Puss pulled them out, burning her paws very much in doing so. When she had stolen every one, she turned to the Monkey for her share of the booty; but, to her chagrin, she could find no chestnuts, for he had eaten them all.
FOR a long time the Wolf had followed the Sheep without attempting to injure one of them.
The Shepherd stood on his guard against him for a while, and kept strict watch that he did not come too near. But as day after day passed and the Wolf showed no disposition to injure any of the flock, he allowed him to approach nearer, till at last he came among the Sheep, and seemed to watch over them like a dog.
“He is really quite a help to me,” said the Shepherd to himself; “and I have never seen him make the slightest effort to seize a sheep or a lamb.”
So, having occasion to go to town one day, he left his flock in the care of the Wolf, whom he regarded as a guardian over them.
But no sooner was the man gone, than the Wolf, seeing his opportunity, fell upon the Sheep and destroyed the greater part of them.
“I have been rightly served,” said the Shepherd, on his return. “Why did I not know better than to trust my Sheep to their worst enemy? Soon or late, nature will show itself.”
A WOLF accused of theft a Fox, who utterly denied the charge, whereupon an Ape undertook to adjudge the matter in question.
When each had fully stated his case, the Ape pronounced this sentence:
“I am fully satisfied that you, Wolf, never lost what you claim.” Then turning to the Fox, he said, “And I believe you to have done that which you so stoutly deny.”
A BLIND Man was accustomed to distinguish different animals by touching them with his hands.
The whelp of a wolf was brought him, with the request that he should feel it and tell what it was.
Being in doubt, he said, “I do not quite know whether it is the cub of a fox or the whelp of a wolf; but this I know full well, that it would not be safe to admit it to the sheepfold.”
A YOUNG man who had been a great spendthrift, and had run through all the money he had inherited, and even sold all his outer clothing except his cloak, saw a Swallow skimming over the meadows in the early springtime and twittering gayly. Believing that summer was really come, he sold his cloak also.