The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

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CHOICE STORIES OF THE SPEECH OF IRRATIONAL BEASTS. 9
CCCXXII. A wolf, and a fox, and a hare found a
lamb, and they said to each other,
"He that is the oldest
"amongst us shall eat him." The hare said, "I was born
"before God created the heavens and the earth;" and the
fox said, "Thou art right indeed, for I was present when
"thou wert born;" and the wolf at the same time seizing
the lamb, said, "My stature and capacity are witnesses
"that I am older than you both," so he ate the lamb.
CCCLXXIII. It was said to a fox, "Wilt thou accept
"one hundred dinars'' and take [this] letter addressed
"to a dog?" He replied, "The remuneration would
"be far too much, but I cannot travel along a road which
"droppeth with blood".
CCCLXXIV. Two foxes having been snared together,
one of them said to his neighbour, "Where shall we
"meet together again?" He replied, "In the dead meat
"market three
days hence."
CCCLXXV. A certain dog in passing by a mosque
defiled it, and when an ape who was squatting there
saw him and said to him, "Dost thou not tremble
"before God that thou darest to defile the mosque?"
the dog said to him, "Yea, thou hast been created in
"such a beautiful form by Him, that thine heart would
"[naturally]
be grieved for His house and thou wouldst,
"of course, spare it thyself"
CCCLXXVI. A goat was standing on a roof and
abusing a wolf, when the wolf replied, "It is not thou
"that art abusing me but it is the place whereon thou
"standest."
CCCLXXVII. A certain man having taken hold upon
a thorn bush to mount a wall was caught thereby.
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