Posts

Showing posts with the label Tolstoy

The Best Pears

Image
  A master sent his Servant to buy the best-tasting pears. The Servant came to the shop and asked for pears. The dealer gave him some; but the Servant said: "No, give me the best!" The dealer said: "Try one; you will see that they taste good." "How shall I know,' said the Servant, "that they all taste good, if I try only one?" He bit off a piece from each pear, and brought them to his master. Then his master sent him away. 

The Foxes' Tail

Image
 A Man caught a Fox, and asked her: "Who has taught you Foxes to cheat the dos with your tails?" The Fox asked: "How do you mean, to cheat? We do not cheat the dogs, but simply run from them as fast as we can." The Man said: "Yes, you do cheat them with your tails. When the dogs catch up with you and are about to clutch you, you turn your tails to one side; the dogs turn sharply after the tail, and then you run in the opposite direction." The Fox laughed, and said: "We do not do so in order to cheat the dogs, but in order to turn around; when a dog is after us, and we see that we cannot get away straight ahead, we turn to one side, and in order to do that suddenly, we have to swing the tail to the other side, just as you do with your arms, when you have to turn around. That is not our invention; God himself invented it when He created us, so that the dogs might not be able to catch all the Foxes."