Once on a time an old dame that was blind sent for Dr. Dash to cure her. She told him that if he brought back her sight he should have a large fee, but that if he did not cure her, he was to have no fee at all. Well, day by day Dr. Dash made his call on the dame, and one by one he took off all her goods. At last, when he had swept the house clear of them, he set to work on the case, and made a cure of it; so once more, to her great joy, the old dame could see. “I must ask you for my fee,” said Dr. Dash; but the dame put him off from time to time, and did not pay him. At last he went to law; and when she came to the court, she spoke thus to the judge: “What Dr. Dash tells you is quite true, in so far as I said I would give him a large fee if he brought back my sight. Now, then, he tells me my eyes are well, but I say they are not; for till my bad sight had come on, I could see all sorts of goods in my house, while now, when he tells me he has made a cure of my eyes, I can see none there; and I think, my lord, that he who plays tricks ought to take a joke!” THE COCK, THE DOG, AND THE FOX. A dog and a cock had been in a wood, and as night came on, they went to rest. The cock flew on the bough of a tree to roost, while the dog slept in a hole in the trunk of it. At break of day the cock set up a loud shrill crow, which was heard by a fox, who soon ran to the place whence the sound came, and said, “Let me beg of you to fly down, that I may greet you, and praise you for so sweet a song.” “I would first ask you,” said the cock, “to wake up my friend, who lies in the trunk of this tree.” “By all means,” quoth the fox, who thought he should find a nest, with the hen and her young chicks in it; so he thrust his head in the hole, and was torn to death by the dog, who said, with a loud bark, “Paid in his own coin.” [Illustration: The Cock, the Dog, and the Fox.--Page 61. _Æsop._] THE BOAR AND THE HORSE. In days of old a horse came to drink at a pond, when he saw that a boar lay in the mud at the edge, which made the pool thick and foul. Fierce neighs and grunts were soon heard, and but for the fear the horse had of the boar’s huge tusks, they would have fought. At last the horse found a man to help him, who soon made a bit and a rein, took his bow, got on his back, and off they both set. The boar, struck with awe at so strange a sight, ran off as fast as he could, but the horse soon came up to him, and the man shot him dead. Now that there was no cause for fear, the horse would fain be once more free; so he said, “I pray thee take off this rein.” “Nay, that I will not do, my friend,” quoth the man; “for now that I have found out thy use, I will keep thee to ride on.” A man may beat the bush, and his friend catch the bird. THE APE MADE KING.