A villain may disguise himself, but he will not deceive the wise.

THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW

A Spendthrift, who had wasted his fortune, and had nothing left but the clothes in which he stood, saw a Swallow one fine day in early spring.  Thinking that summer had come, and that he could now do without his coat, he went and sold it for what it would fetch.  A change, however, took place in the weather, and there came a sharp frost which killed the unfortunate Swallow.  When the Spendthrift saw its dead body he cried, “Miserable bird!  Thanks to you I am perishing of cold myself.”

    One swallow does not make summer.

THE OLD WOMAN AND THE DOCTOR

An Old Woman became almost totally blind from a disease of the eyes, and, after consulting a Doctor, made an agreement with him in the presence of witnesses that she should pay him a high fee if he cured her, while if he failed he was to receive nothing.  The Doctor accordingly prescribed a course of treatment, and every time he paid her a visit he took away with him some article out of the house, until at last, when he visited her for the last time, and the cure was complete, there was nothing left.  When the Old Woman saw that the house was empty she refused to pay him his fee; and, after repeated refusals on her part, he sued her before the magistrates for payment of her debt.  On being brought into court she was ready with her defence.  “The claimant,” said she, “has stated the facts about our agreement correctly.  I undertook to pay him a fee if he cured me, and he, on his part, promised to charge nothing if he failed.  Now, he says I am cured; but I say that I am blinder than ever, and I can prove what I say.  When my eyes were bad I could at any rate see well enough to be aware that my house contained a certain amount of furniture and other things; but now, when according to him I am cured, I am entirely unable to see anything there at all.”

THE MOON AND HER MOTHER

The Moon once begged her Mother to make her a gown.  “How can I?” replied she; “there’s no fitting your figure.  At one time you’re a New Moon, and at another you’re a Full Moon; and between whiles you’re neither one nor the other.”

MERCURY AND THE WOODMAN

A Woodman was felling a tree on the bank of a river, when his axe, glancing off the trunk, flew out of his hands and fell into the water.  As he stood by the water’s edge lamenting his loss, Mercury appeared and asked him the reason for his grief; and on learning what had happened, out of pity for his distress he dived into the river and, bringing up a golden axe, asked him if that was the one he had lost.  The Woodman replied that it was not, and Mercury then dived a second time, and, bringing up