his axe;
but, making too much haste to hit him as he wriggled away, missed his
head, and cut off only the end of his tail. After some time, the
Cottager, afraid lest the Snake should bite him also, endeavored to make
peace, and placed some bread and salt in his hole. The Snake said:
"There can henceforth be no peace between us; for whenever I see you I
shall remember the loss of my tail, and whenever you see me you will be
thinking of the death of your son."

It is hard to forget injuries in the presence of him who caused the
injury.

The Bull and the Calf.

A Bull was striving with all his might to squeeze himself through a
narrow passage which led to his stall. A young Calf came up and offered
to go before and show him the way by which he could manage to pass.
"Save yourself the trouble," said the Bull; "I knew that way long before
you were born."

Do not presume to teach your elders.

The Goat and the Ass.

A Man once kept a Goat and an Ass. The Goat, envying the Ass on account
of his greater abundance of food, said: "How shamefully you are treated;
at one time grinding in the mill, and at another carrying heavy
burdens;" and he further advised him that he should pretend to be
epileptic, and fall into a deep ditch and so obtain rest. The Ass gave
credence to his words, and, falling into a ditch, was very much bruised.
His master, sending for a leech, asked his advice. He bade him pour upon
the wounds the blood of a Goat. They at once killed the Goat, and so
healed the Ass.

In injuring others we are apt to receive a greater injury.

The Boasting Traveler.

A Man who had traveled in foreign lands boasted very much, on returning
to his own country, of the many wonderful and heroic things he had done
in the different places he had visited. Among other things, he said
that when he was at Rhodes he had leaped to such a distance that no man
of his day could leap anywhere near him--and as to that there were in
Rhodes many persons who saw him do it, and whom he could call as
witnesses. One of the bystanders, interrupting him, said: "Now, my good
man, if this be all true, there is no need of witnesses. Suppose this to
be Rhodes and now for your leap."

Cure a boaster by putting his words to the test.

[Illustration]

The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion.

An Ass and a Cock were together, when a Lion, desperate from hunger,
approached. He was about to spring upon the Ass, when the C