A Mouse was living under the granary. In the floor of the granary there was a little hole, and the grain fell down through it. The Mouse had an easy life of it, but she wanted to brag of her ease : she gnawed a larger hole in the floor, and invited other mice.
“ Conie to a feast with me,” said she; “ there will be plenty to eat for everybody.”
When she brought the mice, she saw there was no hole. The peasant had noticed the big hole in the floor, and had stopped it up.
THE BEST PEARS
A master sent his Servant to buy the best-tasting pears. The Servant came to the shop and asked for pears. The dealer gave him some; but the Servant said :
“ No, give me the best ! “
The dealer said :
“ Try one; you will see that they taste good.”
“ How shall I know,” said the Servant, “ that they all taste good, if I try one only ? “
He bit off a piece from each pear, and brought them to his master. Then his master sent him away.
THE FALCON AND THE COCK
The Falcon was used to the master, and came to his hand when he was called; the Cock ran away from his master and cried when people went up to him. So the Falcon said to the Cock :
“ In you Cocks there is no gratitude; one can see that you are of a common breed. You go to your masters only when you are hungry. It is different with us wild birds. We have much strength, and we can fly faster than anybody; still we do not fly away from people, but of our own accord go to their hands when we are called. We remember that they feed us.”
Then the Cock said :
“ You do not run away from people because you have never seen a roast Falcon, but we, you know, see roast Cocks.”
THE JACKALS AND THE ELEPHANT
The Jackals had eaten up all the carrion in the woods, and had nothiug to eat. So an old Jackal was thinking how to find something to feed on. He went to an Elephant, and said :
“ We had a king, but he became overweening : he told us to do things that nobody could do; we want to choose another king, and my people have sent me to ask you to be our king. You will have an easy life with us. Whatever you will order us to do, we will do, and we will honour you in everything. Come to our kingdom ! “
The Elephant consented, and followed the Jackal. The Jackal brought him to a swamp. When the Elephant stuck fast in it, the Jackal said :
“ Now command ! Whatever you command, we will do.”
The Elephant said :
“ I command you to pull me out from here.”
The Jackal began to laugh, and said :
“ Take hold of my tail with your trunk, and I will pull you out at once.”
The Elephant said :
“ Can I be pulled out by a tail ? “
But the Jackal said to him :
“ Why, then, do you command us to do what is impossible ? Did we not drive away our first king for telling us to do what could not be done ? “
When the Elephant died in the swamp the Jackals came and ate him up.
THE HERON, THE FISHES, AND THE CRAB
A Heron was living near a pond. She grew old, and had no strength left with which to catch the fish. She began to contrive how to live by cunning. So she said to the Fishes :
“ You Fishes do not know that a calamity is in store for you : I have heard the people say that they are going to let off the pond, and catch every one of you. I know of a nice little pond back of the mountain. I should like to help you, but I am old, and it is hard for me to”
The Fishes begged the Heron to help them. So the Heron said :
“ All right, I will do what I can for you, and will carry you over : only I cannot do it at once, I will take you there one after another.”
And the Fishes were happy; they kept begging her : “ Carry me over ! Carry me over ! “
And the Heron started carrying them. She would take one up, would carry her into the field, and would eat her up. And thus she ate a large number of Fishes.
In the pond there lived an old Crab. When the Heron began to take out the Fishes, he saw what was up, and said:
“ Now, Heron, take me to the new abode ! “
The Heron took the Crab and carried him off. When she flew out on the field, she wanted to throw the Crab down. But the Crab saw the fish-bones on the ground, and so squeezed the Heron’s neck with his claws, and choked her to death. Then he crawled back to the pond, and told the Fishes.
THE WATER-SPRITE AND THE PEARL
A Man was rowing in a boat, and dropped a costly pearl into the sea. The Man returned to the shore, took a pail, and began to draw up the water and to pour it out on the land. He drew the water and poured it out for three days without stopping.
On the fourth day the Water-sprite came out of the sea, and asked :
“ Why are you drawing the water ? “
The Man said :
“ I am drawing it because I have dropped a pearl into it.”
The Water-sprite asked him :
“ Will you stop soon ? “
The Man said :
“ I will stop when I dry up the sea.”
Then the Water-sprite returned to the sea, brought back that pearl, and gave it to the Man.
THE BLIND MAN AND THE MILK
A Man born blind asked a Seeing Man
“ Of what colour is milk ? “
The Seeing Man said : “ The colour of milk is the same as that of white paper.”
The Blind Man asked : “ Well, does that colour rustle in your hands like paper ? “
The Seeing Man said : “ No, it is as white as white flour.”
The Blind Man asked : “ Well, is it as soft and as powdery as flour ? “
The Seeing Man said : “ No, it is simply as white as a white hare.”
The Blind Man asked : “ Well, is it as fluffy and soft as a hare ? “
The Seeing Man said : “ No, it is as white as snow.”
The Blind Man asked : “ Well, is it as cold as snow ? “
And no matter how many examples the Seeing Man gave, the Blind Man was unable to understand what the white colour of milk was like.
THE WOLF AND THE BOW
A hunter went out to hunt with bow and arrows. He killed a goat. He threw her on his shoulders and carried her along. On his way he saw a boar. He threw down the goat, and shot at the boar and wounded him. The boar rushed against the hunter and butted him to death, and himself died on the spot. A Wolf scented the blood, and came to the place where lay the goat, the boar, the man, and his bow. The Wolf was glad, and said :
“ Now I shall have enough to eat for a long time; only I will not eat everything at once, but little by little, so that nothing may be lost : first I will eat the tougher things, and then I will lunch on what is soft and sweet.”
The Wolf sniffed at the goat, the boar, and the man, and said :
“ This is all soft food, so I will eat it later; let me first start on these sinews of the bow.”
And he began to gnaw the sinews of the bow. When he bit threw the string, the bow sprang back and hit him on his belly. He died on the spot, and other wolves ate up the man, the goat, the boar, and the Wolf.
THE BIRDS IN THE NET
A Hunter set out a net near a lake and caught a number of birds. The birds were large, and they raised the net and flew away with it. The Hunter ran after them. A Peasant saw the Hunter running, and said :
“ Where are you running ? How can you catch up with the birds, while you are on foot ? “
The Hunter said :
“ If it were one bird, I should not catch it, but now I shall.”
And so it happened. When evening came, the birds began to pull for the night each in a different direction : one to the woods, another to the swamp, a third to the field; and all fell with the net to the ground, and the Hunter caught them.
THE KING AND THE FALCON
A certain King let his favourite Falcon loose on a hare, and galloped after him.
The Falcon caught the hare. The King took him away, and began to look for some water to drink. The King found it on a knoll, but it came only drop by drop. The King fetched his cup from the saddle, and placed it under the water. The water flowed in drops, and when the cup was filled, the King raised it to his mouth and wanted to drink it. Suddenly the Falcon fluttered on the King’s arm and spilled the water. The King placed the
