drop." The silly Grasshopper, came
hopping up to the Owl, who at once caught and killed him, and finished
her nap in comfort.

Flattery is not a proof of admiration.

The Fox and the Grapes.

[Illustration]

A famished Fox saw some clusters of ripe black grapes hanging from a
trellised vine. She resorted to all her tricks to get at them, but
wearied herself in vain, for she could not reach them. At last she
turned away, beguiling herself of her disappointment, and saying: "The
Grapes are sour, and not ripe as I thought."

Revile not things beyond your reach.

The Ass carrying the Image.

[Illustration]

An Ass once carried through the streets of the city a famous wooden
Image, to be placed in one of its temples. The crowd as he passed along
made lowly prostration before the Image. The Ass, thinking that they
bowed their heads in token of respect for him, bristled up with pride
and gave himself airs, and refused to move another step. The driver,
seeing him thus stop, laid his whip lustily about his shoulders and
said: "O you perverse dull-head! it is not yet come to this, that men
pay worship to an Ass."

They are not wise who take to themselves the credit due to others.

The Ass and the Lap-Dog.

[Illustration]

A man had an Ass and a Maltese Lap-dog, a very great beauty. The Ass was
left in a stable, and had plenty of oats and hay to eat, just as any
other Ass would. The Lap-dog was a great favorite with his master, and
he frisked and jumped about him in a manner pleasant to see. The Ass had
much work to do, in grinding the corn-mill, and in carrying wood from
the forest or burdens from the farm. He often lamented his own hard
fate, and contrasted it with the luxury and idleness of the Lap-dog,
till at last one day he broke his halter, and galloped into his master's
house, kicking up his heels without measure, and frisking and fawning as
well as he could. He next tried to jump about his master as he had seen
the Lap-dog do, but he broke the table and smashed all the dishes upon
it to atoms. He then attempted to lick his master, and jumped upon his
back. The servants hearing the strange hubbub, and perceiving the danger
of their master, quickly relieved him, and drove out the Ass to his
stable, with kicks, and clubs, and cuffs. The Ass, beaten nearly to
death, thus lamented: "I have brought it all on myself! Why could I not
have been contented to labor with my companions, and not