A wolf was once drinking at the head of a running stream, When he looked
up, he saw a little lamb just coming to drink a little water down the stream.
The wolf made up his mind to capture the lamb for dinner. “But how can I find
an excuse to do so?”
Then
he ran down to the lamb and called out to her, “How dare you make dirty the
water which I have just drunk?”
“I
dare not make dirty the water, Sir,” said the lamb humbly. “When you drank the
water, I did not get near to the stream.”
“I
have tasted your bad smell in the water,” said the wolf. “You dare tell a lie.”
“That’s
impossible, Sir,” said the lamb. “The water runs from you to me, not from me to
you.”
“Well,
then,” said the wolf. “Why did you call me many bad names last year?”
“That
cannot be, Sir,” said the lamb. “I was just born at the beginning of this
year.”
“I
don’t care,” shouted the wolf. “If it was not you, it was your father. That’s
the same.”
And
without another word he rushed upon the helpless lamb.