Monthly Archives: August 2013
69.The Cock and the Jewel
A COCK, scratching for food for himself and his hens, found a precious stone and exclaimed:
“If your owner had found you, and not I, he would have taken you up and set you where you were placed before; but I have found you for no good reason. Someone like me would rather have one barleycorn than all the jewels in the world.”
❖ Any isolated country cook might also exclaim these and similar things.
68.The Cobbler Turned Doctor
A COBBLER, unable to make a living by his trade and made desperate by poverty, began to practice medicine in a town where he was not known. He sold a drug, pretending that it was an antidote to all poisons, and obtained a great name for him by long-winded puffs and advertisements.
When the cobbler happened to fall sick himself of a serious illness, the governor of the town determined to test his skill. For this purpose he called for a cup, and while filling it with water, pretended to mix poison with the cobbler’s antidote, commanding him to drink it on the promise of a reward. The cobbler, under the fear of death, confessed that he had no knowledge of medicine, and was only made famous by the stupid clamors of the crowd.
The governor then called a public assembly and addressed the citizens:
“Of what folly have you been guilty? You have not hesitated to entrust your heads to a man, whom no one could employ to make even the shoes for their feet.”
❖ Plan your work in advance, and thus let it become a fair investment in the course of time.
67.The Charger and the Miller
A CHARGER, feeling the infirmities of age, was sent to work in a mill instead of going out to battle. But when he was compelled to grind instead of serving in the wars, he bewailed his change of fortune and called to mind his former state, saying,
“Ah, miller, I had indeed to go campaigning before, but I was barbed from counter to tail, and a man went along to groom me; and now I cannot understand what ailed me to prefer the mill before the battle.”
“Forbear,” said the miller to him, “harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune.”
66.The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller
A CHARCOAL-BURNER carried on his trade in his own house. One day he met a friend, a fuller, and begged him to come and live with him, saying that they should be far better neighbors and that their housekeeping expenses would be lessened.
The fuller replied, “The arrangement is impossible as far as I am concerned, for whatever I should whiten, you would at once blacken again with your charcoal.”
❖ Like may draw like.
