Meanwhile the Cock-sparrow had been sitting on the
edge of the well in the sun, and by this time his feathers
were quite dry. So his Hen chirped to him, "Now,
dear, you can fly, let's be off." And off
they flew together, and the Cat was
left licking her chops and
wishing she had not
been such
a fool.
The Foolish Fish
FISH was once flapping and flopping on the sand by the banks of a river. She was a lady Fish—how she got there I don't know; but she had been better to stay at home, as you shall hear. Well, she flapped away on the sand, and couldn't get off; she began to feel very dry. A man came by, riding upon a horse. "O Man," shouted the Fish, "do carry me back to the water again, or I shall be dried up and die."
"No, no," said the Man, "not I, indeed! You are a she, and I have had so much bother with shes in my life that I shall keep clear of you."
"O dear good Man!" cried the Fish, "do please help me, and I will promise not to behave badly; I'll be as nice as any man could be. Just think! if you leave me here, I shall dry into a stick, or somebody will come along and eat me."