Monthly Archives: September 2013
287.The Shepherd and the Dog
A SHEPHERD penning his sheep in the fold for the night was about to shut up a wolf with them, when his dog perceiving the wolf said,
“Master, how can you expect the sheep to be safe if you admit a wolf into the fold?”
❖ A good question does not always demand any words in answer.
286.The She-Goats and Their Beards
THE SHE-GOATS having obtained a beard by request to Jove, the he-Goats were sorely displeased and made complaint that the females equalled them in dignity.
“Allow them,” said Jove, “to enjoy an empty honour and to assume the badge of your nobler sex, so long as they are not your equals in strength or courage.”
❖ It matters if those who are inferior to us in merit get like us in outside appearances, but hardly enough.
285.The Serpent and the Eagle
A SERPENT and an eagle were struggling with each other in deadly conflict. The serpent had the advantage, and was about to strangle the bird. A countryman saw them, and running up, loosed the coil of the serpent and let the eagle go free. The serpent, irritated at the escape of his prey, injected his poison into the drinking horn of the countryman. The rustic, ignorant of his danger, was about to drink, when the eagle struck his hand with his wing, and, seizing the drinking horn in his talons, carried it aloft.
❖ Excellent help may be difficult to appreciate in a squeeze that is still unrecognised.
284.The Seller of Images
A CERTAIN MAN made a wooden image of Mercury and offered it for sale. When no one appeared willing to buy it, in order to attract buyers, he cried out that he had the statue to sell of a benefactor who bestowed wealth and helped to heap up riches. One of the bystanders said to him,
“My good fellow, why do you sell him, being such a one as you describe, when you may yourself enjoy the good things he has to give?”
“Why,” he replied,
“I am in need of immediate help, and he is wont to give his good gifts very slowly.”
❖ Rationalisations may become costly as time goes by.
