“Bow wow, master,” called Carlo, “don’t close up yet.”
“Ba-a-a, ba-a-a-a,” cried the little lamb, “dear mother, where are you?”
The mother heard her and bounded into the air with joy. “Ba-a-a, come to me, my lamb,” she called, “come to me, my lambkin, my wee lambkin, my wee wee little lamb.”
The little lamb leaped to her mother’s side and was safe in the fold.
The shepherd patted Carlo on the head and called him “Good dog” and said, “Come with me, my dog, and I’ll give thee a bone thick with meat.”
THE ANT AND THE DOVE
Once an ant went to the bank of a river to quench her thirst. As she stooped to the water she fell in and was nearly drowned. A dove perched on a tree overhanging the river saw her and quickly dropped down a leaf to her. The ant climbed up on the leaf and it floated to the bank. She went ashore, safe and sound.
Not long after this, a bird catcher stepped softly up to the tree to set a snare to catch the dove. The ant saw him and quickly stung him in the foot. The bird catcher’s cry at the pain startled the dove. Away she flew, safe and sound.
—Æsop