Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/500

 428 THE BENEFACTORS

AVE you in the creation, any greater benefactor than me?" asked the bee of a man.

"Most undoubtedly," replied the man.

"Name him!"

"The sheep! For his wool is necessary to me, and your honey is only a luxury. And I will give you another reason, Mrs. Bee, why I consider the sheep a greater benefactor than you. The sheep gives me his wool without the least trouble or danger; but when I take your honey, you keep me in constant apprehension of your sting."

(Lessing, Fables, Book III, No. 13. Translated by G. Moir Bussey.)

THE OLD STAG AND THE YOUNG STAG

N Old Stag, whom kindly nature had allowed to live to the age of a hundred years, once said to one of his grandchildren: "I can still well remember the time when man had not yet invented the noisy shot-gun."

"What a happy time that must have been for our race," sighed the Young Stag.

"You jump too quickly at conclusions," answered the Old Stag. "The times were no better than they are now; they were only different. Instead of the shot-gun men had the bow and arrow, and we were just as badly off then as we are now."

(Lessing, Fables, Book III, No. 26. Translated by G. Moir Bussey.)