

The Farmer and the Cranes.Some Cranes made their feeding grounds on some plough-lands newly sownwith wheat. For a long time the Farmer, brandishing an empty sling,chased them away by the terror he inspired; but when the birds foundthat the sling was only swung in the air, they ceased to take any noticeof it, and would not move. The farmer, on seeing this, charged his slingwith stones, and killed a great number. They at once forsook hisplough-lands, and cried to each other: "It is time for us to be off, forthis man is no longer content to scare us, but begins to show us inearnest what he can do." If words suffice not, blows must follow. From Aesop's Fables |