~ 51. The Wolf and the Goat on a Rock ~
A goat was standing up on a high rock, and a wolf noticed her there.
"There's no grass up there on that rock," the wolf shouted. "Look down here: there's so much nice grass! You should come down here and enjoy a nice meal."
The goat just laughed at him.
"If I come down there," she shouted back, "you are the one who would be enjoying a nice meal, not me. We'll both just have to stay hungry!"
And so the wise goat stayed up there on that rock until the wolf went somewhere else to look for his supper.
~ 52. The Wolf and the Goats in a Tub ~
A wolf saw two goats standing on a big tub.
"Thank God for sending me such good food!" he shouted as he ran towards them.
But before he could grab them, the goats jumped down inside the tub. "There is holy water here so that we can conduct the Mass," they said. "Please let us sing a hymn and say our prayers, and you can eat us afterwards."
"Okay," said the pious wolf. "I will sing and pray with you!"
The goats bleated and the wolf howled. This sound alerted a farmer who came and beat the wolf to death.
~ 53. The Wolf and the Cow ~
A wolf ambushed a cow in a pasture.
"I know I can't escape," said the cow. "Please just let me go up that hill to pray before you eat me. I'll pray for God's blessings on us both!"
"Go," said the wolf, "but keep it short!"
The cow went up the hill and mooed loudly.
A farmer heard and came running, and the farmer's dogs tore the wolf to pieces.
The wolf howled, "You didn't pray for me, did you?"
The cow laughed. "You were going to eat me!" she said. "So my prayers were strictly for me, not you."
~ 54. The Wolf and the Lamb at the Stream ~
A wolf and a lamb both came to the same stream to drink; the wolf upstream, the lamb downstream.
The wolf eyed the lamb hungrily, thinking of some excuse to kill and eat him. "Stop muddying my water!" he howled.
"I don't understand," bleated the lamb. "The water flows down from you to me, not up."
The wolf invented another excuse. "I remember you insulted me six months ago!"
"I wasn't even born then," said the lamb. "I'm only three months old."
"Well, that must have been your father!" snarled the wolf, who then attacked the lamb and devoured him.
~ 55. The Wolf and the Lamb in the Temple ~
A wolf was chasing a lamb, but the lamb managed to run inside a temple.
The wolf dared not enter the god's own house, so he stood at the temple's outer door and shouted to the lamb inside, "What do you think is going to happen now, lamb? The priest of the temple is going to catch you and sacrifice you to the god of this temple. You might as well come outside now and get it over with."
"I'd rather die as a sacrificial victim in here," the lamb shouted back, "rather than become food for you out there."
~ 56. The Friendly Wolf ~
A man once owned twelve sheep. He wanted to take a trip, so he entrusted his sheep to a friendly wolf.
"I'll be glad to watch them," said the wolf.
On the first day, the wolf ate one sheep, another the next day, and by the time the man returned, there were only three sheep left.
"What happened to the rest of my sheep?" the man asked.
"They died unexpectedly," said the wolf.
"Show me their skins," said the man, and there he saw the wolf's teeth-marks.
"You are a murderer!" shouted the man, and he had the wolf hanged.
~ 57. The Wolves and their Allies ~
The wolves were ready to raid the sheep, if only they could get rid of the watchdogs.
They sought out the most wolf-like individuals among the dogs and said, "Surely we're cousins, close cousins perhaps. You look more like wolves than dogs! Why not come over to our side?"
By promising the dogs a share in the spoils, they lured them into the wolf pack.
The wolves were then able to easily defeat the rest of the watchdogs.
Next, the wolves killed their dog allies.
And then they feasted on the sheep, who were left without any protection at all.
~ 58. The Treacherous Sheepdog ~
A shepherd had a special favorite among the dogs who guarded his sheep. This dog, however, would snatch lambs to eat, and even the occasional sheep.
The shepherd eventually discovered this dog was the culprit, so he seized the dog and planned to execute him.
"But wolves do far more damage than I," the dog whined. "The wolves are your worst enemies. Why punish me? "
"It's the business of wolves to kill the sheep, but you are supposed to be their guardian," he replied. "A wolf is a predator, but you, wretched dog, are worse, for you are a traitor!"
~ 59. The Lamb and the Nanny-Goat ~
The sheepdog was surprised to find a lamb among the goats.
"Your mother isn't here," said the sheepdog. "She must be over there, with the sheep."
"Not so," said the lamb. "My mother is the one who gave me her udder to suck. Even though she also had children of her own to feed, it is this nanny-goat who gave me milk. She is the one I call mother."
"A goat can't be your mother!" said the sheepdog.
"Yes, she can," said the lamb. "That sheep may be my mother in body, but this nanny-goat is my mother in love."
~ 60. The Dogs and the River ~
Some hungry dogs were roaming the countryside looking everywhere for something to eat.
One of the dogs saw an animal hide floating in the river, and he barked to his fellows, summoning them to come help.
"We're going to have to drink it!" said one of the dogs.
"Drink what?" asked another.
"We've got to drink the whole river!"
And so the dogs began drinking, lapping the water, gulping and guzzling in hopes of draining the river so that they could retrieve the hide.
Finally the dogs drank so much that they burst, and they never did get the hide.
~ 61. The Dog without a House ~
A dog was about to deliver a litter, but she had no roof over her head.
She went to another dog and begged for help. "If you would just let me occupy your house while I deliver my pups, I'd be forever in your debt."
Feeling sorry for the expectant mother, the owner of the doghouse moved out, expecting to reclaim her home in a few months.
When she returned, however, the other dog snarled, and so did the puppies. "If you want your house back," she said, "you're going to have to contend with me and with my pups!"
~ 62. The Hunting Dog and the Rabbit ~
There was a hunter whose dog had stirred up a rabbit in the bushes.
The rabbit took off running.
"Go get him!" yelled the hunter. "You can catch him! Go! Go!"
The hunting dog ran after the rabbit as fast as he could, determined to catch him, but the rabbit finally got away. The dog was just not fast enough.
When the dog returned, the hunter shouted at him, "How could that little rabbit outrun you?"
"It's one thing to run for a living, like me," said the dog. "It's another thing to run for your life, like that rabbit."
~ 63. The Rabbit and the Wolf ~
A rabbit and a wolf met in the woods.
"You're such a coward," said the wolf.
"Ha!" replied the rabbit. "What if I said I could beat you?"
"Beat me? Impossible!" replied the wolf.
"I'll bet you ten ducats I can beat you!" said the rabbit.
"Agreed!" said the wolf. "Now show me how a rabbit beats a wolf!"
So the rabbit started running, and the wolf chased him.
The rabbit dodged here and there, always ahead of the wolf.
Finally, the wolf couldn't run any more.
"I don't win by fighting," said the rabbit. "I win by running away."
~ 64. The War of the Rabbits and the Eagles ~
The rabbits and the eagles were at war, and the rabbits were losing.
The eagles were able to seize the rabbits with their talons and beaks, but the rabbits had no weapons of their own.
"If we don't have weapons," said the leader of the rabbits, "then we must have allies!"
The rabbits then decided to ask the foxes to be their allies, but the foxes refused.
"We might be willing to help you," they said, "if we did not know just who you are and who you are fighting against."
It is hard to find allies when you're losing.
~ 65. The Rabbit and the Sparrow ~
A sparrow was flitting from bush to bush one day when she saw an eagle swoop down from the sky, chasing a rabbit.
The rabbit zigged left, zagged right, running as fast as she could to escape the eagle, but finally the eagle seized the rabbit in his talons, and the rabbit squealed.
The sparrow laughed. "Where's your fancy footwork now, silly rabbit?" she said.
Then a hawk flew by and grabbed the sparrow.
The dying rabbit saw what happened. "There is some justice in the world," she thought. "The sparrow paid a price for her cruel words after all."
~ 66. The Rabbit and the Weasel ~
While the rabbit was away nibbling grass in the meadow, the weasel occupied her rabbit hole.
When the rabbit came back, the weasel said, "Go away! This is my house now."
"That's not fair!" protested the rabbit. "I demand justice!"
So the weasel proposed that they take their case to the local court, where the judge was an old cat.
"Come closer, my dears!" the cat told them. "I'm rather deaf, and I can't hear what you are saying. Closer! Closer!"
And as soon as the rabbit and weasel got close enough, the cat grabbed them and devoured them both.
~ 67. The Rabbit's Resolution ~
The animals were holding an assembly.
All the animals had complaints they wanted to make, and the assembly dragged on and on until the rabbit proposed a resolution.
"It's time to declare equality among the animals. Instead of this animal complaining about that animal, one against another, every animal should be treated with the same respect and dignity as every other animal," shouted the rabbit, "regardless of how powerful they are. Equal rights for all!"
The lion, however, opposed the rabbit's resolution.
"Let the rabbit shout all he wants," growled the lion. "His words have no claws and no teeth."
~ 68. The Funeral of the Lion-Queen ~
The lion's wife had died, and all the animals came to her funeral.
They were all weeping for their queen, except for the deer. The lion-queen had eaten many fawns, and the deer was glad she was dead.
"Why do you not weep?" asked the lion angrily.
The deer quickly thought up a story. "Our queen came to me in a dream," she said, "and told me she had reached the Elysian Fields with all the other blessed animals. She doesn't want us to grieve for her."
The lion rejoiced and even rewarded the deer.
Sometimes a lie is safest.
~ 69. The Deer in the Cave ~
A deer was fleeing some hunters and ran inside a cave.
"I'll be safe in here!" thought the deer. "I'll just wait here inside the cave until the hunters are gone, and then it will be safe for me to go back out."
What the deer didn't know was that there was a lion in that cave.
The lion pounced on the deer and tore her to pieces.
"Alas!" shrieked the deer. "I was on the run from human hunters, but it is actually another wild animal who has killed me."
Be careful not to exchange one danger for another.
~ 70. The Deer in the Stable ~
Fleeing a hunter and his dogs, a deer ran inside a stable.
"Let me hide here!" she said.
The oxen agreed, and the deer hid in one of the stalls.
A stableboy came in, carelessly did his work, and left. He didn't even notice the deer in the stall.
The deer rejoiced. "I'm safe now!"
"Just wait," the oxen said.
Then the farmer came. As he looked around, he noticed the deer. "What are you doing here?" he shouted. "You don't belong here!"
Then the farmer chased the deer out of the stable right into the path of the hunter.
~ 71. The Deer and his Reflection ~
A deer was drinking water from a pond when he noticed his reflection.
"My legs are so scrawny and thin," he complained. "But look at my horns: they are so tall and beautiful!"
Then he heard hunters and their dogs coming his way.
He ran!
The deer's legs carried him swiftly across the meadow but when he reached the woods, his horns got tangled in the branches. The hunters caught him there and killed him.
"What I thought was my crowning glory has killed me," he thought as he was dying, "while what I scoffed at could have saved me."
~ 72. The Deer and the Vine ~
A deer was on the run from a hunter.
As she looked around desperately for a place to hide, she saw an enormous vine, so she got behind the vine and stood there, waiting.
The hunter showed up, and he also stood there, looking around and catching his breath.
The deer, who was hungry, began to munch on the vine.
As the deer ate, the branches of the vine moved.
Silently, the hunter took aim and shot the deer.
Pierced by the arrow, the deer exclaimed, "It's my own fault! I should not have harmed the vine that saved me!"
~ 73. The Deer and her Friends ~
There was a deer who was sick, so she lay down in a grassy field to rest. When they heard she was sick, her friends came to visit her.
The rabbit came. "I hope you feel better soon!" he said. He also nibbled on the grass near the deer.
The sheep came, and the cow, and the goat, even the little grasshopper. They all brought good wishes, and they also ate the grass.
So, when the deer did begin to feel better, all the grass was gone; there was nothing for her to eat nearby, and she died of hunger.
~ 74. The Monkey's Twin Children ~
When a monkey has twins, she loves one, neglecting the other. She thus fondles the one she loves and keeps him close, while the other child has to take care of himself.
There was once a monkey mother who had given birth to twins. A sound in the jungle scared her. She ran from the danger, holding her beloved twin in her arms, but as she ran, she fell against a rock, and the twin she held in her arms was crushed.
The twin that she neglected, however, who was clinging to her back as she ran, survived without injury.
~ 75. The Monkey and the Fishermen ~
A monkey sat in a tree, watching some fishermen as they cast their nets into the river and then pulled them back out, full of fish.
The monkey watched every little thing the men did.
After a while, the men set aside their nets and went to eat.
The monkey hurried down from the tree. "I'll go fishing too!" she thought. She grabbed the nets, but got tangled up and fell into the river.
"It's my own fault," thought the monkey as she sank under the water. "I didn't really know how to fish, and now I'm going to drown."
~ 76. The King's Dancing Monkeys ~
There was a king who built a school for dancing monkeys.
"Let them be educated in all the dances!" he proclaimed.
So the monkeys studied all the dances.
Finally the time came for the royal performance.
The king was delighted to see his monkeys dancing so beautifully, and the audience applauded every dance.
A joker in the crowd, however, decided to throw some nuts onto the stage. The monkeys went wild, forgetting all their dances as they scrambled to grab the nuts. Then the monkeys even started throwing nutshells at the audience.
That was the end of the dancing monkeys.
~ 77. The Monkey and the Camel ~
The monkey did a dance for the assembly of animals, and they applauded his performance.
"Bravo, monkey!" shouted the animals. "Well done!"
The camel was jealous. "I'm a good dancer!" he thought to himself.
So the camel shoved his way to the front of the assembly and started to dance.
But the camel didn't know how to dance.
He couldn't leap.
He couldn't twirl.
In fact, he looked ridiculous.
So the animals attacked the camel and drove him out of the assembly.
The moral: Be happy for others when they succeed, and don't let your envy lead you into disaster.
~ 78. The Kingdom of the Monkeys ~
Two friends, one truthful and one a liar, wandered into the Kingdom of the Monkeys.
Monkeys captured them and brought them to the Monkey-King.
"Behold my court!" said the Monkey-King. "Aren't we a magnificent sight?"
"The splendor of your court is dazzling," said the liar. "I've never seen anything so magnificent."
The Monkey-King beamed with pleasure.
"And what do you say?" he inquired, turning to the other man.
"Why, you're nothing but a monkey, and so are all your courtiers," he replied.
The Monkey-King shrieked with rage. "Kill him!" shouted the king.
Telling the truth isn't always the safest strategy.
~ 79. The Cat and the Rooster ~
A cat had caught a rooster.
"I sentence you to death, you wicked creature!" hissed the cat.
"On what charge?" asked the rooster.
"You're always waking us up early in the morning," said the cat.
"That's just my job," said the rooster. "I'm supposed to wake the farmer in the morning."
"And you are lascivious, sleeping with your sister-hens!"
"But that's also my job!" said the rooster. "That's how we make eggs for the farmer."
"I can see you've got an excuse for everything," said the cat, "but I still sentence you to death."
And then she ate the rooster.
~ 80. The Cat and the Chickens ~
The cat heard that the chickens were feeling poorly.
"They need a doctor!" the cat said to herself.
So, the cat got dressed up, equipped herself with a doctor's bag filled with medical instruments of various kinds, and went to visit the chickens.
"Greetings, my good chickens!" she said.
"What do you want, cat?" squawked one of the chickens.
"I heard that you were not feeling well," replied the cat. "So I've come here to help."
"Oh, the best help you can offer is to go far away!" said the chicken. "The farther away you go, the better we feel."
~ 81. The Cat and her Neighbors ~
An eagle, cat, and sow lived together in a tree: eagle on top, sow at the bottom, and cat in-between.
The cat said to the eagle, "Beware: the sow is digging up the tree's roots in order to topple it and eat your chicks."
To the sow she said, "The eagle craves your little piglets."
The eagle dared not leave her chicks unguarded, nor did the worried sow venture forth to find food, so they both finally starved to death.
The cat and her kittens then had the whole tree to themselves, and they fed on the chicks and piglets.
~ 82. The Cat and the Stork ~
A stork was carrying an eel home to feed to her chicks.
The cat saw her, and while he enjoyed eating eels, he didn't like to get his feet wet. "O stork," said the cat, "you have such lovely white feathers. Is your beak all white on the inside too?"
The stork kept her beak shut and said nothing.
The angry cat then said, "Ugh! Why would you eat anything so nasty as an eel? You must be a nasty creature yourself!"
The stork kept her beak shut and said nothing.
If you're wise, you'll ignore both flattery and insults.
~ 83. The Cat and the Sparrows ~
There was a sparrow who lived with a cat as his companion. The two of them played together, the sparrow poking the cat with his beak, and the cat gently swatting the bird with his paw.
Then another sparrow came to live with them, but she was not a nice bird at all. She attacked the cat and she attacked the cat's sparrow-friend too.
"This is unacceptable!" exclaimed the cat. He killed the wicked sparrow and ate her.
"Delicious!" said the cat. "I had no idea that sparrows were so good to eat!"
He then devoured his sparrow-friend as well.
~ 84. Cat and Fox, Philosophers ~
The cat and the fox were traveling together, sharing philosophical thoughts about beauty, truth, the nature of existence, good and evil, and so on.
Along the way they saw a wolf eating a sheep.
"How immoral!" said the cat.
"I concur!" said the fox. "It's most unethical!"
Then they passed a barnyard where they saw a hen and her chicks. The fox seized the hen and devoured her, while the cat devoured the chicks.
Having satisfied their hunger, they continued on their journey, philosophizing as before.
Many who condemn criminal behavior will behave like criminals themselves, given the right opportunity.
~ 85. Brother Cat and Brother Rat ~
The abbey cat had caught and killed all the mice except for one last rat.
To catch that last rat, the cat had to be sneaky, so he shaved his head like a monk and put on a monk's robe.
The rat rejoiced, supposing he was now safe. "Peace upon you, brother," said the rat to the cat, and the cat lowered his eyes piously.
Then, when the rat came closer, the cat grabbed him.
"Stop it!" squealed the rat. "Aren't you a monk now?"
"Only when I feel like it," replied the cat, and then he ate the rat.
~ 86. The Miller's Cat and the Mice ~
There was a mill infested with mice, so the miller got a cat to kill the mice. The cat was ferocious and soon there were only a few mice still left alive.
The surviving mice, seeing slaughter all around them, retreated to the highest hiding places they could find, never coming down where the cat was lurking.
The cat decided to play dead, lying motionless on the floor.
"Look! The cat's dead!" squeaked the mice.
But the oldest and wisest of the mice warned them, "Don't let that cat fool you! You can't ever trust a cat, living or dead."
~ 87. The Mouse and the Cat on the Shelf ~
A mouse gazed at a cat who was curled up, fast asleep, on a high shelf.
"She looks so calm and good-natured," the mouse thought to himself. "And so pretty too! I'm sure such a beautiful creature must have a kind heart. In fact, I think I would like to make her acquaintance."
The mouse then scampered up on the shelf, squeaking sweetly.
The cat opened her eyes but did not move until the mouse was within reach.
She then seized the mouse and devoured him.
The moral: If you're a mouse, be careful when making friends with the cat.
~ 88. The Cat and the Mouse in the Beer ~
A mouse had fallen into a pot of beer.
"Help!" he squeaked. "I'm drowning!"
"What will you give me if I pull you out?" asked the cat.
"Anything you want!" shrieked the mouse.
"Promise that you'll come when I call," said the cat.
"I promise!" said the mouse.
So the cat rescued the mouse.
A few days later, the cat was hungry, so he went to the mouse-hole and said, "Come out now, mouse! You promised!"
"That promise doesn't count!" replied the mouse.
"What do you mean?" said the cat.
"I was drunk at the time," replied the mouse, laughing.
~ 89. The War of the Cats and the Mice ~
The cats and the mice were at war.
The mice realized they were losing, so they decided to organize themselves into a proper army with generals, and they equipped the mouse-generals with elaborate horned helmets.
The mouse-generals then led the mouse-army into battle against the cats, but once again, the cats were victorious.
"Retreat! Retreat!" yelled the mouse-generals.
But when the mice ran into their holes, the generals got stuck. Their helmets were too big to fit inside the holes, making them easy prey for the cats.
Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Even mice.
~ 90. Belling the Cat ~
The mice held a council. "Something must be done about the cat!" said the chief of the mice.
"But what shall we do?"
The mice debated many proposals, and finally they decided that a bell might work.
"All in favor of belling the cat, say aye!"
The mice all shouted aye with great enthusiasm.
"All opposed?"
None of the mice was opposed.
"Next order of business," said the mouse-chief. "Who is going to put the bell on the cat?"
Silence.
And so the fine plan failed, all because there was no mouse who would put the bell on the cat.
~ 91. The Mouse and the Cat in the Flour ~
There was an old cat who was too feeble to hunt mice as she once did. "I'll need to use a trick!" she thought, so she rolled herself back and forth in the flour until she was completely white all over.
Then she lay there, motionless, waiting for the mice.
The cat thus caught all the mice who were young and foolish.
Then an old mouse approached the flour. He had escaped many mousetraps, and he saw the cat lurking in the flour.
"Some mice don't know any better," he said. "But you can't fool me! I'd know you anywhere!"
~ 92. Country Mouse and City Mouse ~
A country mouse entertained his city cousin with a meal of barley and carrots, but the city mouse scorned this rustic fare.
"Come with me to the city," he said, "and enjoy some fine dining."
The city mouse led his country cousin into a dining room where the table was laden with bread, cheese, meat, and delicious sweets too.
They had just begun to enjoy the feast when a cat pounced up on the table; the two mice ran for their lives.
"I prefer my peaceful poverty to your deadly luxury!" said the country mouse, and then he scurried home.
~ 93. The Mouse in the Soup ~
There was a big pot of soup on the stove, and the cook had left the lid off.
A mouse smelled the soup: irresistible!
So the mouse climbed up onto the pot, and then she jumped in.
As she splashed about in the broth, she gobbled the soup greedily. It was delicious!
Realizing she had no means of escape, the mouse sighed. "So be it!" she squeaked. "I've eaten well, my stomach is full, and I'm ready to die."
Having spoken her last words, the mouse disappeared into the depths of the soup.
Such is the end of all gluttons.
~ 94. The Mouse in the Chest ~
There was a mouse who had been born inside a chest, and she lived all her life there, eating the grain inside the chest.
Then one day she climbed up onto the edge of the chest and from there she fell down onto a shelf which was full of bread and cheese and all kinds of wonderful food.
"What a fool I've been!" said the mouse, "All this time I thought there was nothing better in the world than the little chest in which I lived. Now I see the world is full of things I never dreamed of before!"
~ 95. The Mouse and the Bull ~
A mighty bull was stretched out comfortably on a bed of straw inside his stable.
Meanwhile, there was a tiny mouse in the straw, and as the mouse nibbled on the straw, she also nibbled on the bull's leg.
"Who did that?" roared the bull. He shook his head angrily, gesturing with his horns, and he finally sprang to his feet, stamping and snorting, looking everywhere for the enemy that had wounded him.
The mouse scurried into her mouse-hole, laughing to herself. "Who would have thought a little creature like me could win a fight with someone so much bigger!"
~ 96. The Mouse Observes the World ~
"Don't go outside the mouse-hole," said the mouse-mother to her daughter.
But the little mouse disobeyed: she ventured outside where she saw a rooster scratching the ground with its talons. The rooster terrified her.
Next she saw a cat sitting by the fire, licking its fur. The cat looked so sweet!
Then she ran back into the mouse-hole.
"Mother," she said, "I saw a diabolical creature with feathers and a saintly creature with fur."
"You have it mixed up," her mother explained. "There is nothing to fear from the feathered rooster, but you must never go near that furry cat!"
~ 97. The Hawk and the Mouse ~
There was a hawk who got caught in a net.
"Oh! Help me please!" he shrieked, but the hawk had no friends among the creatures, and no one would help him.
Finally a little mouse came scurrying by, and the hawk shouted, "Mouse! Please, I beg you: rescue me from this net if you can!"
The good-hearted little mouse gnawed through the net, setting the hawk free.
"With my compliments!" squeaked the little mouse.
But as soon as the hawk was free, he gobbled up the mouse.
Save a thief from the gallows, says Aesop, and he'll cut your throat.
~ 98. The Hawk and the Nightingale ~
A nightingale was singing in a bush when a hawk grabbed her.
"Please spare me!" she cried. "My little body is hardly a meal for a great and powerful bird such as yourself. I'm sure you can find much bigger birds that will satisfy your hunger."
The hawk scoffed. "What a foolish creature you are! Do you really think I would let go a bird I have caught in my talons for a bird I have yet to catch?"
"But I will sing you a lovely song," pleaded the nightingale.
"My belly is hungry," replied the hawk, "not my ears."
~ 99. The Hawk and the Nightingale's Chicks ~
A hawk had found some nightingale chicks in a nest.
Just at that moment, the mother bird returned. "Please spare my chicks!" shrieked the nightingale. "I'll do anything you ask! Please just spare my babies!"
"I'll spare them if you sing me a beautiful song," said the hawk.
The nightingale started singing, but she was so frightened that her voice quavered as she sang.
"That was terrible," said the hawk.
He grabbed one of the chicks and was about to devour it when a hunter arrived and shot the hawk.
Those who plan destruction for others will likewise be destroyed.
~ 100. The War of the Hawks ~
A bloody civil war broke out among the hawks.
The doves, who loved peace, decided that they would send ambassadors to the warring groups of hawks, seeking to put an end to the war.
The diplomatic doves finally reconciled the hawks, and there was peace once again in the world of birds.
But now that the hawks were no longer at war with one another, they launched a war against the doves, attacking and devouring the peacemakers.
"What a terrible mistake we've made!" moaned the doves. "We should never have united an enemy whose common goal is to destroy us."
