The Crab and Its Mother
A crab said to her son, Why do you walk so one-sided, my child? It read more

The Crab and Its Mother
A crab said to her son, Why do you walk so one-sided, my child? It is far more becoming to go straight forward. The young Crab replied: Quite true, dear Mother; and if you will show me the straight way, I will promise to walk in it. The Mother tried in vain, and submitted without remonstrance to the reproof of her child.
Example is more powerful than precept.

The Boys and the Frogs
Some boys, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the water and read more

The Boys and the Frogs
Some boys, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the water and began to pelt them with stones. They killed several of them, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water, cried out: Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is death to us.

The Man Bitten by a Dog
A man who had been bitten by a Dog went about in quest of read more

The Man Bitten by a Dog
A man who had been bitten by a Dog went about in quest of someone who might heal him. A friend, meeting him and learning what he wanted, said, If you would be cured, take a piece of bread, and dip it in the blood from your wound, and go and give it to the Dog that bit you. The Man who had been bitten laughed at this advice and said, Why? If I should do so, it would be as if I should beg every Dog in the town to bite me.
Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed increase their means of injuring you.

The Boasting Traveler
A man who had traveled in foreign lands boasted very much, on returning to his own country, read more

The Boasting Traveler
A man who had traveled in foreign lands boasted very much, on returning to his own country, of the many wonderful and heroic feats he had performed in the different places he had visited. Among other things, he said that when he was at Rhodes he had leaped to such a distance that no man of his day could leap anywhere near him as to that, there were in Rhodes many persons who saw him do it and whom he could call as witnesses. One of the bystanders interrupted him, saying: Now, my good man, if this be all true there is no need of witnesses. Suppose this to be Rhodes, and leap for us.

The Aethiop
The purchaser of a black servant was persuaded that the color of his skin arose from dirt contracted read more

The Aethiop
The purchaser of a black servant was persuaded that the color of his skin arose from dirt contracted through the neglect of his former masters. On bringing him home he resorted to every means of cleaning, and subjected the man to incessant scrubbings. The servant caught a severe cold, but he never changed his color or complexion.
What's bred in the bone will stick to the flesh.

The Ox and the Frog
An ox drinking at a pool trod on a brood of young frogs and crushed read more

The Ox and the Frog
An ox drinking at a pool trod on a brood of young frogs and crushed one of them to death. The Mother coming up, and missing one of her sons, inquired of his brothers what had become of him. He is dead, dear Mother; for just now a very huge beast with four great feet came to the pool and crushed him to death with his cloven heel. The Frog, puffing herself out, inquired, if the beast was as big as that in size. Cease, Mother, to puff yourself out, said her son, and do not be angry; for you would, I assure you, sooner burst than successfully imitate the hugeness of that monster.

The Frogs Asking for a King
The Frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for read more

The Frogs Asking for a King
The Frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King. Perceiving their simplicity, he cast down a huge log into the lake. The Frogs were terrified at the splash occasioned by its fall and hid themselves in the depths of the pool. But as soon as they realized that the huge log was motionless, they swam again to the top of the water, dismissed their fears, climbed up, and began squatting on it in contempt. After some time they began to think themselves ill-treated in the appointment of so inert a Ruler, and sent a second deputation to Jupiter to pray that he would set over them another sovereign. He then gave them an Eel to govern them. When the Frogs discovered his easy good nature, they sent yet a third time to Jupiter to beg him to choose for them still another King. Jupiter, displeased with all their complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till there were none left to croak upon the lake.

The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail
A fox caught in a trap escaped, but in so doing lost his read more

The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail
A fox caught in a trap escaped, but in so doing lost his tail. Thereafter, feeling his life a burden from the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed, he schemed to convince all the other Foxes that being tailless was much more attractive, thus making up for his own deprivation. He assembled a good many Foxes and publicly advised them to cut off their tails, saying that they would not only look much better without them, but that they would get rid of the weight of the brush, which was a very great inconvenience. One of them interrupting him said, If you had not yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus counsel us.

The Farmer and the Snake
One winter a Farmer found a Snake stiff and frozen with cold. He had compassion read more

The Farmer and the Snake
One winter a Farmer found a Snake stiff and frozen with cold. He had compassion on it, and taking it up, placed it in his bosom. The Snake was quickly revived by the warmth, and resuming its natural instincts, bit its benefactor, inflicting on him a mortal wound. Oh, cried the Farmer with his last breath, I am rightly served for pitying a scoundrel.
The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.