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Monday, September 06, 2010 - 6:16 PM
The Piglet, the Sheep, and the Goat
A young Pig was shut up in a fold-yard with a Goat and a Sheep.
On one occasion when the shepherd laid hold of him, he grunted and squeaked
and resisted violently. The Sheep and the Goat complained of his distressing
cries, saying, "He often handles us, and we do not cry out." To this the
Pig replied, "Your handling and mine are very different things. He catches
you only for your wool, or your milk, but he lays hold on me for my very
life."
The Boy and the Filberts
A Boy put his hand into a pitcher full of filberts. He grasped
as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his hand,
he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the pitcher. Unwilling to
lose his filberts, and yet unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears
and bitterly lamented his disappointment. A bystander said to him, "Be
satisfied with half the quantity, and you will readily draw out your
hand."
Do not attempt too much at once.
The Lion in Love
A Lion demanded the daughter of a woodcutter in marriage. The
Father, unwilling to grant, and yet afraid to refuse his request, hit upon
this expedient to rid himself of his importunities. He expressed his willingness
to accept the Lion as the suitor of his daughter on one condition: that
he should allow him to extract his teeth, and cut off his claws, as his
daughter was fearfully afraid of both. The Lion cheerfully assented to
the proposal. But when the toothless, clawless Lion returned to repeat
his request, the Woodman, no longer afraid, set upon him with his club,
and drove him away into the forest.
The Laborer and the Snake
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire, having made his hole close to the porch of a cottage,
inflicted a mortal bite on the Cottager's infant son. Grieving over his
loss, the Father resolved to kill the Snake. The next day, when it came
out of its hole for food, he took up his axe, but by swinging too hastily,
missed its head and cut off only the end of its tail. After some time
the Cottager, afraid that the Snake would bite him also, endeavored to
make peace, and placed some bread and salt in the hole. The Snake, slightly
hissing, said: "There can henceforth be no peace between us; for whenever
I see you I shall remember the loss of my tail, and whenever you see me
you will be thinking of the death of your son."
No one truly forgets injuries in the presence of him who caused
the injury.
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Once upon a time a Wolf resolved to disguise his appearance in
order to secure food more easily. Encased in the skin of a sheep, he pastured
with the flock deceiving the shepherd by his costume. In the evening he
was shut up by the shepherd in the fold; the gate was closed, and the entrance
made thoroughly secure. But the shepherd, returning to the fold during
the night to obtain meat for the next day, mistakenly caught up the Wolf
instead of a sheep, and killed him instantly.
Harm seek. Harm find.
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