The Wolf & the Lion .............The Lion & the Mouse............The Wolf & the Crane
A Wolf had stolen a Lamb and was carrying it off to his lair to eat it. But his plans were very much changed when he met a Lion, who, without making any excuses, took the Lamb away from him.
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The Wolf made off to a safe distance, and then said in a much injured tone:
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"You have no right to take my property like that!"
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The Lion looked back, but as the Wolf was too far away to be taught a lesson without too much inconvenience, he said:
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"Your property? Did you buy it, or did the Shepherd make you a gift of it? Pray tell me, how did you get it?"
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What is evil won is evil lost.
A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.
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"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."
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The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.
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Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.
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"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."
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A kindness is never wasted.
A Wolf had been feasting too greedily, and a bone had stuck crosswise in his throat. He could get it neither up nor down, and of course he could not eat a thing. Naturally that was an awful state of affairs for a greedy Wolf.
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So away he hurried to the Crane. He was sure that she, with her long neck and bill, would easily be able to reach the bone and pull it out.
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"I will reward you very handsomely," said the Wolf, "if you pull that bone out for me."
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The Crane, as you can imagine, was very uneasy about putting her head in a Wolf's throat. But she was grasping in nature, so she did what the Wolf asked her to do.
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When the Wolf felt that the bone was gone, he started to walk away.
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"But what about my reward!" called the Crane anxiously.
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"What!" snarled the Wolf, whirling around. "Haven't you got it? Isn't it enough that I let you take your head out of my mouth without snapping it off?"
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Expect no reward for serving the wicked.
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