Moral—Don't tie your tail to a coward's.
THE TWO BROTHERS
Once upon a time there lived a King who had two young sons; they were good boys, and sat in school learning all that kings' sons ought to know. But while they were still learning, the Queen their mother died, and their father the King shortly after married again. Of course the new wife was jealous of the two young Princes, and, as stepmothers usually do, she soon began to ill-use the poor boys. First she gave them barley-meal instead of wheaten cakes to eat, and then even these were made without salt. After a time, the meal of which the cakes were made was sour and full of weevils; so matters went on from bad to worse, until at last she took to beating the poor young Princes, and when they cried, she complained to the King of their disobedience and peevishness, so that he too was angry, and beat them again.
At length the lads agreed it was high time to seek some remedy.
'Let us go into the world,' said the younger, 'and earn our own living.'
'Yes,' cried the elder, 'let us go at once, and never again eat bread under this roof.'
'Not so, brother,' replied the younger, who was wise beyond his years, 'don't you remember the saying—
''With empty stomachs don't venture away,
Be it December, or be it May'?'
So they ate their bread, bad as it was, and afterwards, both mounting on one pony, they set out to seek their fortune.
Having journeyed for some time through a barren country, they dismounted under a large tree, and sat down to rest. By chance a starling and a parrot, flying past, settled on the branches of the tree, and began to dispute as to who should have the best place.