his last breath he said to himself, "I am
rightly served; for what business had I who had never handled a net to
try and catch fish?"

The Flea and the Wrestler

A FLEA settled upon the bare foot of a Wrestler and bit him, causing the
man to call loudly upon Hercules for help. When the Flea a second time
hopped upon his foot, he groaned and said, "O Hercules! if you will
not help me against a Flea, how can I hope for your assistance against
greater antagonists?"

The Two Frogs

TWO FROGS dwelt in the same pool. When the pool dried up under the
summer's heat, they left it and set out together for another home. As
they went along they chanced to pass a deep well, amply supplied with
water, and when they saw it, one of the Frogs said to the other, "Let us
descend and make our abode in this well: it will furnish us with shelter
and food." The other replied with greater caution, "But suppose the
water should fail us. How can we get out again from so great a depth?"

Do nothing without a regard to the consequences.

The Cat and the Mice

A CERTAIN HOUSE was overrun with Mice. A Cat, discovering this, made
her way into it and began to catch and eat them one by one. Fearing for
their lives, the Mice kept themselves close in their holes. The Cat was
no longer able to get at them and perceived that she must tempt them
forth by some device. For this purpose she jumped upon a peg, and
suspending herself from it, pretended to be dead. One of the Mice,
peeping stealthily out, saw her and said, "Ah, my good madam, even
though you should turn into a meal-bag, we will not come near you."

The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox

A LION and a Bear seized a Kid at the same moment, and fought fiercely
for its possession. When they had fearfully lacerated each other and
were faint from the long combat, they lay down exhausted with fatigue. A
Fox, who had gone round them at a distance several times, saw them both
stretched on the ground with the Kid lying untouched in the middle. He
ran in between them, and seizing the Kid scampered off as fast as he
could. The Lion and the Bear saw him, but not being able to get up,
said, "Woe be to us, that we should have fought and belabored ourselves
only to serve the turn of a Fox."

It sometimes happens that one man has all the toil, and another all the
profit.

The Doe and the Lion

A DOE hard pressed by hunters sought refuge in a cave belonging to a
Lion. The Li