The Stag said :
“ No; not from ill-temper, and not from love, and not from hunger arises all the evil that is in the world, but evil arises from fear. If it were possible for us to live without fear, all would be well with us. We are swift-footed, and have great strength. With our antlers we can defend ourselves from little animals; and we can run from the large ones. But it is impossible to escape fear. If it is only the twigs creaking in the for-est, or the leaves rustling, we are all of a tremble with fear, our heart beats, we instinctively start to run, and fly with all our might. Another’ time a hare runs by or a bird flutters, or a dry twig crackles, and we think it is a wild beast, and in running away we really run into danger. And again we are running from a dog, and we come upon a man. Oftentimes we are frightened and start to flee, we don’t know whither, and we roll over a precipice and perish. And we have to sleep with one eye open, with one ear alert, and we are always in alarm. There is no peace. All evil comes from fear.”
Then the Hermit said:
“ Not from hunger, nor from love, nor from ill-temper, nor from fear come all our troubles; but all the evil that is in the world is due to our different natures. Hence come hunger and love, ill-temper and fear.”
XXI
WOLF AND THE HUNTSMEN
A WOLF was eating up a sheep. The Huntsmen dis-covered him, and began to beat him.
The Wolf said:
“ It is not right for you to beat me. It is not my fault that I am a wild beast; God made me so.”
But the Huntsmen replied :
“ We do not beat wolves because they are wild beasts, but because they eat the sheep.”
XXII
TWO PEASANTS
ONCE upon a time two peasants attempted to pass each other, and their sledges became entangled. One cried :
“ Give me room; I must get to town as quickly as possible; “ and the other said :-
“ You give me room; I must get home as quickly as possible.”
Thus for a long time they disputed. A third peasant saw it, and said :
“ If you are in such a hurry, then each of you give way a little.” l
XXIII
PEASANT AND THE HORSE
A PEASANT went to town to get oats for his Horse. As soon as he got out of the village, the Horse wanted to return home. The Peasant lashed the Horse with his whip.
The horse started up, but in regard to the Peasant it thought :
“ The fool ! Where is he driving me ? We should be better off at home.”
Before they reached the city the Peasant noticed that the mud made the going hard for the Horse, so he turned him upon the wood-block pavement; but the Horse re-fused to go upon the pavement.
The Peasant lashed the Horse again, and twitched at the reins. The animal turned off upon the pavement, and said to himself :
“ Why did he turn me off upon the pavement; it only breaks my hoofs. It is hard here under my feet.”
The Peasant drove up to the shop, bought his oats, and went home. When he reached home he gave the Horse the oats. The Horse began to eat, and said to himself :
“What stupid things men are! They only love to show their mastery over us, but their intelligence is less than ours. Why did he take so much trouble to-day ? Where did he go and drive me ? We had no sooner got there than we returned home. It would have been better for both of us if we had stayed at home in the first place. He would have sat on the oven, 1 and I should have been eating oats.”
XXIV
TWO HORSES
Two Horses were carrying two loads. The front Horse went well, but the rear Horse was lazy. The men began to pile the rear Horse’s load on the front Horse; when they had transferred it all, the rear Horse found it easy going, and he said to the front Horse :-
“ Toil and sweat ! The more you try, the more you have to suffer.”
When they reached the tavern, the owner said :
“ Why should I fodder two horses when I carry all on one ? I had better give the one all the food it wants, and cut the throat of the other; at least I shall have the hide.”
And so he did.
XXV
AX AND THE SAW
Two peasants were going to the forest after wood. One had an ax and the other had a saw. After they had selected a tree they began to dispute.
One said it was better to chop down the tree, and the other said it ought to be sawed.
A third peasant said :
“ I will settle the question for you in a moment : if the ax is sharp, then it is better to chop; but if the saw is sharper, then it is better to saw.”
He took the ax and began to chop the tree. But the ax was dull, so that it was impossible for him to cut.
1 In Russian huts the oven is made of earth; and, as it is never very hot, the peasants use it for a bed and lounge.
He took the saw; the saw was wretched, and would not cut at all. Then he said :
“ Don’t be in haste to quarrel; the ax does not chop, and the saw does not cut. Sharpen your ax and file your saw, and then quarrel as much as you wish.”
The two peasants, however, became even more angry with each other than before, because the one had a blunted ax, the other had an ill-set saw; and they fell to blows.
XXVI
DOGS AND THE COOK
A COOK was preparing dinner; some dogs were lying at the kitchen door. The cook killed a calf, and threw the insides into the yard.
The dogs seized them, ate them up, and said : “ The cook is good; he knows how to cook well.” After a little while the cook began to clean tur-nips and onions, and he threw away the outsides. The dogs ran up to them, turned up their noses, and said :
“ Our cook is spoiled; he used to make good things, but now he is worthless.”
But the cook did not hear the dogs, and cooked the dinner in his usual way. The people of the house, however, ate up the dinner and praised it, if the dogs did not.
XXVII
HARE AND THE HOUND
A HARE once asked a Hound :
“ Why do you bark when you chase us ? You would be much more likely to catch us, if you ran without barking. But when you bark, you only drive us into the huntsman’s hands; he hears where we are running, and he hastens up, shoots us with his gun, kills us, and does not give you anything.”
The Dog replied :
“ That is not the reason that I bark; I bark simply because I get scent of you; I become excited, or else glad because I am going to catch you immediately; and I myself know not why, but I cannot help barking.”
XXVIII
OAK AND THE HAZEL BUSH
AN ancient Oak let drop an acorn on a Hazel Bush. The Hazel Bush said to the Oak :
“ Have you, then, so little room under your branches? You might drop your acorns on a clear space. Here I myself have scarcely room for my branches; I don’t throw my nuts away, though, but I give them to men.”
“I live two hundred years,” replied the Oak; “and the little oak that will come up from the acorn will live as many more.”
Then the Hazel Bush grew angry, and said :
“ Then I will choke off your little oak, and it will not live three days.”
The Oak made no reply to this, but told his little son to come forth from the acorn.
The acorn grew moist, burst open, and the rootlet caught hold of the earth with its little hooks, and another sprout was sent up above.
The Hazel Bush tried to choke it, and would not give it the sun. But the little Oak stretched up into the air, and waxed strong in the Hazel Bush’s shadow.
A hundred years passed away. The Hazel Bush had long ago died away; and the Oak had grown from the acorn as high as heaven, and spread its tent on every side.
XXIX
SETTING HEN AND THE CHICKENS
A BROOD HEN hatched out some Chickens, and did not know how to take care of them. And so she said to them :
“ Creep into the shell again; when you are in the shell, I will sit on you, as I used to sit on you, and I will take care of you.”
The Chickens obeyed their mother, tried to creep into the shell; but they found it perfectly impossible to get into it again, and they only broke their wings.
Then one of the Chickens said
