"I am little," answered Golden-skin, "and my teeth are weak--how can I
gnaw so much? No! no! I will nibble your strings as long as my teeth
last, and afterwards do my best for the others. To preserve dependents
by sacrificing oneself is nowhere enjoined by wise moralists; on the
contrary--

'Keep wealth for want, but spend-it for thy wife,
And wife, and wealth, and all to guard thy life,'

"Friend," replied King Speckle-neck, "that may be the rule of policy,
but I am one that can by no means bear to witness the distress of those
who depend on me, for--

'Death, that must come, comes nobly when we give
Our wealth, and life, and all, to make men live,'

And you know the verse,

'Friend, art thou faithful? guard mine honor so!
And let the earthy rotting body go,'"

When King Golden-skin heard this answer his heart was charmed, and his
fur bristled up for pure pleasure. "Nobly spoken, friend," said he,
"nobly spoken! with such a tenderness for those that look to thee, the
Sovereignty of the Three Worlds might be fitly thine." So saying he set
himself to cut all their bonds. This done, and the pigeons extricated,
the King of the Mice[6] gave them his formal welcome. "But, your
Majesty," he said, "this capture in the net was a work of destiny; you
must not blame yourself as you did, and suspect a former fault. Is it
not written--