Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/279

 Rh When Hundred-Wits heard this, he said, "Ah! What Thousand Wits says is quite true. There is much reason in the old saying that where there is no road for wind or sunshine, there quick wit will easily find a path. So it would be foolish to leave our place of birth just because we overheard a few idle words. There is no need of seeking a new home. I also will protect you, friend Single-Wit, by the strength of my intelligence."

"My dear friends," answered the Frog, "I have only a single wit, as you know, and it advises me to flee. So I shall set out this very night with my wife for another Pond."

Accordingly, as soon as night had come the Frog set out as he had said, in search of his new home.

The next day the Fishermen came early in the morning like Messengers of Fate, and covered the Pond with nets. All swimming creatures in the Pond, the Fish, the Turtles, the Frogs and Crabs and other animals were caught and dragged out. Hundred-Wits and Thousand-Wits fled hither and thither with their wives and families, and for some time they escaped capture, thanks to their knowledge of the many water-ways. But at last they too fell into the net and were killed. In the afternoon the contented Fishermen started back towards their homes. One of them carried Hundred-Wits upon his head, because he was heavy; another carried Thousand- Wits by a rope thrust through his gills. As they passed along the road, the Frog, Single-Wit, who had come up on the shore of his new Pond, said to his wife, "Look, look, my dear! There is Hundred-Wits carried on the head of the Fisherman, and there is Thousand-Wits hanging by a rope; but I, Single-Wit, can still sport at my pleasure in the crystal-clear water."

(Panchatantra. Vol. V. Chapter 6.)