ng at it in amazement. Just then Minerva appeared, and said to
him, "Leave it alone, my friend; that which you see before you is the
apple of discord: if you do not meddle with it, it remains small as it
was at first, but if you resort to violence it swells into the thing
you see."

THE FOX WHO SERVED A LION

A Lion had a Fox to attend on him, and whenever they went hunting the
Fox found the prey and the Lion fell upon it and killed it, and then
they divided it between them in certain proportions. But the Lion
always got a very large share, and the Fox a very small one, which
didn't please the latter at all; so he determined to set up on his own
account. He began by trying to steal a lamb from a flock of sheep: but
the shepherd saw him and set his dogs on him. The hunter was now the
hunted, and was very soon caught and despatched by the dogs.

Better servitude with safety than freedom with danger.

THE QUACK DOCTOR

A certain man fell sick and took to his bed. He consulted a number of
doctors from time to time, and they all, with one exception, told him
that his life was in no immediate danger, but that his illness would
probably last a considerable time. The one who took a different view
of his case, who was also the last to be consulted, bade him prepare
for the worst: "You have not twenty-four hours to live," said he, "and
I fear I can do nothing." As it turned out, however, he was quite
wrong; for at the end of a few days the sick man quitted his bed and
took a walk abroad, looking, it is true, as pale as a ghost. In the
course of his walk he met the Doctor who had prophesied his death.
"Dear me," said the latter, "how do you do? You are fresh from the
other world, no doubt. Pray, how are our departed friends getting on
there?" "Most comfortably," replied the other, "for they have drunk
the water of oblivion, and have forgotten all the troubles of life. By
the way, just before I left, the authorities were making arrangements
to prosecute all the doctors, because they won't let sick men die in
the course of nature, but use their arts to keep them alive. They were
going to charge you along with the rest, till I assured them that you
were no doctor, but a mere impostor."

THE LION, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX

A Lion, infirm with age, lay sick in his den, and all the beasts of
the forest came to inquire after his health with the exception of the
Fox. The Wolf thought this was a good opport