NARRATIVE (FABLES 3)

The Fox Without a Tail
It happened that a Fox caught its tail in a trap, and in struggling
to release himself lost all of it but the stump. At first he
was ashamed to show himself among his fellow foxes. But at
last he determined to put a bolder face upon his misfortune,
and summoned all the foxes to a general meeting to consider
a proposal which he had to place before them. When they
had assembled together the Fox proposed that they should
all do away with their tails. He pointed out how inconvenient
a tail was when they were pursued by their enemies,
the dogs; how much it was in the way when they desired
to sit down and hold a friendly conversation with one another.
He failed to see any advantage in carrying about such
a useless encumbrance. ‘That is all very well,’ said one of
the older foxes; ‘but I do not think you would have recommended
us to dispense with our chief ornament if you had
not happened to lose it yourself.’

NARRATIVE (FABLE 2)

The Wolf and the Crane
A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when
suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he
could not swallow it. He soon felt terrible pain in his throat,
and ran up and down groaning and groaning and seeking
for something to relieve the pain. He tried to induce every
one he met to remove the bone. ‘I would give anything,’ said
he, ‘if you would take it out.’ At last the Crane agreed to
try, and told the Wolf to lie on his side and open his jaws
as wide as he could. Then the Crane put its long neck down
the Wolf’s throat, and with its beak loosened the bone, till
at last it got it out.
‘Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?’ said
the Crane.
The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: ‘Be
content. You have put your head inside a Wolf’s mouth and
taken it out again in safety; that ought to be reward enough
for you.’