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A certain poor widow had one solitary Sheep. At shearing time, wishing to take his fleece, and to avoid expense, she sheared him herself, but used the shears so unskillfully, that with the fleece she sheared the flesh. The Sheep, writhing with pain, said "Why do you hurt me so, mistress? What weight can my blood add to the wool? If you want my flesh, there is the butcher, who will kill me in a trice; but if you want my fleece and wool, there is the shearer, who will shear and not hurt me."

The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.

The Wild Boar and the Fox.

A wild boar stood under a tree, and rubbed his tusks against the trunk. A Fox passing by, asked him why he thus sharpened his teeth when there was no danger threatening from either huntsman or hound. He replied: "I do it advisedly; for it would never do to have to sharpen my weapons just at the time I ought to be using them."

To be well prepared for war is the best guarantee of peace.

The Ass Carrying the Image.

An Ass once carried through the streets of a city a famous wooden image, to be placed in one of its Temples. The crowd as he passed along made lowly prostration