is driver guessed what the Ass had
got into his head, and began to beat him unmercifully with a
stick.

"Go along with you, you stupid Ass," he cried. "The honor is not
meant for you but for the image you are carrying."

_Do not try to take the credit to yourself that is due to
others._

A RAVEN AND A SWAN

A Raven, which you know is black as coal, was envious of the
Swan, because her feathers were as white as the purest snow. The
foolish bird got the idea that if he lived like the Swan,
swimming and diving all day long and eating the weeds and plants
that grow in the water, his feathers would turn white like the
Swan's.

So he left his home in the woods and fields and flew down to live
on the lakes and in the marshes. But though he washed and washed
all day long, almost drowning himself at it, his feathers
remained as black as ever. And as the water weeds he ate did not
agree with him, he got thinner and thinner, and at last he died.

_A change of habits will not alter nature._

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE TWO GOATS

Two Goats, frisking gayly on the rocky steeps of a mountain
valley, chanced to meet, one on each side of a deep chasm through
which poured a mighty mountain torrent. The trunk of a fallen
tree formed the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not
even two squirrels could have passed each other in safety. The
narrow path would have made the bravest tremble. Not so our
Goats. Their pride would not permit either to stand aside for the
other.

One set her foot on the log. The other did likewise. In the
middle they met horn to horn. Neither would give way, and so they
both fell, to be swept away by the roaring torrent below.

_It is better to yield than to come to misfortune through
stubbornness._

THE ASS AND THE LOAD OF SALT

A Merchant, driving his Ass homeward from the seashore with a
heavy load of salt, came to a river crossed by a shallow ford.
They had crossed this river many times before without accident,
but this time the Ass slipped and fell when halfway over. And
when the Merchant at last got him to his feet, much of the salt
had melted away. Delighted to find how much lighter his burden
had become, the Ass finished the journey very gayly.

Next day the Merchant went for another load of salt. On the way
home the Ass, remembering what had happened at the ford,
purposely let himself fall into the water, and again got rid of
most of his bur