The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller
The Herdsman and the Lost Bull
The Pomegranate, Apple-Tree, and Bramble
The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion
The Bear and the Two Travelers
The Piglet, the Sheep, and the Goat
The Lion, the Mouse, and the Fox
The Goatherd and the Wild Goats
The Man and His Two Sweethearts
The Old Woman and the Physician
The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle
The Widow and Her Little Maidens
The Shepherd’s Boy and the Wolf
The Father and His Two Daughters
The Swallow, the Serpent, and the Court of Justice
The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk
The Huntsman and the Fisherman
The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar
The Hawk, the Kite, and the Pigeons
The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion
The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat
The Fisherman and the Little Fish
The Birdcatcher, the Partridge, and the Cock
The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox
The Philosopher, the Ants, and Mercury
The Image of Mercury and the Carpenter
The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass
The Bull, the Lioness, and the Wild-Boar Hunter
The Stag, the Wolf, and the Sheep
The Eagle, the Cat, and the Wild Sow
The Man, the Horse, the Ox, and the Dog
The Apes and the Two Travelers
The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
The Wolf, the Fox, and the Ape
The Wasps, the Partridges, and the Farmer
The Gamecocks and the Partridge
The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox
The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat
The Spendthrift and the Swallow
Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva, and Momus
The Peasant and the Apple-Tree
The Two Soldiers and the Robber
The Trees Under the Protection of the Gods
The Buffoon and the Countryman
The King’s Son and the Painted Lion
The She-Goats and Their Beards
The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass
The Travelers and the Plane-Tree
The Lion, Jupiter, and the Elephant
The Shipwrecked Man and the Sea
A RICH NOBLEMAN once opened the theaters without charge to the people, and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward any person who invented a new amusement for the occasion. Various public performers contended for the prize. Among them came a Buffoon well known among the populace for his jokes, and said that he had a kind of entertainment which had never been brought out on any stage before. This report being spread about made a great stir, and the theater was crowded in every part. The Buffoon appeared alone upon the platform, without any apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of expectation caused an intense silence. He suddenly bent his head towards his bosom and imitated the squeaking of a little pig so admirably with his voice that the audience declared he had a porker under his cloak, and demanded that it should be shaken out. When that was done and nothing was found, they cheered the actor, and loaded him with the loudest applause. A Countryman in the crowd, observing all that has passed, said, “So help me, Hercules, he shall not beat me at that trick!” and at once proclaimed that he would do the same thing on the next day, though in a much more natural way. On the morrow a still larger crowd assembled in the theater, but now partiality for their favorite actor very generally prevailed, and the audience came rather to ridicule the Countryman than to see the spectacle. Both of the performers appeared on the stage. The Buffoon grunted and squeaked away first, and obtained, as on the preceding day, the applause and cheers of the spectators. Next the Countryman commenced, and pretending that he concealed a little pig beneath his clothes (which in truth he did, but not suspected by the audience ) contrived to take hold of and to pull his ear causing the pig to squeak. The Crowd, however, cried out with one consent that the Buffoon had given a far more exact imitation, and clamored for the Countryman to be kicked out of the theater. On this the rustic produced the little pig from his cloak and showed by the most positive proof the greatness of their mistake. “Look here,” he said, “this shows what sort of judges you are.”