not so desperate yet; for here are other poor creatures more faint-hearted than ourselves."
Take not comfort, but courage, from another's distress; and be sure, whatever your misery, that there are some whose lot you would not exchange with your own.
(Fable 237 Halm; Thomas James' translation.)
THE LIONESS
THERE was a great stir among all the Beasts, which could boast of the largest family. So they came to the Lioness. "And how many," said they, "do you have at a birth?" "One," said she, grimly; "but that one is a Lion."
Quality comes before quantity.
(Fable 240 b. Halm; Thomas James' translation.)
THE ANGLER AND THE LITTLE FISH
AN Angler, who gained his livelihood by fishing, after a long day's toil, caught nothing but one little fish. "Spare me," said the little creature, "I beseech you; so small as I am, I shall make you but a sorry meal. I am not come to my full size yet; throw me back into the river for the present, and then, when I am grown bigger and worth eating, you may come here and catch me again." "No, no," said the man; "I have got you now, but if you once get back into the water, your tune will be, 'Catch me, if you can.' "
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
(Fable 28 Halm; Thomas James' translation.)
