The horse saw, shuddered, and trembled with fear and abhorrence.

"Here," said Zeus, are taller and thinner legs; here is a long swan-neck; here is a broader breast; here is the created saddle! Wilt thou, horse, that I should transform thee after this fashion?"

The horse still trembled.

"Go!" continued Zeus. "Be instructed, for this once, without being punished. But to remind thee, with occasional compunction, of thy presumption, do thou, new creation, continue!"

Zeus cast a preserving glance on the camel: "Never shall the horse behold thee without shuddering."-" Fables."

The Raven

The raven remarked that the eagle sat thirty days upon her eggs. That, undoubtedly," said she, " is the reason why the young of the eagle are so all-seeing and strong. Good! I will do the same."

And, since then, the raven actually sits thirty days upon her eggs; but, as yet, she has hatched nothing but miserable ravens." Fables."

The Decorated Bow

A MAN had an excellent bow of ebony, with which he shot very far and very sure, and which he valued at a great price. But once, after considering it attentively, he said:

"A little too rude still! Your only ornament is your polish. It is a pity! However, that can be remedied," thought he. "I will go and let a first-rate artist carve something on the bow."

He went, and the artist carved an entire hunting-scene upon the bow. And what more fitting for a bow than a hunting-scene?

The man was delighted. "You deserve this embellishment, my beloved bow." So saying, he wished to try it.

He drew the string. The bow broke!-" Fables."

The Peacocks and the Crow

A VAIN crow adorned herself with the feathers of the richly tinted peacocks which they had shed, and when she thought herself sufficiently tricked out, mixed boldly with these splendid birds of Juno.

She was recognized, and quickly the peacocks fell upon her with sharp bills, to pluck the lying disguise from her. "Cease now!" she cried at length, "you shall have your own again!"

But the peacocks, who had observed some of the crow's own shining wing-feathers, replied:

"Be still, wretched fool! These, too, cannot be yours!" And they continued to peck at her." Fables."

Epigrams

YOUNG Stirps as any lord is proud,
Vain, haughty, insolent, and loud;
Games, drinks, and in the full career
Of vice compares with any peer;

Seduces daughters, wives, and mothers;
Spends his own cash, and that of others;
Pays like a lord-that is to say,
He never condescends to pay,
But bangs his creditor in requital.
And yet this blockhead wears a title.

From the grave where dead Gripeall, the miser, reposes, What a villainous odor invades all our noses!

It can't be his body alone-in the hole

They have certainly buried the usurer's soul.

While Fell was reposing himself on the hay,
A reptile conceal'd bit his leg as he lay;
But all venom himself, of the wound he made light,
And got well, while the scorpion died of the bite.

So vile your grimace, and so croaking your speech,
One scarcely can tell if you're laughing or crying;
Were you fix'd on one's funeral sermon to preach,
The bare apprehension would keep one from dying.

How plain your little darling says "Mama,"
But still she calls you "Doctor," not "Papa."
One thing is clear: your conscientious rib
Has not yet taught the pretty dear to fib.

So slowly you walk, and so quickly you eat,

You should march with your mouth, and devour with your feet.

Quoth gallant Fritz, "I ran away
To fight again another day."
The meaning of his speech is plain,
He only fled to fly again.

"How strange, a deaf wife to prefer!"
"True, but she's also dumb, good sir."

An Academical Lover

ANTON, DAMIS, and LISETTE.

An. (aside). I cannot leave these people alone in this way. Herr Valer asks whether you are in your room. Are you still here, Herr Damis?

Da. Just tell me, you ignorant lout, have you made it your special object to-day to annoy me?

Lis. Let him stay there, Herr Damis. He will not keep away, you'll see.

An. Yes, now I shall stay; now, perhaps, when what I must not hear or see is already over.

Da. What is over?

An. You know very well.

Lis. (whispering). Help me, Anton, to make Juliane as black as we can in your master's estimation. Will you?

An. Yes, very likely; by way of gratitude, perhapsLis. Hold your tongue, then, at any rate. I am sure, Herr Damis, you will get on ill with Juliane. I feel pity for you beforehand. The whole world does not contain a worse girl

An. Don't believe it, Herr Damis; Juliane is a right good girl. You could not get on better with any one in the world. I wish you happiness with her.

Lis. Really? You must be very kindly disposed toward your master, when you want to hang such an intolerable nuisance round his neck.

An. And you must be a good deal more kindly disposed toward your young mistress, when you grudge her so good a husband as Herr Damis will prove.

Lis. A good husband! To be sure, a good husband is all she desires. A man who will permit everything

An. Ho-ho! Everything? Do you hear, Herr Damis, for what Lisette takes you? On this account you would like to be his wife yourself, I suppose? Everything, eh? Da. But seriously, Lisette, do you believe your young lady will make a thoroughly bad wife? Has she really many bad qualities?

Lis. Many? She has all that any one can have, not excepting those which contradict one another.

Da. Will you not give me a list of them?
Lis. What shall I begin with? She is silly.
Da. A trifle.

An. And I say, a lie!

Lis. She is quarrelsome.

Da. A trifle.

An. And I say, a lie!

Lis. She is vain.

Da. A trifle.

An. A lie! say I.

Lis. She is not a good housekeeper.

Da. A trifle.

An. A lie!