Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/187



upon a time a monkey sat on an olive tree eating a pomegranate, and one of the seeds fell on the ground, and out of it there grew up a pomegranate tree. The monkey seeing that both trees could not flourish so near each other, went to the owner of the olive tree, and asked him to be good enough to remove it from where it stood, that his pomegranate tree might have room to grow.

The man said, "I will not root up a good old tree that has cost me years to grow to make room for yours that only sprang up yesterday. I'll see you hanged on the olive tree first."

Then the monkey went to a magistrate, and said, "Oh, magistrate, bid the man remove his olive tree to make room for my pomegranate tree to grow."

The magistrate replied, "The laws are made for men, and not for monkeys."

Then the monkey went to the king, and said, "Oh, king, punish the magistrate, who will not bid the