" Another said, "I have
been very sick and am too weak to lift the bell"; and so the
excuses came pouring in.
At last Mr. Graypate called to the crowd, "Silence! I shall choose
no one. Who will offer to bell the cat?"
It was very quiet in the meeting. One after another of the younger
mice went out. None but the older ones were left. At last they too
went sadly home. No one would bell the cat.
THE FOX AND THE CROW
One day the door of a cottage stood open. A tame crow flew through
the door into the cottage. She stole a piece of meat from the
table, and flew to a branch of a tall tree.
Just as she had settled there to enjoy her meat a fox came along
and stopped under the tree. He sniffed something good to eat.
Looking about, he saw the meat in the crow's mouth and wanted it.
How could he get the meat? He could not climb the tree. What good
would it do if he could? The crow would fly away when she saw him
coming. He could not coax the crow to come down to the ground. She
knew what a fox likes to eat.
At last the fox had a happy thought. He said to himself, "A crow
is one of the proudest birds I ever knew. I will flatter her and
she will forget about the meat."
So he called out in his sweetest voice, "Good day, my pretty
bird"; but the crow did not reply.
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