The Fox and Raven;
A FABLE.
A raven was once sitting upon a tree with a nice bit of cheese in his mouth. A fox near by, being hungry, approached the raven with the design of getting the bit of cheese, if he could. So he began to speak as follows:
“Good morning, Mr. Raven! How fine you look to-day! I never saw your coat so rich and glossy before. Pray give me a bit of that cheese; I am very fond of cheese.”
“Hem!” said the raven, taking care not to open his mouth, and seeming to think that he was not such a ninny as to be flattered out of his cheese by a fox. But reynard is a sort of natural lawyer, who knows the weak points of people, and has a faculty, as well as a disposition, to turn them to account. He thought to himself, “Now the raven has a hoarse, croaking voice; and the way to flatter any one is to praise that in which he is most deficient.” So he began:
“Well, my dear Raven, I told you I wanted the cheese—but, in point of fact, I care nothing about it. I hate cheese, for it spoils the breath; but I really wanted to hear you sing, and the cheese stops up your mouth. I beg of you to sing me a little French or Italian air; you execute those things so deliciously.”
The raven, like many other silly people who have odious voices, fancied that he sang divinely; so he dropped the cheese, and began; whereupon the fox picked up the cheese, and holding his bursting sides, ran away, saying to himself, “O, flattery, flattery; it is the key that unlocks all hearts. You have only to use the right kind, and you can make a fool of anybody. But as to these people with croaking throats, who pretend to sing French and Italian airs, bah! it is too much!”