One hot day a wolf came to quench his thirst at a clear brook that ran down the side of a hill. By chance a young lamb stood there. The wolf had a wish to eat her, but felt some qualms, so for a plea he made out that the lamb was his foe. “Stand off from the banks, sir,” said he, “for as you tread them you stir mud in the stream, and all I can get to drink is thick and foul.” The young lamb said, in a mild tone, that she did not see how that could be the case, as the brook ran down hill to her from the spot where he stood. “But,” said the wolf, “how dare you drink of it at all, till I have had my fill?” Then the poor lamb told him that as yet her dam’s milk was both food and drink to her. “Be that as it may,” said the wolf, “you are a bad lamb; for last year I heard that you spoke ill of me and all my race.” “Last year! dread sir,” quoth the lamb, “why, I have not yet been shorn, and at the time you name I was not born.” The wolf, who found it was of no use to tell lies, fell in a great rage, and as he came up to the lamb, he said, “All you sheep have the same dull kind of face, and how is one to know which is which? If it was not you, it was your dam, and that’s all the same thing, so I shall not let you go from here.” He then flew at the poor meek lamb, and made a meal of her. Might beats Right. [Illustration: The Wolf and the Lamb.--Page 15. _Æsop._] STONE BROTH. A poor man, in a storm of wind and rain, came to a great house to beg for alms, and was sent off with cross words. But he went back, and said, “May I but ask to dry my clothes at your fire, for I am wet with rain?” This the maids thought would not cost them much, so they let him come in. He then told the cook that if she would but give him a pan, and let him fill it from the pump, he would make some stone broth. This kind of dish was so new to the cook, that she let him make it. The man then got a stone from the road, and put it in the pan. The cook gave him some salt, peas, mint, thyme, and all the scraps of meat that she could spare, to throw in. Thus the poor man made a rich mess, and the cook said, “Well done! you have made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear; and it just shows that ‘they who crave for food will break through stone walls.’” Where there’s a will there’s a way. THE GNAT AND THE BULL. Once on a time a poor gnat sat on the horn of a bull, and said, “I have made free to rest on the tip of your horn; but if my weight is at all too much for you, pray say so, and I will move off.” “I think you are more nice than wise,” said the bull. “To tell you the truth, I did not know when you sat down, so I shall not miss you when you think fit to rise up.” At this the bull gave his head a toss, and put the gnat to death with his tongue. It is a dull bird that points out her own nest. THE DOVES AND THE MOUSE.