Being the fables condensed in rhyme with portable morals pictorially pointed by Walter Crane
THE FOX & THE GRAPES
This Fox has a longing for grapes,
He jumps, but the bunch still escapes.
So he goes away sour;
And, ’tis said, to this hour
Declares that he’s no taste for grapes.
THE GRAPES OF DISAPPOINTMENT ARE ALWAYS SOUR
THE COCK & THE PEARL
A rooster, while scratching for grain,
Found a Pearl. He just paused to explain
That a jewel’s no good
To a fowl wanting food,
And then kicked it aside with disdain.
IF HE ASK BREAD WILL YE GIVE HIM A STONE?
THE WOLF AND THE LAMB
A wolf, wanting lamb for his dinner,
Growled out—“Lamb you wronged me, you sinner.”
Bleated Lamb—“Nay, not true!”
Answered Wolf—“Then ’twas Ewe—
Ewe or lamb, you will serve for my dinner.”
FRAUD AND VIOLENCE HAVE NO SCRUPLES
THE WIND & THE SUN
The Wind and the Sun had a bet,
The wayfarers’ cloak which should get:
Blew the Wind—the cloak clung:
Shone the Sun—the cloak flung
Showed the Sun had the best of it yet.
TRUE STRENGTH IS NOT BLUSTER
KING LOG & KING STORK
The Frogs prayed to Jove for a king:
“Not a log, but a livelier thing.”
Jove sent them a Stork,
Who did royal work,
For he gobbled them up, did their king.
DON’T HAVE KINGS
THE FRIGHTENED LION
A Bull Frog, according to rule,
Sat a-croak in his usual pool:
And he laughed in his heart
As a Lion did start
In a fright from the brink like a fool.
IMAGINARY FEARS ARE THE WORST
THE MOUSE & THE LION
A poor thing the Mouse was, and yet,
When the Lion got caught in a net,
All his strength was no use
’Twas the poor little Mouse
Who nibbled him out of the net.
SMALL CAUSES MAY PRODUCE GREAT RESULTS
THE MARRIED MOUSE
So the Mouse had Miss Lion for bride;
Very great was his joy and his pride:
But it chanced that she put
On her husband her foot,
And the weight was too much, so he died.
ONE MAY BE TOO AMBITIOUS
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