Part 20 (1/2)
So one finethe road that led from Kioto to Osaka, one from one end and the other fro than they expected, for they did not know , and half-way between the tns there rose atireat many hops to reach the top, but there they were at last, and as the surprise of each to see another frog before hi, and then fell into conversation, and explained the cause of their htful to find that they both felt the same wish--to learn a little more of their native country--and as there was no sort of hurry they stretched thereed that they would have a good rest before they parted to go their ways
”What a pity we are not bigger,” said the Osaka frog, ”and then we could see both towns fro on”
”Oh, that is easily ot to stand up on our hind legs, and hold on to each other, and then we can each look at the town he is travelling to”
This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also
There they both stood, stretching thehtly, so that theyturned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog turned his nose toward Kioto; but the foolish thing forgot that when the stood up their great eyes lay in the backs of their heads, and that though their noses o, their eyes beheld the places fro; ”Kioto is exactly like Osaka It is certainly not worth such a long journey I shall go home”
”If I had had any idea that Osaka was only a copy of Kioto I should never have travelled all this way,” exclai from Kioto, and as he spoke, he took his hands frorass
Then they took a polite farewell of each other, and set off for hoain, and to the end of their lives they believed that Osaka and Kioto, which are as different to look at as tns can be, were as like as two peas
THE VIOLET LOVING BOOK
THE WISE OLD SHEPHERD
Once upon a ti He crawled about, greatly enjoying the scenery and the fresh whiff of the breeze, until, seeing an open door, he went in Now this door was the door of the palace of the King, and inside was the King hiine their horror at seeing a huge Snake crawling in at the door They all ran away except the king, who felt that his rank forbade hi called out for somebody to come and kill the Snake; but this horrified them still more, because in that country the people believed it to be wicked to kill any living thing, even snakes and scorpion and wasps So the courtiers did nothing, but the young Prince obeyed his father, and killed the Snake with his stick
After a while the Snake's wife became anxious and set out in search of her husband She too saw the open door of the palace, and in she went O horror! there on the floor lay the body of her husband all covered with blood and quite dead No one saw the Snake's wife crawl in; she inquired of a white ant what had happened, and when she found that the young prince had killed her husband, she made a vow that, as he had made her a , so she would ht, when all the world was asleep, the Snake crept into the Prince's bedroom, and coiled round his neck The Prince slept on, and when he awoke in the , he was surprised to find his neck encircled with the coils of a snake He was afraid to stir, so there he remained, until the Prince's mother became anxious and went to see as the ht, she gave a loud shriek, and ran off to tell the king
”Call the archers,” said the King
The archers came in a row, fitted the arrows to the bows, the boere raised and ready to shoot, when, on a sudden, from the Snake there issued a voice which spoke as follows:
”O archers, wait, wait and hear me before you shoot It is not fair to carry out the sentence before you have heard the case Is not this a good law: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth? Is it not so, O King?”
”Yes,” replied the King, ”that is our law”
”Then,” said the snake, ”I plead the law Your son has ht that I should h,” said the King, ”but right and law are not always the sa We had better ask soes, but none of them could tell the law of the matter They shook their heads, and said they would look up all their law-books, and see whether anything of the sort had ever happened before, and if so, how it had been decided That is the way judges used to decide cases in that country, though I dare say it sounds to you a very funny way It looked as if they had not much sense in their own heads, and perhaps that was true The upshot of it all was that not a judge would give an opinion; so the King sent ers all over the countryside, to see if they could find so
One of theseupon a hill and trying to decide a quarrel of their own They gave their opinions so freely, and in language so very strong, that the King's er said to himself, ”Here are the men for us Here are five men, each with an opinion of his own, and all different”
Posthaste he scurried back to the King, and told hie the knotty point
So the King and the Queen, and the Prince and Princess, and all the courtiers, got on horseback, and away they galloped to the hill whereupon the five shepherds were sitting, and the Snake too ith theot to the shepherds' hill, the shepherds were dreadfully frightened At first they thought the strangers were a gang of robbers, and when they saas the King their next thought was that one of theiras the last thing he had done, and wondering, was it that?
But the King and the courtiers got off their horses, and said good day, in the most civil way So the shepherds felt theirsaid: