Page:Three hundred Aesop's fables (Townshend).djvu/152

146 lower down, lest she should by some mishap get a fall; and he added that the meadows lay where he was standing, and that the herbage was most tender. She replied, "No, my friend, it is not me that you invite to the pasture, but you yourself are in want of food."

A sat on the axle-tree of a chariot, and addressing the Draught-mule said, "How slow you are! Why do you not go faster? See if I do not prick your neck with my sting." The Draught-mule replied, "I do not heed your threats; I only care for him who sits above you, and who quickens my pace with his whip, or holds me back with the reins. Away, therefore, with your insolence, for I know well when to go fast, and when to go slow."

Fishermen were out trawling their nets. Perceiving them to be very heavy, they danced about for joy, and supposed that they had taken a large draught of fish. When they had dragged their nets to the shore they found but few fish, and that the nets were full of sand and stones, and they were beyond measure cast down—not so much at the disappointment which had befallen them, as because they had formed such very different expectations. One of their company, an old man, said, "Let us cease lamenting, my mates, for, as it seems to me, sorrow is always the twin sister of joy; and it was only to be looked for that we, who just now were over-rejoiced, should next have something to make us sad."