that, I am put to the hardest sort of work. If my master feasts at home, I wait upon him all night long; if he is invited out, I watch till day-break in the roadway. I have earned my liberty, and I am treated like a dog. If I felt that it was my own fault, I would bear it patiently. Unhappy creature that I am, not only am I half starved, but I must suffer besides this unending cruelty. It is for these reasons, which have taken me so long to tell, that I have decided to run away, wherever my feet will take me."
"Now, listen," answered Æsop. "You have suffered all these hardships, although you have done nothing wrong. How much worse suffering do you think awaits you, if you run away?" The slave took the advice and returned to his master.
If you already have troubles, it is foolish to seek more.
(Phædrus, Fables, Appendix II, No. 19.)
THE COCK AND THE CATS WHO BORE HIS LITTER
A COCK once employed several Cats to carry his litter when he appeared in public. When the Fox saw him proudly borne along, she murmured to herself, "I warn you, friend Cock, to be on your guard. For if you study the faces of those Cats, they look as though they were carrying off a captured prey, and not an unwelcome burden." Before long, the Cats, becoming hungry, made short work of their master, and divided the object of their crime between them.
A false sense of security often leads to danger.
(Phædrus, Fables, Appendix II, No. 16.)
