Clay Lane

The Copy Book

A Library of History and Literature in English

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1627

The Ape and the Fox

A valuable lesson when dealing with practised liars.

If you are going to tell outrageous fibs, it is a good idea to do it when there is no one around to contradict you.

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Picture: © Andy Dolman, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1628

The Cat’s Wedding

It’s easier to change how you look than to hide who you are.

Originally, this story was about a weasel, an animal which the ancient Greeks kept for pest control in the way we keep cats. Modern Greek versions of this story make it a story about a cat, as did Victorian storyteller Joseph Jacobs.

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Picture: © David Corby, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.5.. Source.

1629

The Crow and the Pitcher

Brute force is no substitute for quick thinking.

As the old military maxim goes, Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted.

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Picture: Rajesh ramesh gaikwad. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

1630

The Debtor and his Pig

There are no lengths to which some people won’t go.

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Picture: © Bibi St-Pol, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.

1631

The Dog and the Bell

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.

A SPITEFUL little terrier with a penchant for nipping people on the ankle didn’t quite understand why his master had given him a jolly little bell.

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Picture: © Kallerna, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

1632

The Emperor’s New Clothes

A telling satire on fashionable thinking among the elite.

Why do fashionable ideas continue to circulate among the elite, long after ordinary people have realised that they are nonsense? Andersen’s folk-tale explains it brilliantly.

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Picture: © Erin Clark, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.