gladly consented to
this request. Not long afterwards the Lion had a combat with a wild
bull, and called on the Dolphin to help him. The Dolphin, though quite
willing to give him assistance, was unable to do so, as he could not by
any means reach the land. The Lion abused him as a traitor. The Dolphin
replied: "Nay, my friend, blame not me, but Nature, which, while giving
me the sovereignty of the sea, has quite denied me the power of living
upon the land."

Let every one stick to his own element.

The Mice in Council.

[Illustration]

The Mice summoned a council to decide how they might best devise means
for obtaining notice of the approach of their great enemy the Cat. Among
the many plans devised, the one that found most favor was the proposal
to tie a bell to the neck of the Cat, that the Mice, being warned by
the sound of the tinkling, might run away and hide themselves in their
holes at his approach. But when the Mice further debated who among them
should thus "bell the Cat," there was no one found to do it.

Let those who propose be willing to perform.

The Camel and the Arab.

[Illustration]

An Arab Camel-driver having completed the lading of his Camel, asked him
which he would like best, to go up hill or down hill. The poor beast
replied, not without a touch of reason: "Why do you ask me? Is it that