The Wolf and the Goat

High on the cliff, a goat was nibbling her breakfast, with one hoof resting on a ledge no wider than a spoon.

Far below, a wolf looked up and licked his lips. He tried the rocks and slid back down. He tried again and slid down again. He could have tried for a year, for that cliff was too steep for him.

So he sat at the bottom and called up in his kindest voice. "Dear goat! Please come down! I cannot bear to watch you. One slip, and you will fall!"

The goat chewed.

"And the grass up there is so thin," called the wolf. "Down here the meadow is deep and green, and it is the softest grass in all the land. Come down and try it!"

The goat chewed some more. She looked down at the green meadow, and then at the wolf's thin ribs. "No, my friend," she said. "It is not my dinner you are thinking of. It is your own."