ur
your slave's own children." "Oh," said King Solomon, "if that is the
case, you, Otter are the guilty party, and your complaint of your
children's death cannot be sustained against the Mouse-deer by the
Law of the Land."

* * * * *

THE ALLIGATOR AND THE JACKAL

ADAPTED BY M. FRERE

A hungry Jackal once went down to the riverside in search of little
crabs, bits of fish, and whatever else he could find for his dinner.
Now it chanced that in this river there lived a great big Alligator,
who, being also very hungry, would have been extremely glad to eat the
Jackal.

The Jackal ran up and down, here and there, but for a long time could
find nothing to eat. At last, close to where the Alligator was lying
among some tall bulrushes under the clear, shallow water, he saw a
little crab sidling along as fast as his legs could carry him. The
Jackal was so hungry that when he saw this he poked his paw into the
water to try to catch the crab, when snap! the old Alligator caught
hold of him. "Oh, dear!" thought the Jackal to himself, "what can I
do? This great, big Alligator has caught my paw in his mouth, and in
another minute he will drag me down by it under the water and kill
me. My only chance is to make him think he has made a mistake." So he
called out in a cheerful voice: "Clever Alligator, clever Alligator,
to catch hold of a bulrush root instead of my paw! I hope you find
it very tender." The Alligator, who was so buried among the bulrushes
that he could hardly see, thought, on hearing this: "Dear me, how
tiresome! I fancied I had caught hold of the Jackal's paw; but there
he is, calling out in a cheerful voice. I suppose I must have seized a
bulrush root instead, as he says," and he let the Jackal go.

The Jackal ran away as fast as he could, crying, "O wise Alligator,
wise Alligator! So you let me go again!"

Then the Alligator was very much vexed, but the Jackal had run away
too far to be caught. Next day the Jackal returned to the riverside to
get his dinner as before; but because he was very much afraid of the
Alligator he called out: "Whenever I go to look for my dinner, I see
the nice little crabs peeping up through the mud; then I catch them
and eat them. I wish I could see one now."

The Alligator, who was buried in the mud at the bottom of the river,
heard every word. So he popped the little point of his snout above it,
thinking: "If I do but just show the tip of