"I suppose," said the Wolf, "you expect payment for that service."
"A kind act," replied the Ostrich, "is its own reward; I have eaten
the keys."
The Herdsman and the Lion
A HERDSMAN who had lost a bullock entreated the gods to bring him
the thief, and vowed he would sacrifice a goat to them. Just then
a Lion, his jaws dripping with bullock's blood, approached the
Herdsman.
"I thank you, good deities," said the Herdsman, continuing his
prayer, "for showing me the thief. And now if you will take him
away, I will stand another goat."
The Man and the Viper
A MAN finding a frozen Viper put it into his bosom.
"The coldness of the human heart," he said, with a grin, "will keep
the creature in his present condition until I can reach home and
revive him on the coals."
But the pleasures of hope so fired his heart that the Viper thawed,
and sliding to the ground thanked the Man civilly for his
hospitality and glided away.
The Man and the Eagle
AN Eagle was once captured by a Man, who clipped his wings and put
him in the poultry yard, along with the chickens.
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