"Why were you trailing your three-edged pike?" said King Solomon.

"Because, your Majesty," said the King-crab, "I saw that the Crayfish
had shouldered his lance."

Immediately the Crayfish was sent for.

"Why did you shoulder your lance?" said the king.

"Because, your Majesty," said the Crayfish, "I saw the Otter coming down
to the river to kill my children."

"Oh," said King Solomon, "if that is the case, the Otter killed the
Otter's children. And the Mouse-deer cannot be blamed, by the law of the
land!"

FOOTNOTES:

[23] Adapted from the story as told in _Fables and Folk Tales from an
Eastern Forest_, by Walter Skeat.




EARLY[24]


I like to lie and wait to see
My mother braid her hair.
It is as long as it can be,