1.A miller and his son were leading their ass tothe fair to sell him.They had not gone far，when theymet a troop of girls returning from town，talking and laughing.
“Look！”cried one of them.“Did you ever see such stupid fellows，both trudgingof them might be riding？”
2.When the miller heard this，he bade his son get up on the ass，while he tramped along merrily by his side.Soon they came to a group of old men standing by the wayside talking gravely together.
3.“There，”said one，pointing to the boy，“that proves what I was saying.What respect is paid to old age in these days？See that idle young rogue riding，while his father has to walk.-Get down and walk，sir，and let the old man ride！”
4.Upon this the son got down from the ass，and the miller took his place.They had not gone far in this way，when they met two country-womengoing home from market.
“You lazy old wretch！”cried both the women at once.“How can you ride upon the animal，when that poor young fellow can hardly keep pace with you？”
5.So the good-natured miller took his son up behind him on the ass，and in this way they almost reached the town.
“Pray，honest friend，”said a townsman whom they met，“is that ass your own？”
“Yes，”replied the miller.
6.“I should not have thought so by the way you load him，”said the other；“why，you two are better able to carry the beast than he is to carry you.”
“Well，”said the miller，“we can but try.”
7.So he and his son got down off the ass.They tied his legs together，and，slinging him from a stout pole，tried to carry him on their shoulders.This was so odd a sight that crowds of people ran out to see it and to laugh at it.
8.But the ass did not like the plan at all，for he felt very uncomfortable indeed.At last，as they were passing over a bridge，he pulled his legs out of the rope，tumbled off the pole，and in his fright jumped off the bridge into the river，and was drowned.
By trying to please everybody，you please nobody.
II.THE ARAB AND HIS CAMEL
9.One cold night，as an Ara sat in his tent，a camel gently thrust aside the flap of the door and looked in.
“I pray thee，master，”he said，“let me but put my head within the tent，for it is cold without.”
“Welcome，”said the Arab cheerfully，and the camel pushed his head into the tent.
10.“If I might but warm my neck also，”said the camel after a while.
“You may do so，”replied the Arab.
Soon the camel began looking round the tent，and he said again，“It will take but little more room if I place my fore-legs within the tent.”
“You may also place your fore-legs within，”said theArab，moving aside a little to make room，for the tent was very small.
11.“May I not stand wholly within？”asked the camel at last；“I keep the tent door open by standing as I do.”
“Yes，yes，”said the Arab，“I will have pity on you this cold night.Come wholly inside the tent.”So the camel pushed forward into the tent；but it was too small for both.
12.“I see，”said the camel，“there is not room for both of us here.As you are the smaller you had better stand outside，and then there will be room enough for me.”And with that he pushed the Arab out of the tent.
Resist evil at the beginning，lest it overcome you in the endst.
