their King in fear and trembling,
till at last, encouraged by his stillness, one more daring than the
rest jumped upon the shoulder of the monarch. Soon, many others
followed his example, and made merry on the back of their unresisting
King. Speedily tiring of such a torpid ruler, they again petitioned
Jupiter, and asked him to send them something more like a King.

This time he sent them a Stork, who tossed them about and gobbled them
up without mercy. They lost no time, therefore, in beseeching the god
to give them again their former state.

"No, no," replied he, "a King that did you no harm did not please you.
Make the best of the one you have, or you may chance to get a worse in
his place."

The Porcupine and the Snakes

A Porcupine, seeking for shelter, desired some Snakes to give him
admittance into their cave. They accordingly let him in, but were
afterward so annoyed by his sharp, prickly quills that they repented of
their easy compliance, and entreated him to withdraw and leave them
their hole to themselves.

"No, no," said he, "let them quit the place that don't like it; for my
part, I am very well satisfied as I am."

The Lark and Her Young Ones

A Lark, who had Young Ones in a field of grain which was almost ripe,
was afraid that the reapers would come before her young brood was
fledged. Every day, therefore, when she flew off to look for food, she
charged them to take note of what they heard in her absence, and to
tell her of it when she came home.

One day, when she was gone, they heard the owner of the field say to
his son that the grain seemed ripe enough to be cut, and tell him to go
early the next day and ask their friends and neighbours to come and
help reap it.

When the old Lark came home, the Little Ones quivered and chirped
around her, and told her what had happened, begging her to take them
away as fast as she could. The mother bade them to be easy; "for,"
said she, "if he depends on his friends and his neighbours, I am sure
the grain will not be reaped tomorrow."

Next day, she went out again, and left the same orders as before. The
owner came, and waited. The sun grew hot, but nothing was done, for
not a soul came. "You see," said the owner to his son, "these friends
of ours are not to be depended upon; so run off at once to your uncles
and cousins, and say I wish them to come early to-morrow morning and
help us reap."

This the Young Ones, in a great fright, to