228.The Man and the Mountain-Dweller
A MAN and a mountain-dweller once drank together in token of a bond of alliance being formed between them. One very cold wintry day, as they talked, the man put his fingers to his mouth and blew on them. When the mountain-dweller asked the reason for this, he told him that he did it to warm his hands because they were so cold. Later on in the day they sat down to eat, and the food prepared was quite scalding. The man raised one of the dishes a little towards his mouth and blew in it.
When the mountain-dweller again asked the reason, he said that he did it to cool the meat, which was too hot.
“I can no longer consider you as a friend,” said the mountain-dweller, “a fellow who with the same breath blows hot and cold.”
227.The Man and His Wife
A MAN had a wife who made herself hated by all the members of his household. Wishing to find out if she had the same effect on the persons in her father’s house, he made some excuse to send her home on a visit to her father. After a short time she returned, and when he asked how she had got on and how the servants had treated her, she replied,
“The herdsmen and shepherds cast on me looks of aversion.”
He said,
“If you were disliked by those who go out early in the morning with their flocks and return late in the evening, what must have been felt towards you by those with whom you passed the whole day!”
❖ Straws show how the wind blows.
226.The Man and His Two Mistresses
A man of middle age, whose hair was turning grey, had two mistresses, an old woman and a young one. The elder of the two didn’t like having a lover who looked so much younger than herself; so, whenever he came to see her, she used to pull the dark hairs out of his head to make him look old. The younger, on the other hand, didn’t like him to look so much older than herself, and took every opportunity of pulling out the grey hairs, to make him look young. Between them, they left not a hair in his head, and he became perfectly bald.
❖ Be as you are; Don’t pretend.
❖ Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.
❖ Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.
225.The Lioness and the Vixen
A lioness and a vixen were talking together about their young, as mothers will, and saying how healthy and well-grown they were, and what beautiful coats they had, and how they were the image of their parents.
“My litter of cubs is a joy to see,” said the fox; and then she added, rather maliciously, “But I notice you never have more than one.”
“No,” said the lioness grimly, “but that one’s a lion.”
❖Quality, not quantity.
❖ The true value of a thing is neither of its wrapping, nor of the way of sending it, express or otherwise.
❖ The value is also in the worth, not in the number.
