Page:An argosy of fables.djvu/506

 434 THE OX AND THE STAG

HE clumsy Ox and the nimble Stag once had their pasture together in the same meadow.

"Stag," said the Ox, "if the Lion should attack us, let us pledge ourselves to assist each other; between your antlers and my horns, we shall be able to keep him off bravely."

"Such a bargain would never suit me," replied the Stag. "Why should I promise to engage in an unequal contest with the Lion, when my swift legs enable me so easily to escape from him?"

(Lessing, Fables, Book I, No. 27. Translated by G. Moir Bussey.)

ÆSOP AND THE ASS

HE next time you write a fable about me," said the donkey to Æsop, "make me say something wise and sensible."

"Something sensible from you!" exclaimed Æsop; "what would the world think? People would call you the moralist, and me the donkey!"

(Lessing, Fables, Book I, No. 30. Translated by G. Moir Bussey.)