what reason he had called him. The Old Man
hurriedly replied, "That, lifting up the load, you may place it again
upon my shoulders."

The Fir-Tree and the Bramble

A FIR-TREE said boastingly to the Bramble, "You are useful for nothing
at all; while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses." The Bramble
answered: "You poor creature, if you would only call to mind the axes
and saws which are about to hew you down, you would have reason to wish
that you had grown up a Bramble, not a Fir-Tree."

Better poverty without care, than riches with.

The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk

A MOUSE who always lived on the land, by an unlucky chance formed an
intimate acquaintance with a Frog, who lived for the most part in the
water. The Frog, one day intent on mischief, bound the foot of the Mouse
tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the Frog first of all led his
friend the Mouse to the meadow where they were accustomed to find their
food. After this, he gradually led him towards the pool in which he
lived, until reaching the very brink, he suddenly jumped in, dragging
the Mouse with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and swam
croaking about, as if he had done a good deed. The unhappy Mouse was
soon suffocated by the water, and his dead body floated about on the
surface, tied to the foot of the Frog. A Hawk observed it, and, pouncing
upon it with his talons, carried it aloft. The Frog, being still
fastened to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried off a prisoner, and
was eaten by the Hawk.

Harm hatch, harm catch.

The Man Bitten by a Dog

A MAN who had been bitten by a Dog went about in quest of someone who
might heal him. A friend, meeting him and learning what he wanted, said,
"If you would be cured, take a piece of bread, and dip it in the blood
from your wound, and go and give it to the Dog that bit you." The Man
who had been bitten laughed at this advice and said, "Why? If I should
do so, it would be as if I should beg every Dog in the town to bite me."

Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed increase their means of
injuring you.

The Two Pots

A RIVER carried down in its stream two Pots, one made of earthenware and
the other of brass. The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, "Pray keep
at a distance and do not come near me, for if you touch me ever so
slightly, I shall be broken in pieces, and besides, I by no means wish
to come near you."

Equals make the best friends.