'Æsop and the Ass.—"The next time you write a fable about me," said the donkey to Æsop, "make me say something wise and sensible."
'"Something sensible from you!" exclaimed Æsop; "what would the world think? People would call you the sage, and me the donkey!"
'The Shepherd and the Nightingale.—"Sing to me, dearest nightingale," said a shepherd to the silent songstress one beautiful spring evening.
'"Alas!" said the nightingale, "the frogs make so much noise that I have no inclination to sing. Do you not hear them?"
'"Undoubtedly I hear them," replied the shepherd, "but it is owing to your silence."
'Solomon's Ghost.—A venerable old man, despite his years and the heat of the day, was ploughing his field with his own hand, and sowing the grain in the willing earth, in anticipation of the harvest it would produce.
'Suddenly, beneath the deep shadow of a spreading oak, a divine apparition stood before him! The old man was seized with affright.
'"I am Solomon," said the phantom encouragingly, "what dost thou here, old friend?"
'"If thou art Solomon," said the owner of the field, "how canst thou ask? In my youth I learnt from the ant to be industrious and to accumulate wealth. That which I then learnt I now practise."
'"Thou hast learnt but half of thy lesson," pursued the spirit. "Go once more to the ant, and she will teach thee to rest in the winter of thy existence, and enjoy what thou hast earned."'