he chanced to run into the toils of the hunters, from
whence, not being able to disengage himself, he set up a most
hideous and loud roar.

The Mouse, hearing a voice, and knowing it to be the Lion's,
immediately repaired to the place, and bid him fear nothing, for
that he was his friend. Then straight he fell to work, and
with his sharp little teeth gnawing asunder the knots and
fastenings of the toils, set the royal brute at liberty.

[Illustration: THE LION AND THE MOUSE.]

MORAL.

There is none so little, but that even the greatest may at some
time or other stand in need of his assistance.

FABLE LXXIV.

THE TRUMPETER TAKEN PRISONER.

A TRUMPETER, being taken prisoner in a battle, begged hard for
quarter, declaring his innocence, and protesting that he neither
had nor could kill any man, bearing no arms but only a trumpet,
which he was obliged to sound at the word of command. "For that
reason," replied his enemies, "we are determined not to spare
you; for though you yourself never fight, yet with that wicked
instrument of yours, you blow up animosity between other people,
and so become the occasion of much bloodshed."

MORAL.

The hand may rest quiet by the side, and yet the tongue be the
means of doing more injury than a thousand hands.

FABLE LXXV.

THE MOUSE AND THE ELEPHANT.

A PERT young Mouse, but just arrived
From Athens, where some time he'd lived;
And daily to the portico,
To pick up learning, used to go;
Vain of the wisdom he had stored,
And of the books he had devoured;
Puffed up with pride and self-conceit,
And proud to show his little wit,
Thus to an Elephant, one day,
He took it in his head to say:--

"Nay, not so pompous in your gait,
Because Dame Nature made you great;
I tell you, sir, your mighty size
Is of no value in my eyes;--
Your magnitude, I have a notion,
Is quite unfit for locomotion;
When journeying far, you often prove
How sluggishly your feet can move.
Now, look at me: I'm made to fly;
Behold, with what rapidity
I skip about from place to place,
And still unwearied with the race;
But you--how lazily you creep,
And stop to breathe at every step!
Whenever I your bulk survey,
I pity--" What he meant to say,
Or with what kind of peroration
He'd have concluded his oration,
I cannot tell; for, all at once,
There pounced up