“Ha! ha! ha! Where’s your feathers, Tell-tale tit?”
The Dishonest Friend
There was once a man who went on a journey, and he asked a friend to take charge of his plough till he should return. The friend promised to take great care of it. But no sooner was the man gone than he sold the plough and put the price in his own pocket. Was not that a mean trick to serve a friend?
The man came back, and asked his friend for the plough.
“Oh, I am so sorry,” the friend replied; “my house is infested with rats, and one night a very big rat came and ate it up.”
“Ah well,” said the man, “what can’t be cured must be endured! It must have been a very big rat, though.”