clearly to understand the description you have both
attempted to give. I shall judge the merits of the case better if I see it
performed."

'To this proposal the Snake and Traveller agreed: and when the corn bag
was thrown towards the Snake, he crept into it as before. The Fox then
called out to the Traveller "Draw quickly!" he did so, and the Snake was
caught by a noose in the cord which the Fox had contrived unperceived, by
which the Snake was secured fast round the middle. "Now," said the Fox,
"bruise your enemy, and thus relieve the world of one base
inhabitant!"'[12]

This fable is frequently enlarged and embellished by the reciter to a
considerable extent, by introducing many different objects animate and
inanimate, to elucidate the question before the Fox arrives, who is
generally brought in to moral the fable.

I trust to be excused for transcribing the following moral fable which was
translated from the Persian by my husband for my amusement, bearing the
title of 'The King who longed for an unknown fruit:'--

'A certain King was so great a tyrant, that his servants and subjects
dreaded each burst of anger, as it were the prelude to their own
annihilation. The exercise of his will was as absolute as his power; he
had only to command, and obedience followed, however difficult or
inconvenient to the people who served under him.

'This tyrant dreamed one night that he was eating fruit of an
extraordinary flavour and quality. He had never in his whole life seen
fruit of the kind, neither had he heard such described by travellers; yet
when he ruminated on the subject in the morning he was resolved to have
fruit of the same sort his dream presented, or his people should suffer
for his disappointment.

'The King related his dream, and with it his commands to his Vizier, his
courtiers, and attendants, that fruit of the same description should be
brought before him within seven days; in default of which he vowed
solemnly that death should be the portion of his Vizier, his courtiers,
and servants. They all knew the King meant to be obeyed, by the
earnestness of his manner, and they trembled under the weight of his
perplexing orders; each, therefore, was speedily engaged in the
all-important search. The whole empire was canvassed, and all the business
of the Court was suspended to satisfy the whim of the Monarch, without
avail; terror and dismay marked the countenance of the whole city--for
certain death awaited th