The Victor and the Victim
The Wolf and the Shepherds

The Goose and the Swan
The Lion, the Cock, and the Ass

The Snake and the Swallow
The Wolves and the Dogs

The Hen and the Vipers
A Seasonable Joke

The Lion and the Thorn
The Fawn and the Buck

The Kite, the Pigeons, and the Hawk
The Wolf and the Babe

The Wolf and the Ostrich
The Herdsman and the Lion

The Man and the Viper
The Man and the Eagle

The War-horse and the Miller
The Dog and the Reflection

The Man and the Fish-horn
The Hare and the Tortoise

Hercules and the Carter
The Lion and the Bull

The Man and his Goose
The Wolf and the Feeding Goat

Jupiter and the Birds
The Lion and the Mouse

The Old Man and his Sons
The Crab and his Son

The North Wind and the Sun
The Mountain and the Mouse

The Bellamy and the Members
Old Saws with New Teeth

The Wolf and the Crane
The Lion and the Mouse

The Hares and the Frogs
The Belly and the Members

The Piping Fisherman
The Ants and the Grasshopper

The Dog and His Reflection
The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox

The Ass and the Lion's Skin
The Ass and the Grasshoppers

The Wolf and the Lion
The Hare and the Tortoise

The Milkmaid and Her Bucket
King Log and King Stork

The Wolf Who Would Be a Lion
The Monkey and the Nuts

The Boys and the Frogs
The Moral Principle and the Material Interest

A MORAL Principle met a Material Interest on a bridge wide enough
for but one.

"Down, you base thing!" thundered the Moral Principle, "and let me
pass over you!"

The Material Interest merely looked in the other's eyes without
saying anything.

"Ah," said the Moral Principle, hesitatingly, "let us draw lots to
see which shall retire till the other has crossed."

The Material Interest maintained an unbroken silence and an
unwavering stare.

"In order to avoid a conflict," the Moral Principle resumed,
somewhat uneasily, "I shall myself lie down and let you walk over

me."
Then the Material Interest found a tongue, and by a strange

coincidence it was its own tongue. "I don't think you are very
good walking," it said. "I am a little particular about what I

have underfoot. Suppose you get off into the water."
It occurred that way.

The Crimson Candle
A MAN lying at the point of death called his wife to his bedside

and said:
"I am about to leave you forever; give me, therefore, one last

proof of your affection and fidelity, for, according to our holy
religion, a married man seeking admittance at the gate of Heaven is

required to swear that he has never defiled himself with an
unworthy woman. In my desk you will find a crimson candle, which

has been blessed by the High Priest and has a peculiar mystical
significance. Swear to me that while it is in existence you will

not remarry."
The Woman swore and the Man died. At the funeral the Woman stood

at the head of the bier, holding a lighted crimson candle till it
was wasted entirely away.

The Blotted Escutcheon and the Soiled Ermine
A BLOTTED Escutcheon, rising to a question of privilege, said:

"Mr. Speaker, I wish to hurl back an allegation and explain that
the spots upon me are the natural markings of one who is a direct

descendant of the sun and a spotted fawn. They come of no accident
of character, but inhere in the divine order and constitution of

things."
When the Blotted Escutcheon had resumed his seat a Soiled Ermine

rose and said:
"Mr. Speaker, I have heard with profound attention and entire

approval the explanation of the honourable member, and wish to
offer a few remarks on my own behalf. I, too, have been foully

calumniated by our ancient enemy, the Infamous Falsehood, and I
wish to point out that I am made of the fur of the MUSTELA

MACULATA, which is dirty from birth."
The Ingenious Patriot

HAVING obtained an audience of the King an Ingenious Patriot pulled
a paper from his pocket, saying:

"May it please your Majesty, I have here a formula for constructing
armour-plating which no gun can pierce. If these plates are

adopted in the Royal Navy our warships will be invulnerable, and
therefore invincible. Here, also, are reports of your Majesty's

Ministers, attesting the value of the invention. I will part with
my right in it for a million tumtums."

After examining the papers, the King put them away and promised him
an order on the Lord High Treasurer of the Extortion Department for

a million tumtums.
"And here," said the Ingenious Patriot, pulling another paper from

another pocket, "are the working plans of a gun that I have
invented, which will pierce that armour. Your Majesty's Royal

Brother, the Emperor of Bang, is anxious to purchase it, but
loyalty to your Majesty's throne and person constrains me to offer

it first to your Majesty. The price is one million tumtums."
Having received the promise of another check, he thrust his hand

into still another pocket, remarking:
"The price of the irresistible gun would have been much greater,

your Majesty, but for the fact that its missiles can be so
effectively averted by my peculiar method of treating the armour

plates with a new- "
The King signed to the Great Head Factotum to approach.

"Search this man," he said, "and report how many pockets he has."
"Forty-three, Sire," said the Great Head Factotum, completing the

scrutiny.
"May it please your Majesty," cried the Ingenious Patriot, in

terror, "one of them contains tobacco."