_BEAST FABLES_ =The Lion and the Old Hare= On the Mandara mountain there lived a Lion named Fierce-of-Heart, and he was perpetually making massacre of all the wild animals. The thing grew so bad that the beasts held a public meeting, and drew up a respectful remonstrance to the Lion in these words: "Wherefore should your Majesty thus make carnage of us all? If it may please you, we ourselves will daily furnish a beast for your Majesty's meal." Thereupon the Lion responded, "If that arrangement is more agreeable to you, be it so;" and from that time a beast was allotted to him daily, and daily devoured. One day it came to the turn of an old hare to supply the royal table, who reflected to himself as he walked along, "I can but die, and will go to my death leisurely." Now Fierce-of-Heart, the lion, was pinched with hunger, and seeing the Hare so approaching, he roared out, "How darest thou thus delay in coming?" "Sire," replied the Hare, "I am not to blame. I was detained on the road by another lion, who exacted an oath from me to return when I should have informed your Majesty." "Go," exclaimed King Fierce-of-Heart in a rage; "show me instantly where this insolent villain of a lion lives." The Hare led the way accordingly until he came to a deep well, whereat he stopped, and said, "Let my lord the King come hither and behold him." The Lion approached, and beheld his own reflection in the water of the well, upon which, in his passion, he directly flung himself, and so perished. --Hitopadesa. Translated by Sir Edwin Arnold. =The Fox and the Crab= The Fox and the Crab lived together like brothers; together they sowed their land, reaped the harvest, thrashed the grain and garnered it. The Fox said one day: "Let us go to the hill-top, and whoever reaches it first shall carry off the grain for his own." While they were (starting) to mount the steep, the Crab said: "Do me a favor; before we set off running, touch me with your tail, so that I shall know it and be able to follow you." The Crab opened his claws, and when the Fox touched him with his tail, he leaped forward and seized it, so that when the Fox reached the goal and turned around to see where the Crab was, the Crab fell upon the heap of grain and said: "These three bushels and a half are all mine." The Fox was thunderstruck and exclaimed: "How did you get here, you rascal?" This fable shows that deceitful men devise many methods and actions for getting things their own way, but that they are often defeated by the feeble. --Turkish Fable. Translated by Epiphanius Wilson. _RATIONAL, WITH THE ACTORS MEN_ =The Fool Who Sells Wisdom= A certain fool kept constantly passing through the streets of a town. "Who will buy wisdom?" he cried in a loud voice. A citizen met him on his way, accosted him, and presented him with some small pieces of money. "Sell me a little wisdom," he said.