[Footnote I.8: _Taking a wife_)--Ver. 3. It has been suggested by Brotier and Desbillons, that in this Fable Phædrus covertly alludes to the marriage which was contemplated by Livia, or Livilla, the daughter of the elder Drusus and Antonia, and the wife of her first-cousin, the younger Drusus, with the infamous Sejanus, the minister and favourite of Tiberius, after having, with his assistance, removed her husband by poison. In such case, the Frogs will represent the Roman people, the Sun Sejanus, who had greatly oppressed them, and by Jupiter, Tiberius will be meant.] FABLE VII. THE FOX AND THE TRAGIC MASK. A Fox, by chance, casting his eyes on a Tragic Mask: “Ah,” said she, “great as is its beauty, still it has no brains.”[9] This is meant for those to whom fortune has granted honor and renown, leaving them void of common sense. [Footnote I.9: _Has no brains_)--Ver. 2. To make the sense of this remark of the Fox the more intelligible, we must bear in mind that the ancient masks covered the whole head, and sometimes extended down to the shoulders; consequently, their resemblance to the human head was much more striking than in the masks of the present day.] FABLE VIII. THE WOLF AND THE CRANE. He who expects a recompense for his services from the dishonest commits a twofold mistake; first, because he assists the undeserving, and in the next place, because he cannot be gone while he is yet safe. A bone that he had swallowed stuck in the jaws of a Wolf. Thereupon, overcome by extreme pain, he began to tempt all and sundry by great rewards to extract the cause of misery. At length, on his taking an oath, a Crane was prevailed on, and, trusting the length of her neck to his throat, she wrought, with danger to herself, a cure for the Wolf. When she demanded the promised reward for this {service}, “You are an ungrateful one,” replied {the Wolf}, “to have taken your head in safety out of my mouth, and {then} to ask for a reward.” FABLE IX. THE SPARROW AND THE HARE. Let us show, in a few lines, that it is unwise to be heedless[10] of ourselves, while we are giving advice to others. A Sparrow upbraided a Hare that had been pounced upon by an Eagle, and was sending forth piercing cries. “Where now,” said he, “is that fleetness for which you are so remarkable? Why were your feet {thus} tardy?” While he was speaking, a Hawk seizes him unawares, and kills him, shrieking aloud with vain complaints. The Hare, almost dead, as a consolation in his agony, {exclaimed}: “You, who so lately, free from care, were ridiculing my misfortunes, have now to deplore your own fate with as woful cause.” [Footnote I.10: _To be heedless_)--Ver. 1. “Cavere” is a word of legal signification, meaning to give advice to a person by way of assistance or precaution, as a patron to his client.] FABLE X. THE WOLF, THE FOX, AND THE APE.