"What is the remedy?" "It is this: if you flay a live Wolf, and put his warm hide on you--" When the Lion stretched out the Wolf, the Fox laughed, and said: "That's it, my friend: masters ought to be led to do good, not evil." THE LION, THE ASS, AND THE FOX The Lion, the Ass, and the Fox went out to hunt. They caught a large number of animals, and the Lion told the Ass to divide them up. The Ass divided them into three equal parts and said: "Now, take them!" The Lion grew angry, ate up the Ass, and told the Fox to divide them up anew. The Fox collected them all into one heap, and left a small bit for herself. The Lion looked at it and said: "Clever Fox! Who taught you to divide so well?" She said: "What about that Ass?" THE PEASANT AND THE WATER-SPRITE A Peasant lost his axe in the river; he sat down on the bank in grief, and began to weep. The Water-sprite heard the Peasant and took pity on him. He brought a gold axe out of the river, and said: "Is this your axe?" The Peasant said: "No, it is not mine." The Water-sprite brought another, a silver axe. Again the Peasant said: "It is not my axe." Then the Water-sprite brought out the real axe. The Peasant said: "Now this is my axe." The Water-sprite made the Peasant a present of all three axes, for having told the truth. At home the Peasant showed his axes to his friends, and told them what had happened to him. One of the peasants made up his mind to do the same: he went to the river, purposely threw his axe into the water, sat down on the bank, and began to weep. The Water-sprite brought out a gold axe, and asked: "Is this your axe?" The Peasant was glad, and called out: "It is mine, mine!" The Water-sprite did not give him the gold axe, and did not bring him back his own either, because he had told an untruth. THE RAVEN AND THE FOX A Raven got himself a piece of meat, and sat down on a tree. The Fox wanted to get it from him. She went up to him, and said: "Oh, Raven, as I look at you,--from your size and beauty,--you ought to be a king! And you would certainly be a king, if you had a good voice." The Raven opened his mouth wide, and began to croak with all his might and main. The meat fell down. The Fox caught it and said: "Oh, Raven! If you had also sense, you would certainly be a king." II. ADAPTATIONS AND IMITATIONS OF HINDOO FABLES THE SNAKE'S HEAD AND TAIL The Snake's Tail had a quarrel with the Snake's Head about who was to walk in front. The Head said: "You cannot walk in front, because you have no eyes and no ears." The Tail said: "Yes, but I have strength, I move you; if I want to, I can wind myself around a tree, and you cannot get off the spot." The Head said: "Let us separate!" And the Tail tore himself loose from the Head, and crept on; but the moment he got away from the Head, he fell into a hole and was lost. FINE THREAD