The Ant and the Dove

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A Dove saw an Ant fall into a brook. The Ant struggled in vain to reach the bank, and in pity, the Dove dropped a blade of straw close beside it. Clinging to the straw like a shipwrecked sailor to a broken spar, the Ant floated safely to shore. Soon after, the Ant saw a man getting ready to kill the Dove with a stone. But just as he cast the stone, the Ant stung him in the heel, so that the pain made him miss his aim, and the startled Dove flew to safety in a distant wood. A kindness is never wasted. THE MAN AND THE SATYR A long time ago a Man met a Satyr in the forest and succeeded in making friends with him. The two soon became the best of comrades, living together in the Man's hut. But one cold winter evening, as they were walking homeward, the Satyr saw the Man blow on his fingers. "Why do you do that?" asked the Satyr. "To warm my hands," the Man replied. When they reached home the Man prepared two bowls of porridge. These he placed steaming hot on the table, and the comrades sat down very cheerfully to enjoy the meal. But much to the Satyr's surprise, the Man began to blow into his bowl of porridge. "Why do you do that?" he asked. "To cool my porridge," replied the Man. The Satyr sprang hurriedly to his feet and made for the door. "Goodby," he said, "I've seen enough. A fellow that blows hot and cold in the same breath cannot be friends with me!" The man who talks for both sides is not to be trusted by either.

Source: The Aesop for Children (1919): LibriVox recording, Project Gutenberg text · License: Public Domain