第201页 / 共274页

THE FOX AND THE GRASSHOPPER

A Grasshopper sat chirping in the branches of a tree. A Fox heard

her, and, thinking what a dainty morsel she would make, he tried

to get her down by a trick. Standing below in full view of her,

he praised her song in the most flattering terms, and begged her

to descend, saying he would like to make the acquaintance of the

owner of so beautiful a voice. But she was not to be taken in,

and replied, "You are very much mistaken, my dear sir, if you

imagine I am going to come down: I keep well out of the way of

you and your kind ever since the day when I saw numbers of

grasshoppers' wings strewn about the entrance to a fox's earth."

THE FARMER, HIS BOY, AND THE ROOKS