A GROOM used to spend all day, every day in currycombing and rubbing down his Horse, but at the same time stole the horse’s oats and sold them for his own profit.

“Think about it!” said the Horse, “if you really want me to be in good condition, you should groom me less, and feed me more.”

Moral: Spend your time on what will give you the results you want.

A MISER sold everything he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at every day.

photo credit: covilha

One of the miser’s workers observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to keep an eye on the miser. The worker soon discovered the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it.

The next time the Miser visited his gold, he found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and sob loudly. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said,

“Pray do not grieve so… go and take a stone, place it in the hole, and pretend that the gold is still lying there. It will have the same effect; for when the gold was there, you didn’t really have it, as you did not make the slightest use of it.”

Moral: Use it or lose it

A Goatherd, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up in a cave together with his own for the night.

The next day it snowed very hard, so that the Goatherd could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep them inside the cave. He gave his own goats just enough food to keep them alive, but fed the wild goats more abundantly, hoping that by doing so, they would stay with him and join his herd.

When the snow thawed, the Goatherd led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd.

One of the Wild Goats, turning about, said to him: “That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves.”

Moral: Don’t sacrifice old friends for new ones.

Zeus decided, it is said, to create a sovereign over the birds, and made a proclamation that on a certain day all the birds should present themselves before him, when he would himself choose the most beautiful among them to be king.

The Jackdaw looked into the lake and realized how ugly he was. So he searched through the woods and fields and collected the feathers which had fallen from the wings of his companions. He stuck the feathers in all parts of his body, hoping thereby to make himself the most beautiful of all.

When the appointed day arrived, and the birds had assembled before Zeus, the Jackdaw also made his appearance in his many feathered finery.

There was not a bird in sight that had as many colored feathers as the Jackdaw. Zeus declared the Jackdaw to be the most beautiful of all the birds. However, the birds indignantly protested, and recognizing their own feathers stuck onto the Jackdaw, the birds each went to the Jackdaw and plucked their own feathers off him.

The Jackdaw, being stripped of his stolen plumage, was shown to be nothing but a Jackdaw after all.

A Lion, tired by the summer’s heat, fell fast asleep in his den. A Mouse ran over his mane, nose and ears and woke him from his slumber. The Lion rose up and shook himself in great wrath, and searched every corner of his den to find the Mouse.

A Fox seeing the Lion so put out by the Mouse said: “A fine Lion you are, to be frightened of a Mouse.”

“It’s not that I’m afraid of the Mouse,” said the Lion; “I resent his familiarity and ill-breeding.”

Moral: Little liberties may be great offenses.