صفحة 10 من 274

But the legend he carved under these cruder symbols was

everywhere the same; and whether fables began with Aesop or began

with Adam, whether they were German and mediaeval as Reynard the

Fox, or as French and Renaissance as La Fontaine, the upshot is

everywhere essentially the same: that superiority is always

insolent, because it is always accidental; that pride goes before

a fall; and that there is such a thing as being too clever by

half. You will not find any other legend but this written upon

the rocks by any hand of man. There is every type and time of

fable: but there is only one moral to the fable; because there is

only one moral to everything_.

G. K. CHESTERTON

CONTENTS

THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGGS

THE CAT AND THE MICE

THE MISCHIEVOUS DOG

THE CHARCOAL-BURNER AND THE FULLER

THE MICE IN COUNCIL

THE BAT AND THE WEASELS

THE DOG AND THE SOW

THE FOX AND THE CROW

THE HORSE AND THE GROOM

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

THE PEACOCK AND THE CRANE

THE CAT AND THE BIRDS