• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 184 0

in body and spirit. Some time later, the huckster set off for the seashore for some more salt and loaded the ass, if possible, with even more salt than before. On their way home, they crossed the river into which the ass had previously fallen, and this time he slipped into the water on purpose. Once again the salt dissolved, and the ass was relieved of his load. Disturbed by the loss of the salt, the huckster tried to think of a way to cure his. ass from performing this trick. So, on his next journey to the coast, he placed a load of sponges on the beast. When they arrived at the same river as before, the ass was up to his old tricks and rolled himself into the water. But the sponges became soaking wet, and the ass discovered to his dismay that his burden had doubled its weight instead of getting lighter.

The same ploy will not suit all circumstances.

CIX

The Thief and the Dog

A thief who had come to rob a house during the night sought to stop the barking of a dog by throwing pieces of meat to him.

“Get out of here!” said the dog. “I had my suspicions about you before, but this excess of kindness and generosity only confirms my opinion that you are a rogue.”

A bribe in hand betrays mischief at heart.

CX

The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner

A trumpeter, who had bravely led the charging soldiers of his regiment, was taken prisoner in battle and begged hard for mercy from his captors.

“Spare me, good sirs, I beseech you!” he cried. “There’s no reason to put me to death. I haven’t killed anyone, and I was not carrying any weapons. The only thing I have with me is this trumpet.”

“But that’s the very reason,” said his captors, “why you shall die. Even though you don’t fight yourself, your trumpet stirs the soldiers and instills them with a spirit to fight and shed blood.”

He who stirs others to go to war and cause bloodshed is worse than those who take part in it.

CXI

The Hunter and the Fisherman

A hunter was returning from the mountains loaded with game when he met a fisherman coming home with his basket full of fish. The hunter admired the fish and desired to have them for supper, while the fisherman longed to have a meal of game. So they quickly agreed to exchange catches, and from then on they continued to do so every day until a neighbor said to them, “If you keep exchanging your catch so frequently, you’ll soon lose the pleasure of your exchange, and you’ll each want to keep only what you’ve caught.”

Pleasure is increased through abstinence.

CXII

The Fir Tree and the Bramble

One day a fir tree was boasting to a bramble, “Your life is really without significance and no use to anyone, whereas mine is filled with many high and noble purposes. How could barns and houses be built without me? I furnish taper spars for ships and beams for roofs of palaces.”

“Good sir,” replied the bramble, “when the woodcutters come here with their axes and saws, what would you give to be a bramble and not a fir?”

Better a humble life and security than the dangers that confront the high and mighty.

CXIII

The Eagle and the Arrow

A bowman took aim at an eagle and struck him in the heart. As the eagle turned his head in the agony of death, he saw that the arrow was winged with his own feathers.

“How sharper and more painful,” said he, “are the wounds made by weapons we ourselves have supplied!”

CXIV

The Two Pots

Two pots, one made of clay, the other of brass, were swept down a river in a flood. The brass pot told his companion to stay by his side, and he would protect him.

“Thank you for your offer,” said the clay pot, “but that’s just what frightens me. If you’ll just keep your distance from me, I’ll be able to float down the river in safety. But if we come in contact with one another, I’m bound to be the one who’ll suffer.”

Avoid neighbors who are too powerful. If there is a collision, the weaker one will be destroyed.

CXV

The Fisherman and Troubled Water

A fisherman went to a river to fish, and when he had laid his nets, he tied a stone to a long cord and beat the