The clergy recognised in this the sign from Heaven, and asked him on the spot whether he would be Pope.
He was undecided, and knew not whether he was worthy of the post; but the Doves told him that he might accept, and at last he said ‘Yes.’
Thereupon he was anointed and consecrated, and so was fulfilled what he had heard from the Frogs on the way, which had disturbed him so much—namely, that he should become Pope.
Then he had to chant mass, and did not know one word of it. But the two Doves sat upon his shoulders and whispered it to him.
The Fox and the Cat
IT happened once that the Cat met Mr. Fox in the wood, and because she thought: ‘He is clever and experienced in all the ways of the world,’ she addressed him in a friendly manner.
‘Good morning, dear Mr. Fox! how are you and how do you get along in these hard times?’
The Fox, full of pride, looked at the Cat from head to foot for some time hardly knowing whether he would deign to answer or not. At last he said—
‘Oh, you poor whisker-wiper, you piebald fool, you starveling mouse-hunter! what has come into your head? How dare you ask me how I am getting on? What sort of education have you had? How many arts are you master of?’