Page:Three hundred Aesop's fables (Townshend).djvu/191

Rh  insect, who delight in sucking human blood. I wish that I could have killed you, even if I had incurred a heavier penalty."

A Man, having been cast upon a certain shore, slept after his buffetings with the deep. After a while waking up, when he looked upon the sea, he loaded it with reproaches that, enticing men with the calmness of its looks, when it had induced them to plough its waters, it grew rough and destroyed them utterly. The Sea, assuming the form of a woman, replied to him: "Blame not me, my good sir, but the winds, for I am by my own nature as calm and firm even as this earth; but the winds falling on me on a sudden, create these waves, and lash me into fury."

A nobleman once opened the theatres without charge to the people, and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward any person who should invent a new amusement for the occasion. Various public performers contended for the prize. Among them came a Buffoon well known among the populace for his jokes, and said that he had a kind of entertainment which had never been brought out on any stage before. This report being spread about made a great stir in the place, and the theatre was crowded in every part. The Buffoon appeared alone upon the boards, without any apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of expectation caused an intense silence. The Buffoon suddenly bent his head towards his bosom