The Mice in Council . 109 by TownsendTHE MICE summoned a council to decide how they might best devise means of warning themselves of the approach of their great enemy the Cat. Among the many plans suggested, the one that found most favor was the proposal to tie a bell to the neck of the Cat, so that the Mice, being warned by the sound of the tinkling, might run away and hide themselves in their holes at his approach. But when the Mice further debated who among them should thus "bell the Cat," there was no one found to do it. Odo of Cheriton54a=Pe613, Laf2.02, Jacobs67, CS17 The Mischievous Dog. 59 by TownsendA DOG used to run up quietly to the heels of everyone
he met, and to bite them without notice. His master
suspended a bell about his neck so that the Dog might
give notice of his presence wherever he went. Thinking it
a mark of distinction, the Dog grew proud of his bell and
went tinkling it all over the marketplace. One day an old
hound said to him: Why do you make such an exhibition of
yourself? That bell that you carry is not, believe me,
any order of merit, but on the contrary a mark of
disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an
illmannered dog." Babrius104=Pe332=Ch186, Avi7, Cax7.6, CS69, TMI J953.1, Type40A* |