Welcome to Sleep Stories,
A series where I read a few short stories to help you drift off to sleep.
Today I'll be reading four of Aesop's fables.
The first is The Lion and the Mouse,
Which reminds us that a kindness is never wasted.
A lion lay asleep in the forest,
His great head resting on his paws.
A timid little mouse came upon him unexpectedly,
And in her fright and haste to get away,
Ran across the lion's nose.
Roused from his nap,
The lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.
Spare me,
Begged the poor mouse.
Please,
Let me go,
And someday I will surely repay you.
The lion was much amused to think that a mouse could ever help him,
But he was generous and finally let the mouse go.
Some days later,
While stalking his prey in the forest,
The lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net.
Unable to free himself,
He filled the forest with his angry roaring.
The mouse knew the voice and quickly ran to find the lion struggling in the net.
Chewing on one of the great ropes that bound him,
She gnawed until it snapped,
And pretty soon the lion was free.
You laughed when I said I would repay you,
Said the mouse.
Now you see that even a mouse can help a lion.
This next story is called The Fox and the Crow,
And it's about a flatterer who lives at the expense of those who will listen to him.
One bright morning,
As the fox was following his sharp nose through the forest in search of a bite to eat,
He saw a crow on the branch of a tree overhead.
This was by no means the first crow he had ever seen,
But what caught his attention this time and made him stop for a second look was that the lucky crow held a bit of cheese in her beak.
No need to search any farther,
Thought Sly Master Fox.
Here is a delicious bite for my breakfast.
Up he trotted to the foot of the tree in which the crow was sitting,
And looking up with admiration,
He cried,
Good morning,
Beautiful creature.
The crow cocked her head to one side and watched the fox suspiciously.
She kept her beak tightly closed on the cheese and did not return his greeting.
What a charming creature she is,
Said the fox.
Now her feathers shine.
What a beautiful form and what splendid wings.
Such a wonderful bird should have a very lovely voice,
Since everything else about her is so perfect.
Could she sing just one song?
I know I should hail her queen of the birds.
Listening to these flattering words,
The crow forgot all her suspicion,
And also her breakfast.
She wanted very much to be called queen of the birds,
So she opened her beak wide to utter her loudest caw and down fell the cheese straight into the fox's open mouth.
Thank you,
Said Master Fox sweetly as he walked off.
Though it is cracked,
You have a voice sure enough.
But where are your wits?
The third fable is called The Ant and the Dove.
And just like the lion and the mouse,
It reminds us that a kindness is never wasted.
A dove saw an ant fall into a brook.
The ant struggled in vain to reach the bank and in pity,
The dove dropped a blade of straw close beside it.
Clinging to the straw like a shipwrecked sailor to a broken spar,
The ant floated safely to shore.
Soon after,
The ant saw a man getting ready to kill a dove with a stone.
But just as he cast the stone,
The ant stung him in the heel,
So that the pain made him miss his aim,
And the startled dove flew to safety in a distant wood.
The last fable is The Wolf and the Little Goat,
Which encourages us to not let anything turn us away from our purpose.
There was once a little goat whose growing horns made him think he was all grown up and able to take care of himself.
So one evening,
When the flock started home from the pasture and his mother called,
The kid paid no heed to what was said.
And kept right on nibbling the tender grass.
A little later,
When he lifted his head,
The flock was gone.
He was all alone.
The sun was sinking and the long shadows were creeping over the ground.
A chilly little wind swept up with them,
Making scary noises all around.
The little goat shivered as he thought of the terrible wolf that could be lurking.
Behind the bushes.
As he started running wildly over the field,
Screaming for his mother,
But not halfway through,
Near some trees,
There was the wolf.
The little goat knew there was no hope for him.
Please,
Mr.
Wolf,
He said,
Trembling.
I know you're going to eat me,
But first please pipe me a tune,
For I want to dance and be merry as long as I can.
The wolf liked the idea of some music before eating.
So he struck up a merry tune and the little goat leaped and jumped.
Meanwhile,
The flock was moving slowly homeward.
But in the still evening air,
The wolf's piping carried far.
The shepherd dogs pricked up their ears.
They recognized the song the wolf sings before a feast.
And in a moment,
They were racing back to the pasture.
The wolf's song ended suddenly.
And as he ran away with the dogs at his heels,
He called himself a fool for turning piper to please a little goat,
When he should have stuck to his butcher's trade.
