lament:
"O wretched creature that I am! to take such precaution against the
land, and after all to find this seashore, to which I had come for
safety, so much more perilous."

The Shepherd and the Sea

A SHEPHERD, keeping watch over his sheep near the shore, saw the
Sea very calm and smooth, and longed to make a voyage with a view to
commerce. He sold all his flock, invested it in a cargo of dates, and
set sail. But a very great tempest came on, and the ship being in danger
of sinking, he threw all his merchandise overboard, and barely escaped
with his life in the empty ship. Not long afterwards when someone passed
by and observed the unruffled calm of the Sea, he interrupted him and
said, "It is again in want of dates, and therefore looks quiet."

The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion

AN ASS and a Cock were in a straw-yard together when a Lion, desperate
from hunger, approached the spot. He was about to spring upon the Ass,
when the Cock (to the sound of whose voice the Lion, it is said, has a
singular aversion) crowed loudly, and the Lion fled away as fast as he
could. The Ass, observing his trepidation at the mere crowing of a Cock
summoned courage to attack him, and galloped after him for that purpose.
He had run no long distance, when the Lion, turning about, seized him
and tore him to pieces.

False confidence often leads into danger.

The Mice and the Weasels

THE WEASELS and the Mice waged a perpetual war with each other, in
which much blood was shed. The Weasels were always the victors. The Mice
thought that the cause of their frequent defeats was that they had no
leaders set apart from the general army to command them, and that they
were exposed to dangers from lack of discipline. They therefore chose as
leaders Mice that were most renowned for their family descent, strength,
and counsel, as well as those most noted for their courage in the fight,
so that they might be better marshaled in battle array and formed into
troops, regiments, and battalions. When all this was done, and the army
disciplined, and the herald Mouse had duly proclaimed war by challenging
the Weasels, the newly chosen generals bound their heads with straws,
that they might be more conspicuous to all their troops. Scarcely had
the battle begun, when a great rout overwhelmed the Mice, who scampered
off as fast as they could to their holes. The generals, not being able
to get in on account of the ornaments on their heads