The ass and the little dog coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: donkey, ass, geese, cobblestone, field, dog, man reading

 

The Ass and The Little Dog
 

ONE'S native talent from its course
Cannot be turned aside by force ;
But poorly apes the country clown
The polish'd manners of the town.
Their Maker chooses but a few
With power of pleasing to imbue;
Where wisely leave it we, the mass,
Unlike a certain fabled ass,
That thought to gain his master's blessing
By jumping on him and caressing.

"What!" said the donkey in his heart;
"Ought it to be that puppy's part
To lead his useless life

In full companionship
With master and his wife,
While I must bear the whip?
What doth the cur a kiss to draw?
Forsooth, he only gives his paw!
If that is all there needs to please,
I'll do the thing myself, with ease."
Possess'd with this bright notion,
His master sitting on his chair,
At leisure in the open air,-

He ambled up, with awkward motion,
And put his talents to the proof;
Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof,
And, with an amiable mien,
His master patted on the chin,
The action gracing with a word
The fondest bray that e'er was heard!
O, such caressing was there ever?
Or melody with such a quaver?
"Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!

Out cried the master, sore offended.
So Martin gave the ass a drubbing,
And so the comedy was ended. 

 

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The Shepherd and His Flock

Description of Coloring Page: sheep, wolf, moon, shepherd, staff, gates, trees

What! shall I lose them one by one,

This stupid coward throng ?

And never shall the wolf have done?

They were at least a thousand strong,

But still they've let poor Robin fall a prey !

Ah, woe's the day !

Poor Robin Wether lying dead !

He follow'd for a bit of bread

His master through the crowded city,

And would have follow'd, had he led,

Around the world. Oh ! what a pity !

My pipe, and even step, he knew ;

To meet me when I came, he flew ;

In hedge-row shade we napp'd together ;

Alas, alas, my Robin Wether ! "

When Willy thus had duly said

His eulogy upon the dead,

And unto everlasting fame

Consign'd poor Robin Wether's name,

He then harangued the flock at large,

From proud old chieftain rams

Down to the smallest lambs,

Addressing them this weighty charge,

Against the wolf, as one, to stand,

In firm, united, fearless band,

By which they might expel him from their land.

Upon their faith, they would not flinch,

They promised him, a single inch.

" We'll choke," said they, " the murderous glutton

Who robb'd us of our Robin Mutton."

Their lives they pledged against the beast,

And Willy gave them all a feast.

But evil Fate, than Phoebus faster,

Ere night had brought a new disaster:

A wolf there came. By nature's law,

The total flock were prompt to run ;

And yet 'twas not the wolf they saw,

But shadow of him from the setting sun.

Fable Meaning:

Harangue a craven soldiery,

What heroes they will seem to be!

But let them snuff the smoke of battle,

Or even hear the ramrods rattle,

Adieu to all their boast and mettle:

Your own example will be vain,

And exhortation, to retain

The timid cattle.

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The vultures and the pigeons coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: vultures and pigeons, letter, wax seal, beeks, falcon stripes

Mars once made havoc in the air:

Some cause aroused a quarrel there

Among the birds; --not those that sing,

The courtiers of the merry Spring,

But naughty hawk and vulture folks,

Of hooked beak and tealons keen.

The carcass of a dog, 'tis said,

Had to this civil carnage led.

The carcass of a dog, 'tis said,
Had to this civil carnage led.
Blood rain'd upon the swarded green,
And valiant deeds were done, I ween.
Suffice to say, that chiefs were slain,
And heroes strow'd the sanguine plain.
'Twas sport to see the battle rage,
And valiant hawk with hawk engage ;
'Twas pitiful to see them fall,-
Torn, bleeding, weltering, gasping, all.
Force, courage, cunning, all were plied ;
Intrepid troops on either side
No effort spared to populate
The dusky realms of hungry Fate.
This woful strife awoke compassion
Within another feather'd nation,
Of iris neck and tender heart.
They tried their hand at mediation
To reconcile the foes, or part.
The pigeon people duly chose
Ambassadors, who work'd so well
As soon the murderous rage to quell,
And stanch the source of countless woes.
A truce took place, and peace ensued.
Alas ! the people dearly paid
Who such pacification made !
Those cursed hawks at once pursued
The harmless pigeons, slew and ate,
Till towns and fields were desolate.

 

Fable Meaning:

The safety of the rest requires
'The bad should flesh each other's spears:
Whoever peace with them desires
Had better set them by the ears.

 

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"The Lion and the Hunter" fable coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: hunter, shepherd, shepherd's staff, horn, lion, rock walls, mountains, pastures, fable

A Braggart, lover of the chase,

Had lost a dog of valued race,

And thought him in a lion's maw.

He ask'd a shepherd whom he saw,

"Pray show me, man, the robber's place,

And I'll have justice in the case."

"'Tis on this mountain side,"

The shepherd man replied.

"The tribute of a sheep I pay,

Each month, and where I please I stray."

Out leap'd the lion as he spake,

And came that way with agile feet.

The braggart, prompt his flight to take,

Cried, "Jove, O grant a safe retreat!"

Fable Meaning:

A danger close at hand

Of courage is the test.

It shows us who will stand-

Whose legs will run their best.

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The tortoise and the two ducks coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: two ducks, wings, turtle, shell, cloud, grass, pebbles, riverbed

Light-brain'd tortoise, anciently,

Tired of her hole, the world would see.

Prone are all such, self-banish'd, to roam

Prone are all cripples to abhor their home.

Two ducks, to whom the gossip told

The secret of her purpose bold,

Profess'd to have the means whereby

They could her wishes gratify.

"Our boundless road," said they, "behold!

It is the open air;

And through it we will bear

You sate o'er land and ocean.

Republics, kingdoms, you will view,

And famous cities, old and new;

And get of customs, laws, a notion,

Of various wisdom various pieces,

As did, indeed, the sage Ulysses."

The eager tortoise waited not

To question what Ulysses got,

But closed the bargain on the spot.

A nice machine the birds devise

To bear their pilgrim through the skies.

Athwart her mouth a stick they throw:

"Now bite it hard, and don't let go,"

They say, and seize each duck an end,

And, swiftly flying, upward tend.

It made the people gape and stare

Beyond the expressive power of words,

To see a tortoise cut the air,

Exactly poised between two birds.

"A miracle," they cried, "is seen!

There goes the flying tortoise queen!"

" The queen!" ('twas thus the tortoise spoke;)

"I'm truly that, without a joke."

Much better had she held her tongue,

For, opening that whereby she clung,

Before the gazing crowd she fell,

And dash'd to bits her brittle shell.

Meaning of Fable:

Imprudence, vanity, and babble

 An ever-undivided rabble,

And idle curiosity, 

Have all the same paternity. 

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The two asses coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: donkeys, asses, road, countryside, trees, landscape, sky,

TWO asses tracking, t'other day,

Of which each in his turn,

Did incense to the other burn,

Quite in the usual way,

I heard one to his comrade say,

"My lord, do you not find

The prince of knaves and fools

To be this man, who boasts of mind

Instructed in his schools?

With wit unseemly and profane,

He mocks our venerable race

On each of his who lacketh brain

Bestows our ancient surname, ass!

And, with abusive tongue portraying,

Describes our laugh and talk as braying!

These bipeds of their folly tell us,

While thus pretending to excel us."

" No, 'tis for you to speak, my friend,

And let their orators attend.

The braying is their own, but let them be:

We understand each other, and agree,

And that's enough. As for your song,

Such wonders to its notes belong,

The nightingale is put to shame,

The Sirens lose one half their fame."

"My lord," the other ass replied,

"Such talents in yourself reside,

Of asses all, the joy and pride."

These donkeys, not quite satisfied

With scratching thus each other's hide,

Must needs the cities visit,

Their fortunes there to raise,

By sounding forth the praise,

Each, of the other's skill exquisite. 

Fable Meaning: Every ass likes to hear himself bray.

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The sun and the frogs coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: swamp, frogs, cat tails, stun, trees water, gather

Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day,

The people drown'd their care in drink;

While from the general joy did AEsop shrink,

And show'd its folly in this way.

"The sun," said he, " once took it in his head

To have a partner: so he wed.

From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs,

Up rose the wailings of the frogs.

"What shall we do, should he have progeny?"

Said they to Destiny;

'One sun we scarcely can endure,

And half-a-dozen, we are sure,

Will dry the very sea.

Adieu to marsh and fen!

Our race will perish then,

Or be obliged to fix

Their dwelling in the Styx!'

For such an humble animal,

The frog, I take it, reason'd well' 

Fable Meaning: Humble creatures choose wisely.

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The countryman and the serpent coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: snake, animal nature, forked tongue, porridge , bowl of it, boots, seated, spoon, eating

A COUNTRYMAN, as AEsop certifies,

A charitable man, but not so wise,

One day in winter found,

Stretch'd on the snowy ground,

A chill'd or frozen snake,

As torpid as a stake,

And, if alive, devoid of sense.

He took him up, and bore him home,

And, thinking not what recompense

For such a charity would come,

Before the fire stretch'd him,

And back to being fetch'd him.

The snake scarce felt the genial heat

Before his heart with native malice beat.

He raised his head, thrust out his forked tongue,

Coil'd up, and at his benefactor sprung.

" Ungrateful wretch ! " said he, " is this the way

My care and kindness you repay?

Now you shall die." With that his axe he takes,

And with two blows three serpents makes.

Trunk, head, and tail were separate snakes;

And, leaping up with all their might,

They vainly sought to reunite.

Fable Meaning:

'Tis  good and lovely to be kind ;

But charity should not be blind ;

For as to wretchedness ingrate,

You cannot raise it from its wretched state. 

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The carter in the mire coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: country road, farmer, ocean, horses, cart of hay

The phaeton who drove a load of hay

Once found his cart bemired.

Poor man! the spot was far away

From human help retired,

In some rude country place,

In Brittany, as near as I can trace,

Near Quimper Corentan,

A town that poet never sang,

Which Fate, they say, puts in the traveller's path,

When she would rouse the man to special wrath.

May Heaven preserve us from that route!

But to our carter, hale and stout:

Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst,

And, fill'd with rage extreme,

The mud-holes now he cursed,

And now he cursed his team,

And now his cart and load,

Anon, the like upon himself bestow'd.

Upon the god he call'd at length,

Most famous through the world for strength.

"O, help me, Hercules!" cried he; "for if thy back of yore

This burly planet bore, thy arm can set me free."

This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there broke

A voice which thus in godlike accents spoke:

"The suppliant must himself bestir,

Ere Hercules will aid confer.

Look wisely in the proper quarter,

To see what hindrance can be found ;

Remove the execrable mud and mortar,

Which, axle-deep, beset thy wheels around.

Thy sledge and crowbar take,

And pry me up that stone, or break;

Now fill that rut upon the other side.

Hast done it? ' "Yes," the man replied.

"Well," said the voice, "I'll aid thee now ;

Take up thy whip." "I have . . . but, how?

My cart glides on with ease!

I thank thee, Hercules."

"Thy team," rejoin'd the voice, "has light ado;

So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too." 

Fable Meaning: Pagans believe that heaven helps those, who help themselves.

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The rat and the oyster coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: rat, seagull, shore, pebbles, oysters, shallow water, ocean waves, nature's trap

A COUNTRY rat, of little brains,

Grown weary of inglorious rest,

Left home with all its straws and grains,

Resolved to know beyond his nest.

When peeping through the nearest fence,

"How big the world is, how immense! "

He cried; " there rise the Alps, and that

Is doubtless famous Ararat."

His mountains were the works of moles,

Or dirt thrown up in digging holes!

Some days of travel brought him where

The tide had left the oysters bare.

Since here our traveller saw the sea,

He thought these shells the ships must be.

"My father was, in truth," said he,

"A coward, and an ignoramus;

He dared not travel: as for me,

I've seen the ships and ocean famous;

Have cross'd the deserts without drinking,

And many dangerous streams unshrinking.'

Among the shut-up shell-fish, one

Was gaping widely at the sun;

It breathed, and drank the air's perfume,

Expanding, like a flower in bloom.

Both white and fat, its meat

Appear'd a dainty treat.

Our rat, when he this shell espied,

Thought for his stomach to provide.

"If not mistaken in the matter,"

Said he, "no meat was ever fatter,

Or in its flavor half so fine,

As that on which to-day I dine."

Thus full of hope, the foolish chap

Thrust in his head to taste,

And felt the pinching of a trap

The oyster closed in haste.

Now those to whom the world is new

Are wonder-struck at every view;

And the marauder finds his match

When he is caught who thinks to catch. 

Fable Meaning: "When the hunter becomes the hunted . . . "

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The dog and his master's dinner coloring page

Coloring Page Description: dogs, cobblestone street, street corner, wooden fence, satchel carry, 

Our eyes are not made proof against the fair,

Nor hands against the touch of gold.

Fidelity is sadly rare,

And has been from the days of old.

Well taught his appetite to check,

And do full many a handy trick,

A dog was trotting, light and quick,

His master's dinner on his neck.

A temperate, self-denying dog was he,

More than, with such a load, he liked to be.

But still he was, while many such as we

Would not have scrupled to make free.

Strange that to dogs a virtue you may teach,

Which, do your best, to men you vainly preach !

This dog of ours, thus richly fitted out,

A mastiff met, who wish'd the meat, no doubt.

To get it was less easy than he thought :

The porter laid it down and fought.

Meantime some other dogs arrive :

Such dogs are always thick enough,

And, fearing neither kick nor cuff,

Upon the public thrive.

Our hero, thus o'ermatch'd and press'd,

The meat in danger manifest,

Is fain to share it with the rest ;

And, looking very calm and wise,

" No anger, gentlemen," he cries :

" My morsel will myself suffice ;

The rest shall be your welcome prize."

With this, the first his charge to violate,

He snaps a mouthful from his freight.

Then follow mastiff, cur, and pup,

Till all is cleanly eaten up.

Not sparingly the party feasted,

And not a dog of all but tasted.

The Fable Meaning: 

 In some such manner men abuse

Of towns and states the revenues.

'The sheriffs, aldermen, and mayor 

Come in for each a liberal share. 

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The fool who sold wisdom coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: marketplace, fools, crowd of people, clown, owl, wigs, money, eye patch, costume, hats,

A FOOL, in town, did wisdom cry ;

The people, eager, flock'd to buy.

Each for his money got,

Paid promptly on the spot,

Besides a box upon the head,

Two fathoms' length of thread.

The most were vex'd but quite in vain,

The public only mock'd their pain.

The wiser they who nothing said,

But pocketed the box and thread.

To search the meaning of the thing

Would only laughs and hisses bring.

Hath reason ever guaranteed

The wit of fools in speech or deed?

'Tis said of brainless heads in France,

The cause of what they do is chance.

One dupe, however, needs must know

What meant the thread, and what the blow

So ask'd a sage, to make it sure.

"They're both hieroglyphics pure,"

The sage replied without delay;

"All people well advised will stay

From fools this fibre's length away,

Or get I hold it sure as fate

The other symbol on the pate.

So far from cheating you of gold,

The fool this wisdom fairly sold."

Fable Meaning: "A fool and his money will soon part"

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The acorn and the pumpkin coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: shadow, pumpkin, acorn and oak, woodland, pumpkin patch, old man, simpleton,

GOD'S works are good. This truth to prove

Around the world I need not move ;

I do it by the nearest pumpkin.

"This fruit so large, on vine so small,"

Surveying once, exclaim'd a bumpkin

"What could He mean who made us all?

He's left this pumpkin out of place.

If I had order'd in the case,

Upon that oak it should have hung

A noble fruit as ever swung

To grace a tree so firm and strong.

Indeed, it was a great mistake,

As this discovery teaches,

That I myself did not partake

His counsels whom my curate preaches.

All things had then in order come;

This acorn, for example,

Not bigger than my thumb,

Had not disgraced a tree so ample.

The more I think, the more I wonder

To see outraged proportion's laws,

And that without the slightest cause;

God surely made an awkward blunder."

With such reflections proudly fraught,

Our sage grew tired of mighty thought,

And threw himself on Nature's lap,

Beneath an oak, to take his nap.

Plump on his nose, by lucky hap,

An acorn fell: he waked, and in

The scarf he wore beneath his chin,

He found the cause of such a bruise

As made him different language use.

" O! O!" he cried; "I bleed! I bleed!

And this is what has done the deed!

But, truly, what had been my fate,

Had this had half a pumpkin's weight !

I see that God had reasons good,

And all His works were understood."

Thus home he went in humbler mood.

Fable Meaning: No mortal man can outwit God.

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The fox the wolf and the horse coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: a fox, wolf and horse depicted in a field, trees, distant hills

A FOX, though young, by no means raw,

Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw:

"Ho! neighbor wolf," said he to one quite green,

"A creature in our meadow I have seen,

Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet,

The finest beast I ever met."

"Is he a stouter one than we?"

The wolf demanded, eagerly;

"Some picture of him let me see."

" If I could paint," said fox, " I should delight

T' anticipate your pleasure at the sight;

But come; who knows? perhaps it is a prey

By fortune offer'd in our way."

They went. The horse, turn'd loose to graze,

Not liking much their looks and ways,

Was just about to gallop off.

" Sir," said the fox," your humble servants, we

Make bold to ask you what your name may be."

The horse, an animal with brains enough,

Replied, "Sirs, you yourselves may read my name;

My shoer round my heel hath writ the same."

The fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge:

"Me, sir, my parents did not educate, -

So poor, a hole was their entire estate.

My friend, the wolf, however, taught at college,

Could read it were it even Greek."

The wolf, to flattery weak,

Approach'd to verify the boast;

For which four teeth he lost.

The high raised hoof came down with such a blow,

As laid him bleeding on the ground full low.

"My brother," said the fox, "this shows how just

What once was taught me by a fox of wit,

Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ,

'All unknown things the wise mistrust.'"

Fable Meaning: All unknown things, the wise should approach with caution.

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The shepherd and the sea coloring page

A shepherd plays music for his flock.

Description of Coloring Page: sea, ocean, ships, cliffs, sheep, goats, flute, shepherd, tree, pasture, cloudy day, fable by La Fontiane, illustrated by Percy J. Billinghurst, title text

A SHEPHERD, neighbor to the sea,

 Lived with his flock contentedly.

His fortune, though but small,

Was safe within his call.

At last some stranded kegs of gold

Him tempted, and his flock he sold,

Turn'd merchant, and the ocean's waves

Bore all his treasure to its caves.

Brought back to keeping sheep once more,

But not chief shepherd, as before,

When sheep were his that grazed the shore,

He who, as Corydon or Thyrsis,

Might once have shone in pastoral verses,

Bedeck'd with rhyme and metre,

Was nothing now but Peter.

But time and toil redeem'd in full

Those harmless creatures rich in wool ;

And as the lulling winds, one day,

The vessels wafted with a gentle motion,

" Want you," he cried, "more money, Madam Ocean?

Address yourself to some one else, I pray ;

You shall not get it out of me !

I know too well your treachery."

'This tale's no fiction, but a fact.

Which, by experience back'd,

Proves that a single penny,

At present held, and certain,

Is worth five times as many,

Of Hope's, beyond the curtain;

'That one should be content with his condition,

And shut his ears to counsels of ambition,

More faithless than the wreck-strown sea, and which

Doth thousands beggar where it makes one rich,

Inspires the hope of wealth, in glorious forms,

And blasts the same with piracy and storms. 

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The weasel in the granary coloring page

Rodent discussions at the granary.

Description of Coloring Page: weasel, rat, granary, grain, bags, hole in the wall, fable by La Fontaine, illustrated by Percy J. Billinghurst, title text

A WEASEL through a hole contrived to squeeze,

** (She was recovering from disease,)

Which led her to a farmer's hoard.

There lodged, her wasted form she cherish'd ;

Heaven knows the lard and victuals stored

That by her gnawing perish'd !

Of which the consequence

Was sudden corpulence.

A week or so was past,

When having fully broken fast,

A noise she heard, and hurried

To find the hole by which she came,

And seem'd to find it not the same ;

So round she ran, most sadly flurried ;

And, coming back, thrust out her head,

Which, sticking there, she said,

" This is the hole, there can't b~ blunder :

What makes it now so small, I wonder,

Where, but the other day, I pass'd with ease ? "

A rat her trouble sees,

And cries, " But with an emptier belly ;

You enter'd lean, and lean must sally."

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The swan and the cook coloring page

Fowl waiting for slaughter.

Description of Coloring Page: cook holding a knife, geese, swan, birds feathers, wall, cat, shrubs, fable for La Fontaine, Illustrated by Percy J. Billinghurst, title text

THE pleasures of a poultry yard

Were by a swan and gosling shared.

The swan was kept there for his looks,

The thrifty gosling for the cooks ;

The first the garden's pride, the latter

A greater favorite on the platter.

They swam the ditches, side by side,

And oft in sports aquatic vied,

Plunging, splashing far and wide,

With rivalry ne'er satisfied.

One day the cook, named Thirsty John,

Sent for the gosling, took the swan

In haste his throat to cut,

And put him in the pot.

The bird's complaint resounded

In glorious melody ;

Whereat the cook, astounded

His sad mistake to see,

Cried, " What ! make soup of a musician !

Please God, I'll never set such dish on.

No, no ; I'll never cut a throat

That sings so sweet a note."

* Tis thus, whatever peril may alarm us,

Sweet words will never harm us. 

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

The wolf turned shepherd coloring page

A wolf disguised as a shepherd.

Description of Coloring Page: staff, top hat, wolf in shepherd's cloak, sheep, field title text, fable by La Fontaine,  illustrated by Percy J. Billinghurst

A WOLF, whose gettings from the flocks

Began to be but few,

Bethought himself to play the fox

In character quite new.

A shepherd's hat and coat he took,

A cudgel for a crook,

Nor e'en the pipe forgot:

And more to seem what he was not,

Himself upon his hat he wrote,

" I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep."

His person thus complete,

His crook in upraised feet,

The impostor Willie stole upon the keep.

The real Willie, on the grass asleep,

Slept there, indeed, profoundly,

His dog and pipe slept, also soundly;

His drowsy sheep around lay.

As for the greatest number,

Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber,

And hoped to drive away the flock,

Could he the shepherd's voice but mock.

He thought undoubtedly he could.

He tried : the tone in which he spoke,

Loud echoing from the wood,

The plot and slumber broke;

Sheep, dog, and man awoke.

The wolf, in sorry plight,

In hampering coat bedight,

Could neither run nor fight.

'There s always leakage of deceit

Which makes it never safe to cheat.

Whoever is a wolf had better

Keep clear of hypocritic fetter. 

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

The ears of the hare coloring page

The ears of the hare coloring page.

Description of Coloring Page: hare, rabbit, bunny, shadow, grasshopper, field, daisies or black-eyed Susans, fable by La Fontaine, Illustrated by Percy J. Billinghurst, title text

Some beast with horns did gore

The lion; and that sovereign dread,

Resolved to suffer so no more,

Straight banish'd from his realm, 'tis said,

All sorts of beasts with horns--

Rams, bulls, goats, stags, and unicorns.

Such brutes all promptly fled.

A hare, the shadow of his ears perceiving,

Could hardly help believing

That some vile spy for horns would take them,

And food for accusation make them.

"Adieu," said he," my neighbor cricket;

I take my foreign ticket.

My ears, should I stay here,

Will turn to horns, I fear;

And were they shorter than a bird's,

I fear the effect of words."

"These horns!" the cricket answer'd; " why,

God made them ears who can deny?"

Yes," said the coward," still they'll make them horns,

And horns, perhaps, of unicorns!

In vain shall I protest,

With all the learning of the schools 

My reasons they will send to rest

In th' Hospital of Fools."

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

The wolf accusing the fox coloring page

A trial by animals fable coloring page.

Description of Coloring Page: fox, wolf, monkey, wig, judgement, court, trees, fable by La Fontaine, title text, Illustrated by Percy J. Billinghurst

A WOLF, affirming his belief

That he had suffer'd by a thief,

Brought up his neighbor fox

Of whom it was by all confess'd,

His character was not the best

To fill the prisoner's box.

As judge between these vermin,

A monkey graced the ermine ;

And truly other gifts of Themis

Did scarcely seem his;

For while each party plead his cause,

Appealing boldly to the laws,

And much the question vex'd,

Our monkey sat perplex'd.

Their words and wrath expended,

Their strife at length was ended;

When, by their malice taught,

The judge this judgment brought:

Your characters, my friends, I long have known,

As on this trial clearly shown;

And hence I fine you both the grounds at large

To state would little profit

You wolf, in short, as bringing groundless charge,

You fox, as guilty of it." 

Come at it right or wrong, the judge opined

No other than a villain could be fined

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.