Three Fishes lived in a pond. The first was wise, the second had a little sense, and the third was foolish. A fisherman saw the fish, and went home for his net in order that he might catch them.
“I must get out of this pond at once,” said the Wise Fish. And he threw himself into a little channel that led to a river. The others did not trouble at all.
Presently the Fisherman returned with his net, and stopped up the channel leading to the river. The Second Fish wished he had followed the example of the Wise Fish; but he soon thought of a plan to escape. He floated upside down on the surface of the water, and the fisherman, thinking he was dead, did not trouble about him any more.
But the Foolish Fish was caught, and taken home to be eaten.
We should all endeavor to be wise.
THE FALCON AND THE HEN
“How ungrateful you must be!” said a Falcon to a Hen. “You are fed with the best of food, you have a snug bed provided for you at night, you are protected from foxes, and yet, when the men who do all this for you want to take hold of you, you run away and do not return their caresses. Now, I do not receive anything like so many benefits, and yet I allow the men to hold me, and I serve them when they go hunting in the field.”
“Ah!” said the Hen. “What you say is true. But, remember, you never see a hawk roasting in front of the fire, whereas you see hundreds of good fat hens treated in that way.”
Circumstances alter cases.