t his mother to
blow on the hurt and kiss it.

"Son," said the Boy's mother, when she had comforted him, "the
next time you come near a Nettle, grasp it firmly, and it will be
as soft as silk."

_Whatever you do, do with all your might._

THE OLD LION

A Lion had grown very old. His teeth were worn away. His limbs
could no longer bear him, and the King of Beasts was very pitiful
indeed as he lay gasping on the ground, about to die.

Where now his strength and his former graceful beauty?

Now a Boar spied him, and rushing at him, gored him with his
yellow tusk. A Bull trampled him with his heavy hoofs. Even a
contemptible Ass let fly his heels and brayed his insults in the
face of the Lion.

_It is cowardly to attack the defenseless, though he be an
enemy._

THE FOX AND THE PHEASANTS

One moonlight evening as Master Fox was taking his usual stroll
in the woods, he saw a number of Pheasants perched quite out of
his reach on a limb of a tall old tree. The sly Fox soon found a
bright patch of moonlight, where the Pheasants could see him
clearly; there he raised himself up on his hind legs, and began a
wild dance. First he whirled 'round and 'round like a top, then
he hopped up and down, cutting all sorts of strange capers. The
Pheasants stared giddily. They hardly dared blink for fear of
losing him out of their sight a single instant.

[Illustration]

Now the Fox made as if to climb a tree, now he fell over and lay
still, playing dead, and the next instant he was hopping on all
fours, his back in the air, and his bushy tail shaking so that it
seemed to throw out silver sparks in the moonlight.

By this time the poor birds' heads were in a whirl. And when the
Fox began his performance all over again, so dazed did they
become, that they lost their hold on the limb, and fell down one
by one to the Fox.

_Too much attention to danger may cause us to fall victims to
it._

[Illustration]

TWO TRAVELERS AND A BEAR

Two Men were traveling in company through a forest, when, all at
once, a huge Bear crashed out of the brush near them.

One of the Men, thinking of his own safety, climbed a tree.

The other, unable to fight the savage beast alone, threw himself
on the ground and lay still, as if he were dead. He had heard
that a Bear will not touch a dead body.

It must have been true, for the Bear snuffed at the Man's head
awhile, and then, seeming to be satisfied that he was dead,