Aesop's Fables Edited by Charles Stikeney.

 

THE MISCHIEVOUS DOG

THERE  was  once a Dog  who used to run at every  one  whom he met,  but  so  quietly that no one suspected harm from him till  he  began to bite their heels.    In  order  to  give  notice to  strangers  that the Dog  could  not  be trusted, and at the same time  to  punish  him, the master  would  some- times hang a bell  about  his  neck, and   some- times compel  him  to  drag a heavy clog, which he  attached  to  his  collar  by  a  chain.    For a time the  Dog  hung  his head; but  see- ing that his  bell  and  clog  brought  him  into notice,  he  grew  proud of  them, and  ran about the  market-place  to  display them and  attract attention  to  himself.   He  even  went  so  far as  to  give  himself  airs  with  the  other  dogs, who had no such mark of distinction.    But  an  old  hound  seeing it,  said, "Why do you make  such  an exhibition  of  yourself, as if your  bell  and  clog  were  marks  of merit? They  do  indeed  bring  you  into  notice;  but when  their  meaning  is  understood,  they are marks  of  disgrace, ---a  reminder  that  you are an  ill-mannered  dog. "    It  is  one  thing  to  be  renowned,  since our virtues  give   occasion   for  it.    It  is   quite another   to  become notorious  for  our  faults.