JUPITER ISSUED a proclamation to all the beasts of the forest and

promised a royal reward to the one whose offspring should be deemed the
handsomest. The Monkey came with the rest and presented, with all a
mother’s tenderness, a flat-nosed, hairless, ill-featured young Monkey
as a candidate for the promised reward. A general laugh saluted her on
the presentation of her son. She resolutely said, “I know not whether
Jupiter will allot the prize to my son, but this I do know, that he is
at least in the eyes of me his mother, the dearest, handsomest, and
most beautiful of all.”




The Hawk, the Kite, and the Pigeons


THE PIGEONS, terrified by the appearance of a Kite, called upon the
Hawk to defend them. He at once consented. When they had admitted him
into the cote, they found that he made more havoc and slew a larger
number of them in one day than the Kite could pounce upon in a whole
year.

Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.




The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat


THE DOLPHINS and Whales waged a fierce war with each other. When the
battle was at its height, a Sprat lifted its head out of the waves and
said that he would reconcile their differences if they would accept him
as an umpire. One of the Dolphins replied, “We would far rather be
destroyed in our battle with each other than admit any interference
from you in our affairs.”




The Swallow, the Serpent, and the Court of Justice


A SWALLOW, returning from abroad and especially fond of dwelling with
men, built herself a nest in the wall of a Court of Justice and there
hatched seven young birds. A Serpent gliding past the nest from its
hole in the wall ate up the young unfledged nestlings. The Swallow,
finding her nest empty, lamented greatly and exclaimed: “Woe to me a
stranger! that in this place where all others’ rights are protected, I
alone should suffer wrong.”