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Read Ebook: Fables for the Times by Phillips Henry Wallace Sullivant T S Thomas Starling Illustrator
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Ebook has 131 lines and 5713 words, and 3 pages
The Baa-Sheep and the Lion The Dog and the Meat The Fox and the Grapes The Fox and the Crow The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Horse and the Oyster The Monkey and the Ass The Merchant and the Fool The Wolf and the Sheep The Ambitious Hippopotamus The Man and the Serpent The Appreciative Man On the Not-Altogether-Credible Habits of the Ostrich The Idol and the Ass The Bee and Jupiter The Lion and the Boar The Tiger and the Deer The Old Man, His Son and the Ass The Shipwrecked Traveler The Discontented Woman
The Baa-Sheep and the Lion.
A baa-sheep was lying under the paw of a black-maned lion. Whatever was going to be done had to be done quickly. A thought flashed upon the sheep and he said:
"Most dread lord and master, I have heard your voice extolled beyond that of all others. Will you not sing me a little selection from Wagner before I die?"
The lion, touched in his vanity, immediately started up and roared away until the goose-flesh stood out on the rocks. When he had finished, the sheep was in tears.
"What means this?" growled the lion in a rage. "Do you presume to criticise my singing?"
"Oh, no!" sobbed the sheep. "That is not it. But I have heard that wool was the worst thing in the world for the voice, and when I think of the ruin of that beautiful organ of yours, consequent upon eating me, I weep to think that I was not born hairless."
The lion regarded him out of the corner of his eye. Then, in his grandest manner, said: "Run along home to your ma, little sheep; I was only playing with you," and walked off through the forest with a great deal of dignity.
The Dog and the Meat.
A dog with a piece of meat in his mouth was crossing a bridge over a placid stream. On looking down he saw another dog with a precisely similar piece of meat in the water below him. "That's a singular incident," he thought to himself as he prepared to jump in. "But hold a minute! The angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection. Upon reflection, I find that the other dog and the meat are only optical phenomena." And he trotted on his way to Boston without further thought about the matter.
The Fox and the Grapes.
A fox stood under an apple-tree and gazed up earnestly at the globes of yellow lusciousness. "How sad, for the sake of an old-time piece of literature," he said, "that the fox is a carnivorous animal and doesn't care particularly about fruit!"
IMMORAL:
We all have plenty of faults without the Truly Good taking the trouble to invent them for us.
The Fox and the Crow.
A crow, having stolen a piece of flesh, perched in a tree to enjoy it at leisure. A fox saw her, and, being hungry, thought he would employ a little diplomacy to get the meat away from her.
"What a prima-donna the crow would be," he said, looking at her with mock admiration, "if she only had a voice proportional to her other attractions!"
The crow promptly dropped the piece of flesh on his head, completely blinding him, and before he could recover from his surprise, lit on his back and began to peck him viciously. "I'll have you to know," she cawed, "that I'm a proper lady, and the man that compares me to them shameless French singing hussies is going to get hurt."
IMMORAL:
Don't praise the soft whiteness of a labor delegate's hands.
The Ass in the Lion's Skin.
An ass, by some means unknown to the writer, having managed to get into a lion's skin, ran around the neighborhood frightening the beasts into fits. When he brayed, they said: "Jupiter! what a magnificent bass voice he has!" and he was the pantata of that district until he died of old age.
IMMORAL:
A good bluff, well chucked, is liable to do considerable execution.
The Horse and the Oyster.
A very prancy horse, discovering an oyster on the sea-shore, thought to show off a little and make the oyster envious.
After he had done some surprising leaps and curvetings, he went up to the oyster, and, with a toss of his head, said:
"There! what do you think of that?"
"You must excuse me," answered the bivalve, "but I have been blind from birth, and missed the whole show."
IMMORAL:
Of what use is a dress suit in the Desert of Sahara?
The Monkey and the Ass.
An ass, having seen a monkey doing tricks on a roof, to the edification of the villagers, became envious, and essayed to emulate his more agile rival.
The roof broke under his greater weight, and he fell through on his master, squashing him flatter than a pan-cake. Thenceforward, having no one to say him nay, he lived a life of peace and plenty, coming and going at his own sweet will, while the monkey was captured by an organ grinder and works eighteen hours a day.
IMMORAL:
People are not always such asses as they seem to us.
The Merchant and the Fool.
A merchant of horses was driving his stock to the market. On the road he met a venerable old fool, who offered to buy his entire stock.
"It is this way," said the intended purchaser, "I will take your horses now, and whenever I find use for one, I will send you the money for it."
"Now the gods be lenient to folly!" exclaimed the indignant merchant. "Man, Man! where in the realm of idiocy did you get your knowledge of business?"
"I ran a pay-on-publication journal for ten years," said the fool with asperity.
But the merchant had vanished in a cloud of oaths and dust.
The Wolf and the Sheep.
A wolf that had been left for dead by the dogs lay not far from a running brook. He felt that one good drink might save his life. Just then a sheep passed near.
"Pray, sister," said he very gently, but with a sinister twinkle of his eye teeth, "bring me some water from yon stream."
The Ambitious Hippopotamus.
A hippopotamus who had dwelt contentedly for years on the banks of a reedy stream, looked up one day and saw an eagle.
She became immediately fired with a desire to fly. Having lived a staid and respectable life that could not but find favor in the eyes of the gods, she raised her voice in prayer.
Jove smiled a little, but granted her request.
On the instant a pair of broad, powerful wings were affixed to her shoulders.
She was naturally a trifle nervous about trying them at first, but finally mustered up her courage.
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