The informers furnished intelligence of this to the Lion, and recited
the book of the affair, from preface to conclusion. The Lion nodded
the head of approval, and said: "The people may be at peace in the just
reign of that ruler who does not place his head on the pillow of
repose." He then sent for the Tiger, and having distinguished him with
special honours, committed that jungle to him, and, having bestowed on
him the place of his sire, conferred on him, in addition, the dignity
of being his heir.

And the use of this fable is, that thou mayest learn that to no one
does the sun of his wish rise from the eastern quarter of hope without
the diligent use of great exertion.



The Fox and the Drum

It is related that a Fox was once prowling over a moor, and was roaming
in every direction in hope of scenting food. Presently he came to the
foot of a tree, at the side of which they had suspended a drum, and
whenever a gust of wind came, a branch of the tree was put in motion,
and struck the surface of the drum, when a terrible noise arose from it.

The Fox, seeing a domestic fowl under the tree, who was pecking the
ground with her beak, and searching for food, planted himself in
ambush, and wished to make her his prey, when all of a sudden the sound
of a drum reached his ear. He looked and saw a very fat form, and a
prodigious sound from it reached his hearing. The appetite of the Fox
was excited, and he thought to himself, "Assuredly its flesh and skin
will be proportioned to its voice."