“May we depend upon your word?” said the men. “Certainly,” said the Fox, while the men went with him in a circle to see that he did not escape. Then the Fox said to the Tiger and the men, “Sir Tiger, here are the men; gentlemen, here is the Tiger.” The men left the Fox and turned to the Tiger. The former beat a hasty retreat to the wood, saying, “I have kept my promise to both; now you may settle it between yourselves.” The Tiger exclaimed, when it was too late, “Alas! what art for a double part!” THE SEA, THE FOX, AND THE WOLF By Ramaswami Raju A fox that lived by the seashore once met a Wolf that had never seen the Sea. The Wolf said, “What is the Sea?” “It is a great piece of water by my dwelling,” said the Fox. “Is it under your control?” said the Wolf. “Certainly,” said the Fox. “Will you show me the Sea, then?” said the Wolf. “With pleasure,” said the Fox. So the Fox led the Wolf to the Sea and said to the waves, “Now go back”—they went back! “Now come up”—and they came up! Then the Fox said to the waves, “My friend, the Wolf, has come to see you, so you will come up and go back till I bid you stop; and the Wolf saw with wonder the waves coming up and going back. He said to the Fox, “May I go into the Sea?” “As far as you like. Don’t be afraid, for at a word, the Sea would go or come as I bid, and as you have already seen.” The Wolf believed the Fox, and followed the waves rather far from the shore. A great wave soon upset him, and threw his carcass on the shore. The Fox made a hearty breakfast on it. THE FOX IN THE WELL By Ramaswami Raju A fox fell into a well and was holding hard to some roots at the side of it, just above the water. A Wolf, who was passing by, saw him, and said, “Hello, Reynard, after all you have fallen into a well!” “But not without a purpose, and not without the means of getting out of it,” said the Fox. “What do you mean?” said the Wolf. “Why,” said the Fox, “there is a drought all over the country now, and the water in this well is the only means of appeasing the thirst of the thousands that live in this neighborhood. They held a meeting, and requested me to keep the water from going down lower; so I am holding it up for the public good.” “What will be your reward?” said the Wolf. “They will give me a pension, and save me the trouble of going about every day in quest of food, not to speak of innumerable other privileges that will be granted me. Further, I am not to stay here all day. I have asked a kinsman of mine, to whom I have communicated the secret of holding up the water, to relieve me from time to time. Of course he will also get a pension, and have other privileges. I expect him here shortly.” “Ah, Reynard, may I relieve you, then? May I hope to get a pension and other privileges? You know what a sad lot is mine, especially in winter.” “Certainly,” said the Fox; “but you must get a long rope, that I may come up and let you in.