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I'm terribly afraid of its getting into my ear: if it once gets

in, I'm dead and done for." The Lion's spirits rose at once when

he heard this: "For," he said to himself, "if the Elephant, huge

as he is, is afraid of a gnat, I needn't be so much ashamed of

being afraid of a cock, who is ten thousand times bigger than a

gnat."

THE PIG AND THE SHEEP

A Pig found his way into a meadow where a flock of Sheep were

grazing. The shepherd caught him, and was proceeding to carry him

off to the butcher's when he set up a loud squealing and

struggled to get free. The Sheep rebuked him for making such a

to-do, and said to him, "The shepherd catches us regularly and

drags us off just like that, and we don't make any fuss." "No, I

dare say not," replied the Pig, "but my case and yours are

altogether different: he only wants you for wool, but he wants me

for bacon."

THE GARDENER AND HIS DOG