The fox, panting for breath, hung his head in shame and went away where he might never see the crab again.
Ee-Sze (Meaning): A big, proud, boastful mouth is a worse thing for a man than it is for a fox. [[144]]
A LITTLE CHINESE ROSE
小梅女
One day Mai-Qwai (Little Rose) ran home angry to her mother saying, “Mü-Tsing, I do not want my name to be Rose any longer. I was in Dun-Qure’s garden just now, and she asked me, ‘Which flower do you like best of all in our garden?’ and I said I liked my name-flower best. [[145]]
“Then they all laughed and said, ‘We do not. Do you not see the thorns on the roses? When we pass near we tear our dresses. When we touch them the blood flows from our hands. No, we do not like the roses. The baby cow does not like them either. They stick her nose when she tries to eat, and even mother can not pick them without scissors. Once when she had a large bunch of roses, little sister tried to get one and it stuck her hands and face so that she cried many hours. Other flowers do not make trouble like that, and we do not see why any one likes the rose best. We think it very foolish to like a trouble flower and be named for it.’
“I do not like my name-flower any more, Mü-Tsing, and I do not want to bear its name.”