"Take me away! Let us run to the forest, away from the wicked Brahmans!"
But the head Brahman in his white robe would appear, and hiding a kindly smile under an outward appearance of severity, take the naughty girl away from me....
At last she obtained permission to learn her lessons in the basket hanging from my neck, while I walked slowly along under the trees of the park.
I remember especially a Fable which gave us a great deal of trouble to learn, the birds and the butterflies so distracted our attention during those hours of Study! But we succeeded at last, and if I could only have spoken I could have prompted the little Princess many a time when she made mistakes in her recitations.
It was a very pretty Fable and was intended to teach us that one cannot be too cautious in this life. And, as I still remember it, I will give myself the pleasure of writing it down from beginning to end, without the least fear of making any mistake. It was called:
The Crane and the Crawfish
In a beautiful forest there was a great Pool, inhabited by all kinds of fish; on its banks a Crane had her dwelling. This Crane was old, and could no longer catch the Fish to feed on them. Therefore, with a throat contracted by hunger, she stood on the edge of the Pool and wept; she moistened the ground with her tears, which glistened like innumerable pearls.
Standing on one slender leg which looked like the stalk of a flower, and with her neck curved downwards, the sly Crane deceived the silly Fish, who took her for a Lotus.
Now, a Crawfish, accompanied by many others of the Water-people, approached, and pitying the distress of the Crane, inquired respectfully:
"Friend, why is it that you are not, as usual, seeking your dinner, and why do you utter these tearful sighs?"