Pompey was a donkey who sometimes ate his dinner in a nice green field near his master's house. Here he met a number of lambs who had never been far away from home. Pompey knew this, and was fond of giving himself airs, and looking down on his little neighbours.

"You poor stupid lambs!' he said, 'of what use are you in the world? You have lived in this small field ever since you were born; you do nothing but frisk about all day, and play silly games with each other; and I believe you would be quite pleased to stay here for ever. You know nothing of the great town and the pretty sights to be seen there. How I pity you!'

Now the town that Pompey spoke of was nothing but a village, about two miles from the farm where he lived. He had been there three or four times with a sack of potatoes, and had brought back a few bags of coals for his master. So he could not have seen very much in the village. And even if he had been there every day, he could have told you very very little of what he saw, for he was always in such terror of the butcher's big dog, that he could think of nothing else until he was half way back to the farm. But he did not say anything about that to the lambs; and, as they had never been in the

village themselves, they gazed at Pompey in wonder, and thought him a very great person indeed.

One day a horse, who had fallen and hurt himself, came to graze in the same field for a few days. He walked about the field very quietly, ate the fresh green grass, and took no notice of any one. But this did not please Pompey, who saw that the horse had not a proper idea of his greatness. So he walked up to him, looked as big as he could, and said: 'Ha! John Horse, have you ever seen the town?'

The horse looked down at Pompey. 'Pooh! pooh! you vain little donkey,' he said; 'I have seen twenty towns ten times bigger than any you ever saw.'

Pompey said no more. He could see the lambs laughing to each other, and heard one of them whisper: 'So our friend Pompey is not such a wonderful person after all,'

And even the poor ass himself felt now that there were animals in the world far greater than donkeys. This made him fret and grow gloomy, for his pride had had a fall, and he could not rest until he had done something to win back the good opinion of the lambs.

He asked the horse many questions about other animals, and learned that there were some which even the horse himself, big as he was, was afraid of. And, above all, he loved to talk of the great roaring lion, so strong and so brave, that men called him the 'king of the beasts.'

'O that I were a lion!' he often said; 'O that I were king of the beasts! I will not live and die a donkey, if I can help it.'

After that, when he thought his master was not looking, Pompey wandered out of the field, and tried to learn something more about the fierce wild beasts that roamed

in the great forests many miles away. One day, when he had gone farther than usual, he saw, lying on the grass, a big, brown, shaggy coat. He turned it over and over, and then, remembering what the horse had told him, he knew it was a lion's skin.

'I'll put it on,' said he.

So he turned and twisted about until he squeezed himself into his new dress. Then he raised his head high in the air, and trotted back towards the farm.

"Now, my friends, beware,' he said. 'Big Mr Horse and the silly lambs may laugh at the donkey; let them laugh at the lion, if they dare.'

On the way he met a cunning fox, who stared at him, and looked as if he did not know whether to run away or not. Then Pompey gave a loud bray, and tried, with all his might, to make it such a roar as he thought the lion would give. But the fox, far from being frightened, only walked boldly up to Pompey and laughed in his face.

'I thought there was something queer about you,' said Reynard; but as long as you held your tongue I was not quite sure. Now I know who you are, for no one

but an ass could make such a noise as that.'

'Then,' said Pompey, 'I shall roar no more.'

And, indeed, he found that he could do very well without roaring. As soon as he came in sight of the lambs, they all scampered off into the farthest corner of the field, for such a fierce-looking beast they had never seen before. This pleased Pompey greatly. But what delighted him most was to see how his old friend the horse shook with fear when he saw the terrible lion so close to him.

'So ho! my friend,' said Pompey to himself, 'you may

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have seen fifty towns, but what of that now? You don't say "Vain little donkey!" now.'

Then Pompey kicked up his heels, and tossed his head, and ran hither and thither in great glee.

The cries of the frightened animals at last grew so loud, that the farmer came out to see what was the matter. He, too, was in a state of great alarm when he saw what seemed to be a lion among his lambs.

By this time the donkey had tossed about his head so much that he had shaken off part of the lion's dress; and just as the farmer was about to run into the house for his gun, he caught a glimpse of a long ear peeping through the lion's mane. Then he knew the whole story. He thought no more of his gun, but took up a stout cudgel.

'I shall teach Pompey a lesson which he will not soon forget,' he said, as he walked up to the donkey.

Pompey saw him coming, and kicked his heels and tossed his head more than ever. But his master was not to be frightened by that. After some trouble, he caught hold of one of the long ears, and gave Pompey such hard knocks with the stick, that the poor creature begged him to stop this time, and promised that he would never play such tricks again as long as he lived. 'I see now,' he said, 'that though I may dress myself in the lion's clothes, I am not, and never can be, anything but an ass.'

egm nothing of which
thou hast not well

considered the end. KINN