/* “O Gazelle, come where the sick one is, It is your own uncle who is ill.” */
When the Gazelle heard this he answered by a song--
/* “O uncle, come out of the house, Come out into the daylight now.” */
They tried by every means to persuade the Gazelle to enter the house, but he remained firm, and refused to listen to all their nice talk, and at last the Leopard, losing all patience, jumped up and rushed out of the house; but the Gazelle, noticing his anger, sprang away into the forest and escaped; but as for all the other silly ones who had been deceived by the Leopard, they were eaten by him.
The invitations and persuasions of enemies are to be received with caution.
XXVI
The Story of two Young Women
Once there were two girls whose uncle told them: “You are now old enough to marry, so you may look out for two young men.” Their hearts were glad when they received this permission, and very soon they found two lovers. The elder became engaged to a poor man, and the younger to a rich one.
One day the elder girl paid a visit to her betrothed, and as he was poor he could only give her a common fish to eat and a mat to lie on for a bed; but when the younger went to see her rich lover he killed a goat for her supper, gave her a fine bed spread with blankets, and in the morning killed a pig for her breakfast; and when she was leaving to return to her home he gave her a shawl, a fine piece of blue and white cloth, a necklace of beads, and a looking-glass.
The two sisters happened to meet at the crossroads, and they asked each other what presents they had received, and when the younger girl saw the poor gift received by the other, she showed her presents with much vanity, and laughed at her sister for having such a poor lover. This occurred every time they visited their young men--the younger sister laughed to scorn the poverty of the elder sister’s suitor.