A Merchant, driving his Ass homeward from the seashore with a heavy load of salt, came to a river crossed by a shallow ford. In an instant the startled Frogs were seeking safety in the mud. You would have thought, to hear the loud squealing, that the Pig was being cruelly hurt. When the young Larks told their mother what they had heard that day, she said: Then we must be off at once. As she thought of how she would settle that matter, she tossed her head scornfully, and down fell the pail of milk to the ground. But the Fox was already on his way to the woods. The Lion now recovered his good humor entirely. Now there were several Woodmen in the village who believed that they could easily win the same good fortune. By trying to please everybody, he had pleased nobody, and lost his Ass besides.
The unjust will not listen to the reasoning of the innocent.