THE THIEF AND THE DOG
One night a Thief came to a house that he meant to rob; but he knew that he had no chance to do this till he had made the Dog who took care of it quiet. So he threw to him some sops with the hope that that would stop his bark. “Get out will you!” cried the Dog; “I did not trust you from the first, but now I know that you mean no good!” Do not take a bribe to do wrong.
THE HORSE AND THE LOADED ASS
A man who had a Horse and an Ass had a way of putting all the load on the back of the Ass, and none on the Horse. One day as they went in this way by a long, long road, the poor tired Ass tried to get the Horse to help him to bear his load. But the Horse was not kind, and said lots of cruel things to the Ass and said he must trudge on in front. The Ass did trudge on; but the weight was too much for him, so he fell down on the road, and at once died. The man then came up, took the load from the back of the Ass, and laid it on that of the Horse; and made him bear the body of the Ass, too. So the Horse was punished, and at last had to bear the whole of the load. Be kind to the weak.
THE ASS WITH THE SALT
A Man who had an Ass heard that salt was to be bought for less gold at the seaside than where he was, so he went there to buy some. He put as much on his Ass as he could bear, and was going home, when just as they had to cross a small bridge, the Ass fell into the stream; the salt at once melted, so the Ass with ease got up the bank, and, now free from his load, went on his way with a light heart. Very soon after this the man went to the seaside once more, and put still more salt on his Ass. As they went their way they came once more to the bridge where the Ass fell into the stream. The Ass thought of his fall and what had come of it, and this time took care to roll into the water once more; the salt was again gone, and he was free from his load. The Man was cross at this, and thought to cure the Ass of this trick, so the third time he gave him a load of sponges. As soon as they came to the bridge the Ass fell into the stream; but as the sponges drew in the water he found as he trudged home that this time his load had grown in weight. We may play a trick once too often.