be placed for him, as was the custom among men. After these preparations, he signified his will that the two men should be brought before him, and greeted them with this salutation: "What sort of a King do I seem to you to be, strangers?" The lying Traveller replied, "You seem to me a most mighty King." "And what is your estimate of those you see around me?" "These," he made answer, "are worthy companions of yourself, fit at least to be ambassadors and leaders of armies." The Ape and all his court, gratified with the lie, commanded a handsome present to be given to the flatterer. On this the truthful Traveller thought within himself, "If so great a reward be given for a lie, with what gift may not I be rewarded, if, according to my custom, I shall tell the truth?" The Ape quickly turned to him. "And pray how do I and these my friends around me seem to you?" "Thou art," he said, "a most excellent Ape, and all these thy companions after thy example are excellent Apes too." The King of the Apes, enraged at hearing these truths, gave him over to the teeth and claws of his companions.
A smooth lie wins favour with evil natures, where the honest truth may cause a good man's downfall.
(Phædrus, Fables, Appendix I, No. 24; Townsend's translation.)
THE STORK, THE GOOSE AND THE HAWK
ONE day when the Stork had come to a favourite pool, he saw a Goose repeatedly diving under the water, and asked why she did so. She replied:
"It is a habit with us Geese, for we find much of our food in the mud at the bottom of the pool, and at the same time we safely escape the attack of Hawks when they swoop down upon us."
