A Giant Oak stood near a brook in which grew some slender Reeds. Wishing also to rest in the shade cast by the Ass, he began to quarrel with the Traveler, saying he had hired the Ass and not the shadow it cast. His limbs could no longer bear him, and the King of Beasts was very pitiful indeed as he lay gasping on the ground, about to die. What!, snarled the Wolf, whirling around. To cool my porridge, replied the Man. On the ground lay a Snake, stiff and frozen with the cold. My father was an Ass after all.
Honesty is the best policy.