The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar.

AN OLD WOMAN found an empty jar which had lately been full of prime old wine and which still retained the fragrant smell of its former contents.

She greedily placed it several times to her nose, and drawing it backwards and forwards said, “O most delicious! How nice must the Wine itself have been, when it leaves behind in the very vessel which contained it so sweet a perfume!”

The memory of a good deed lives.

The Huntsman and the Fisherman.

A HUNTSMAN, returning with his dogs from the field, fell in by chance with a Fisherman who was bringing home a basket well laden with fish.

The Huntsman wished to have the fish, and their owner experienced an equal longing for the contents of the game-bag.

They quickly agreed to exchange the produce of their day’s sport. Each was so well pleased with his bargain that they made for some time the same exchange day after day.

Finally a neighbor said to them, “If you go on in this way, you will soon destroy by frequent use the pleasure of your exchange, and each will again wish to retain the fruits of his own sport.”

Abstain and enjoy.

The Fisherman and His Nets.

A FISHERMAN, engaged in his calling, made a very successful cast and captured a great haul of fish. He managed by a skillful handling of his net to retain all the large fish and to draw them to the shore; but he could not prevent the smaller fish from falling back through the meshes of the net into the sea.

The Aethiop.

THE PURCHASER of a black servant was persuaded that the color of his skin arose from dirt contracted through the neglect of his former masters.

On bringing him home he resorted to every means of cleaning, and subjected the man to incessant scrubbings. The servant caught a severe cold, but he never changed his color or complexion.

What’s bred in the bone will stick to the flesh.

The Wolf and the Sheep.

A WOLF, sorely wounded and bitten by dogs, lay sick and maimed in his lair.

Being in want of food, he called to a Sheep who was passing, and asked him to fetch some water from a stream flowing close beside him. “For,” he said, “if you will bring me drink, I will find means to provide myself with meat.”

“Yes,” said the Sheep, “if I should bring you the draught, you would doubtless make me provide the meat also.”

Hypocritical speeches are easily seen through.

The Two Pots.

A RIVER carried down in its stream two Pots, one made of earthenware and the other of brass.

The Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot, “Pray keep at a distance and do not come near me, for if you touch me ever so slightly, I shall be broken in pieces, and besides, I by no means wish to come near you.”

Equals make the best friends.

The Man Bitten by a Dog.

A MAN who had been bitten by a Dog went about in quest of someone who might heal him.

A friend, meeting him and learning what he wanted, said, “If you would be cured, take a piece of bread, and dip it in the blood from your wound, and go and give it to the Dog that bit you.”

The Man who had been bitten laughed at this advice and said, “Why? If I should do so, it would be as if I should beg every Dog in the town to bite me.”

Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed increase their means of injuring you.