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THE FIG-TREE AND HIS BRANCHES

HE Fig-tree was once asked why he stretched out so many of his lower Branches so close to the ground. He replied: "Because I have many enemies, and I have learned to bow low to them so that my Branches will not be broken. Thus they easily reach my fruit, and before they have begun to climb I have won their favour and made them forget their malice."

This fable teaches that if we cannot hope to conquer an enemy, we should meet him with kindness and humility, and spread a generous table before him. In this way he will be disarmed and forget his evil purposes.

(Fables de Mkhithar Goch, Journal Asiatique, Ser. 9, Vol. 19.)

THE THORN AND THE VINE

HE Thorn, which had long borne a grudge against the Vine, one day said in quarrelsome tone: "I grow and thrive like yourself, and like you I yield my fruit, and in one way I am superior to you since I do not wither and shed my leaves during the winter." The Vine silenced him by saying: "Your glory will be complete when your fruit is gathered in the autumn for the vintage." But when autumn came, instead of being gathered, the Thorn was trodden under foot.

We learn from this Fable that foolish vanity should be silenced, and not allowed to claim a perfection which it lacks. For one defect is enough to offset many virtues.

(Fables de Mkhithar Goch, Journal Asiatique, Ser. 9, Vol. 19.)