Page:Three hundred Aesop's fables (Townshend).djvu/104

98 not do as you intended; for you now see that other creatures who yet live are more timorous than ourselves."

A perched upon a lofty tree saw some Fishermen casting their nets into a river, and narrowly watched their proceedings. The Fishermen after a while gave over fishing, and, on going home to dinner, left their nets upon the bank. The Monkey, who is the most imitative of animals, descended from the tree-top, and endeavoured to do as they had done. Having handled the net, he threw it into the river, but became entangled in the meshes. When drowning, he said to himself, "I am rightly served; for what business had I who had never handled a net to try and catch fish?"

A rich man bought in the market a Goose and a Swan. He fed the one for his table, and kept the other for the sake of its song. When the time came for killing the Goose, the cook went to take him at night, when it was dark, and he was not able to distinguish one bird from the other, and he caught the Swan instead of the Goose. The Swan, threatened with death, burst forth into song, and thus made himself known by his voice, and preserved his life by his melody.

A word in season is most precious.

A hard pressed by hunters entered a cave for shelter which belonged to a Lion. The Lion concealed