Page:Three hundred Aesop's fables (Townshend).djvu/179

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Ass being driven along the high road, suddenly started off, and bolted to the brink of a deep precipice. When he was in the act of throwing himself over, his owner, seizing him by the tail, endeavoured to pull him back. The Ass, persisting in his effort, the man let him go and said, "Conquer: but conquer to your cost."

A was feeding on a myrtle-tree, and did not move from it, on account of the deliciousness of its berries. A Fowler observing her staying so long in one spot, having well birdlimed his reeds, caught her. The Thrush, being at the point of death, exclaimed, "O foolish creature that I am! For the sake of a little pleasant food have deprived myself of my life."

A FAMISHED Wolf was prowling about in the morning in search of food. As he passed the door of a cottage built in the forest, he heard a Mother say to her child, "Be quiet, or I will throw you out of the window, and the Wolf shall eat you." The Wolf sat all day waiting at the door. In the evening he heard the same woman, fondling her child and saying: "He is quiet now, and if the Wolf should come, we will kill him." The Wolf, hearing these words, went home, gaping with cold and hunger. On his reaching his den, Mistress Wolf inquired of him why he returned wearied and supperless, so contrary to his wont. He replied: "Why, forsooth!—because I gave credence to the words of a woman!"