The Aesop for Children Part 13

A hungry Wolf spied a Goat browsing at the top of a steep cliff where he could not possibly get at her.

"That is a very dangerous place for you," he called out, pretending to be very anxious about the Goat's safety. "What if you should fall! Please listen to me and come down! Here you can get all you want of the finest, tenderest gra.s.s in the country."

The Goat looked over the edge of the cliff.

"How very, very anxious you are about me," she said, "and how generous you are with your gra.s.s! But I know you! It's your _own_ appet.i.te you are thinking of, not mine!"

_An invitation prompted by selfishness is not to be accepted._

THE a.s.s AND THE GRa.s.sHOPPERS

One day as an a.s.s was walking in the pasture, he found some Gra.s.shoppers chirping merrily in a gra.s.sy corner of the field.

He listened with a great deal of admiration to the song of the Gra.s.shoppers. It was such a joyful song that his pleasure-loving heart was filled with a wish to sing as they did.

"What is it?" he asked very respectfully, "that has given you such beautiful voices? Is there any special food you eat, or is it some divine nectar that makes you sing so wonderfully?"

"Yes," said the Gra.s.shoppers, who were very fond of a joke; "it is the dew we drink! Try some and see."

So thereafter the a.s.s would eat nothing and drink nothing but dew.

Naturally, the poor foolish a.s.s soon died.

_The laws of nature are unchangeable._

THE MULE

A Mule had had a long rest and much good feeding. He was feeling very vigorous indeed, and pranced around loftily, holding his head high.

"My father certainly was a full-blooded racer," he said. "I can feel that distinctly."

Next day he was put into harness again and that evening he was very downhearted indeed.

"I was mistaken," he said. "My father was an a.s.s after all."

_Be sure of your pedigree before you boast of it._

THE FOX AND THE GOAT

A Fox fell into a well, and though it was not very deep, he found that he could not get out again. After he had been in the well a long time, a thirsty Goat came by. The Goat thought the Fox had gone down to drink, and so he asked if the water was good.

"The finest in the whole country," said the crafty Fox, "jump in and try it. There is more than enough for both of us."

The thirsty Goat immediately jumped in and began to drink. The Fox just as quickly jumped on the Goat's back and leaped from the tip of the Goat's horns out of the well.

The foolish Goat now saw what a plight he had got into, and begged the Fox to help him out. But the Fox was already on his way to the woods.

"If you had as much sense as you have beard, old fellow," he said as he ran, "you would have been more cautious about finding a way to get out again before you jumped in."

_Look before you leap._

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THE CAT, THE c.o.c.k, AND THE YOUNG MOUSE

A very young Mouse, who had never seen anything of the world, almost came to grief the very first time he ventured out. And this is the story he told his mother about his adventures.

"I was strolling along very peaceably when, just as I turned the corner into the next yard, I saw two strange creatures. One of them had a very kind and gracious look, but the other was the most fearful monster you can imagine. You should have seen him.

"On top of his head and in front of his neck hung pieces of raw red meat. He walked about restlessly, tearing up the ground with his toes, and beating his arms savagely against his sides. The moment he caught sight of me he opened his pointed mouth as if to swallow me, and then he let out a piercing roar that frightened me almost to death."

Can you guess who it was that our young Mouse was trying to describe to his mother? It was n.o.body but the Barnyard c.o.c.k and the first one the little Mouse had ever seen.

"If it had not been for that terrible monster," the Mouse went on, "I should have made the acquaintance of the pretty creature, who looked so good and gentle. He had thick, velvety fur, a meek face, and a look that was very modest, though his eyes were bright and s.h.i.+ning. As he looked at me he waved his fine long tail and smiled.

"I am sure he was just about to speak to me when the monster I have told you about let out a screaming yell, and I ran for my life."

"My son," said the Mother Mouse, "that gentle creature you saw was none other than the Cat. Under his kindly appearance, he bears a grudge against every one of us. The other was nothing but a bird who wouldn't harm you in the least. As for the Cat, he eats us. So be thankful, my child, that you escaped with your life, and, as long as you live, never judge people by their looks."

_Do not trust alone to outward appearances._

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THE WOLF AND THE SHEPHERD