THE WOLF AND THE CAT A WOLF ran out of the forest into a village—not to pay a visit, but to save its life; for it trembled for its skin. The huntsman and a pack of hounds were after it. It would fain have rushed in through the first gateway, but there was this unfortunate circumstance in the way—all the gateways were closed. The Wolf saw a Cat on a partition fence and said pleadingly: “Vaska, my friend, tell me quickly, which of the moujiks here is the kindest, so that I may hide myself from my evil foes. Listen to the cry of the dogs and the terrible sound of the horns. All that noise is actually made in chase of me.” “Go quickly and ask Stefan,” said Vaska, the Cat; “he is a very kind man.” “Quite true; only I have torn the skin off one of his sheep.” “Well, then, try Demian.” “I’m afraid he’s angry with me, too; I carried off one of his kids.” “Run over there, then; Trofim lives there.” “Trofim! I should be afraid of even meeting him. Ever since the spring he has been threatening me about a lamb.” “Dear me, that’s bad! But perhaps Klim will protect you.” [Illustration] “Oh, Vaska, I have killed one of his calves!” “What do I hear, friend? You’ve quarreled with all the village,” said Vaska to the Wolf. “What sort of protection can you hope for here? No, no; our peasants are not so destitute of sense as to be willing to save you to their own hurt. And, really, you have only yourself to blame. What you have sown, that you must now reap.” APPENDIX NOTE. Since the purpose of the fable is not merely to entertain but especially to point some general truth or to draw a helpful lesson, no two versions of the same fable are exactly alike. In editions of Æsop intended for young children, it has been the custom to elaborate the slender story in such a way as to arouse thoroughly the child’s interest before the moral is drawn. Hence the modern popular versions often contain conversations and descriptive details not to be found in the accounts which are truest to the Greek versions. This popular elaborated form of the fable, however, needs no apology so long as the editor is true to the spirit of the original. In the preceding fables, the spirit, if not the letter of the most trustworthy account available, has been carefully adhered to, but the editor has had always in mind the youthful readers and has neglected no opportunity to make the text fit their limited experience and understanding. But to both teacher and pupil the current short forms of some of the longer fables will have interest. In this Appendix, therefore, have been collected the short forms of the first fables which appear in the text. Much pleasure and profit can be had from a comparison of the two renderings, and such a comparison will open the way to a discussion of the difficulties in handing down literature orally and in preserving it in correct form. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB