h praise of the water, saying it was beyond
measure excellent, and encouraged him to descend. The Goat, mindful only
of his thirst, thoughtlessly jumped down, when, just as he quenched his
thirst, the Fox informed him of the difficulty they were both in, and
suggested a scheme for their common escape. "If," said he, "you will
place your fore-feet upon the wall, and bend your head, I will run up
your back and escape, and will help you out." On the Goat readily
assenting to this proposal, the Fox leaped upon his back, and steadying
himself with the goat's horns reached in safety the mouth of the well,
and immediately made off as fast as he could. The Goat upbraided him
with the breach of his bargain, when he turned round and cried out:
"You foolish fellow! If you had as many brains in your head as you have
hairs in your beard, you would never have gone down before you had
inspected the way up, nor have exposed yourself to dangers from which
you had determined upon no means of escape."

Look before you leap.

The Oxen and the Butchers.

[Illustration]

The Oxen, once on a time, sought to destroy the Butchers, who practiced
a trade destructive to their race. They assembled on a certain day to
carry out their purpose, and sharpened their horns for the contest. One
of them, an exceedingly old one (for many a field had he ploughed), thus
spoke: "These Butchers, it is true, slaughter us, but they do so with
skillful hands, and with no unnecessary pain. If we get rid of them, we
shall fall into the hands of unskillful operators, and thus suffer a
double death; for you may be assured that, though all the Butchers
should perish, yet will men never want beef."

Do not be in a hurry to change one evil for another.

The Horse and his Rider.

[Illustration]

A Horse-soldier took great pains with his charger. As long as the war
lasted, he looked upon him as his fellow-helper in all emergencies, and
fed him carefully with hay and corn. When the war was over, he only
allowed him chaff to eat, and made him carry heavy loads of wood, and
subjected him to much slavish drudgery and ill-treatment. War, however,
being again proclaimed, the Soldier put on his charger its military
trappings, and mounted, being clad in his heavy coat of mail. The Horse
fell down straightway under the weight, no longer equal to the burden,
and said to his master: "You must now e'en go to the war on foot, for
you have transformed me from