t was willing or no. It was
in vain that the Head urged that the Tail had neither brains nor eyes,
and that it was in no way made to lead.

Wearied by the Tail's importunity, the Head one day let him have his
will. The Serpent now went backward for a long time quite gayly, until
he came to the edge of a high cliff, over which both Head and Tail went
flying, and came with a heavy thump on the shore beneath.

The Head, it may be supposed, was never again troubled by the Tail with
a word about leading.

The Falcon and the Capon

A Capon, who had strong reasons for thinking that the time of his
sacrifice was near at hand, carefully avoided coming into close
quarters with any of the farm servants or domestics of the estate on
which he lived. A glimpse that he had once caught of the kitchen, with
its blazing fire, and the head cook, like an executioner, with a
formidable knife chopping off the heads of some of his companions, had
been sufficient to keep him ever after in dread.

Hence, one day when he was wanted for roasting, all calling, clucking,
and coaxing of the cook's assistants were in vain.

"How deaf and dull you must be," said a Falcon to the Capon, "not to
hear when you are called, or to see when you are wanted! You should
take pattern by me. I never let my master call me twice."

"Ah," answered the Capon, "if Falcons were called like Capons, to be
run upon a spit and set before the kitchen fire, they would be just as
slow to come and just as hard of hearing as I am now."

The Crow and the Pitcher

A Crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a Pitcher, hoping to
find some water in it.

He found some there, to be sure, but only a little drop at the bottom
which he was quite unable to reach.

He then tried to overturn the Pitcher, but it was too heavy. So he
gathered up some pebbles, with which the ground near was covered and,
taking them one by one in his beak, dropped them into the Pitcher.

By this means the water gradually reached the top, and he was enabled
to drink at his ease.

The Eagle and the Owl

The Eagle and the Owl, after many quarrels, swore that they would be
fast friends forever, and that they would never harm each other's
children.

"But do you know my little ones?" said the Owl. "If you do not, I fear
it will go hard with them when you find them."

"Nay, then, I do not," replied the Eagle.

"The greater your loss," said the Owl; "They are the sweetest