a cord; please do this to me.’
6. ‘Then I shall do it, my friend,’ cried the lion, ‘to relieve you from this affliction.’ And he bound the fox, who after a few moments said, ‘Ah! The pain has gone! You have cured me!’
7. The lion released him, and rejoiced to see him better; and the two continued as friends for a time after.
8. But then the lion fell victim to the headache, and suffered grievously; and went to the fox to ask for his help.
9. ‘Remember how I cured your headache,’ the lion asked, nursing his head, ‘by tying you up? I ask you to do the same to me, for I suffer now as you did then.’
10. So the fox took bonds, and cast them round the feet of the lion, and tied him up tightly; and when he was bound, he went and fetched great stones, and hurled them on the lion’s head to kill him; and by this trick and treachery ended the lion’s life.
11. ‘I urge you’, said the leopardess, ‘to think of this, and take warning of the fox’s craftiness; for you should ask yourself, “Why has he shown me so sovereign a place, where he himself might take profit in your place?”’
12. The leopard did not wish to take his wife’s advice, but at the same time her words had stirred a doubt in him. He told the fox that his wife did not wish to accompany him, and that his own feelings misgave him;
13. Whereupon the fox said, ‘If you are guided by your wife in this, your fate will be like that of the silversmith. Do you know that story?’
14. And so he told the following story to the leopard.
Chapter 5
1. In ancient times, said the fox, there lived a very skilful silversmith, who made beautiful settings for gemstones,
2. But he worked very slowly, so that although his reputation was great, his wealth was small.
3. One day his wife said to him, ‘We have not grown rich even though you are so good at your craft.
4. ‘But I have a plan; and if you will listen to me I will make us the wealthiest residents of this city.’
5. So the silversmith put down his tools to listen to his wife, who spoke as follows.
6. ‘Our lord the king has a new wife, very young and beautiful, and he dotes on her. Make a silver image of her, and I will take it to the palace as a gift.
7. ‘We will be rewarded with far more than the value of the silver, and your fame will bring people from far away, who will pay twice for what you make.’
8. But the wife had not reckoned with the jealousy of the king, who could not abide the thought that another would dwell on his wife’s beauty, and make an image of it;
9. So that when the silversmith’s wife presented the silver statuette at the palace, he was enraged, and ordered the silversmith’s arrest;
10. And when the silversmith was brought before him, the king ordered his right hand to be cut off, so that he could no longer work at his trade.
11. Every day thereafter the silversmith wept, until he and his wife at last died of hunger.
12. ‘This tale’, said the fox, ‘teaches us never to listen to our wives’ advice in matters of livelihood.’
13. The leopard shuddered to hear this tale; but the fox continued to press home the advantage he saw that he was gaining.
14. ‘Have you not heard,’ he asked, ‘what the great Socrates said when asked why he had married a wife so short and thin? “In order to have of evil the least amount,” he replied.
15. ‘Have you heard what he said on seeing a woman hanging from a tree? “Would that all trees bore such fruit.”
16. ‘Have you heard what he replied when one said to him, “Your enemy is dead”? He replied, “I would rather hear that he was married.”
17. With these ill tales and false reports the fox steeled the leopard against his wife,
18. And the leopard commanded his wife with anger to bring the cubs to the paradise of fatted deer and green meadows; and there they camped by the water.
19. The fox bade them farewell, his head laughing at his
6. ‘Then I shall do it, my friend,’ cried the lion, ‘to relieve you from this affliction.’ And he bound the fox, who after a few moments said, ‘Ah! The pain has gone! You have cured me!’
7. The lion released him, and rejoiced to see him better; and the two continued as friends for a time after.
8. But then the lion fell victim to the headache, and suffered grievously; and went to the fox to ask for his help.
9. ‘Remember how I cured your headache,’ the lion asked, nursing his head, ‘by tying you up? I ask you to do the same to me, for I suffer now as you did then.’
10. So the fox took bonds, and cast them round the feet of the lion, and tied him up tightly; and when he was bound, he went and fetched great stones, and hurled them on the lion’s head to kill him; and by this trick and treachery ended the lion’s life.
11. ‘I urge you’, said the leopardess, ‘to think of this, and take warning of the fox’s craftiness; for you should ask yourself, “Why has he shown me so sovereign a place, where he himself might take profit in your place?”’
12. The leopard did not wish to take his wife’s advice, but at the same time her words had stirred a doubt in him. He told the fox that his wife did not wish to accompany him, and that his own feelings misgave him;
13. Whereupon the fox said, ‘If you are guided by your wife in this, your fate will be like that of the silversmith. Do you know that story?’
14. And so he told the following story to the leopard.
Chapter 5
1. In ancient times, said the fox, there lived a very skilful silversmith, who made beautiful settings for gemstones,
2. But he worked very slowly, so that although his reputation was great, his wealth was small.
3. One day his wife said to him, ‘We have not grown rich even though you are so good at your craft.
4. ‘But I have a plan; and if you will listen to me I will make us the wealthiest residents of this city.’
5. So the silversmith put down his tools to listen to his wife, who spoke as follows.
6. ‘Our lord the king has a new wife, very young and beautiful, and he dotes on her. Make a silver image of her, and I will take it to the palace as a gift.
7. ‘We will be rewarded with far more than the value of the silver, and your fame will bring people from far away, who will pay twice for what you make.’
8. But the wife had not reckoned with the jealousy of the king, who could not abide the thought that another would dwell on his wife’s beauty, and make an image of it;
9. So that when the silversmith’s wife presented the silver statuette at the palace, he was enraged, and ordered the silversmith’s arrest;
10. And when the silversmith was brought before him, the king ordered his right hand to be cut off, so that he could no longer work at his trade.
11. Every day thereafter the silversmith wept, until he and his wife at last died of hunger.
12. ‘This tale’, said the fox, ‘teaches us never to listen to our wives’ advice in matters of livelihood.’
13. The leopard shuddered to hear this tale; but the fox continued to press home the advantage he saw that he was gaining.
14. ‘Have you not heard,’ he asked, ‘what the great Socrates said when asked why he had married a wife so short and thin? “In order to have of evil the least amount,” he replied.
15. ‘Have you heard what he said on seeing a woman hanging from a tree? “Would that all trees bore such fruit.”
16. ‘Have you heard what he replied when one said to him, “Your enemy is dead”? He replied, “I would rather hear that he was married.”
17. With these ill tales and false reports the fox steeled the leopard against his wife,
18. And the leopard commanded his wife with anger to bring the cubs to the paradise of fatted deer and green meadows; and there they camped by the water.
19. The fox bade them farewell, his head laughing at his
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