A stag that had left the hounds a long way off, came up to a man who was at work on a farm, to ask if he would show him some safe place to hide in. So the man bade him hide in his own hut, which was close by. The stag lay quite still in the hut, and in a short time up came the squire and his train with the hounds. The squire caught sight of the boor, and drew back to ask him if he had seen the stag pass that way. “No,” said the boor, in a loud tone, “I have not.” At the same time--as he had a wish to keep on good terms with the squire--he held out his hand, with a sly look, to point to the hut where the stag lay hid; but as luck would have it, the squire took no heed of this sign, nor did he so much as see it. So on he went to join the rest; but though they rode through the field where the hut was, they did not see the stag. As soon as they were well out of sight, the stag stole from the hut, but said not a word to the boor, who now gave a loud call to him. “You wretch!” said he, “you owe your life to me, yet when you leave my hut, where I sent you to screen you from your foes, you say not one word of thanks.” “Nay,” quoth the stag, “you may make sure I should fill your ears as full of praise and thanks as my heart is of joy, if your deeds had been true to your words; in short, if I had not, through the door of the hut, seen your hand play false to your tongue.” THE CAT, THE MOUSE, AND THE COCK. A young mouse, which had not seen much of the world, came home one day and said, “Oh, I have had such a fright! I have seen a thing with such a fierce look, that struts now here, now there, on two legs; on his head he wears a small red flag, and one round his throat, his arms flap up and down on his sides as if he meant to rise in the air. But you should have seen him stretch out his head, and roar at me with his sharp mouth, till I thought he would eat me up. It made me shake from head to foot with fear, and I was glad to run home as fast as my feet would take me. But for this I should have made friends with as sweet a soul as could be. She had soft fur like ours, which was black and gray in streaks. Her look was so bland and meek that I fell quite in love with her. Then she had a fine long tail, which you might see wave to and fro, first on this side, then on that; and when I saw her fix her bright eyes on me I thought she had a wish to speak; when that fierce wretch set up his scream, which drove me in this haste, quite out of breath with fear.” “Ah! my dear child,” said the old mouse, “in good truth you have run for your life; but the fierce thing you speak of was not your foe, for it was but a bird, that would not have done you the least harm in the world; while that sweet thing, of which you seem so fond, was a cat, and cats eat all us mice when they have a chance--in short, they live on mice.” Judge not by looks. THE PLANE TREE.