presence, undertaking to meet the threatened danger.

'But, brother,' began Karataka,'haven't we eaten the King's dinner
without knowing what the danger is which we are to meet, and whether we
can obviate it?'

'Hold thy peace,' said Damanaka, laughing; 'I know very well what the
danger is! It was a bull, aha! that bellowed--a bull, my brother--whose
beef you and I could pick, much more the King our master.'

'And why not tell him so?' asked Karataka.

'What! and quiet his Majesty's fears! And where would our splendid
dinner have been then? No, no, my friend--

'Set not your lord at ease; for, doing that,
Might starve you as it starved "Curd-ear" the Cat.'

'Who was Curd-ear, the Cat?' inquired Karataka. Damanaka related:--


THE STORY OF THE CAT WHO SERVED THE LION

"Far away in the North, on a mountain named 'Thousand-Crags,' there
lived a lion called 'Mighty-heart'; and he was much annoyed by a certain
mouse, who made a custom of nibbling his mane while he lay asleep in his
den. The Lion would wake in a great rage at finding the ends of his
magnificent mane made ragged, but the little mouse ran into his hole,
and he could never catch it. After much consideration he went down to a
village, and got a Cat named Curd-ear to come to his cave with much