The Nick Klaus's Fables Read Online Free PDF Page B

donkey if she would
carry him to the sea. The donkey shook her head no. She was not
interested in going anywhere. “I like where I live, and what I eat
here is plenty.”
    “But if you come with me, you’ll have plenty
more. And instead of sleeping under the stars, you’ll sleep in a
castle made of stars.” Seduced by the prospect, the donkey raised
an eyebrow. Feeling confident, the monkey ventured to climb on her
back. However, the donkey would not move. She still had doubts and
had no need for a castle of stars.
    “And your castle will be full of carrots
too,” quickly added the monkey.
    “Carrots, what are they like?” said the
donkey, inspired. She had never tasted one before.
    “Let me show you.” The monkey tied a carrot
at the end of a rod and dangled it in front of the donkey’s head.
Upon seeing the juicy, fresh carrot, the donkey tried to catch up
with it. But as she stepped forward to bite it off, the carrot
escaped her eager teeth and moved forth with the monkey. The faster
the donkey ran, the faster carrot escaped.
    “Soon enough, you’ll be able to taste it,”
shouted the monkey, only too happy to be able to cross the forest
and get to see the sea.
    After several days, the exhausted donkey
stopped walking.
    “What’s the matter, donkey? We’re not there
yet,” yelled the monkey.
    “I’m starving. How much farther is this
carrot castle? If only I could taste it, to see if I like it. Then
I’ll know if I’d like to go.”
    “You’ll love it,” simply answered the
monkey.
    They walked and walked. Soon the sun
disappeared, entire days passed, and the wind tore the leaves off
the trees. And then the rain came in troves, along with ankle-deep
snow.
    Finally, they came to the edge of the forest
and reached the blue sea. The donkey raised his head: “Where is
that castle full of carrots? I see none.”
    The monkey did not like what he saw either.
Just water and sand as far as the eye could see, with nothing to
eat or where to hide from the sun.
    “We’re not quite there, yet,” mumbled the
monkey stretching, as if he had just woken up. “It is hiding beyond
this hill over there,” he said pointing at a tall dune in the
distance. The donkey glanced over and looked back at the dangling
carrot in front of her nose, not so motivated now. The fresh
spotless carrot had braved much bad weather and looked rather sad.
It had all shriveled. Herself hungry, the donkey dug her hooves in
and sat. The monkey almost lost his balance.
    “If this castle’s going to look like this
carrot, I’m not going anywhere!” she said, turning towards the
monkey, clinging to her neck. Afraid to be stuck by the sea and
starve, the monkey unhooked the decrepit unsavory vegetable and
handed it to the donkey. “Look, it tastes very nice,” said the
monkey, his voice shaking.
    Slowly, the donkey nibbled on the pitiful
carrot, her face covered with frowns. The monkey waited, with a
smile a mile wide.
    “You think you can trick me so easily,” she
blurted out, kicking the monkey off her back. “This carrot is as
unsavory as your castle. I’m afraid but you’ll have to walk
back.”
    The monkey looked around in a panic, begged
and pleaded with the donkey. But the donkey had pride, and she
turned her rump around and walked away. Quickly, however, she
realized that she did not know which way to go and got lost. On her
way down to the sea, she only had her sights on the carrot and the
castle by the sea.

The Horse With Three
Legs (#20)
     
    Once upon a time a little girl playing in a
field found herself a long way from home. She came across a horse
running down a hill in the distance.
    “Good,” she thought delighted, “this horse
can give me a ride back home.” She approached the brown sweaty
horse and realized that he only had three legs. How strange that
was for it did not seem to prevent him from jumping, reeling,
frolicking, trotting, and of course galloping up and down the hill.
The little girl stared at