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his decision? 6. Were they fair in deciding as they did? Give reasons for your answer. 7. The jackal did something better than deciding. What did he do? 8. How do you think the tiger felt?

This little play is from Miss Lansing's "Quaint Old Stories to Read and Act." All the plays in "Quaint Old Stories" can be read in the fourth grade. If you are interested in the fables of India, you will find a number in Miss Ellen C. Babbitt's "Jataka Tales."

opinion (o pin'ion): judgment.
just right.

scorching (scôrch'ing): burning.
wantonly (wan'ton ly): in a reckless
way.

bullock (bul'lock): a young bull

(For memorizing)

The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth

more and more unto the perfect day.

PROVERBS iv, 18

He was a good-hearted and generous man, who was fond of animals and all living things, but he was not very businesslike and never seemed to be able to take care of himself. It is said that when his fables were published the king 5 sent for him to praise him and to give him a purse of gold. La Fontaine was to make a little speech and give a copy of his book to the king. Whether or not he remembered his speech I don't know, but he forgot the book, and when the time came for him to hand it to the king, it could 10 not be found. The king laughed and gave him the purse of gold just the same, and La Fontaine lost the purse on the way home. Perhaps you will think he deserved to lose it, but it was found by an honest man and returned. When La Fontaine had spent all his money, his friends took care 15 of him, and he lived first with one and then with another

until the end of his life. Every one loved him and honored him, for he was one of the greatest of the poets of France. He wrote many other poems besides the fables. Most of these other poems have been forgotten, but French school20 children to-day learn the fables by heart, and people of all countries read and enjoy them, for they have been translated into many languages.

This fable tells how a vain and silly crow was fooled by a fox and lost his dinner. The crow's voice, as you know, 25 is not exactly musical, but the fox made this crow think that it was. You will see what happened.]