Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/476

 406 THE INQUISITIVE MAN

N Inquisitive Man was one day met by a friend who cordially hailed him:

"Good morning, my good fellow! And where do you come from?"

"From the Museum of Natural History, where I have just spent three hours. I saw everything there was to see and examined it carefully. It was all so astonishing that honestly I am not clever enough to describe the half of it. Nature is certainly wonderful in her rich variety! There are more birds and beasts than I ever dreamed of—not to mention the butterflies dragonflies and beetles—some green as emeralds and others as red as coral! And there were tiny little gnats too—why, really, some of them are smaller than the head of a pin!"

"And of course you saw the elephant? What did you think of him? I'll wager you felt as though you were looking at a mountain!"

"Elephant? Are you quite sure that they have an elephant?"

"Quite sure."

"Well, old man, don't tell anybody—but the fact is that I didn't notice the elephant!"

(Krilov, Fables. Adapted from the translation by William R. S. Ralston.)

THE EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG LION

NCE upon a time the Lion, King of all the animals, became the father of a son. As the young Lion Prince grew older, the King began to ask himself which of the animals he could trust to teach his son how to become a good and wise King. Should he hand