Twistales

A donkey, who belonged to a gardener and had little to eat but much to do, prayed to God to release him from the gardener’s employ and provide him with another master. However, God was angry that the donkey was discontent and placed him in the service of a potter. Now the donkey had a…

A farmer set up a net in his field to catch some cranes that had been constantly feeding upon his newly-sown corn. When he went to examine the net and to see what the cranes had taken, there was a stork among them. “Spare me!” cried the stork. “I’m not a crane. Nor have I…

The lion called the sheep to him to ask her if his breath smelled. She said yes, and he bit off her head for being a fool. He called the wolf and asked him as well. The wolf said no, and the lion tore him to pieces for being a flatterer. Finally, he called the…

There was once a trader who kept a donkey, and when he heard that some cheap salt was being sold at the seaside, he took his donkey there to buy some. After having loaded the donkey with as much salt as it could carry, the trader drove him back home. On the way, they had…

A trumpeter, who had bravely led the charging soldiers of his regiment, was taken prisoner in battle and begged hard for mercy from his captors. “Spare me, good sirs, I plead you!” he cried. “There’s no reason to put me to death. I haven’t killed anyone, and I was not carrying any weapons. The only…

The mice and the weasels had been at war with each other for a long time. Since the mice had continually got the worst of the battle, they gathered together at a solemn meeting, where they agreed that their defeats were due to nothing but a lack of discipline. Therefore, they decided to elect regular…

An ant went to a fountain to quench his thirst, but he tumbled in and began to drown. Fortunately, a dove happened to be sitting on a nearby tree and saw the ant’s predicament. So she plucked a leaf off the tree and let it drop into the water. The ant climbed on top of…

One day, after a wolf had killed a sheep and was carrying it home to his den, he met a lion, who immediately grabbed the sheep from the wolf and dragged it away. Standing at a safe distance from the lion, the wolf howled at the lion and told him that he should be ashamed…

One day a fox invited a stork to dinner, and since he wanted to amuse himself at the expense of his guest, he provided a meal that consisted only of some thin soup in a large flat dish. The fox was able to lap this soup up very easily, while the stork, unable to take…

When the lion reached a ripe old age, he became weak and could no longer hunt for his prey. All he could do was to lie in his den, where he breathed with great difficulty. Soon he made it known that he was indeed very ill, and the news was spread among the beasts, who…