A Wolf had been hurt in a fight with a Bear. Seeing the body of the Mouse floating on the water, the Hawk swooped down, seized the Mouse and carried it off, with the Frog dangling from its leg. No need to search any farther, thought sly Master Fox. But keep quiet or you will be sorry. Then they wept and wailed and called on Mercury to help them. How to get them was the question. So he left his home in the woods and fields and flew down to live on the lakes and in the marshes. Just as he was about to leap over, his master caught him by the tail and tried to pull him back, but the stubborn Ass would not yield and pulled with all his might. How much better it would have been, they said, to have shared in a friendly spirit.
Gentleness and kind persuasion win where force and bluster fail.