A Rabbit left his home one day for a dinner of clover. Could she sing just one song, I know I should hail her Queen of Birds. Though the task they had to do was very light compared with that of the Oxen, they creaked and groaned at every turn. Instead he struck at the drinking horn, hanging at the Countryman's belt, and into it let fly the poison of his fangs. When he had finished talking, an old Fox arose, and said, smiling: Master Fox, kindly turn around for a moment, and you shall have your answer. When he saw how gaily the birds flew about and how the Hare and the Chipmunk and all the other animals ran nimbly by, always eager to see everything there was to be seen, the Tortoise felt very sad and discontented. Though he was well fed, he had much work to do; besides, the Master hardly ever took any notice of him. And when the Fox lost his temper, the Stork said calmly: Do not play tricks on your neighbors unless you can stand the same treatment yourself.
Better to bear a lesser evil than to risk a greater in removing it.