Once upon a time a severe plague raged among the animals. Many
died, and those who lived were so ill, that they cared for
neither food nor drink, and dragged themselves about listlessly.
No longer could a fat young hen tempt Master Fox to dinner, nor a
tender lamb rouse greedy Sir Wolf’s appetite.
At last the Lion decided to call a council. When all the animals
were gathered together he arose and said:
“Dear friends, I believe the gods have sent this plague upon us
as a punishment for our sins. Therefore, the most guilty one of
us must be offered in sacrifice. Perhaps we may thus obtain
forgiveness and cure for all.
“I will confess all my sins first. I admit that I have been
very greedy and have devoured many sheep. They had done me no
harm. I have eaten goats and bulls and stags. To tell the truth,
I even ate up a shepherd now and then.
“Now, if I am the most guilty, I am ready to be sacrificed. But I
think it best that each one confess his sins as I have done. Then
we can decide in all justice who is the most guilty.”
“Your majesty,” said the Fox, “you are too good. Can it be a
crime to eat sheep, such stupid mutton heads? No, no, your
majesty. You have done them great honor by eating them up.
“And so far as shepherds are concerned, we all know they belong
to that puny race that pretends to be our masters.”
All the animals applauded the Fox loudly. Then, though the Tiger,
the Bear, the Wolf, and all the savage beasts recited the most
wicked deeds, all were excused and made to appear very saint-like
and innocent.
It was now the Ass’s turn to confess.
“I remember,” he said guiltily, “that one day as I was passing a
field belonging to some priests, I was so tempted by the tender
grass and my hunger, that I could not resist nibbling a bit of
it. I had no right to do it, I admit—”
A great uproar among the beasts interrupted him. Here was the
culprit who had brought misfortune on all of them! What a
horrible crime it was to eat grass that belonged to someone else!
It was enough to hang anyone for, much more an Ass.
Immediately they all fell upon him, the Wolf in the lead, and
soon had made an end to him, sacrificing him to the gods then and
there, and without the formality of an altar.
The weak are made to suffer for the misdeeds of the powerful.
Discussion
Comments
Re: Media plugin test
Works well with Opera, Camino and Safari. It's pretty, too.
By Vagrant on 26 June 2007 · 00:17
Re: Media plugin test
Thanks, boss. I might finally get off my duff and starting putting more music and media up. Seems quite popular nowadays with the kids. :) If I could sing that song without embarrassing myself I’d put it all up; the lyrics are quite nice.
By A is A on 26 June 2007 · 00:21
Re: Media plugin test
BASS! HOW LOW CAN YOU GO!
By William Shakesweasel on 26 June 2007 · 00:35
Re: Media plugin test
All the things about that situation which were gratefully left behind seem almost worthwhile sometimes.
By A is A on 26 June 2007 · 00:43
Re: Media plugin test
Firefox plays - no pix
latest IE - same thing
Yeah, yeah, shoulda bought a Mac when you told me to almost 20 years ago ;-)
By your mother on 26 June 2007 · 09:56
Re: Media plugin test
That's right and good news. There's no picture/video, just the music. There is a bit of video here—Seattle is the new Aspen.
By A is A on 26 June 2007 · 11:42
Re: Media plugin test
IE7 user: first try, "plug in failed to initialise" so i was going to gleefully moan to Sedition as is my wont. tried it again and it worked fine, so to the fainthearted like me, kick the tyres twice and dont be so feeble.
yes, baas - all systems go this end.
ps: my laptop needs reformatting and i am taking it to a dutch goddess with umpteen certs in puter sci. she told me, big mistake to have downloaded IE7, clogger. for what thats worth.
By chris holmes on 27 June 2007 · 13:00
Re: Media plugin test
is the term 'bitches & hoes' a reference to the role of female dogs in agriculture?
By big papa on 4 March 2010 · 11:35