The Hares, oppressed with a sense of their own exceeding timidity, and weary of the perpetual alarm to which they were exposed, with one accord determined to put an end to themselves and their troubles, by jumping from a lofty precipice into a deep lake below. As they scampered off in a very numerous body to carry out their resolve, the Frogs lying on the banks of the lake heard the noise of their feet, and rushed helter-skelter to the deep water for safety. On seeing the rapid disappearance of the Frogs, one of the Hares cried out to his companions: “Stay, my friends, do not do as you intended; for you now see that other creatures who yet live are more timorous than ourselves.”
Conquer fear.
THE LION AND THE GNAT
A Gnat came to a Lion and said: “I do not the least fear you, nor are you stronger than I am. You can scratch with your claws, and bite with your teeth—so can a woman in her quarrels. Let us fight, and see who shall conquer.” The Gnat, having sounded his horn, fastened himself upon the Lion, and stung him on the nostrils and parts of the face devoid of hair. The Lion, trying to crush him, tore himself with his claws, until he punished himself severely. The Gnat thus prevailed over the Lion, and, buzzing about in a song of triumph, flew away. But shortly afterward he became entangled in the meshes of a cobweb, and was eaten by a spider. He greatly lamented his fate, saying: “Woe is me! that I, who can wage war successfully with the hugest beast, should perish myself from this spider, the most inconsiderable of insects!”
Esteem yourself neither highly nor lowly, but walk humbly in the face of the Unknown.
THE FROGS AND THE BULLS
Two frogs, sitting on the edge of a pond saw two Bulls fighting in a meadow close by. “Alas!” cried one of the frogs. “Those dreadful beasts are fighting. What will become of us!”
“There is no reason for fear,” said the other frog. “Their quarrels have nothing to do with us. Their lives are different from ours, and cannot affect us.”