TWO neighbors came before Zeus and prayed him to grant their wish. Now the one was full of avarice, and the other eaten up with envy. So to punish them both, Zeus granted that each might have whatever he wished for himself, but only on condition that his neighbor had twice as much.

The Avaricious man prayed to have a room full of gold. No sooner said than done; but all his joy was turned to grief when he found that his neighbor had two rooms full of the precious metal.

Then came the turn of the Envious man, who could not bear to think that his neighbor had any joy at all. So he prayed that he might have one of his own eyes put out, by which means his companion would become totally blind.

The moral of the story: Vice is its own punishment.

The Cock and the Pearl

A COCK was once strutting up and down the farm-yard among the hens when suddenly he saw something shining in the straw. "Ho! ho! that's for me," and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard?

"You may be a treasure," said Master Cock, "to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls."

The moral of the story: Precious things are for those that can prize them.

The Old Man and Death

An old man, bent double with age and work, was gathering sticks in a forest. At last he grew so tired and hopeless that he threw down the bundle of sticks, and cried out that he could not bear this life any longer, and he wished Death would only come and take him.

As he spoke, Death, a grisly skeleton, appeared and professed his interest to serve him.

The old man was almost scared out of his wits, but had the presence of mind to respond "Please, sir, would you kindly help me to lift this burden of sticks on to my shoulder?"

The moral of the story: We would often be sorry if our wishes came true.