THE GRATEFUL FOXES.

 
  

T was springtime in Japan, and the blossoms

¢ hung thick on the cherry trees.
-©$ Butterflies and dragon flies fluttered over
the golden colza flowers in the fields.

The rice birds chirped merrily. Everything
seemed to say, “How good it is to live in days like
these.”

A beautiful princess, O Haru San, sat on the bank
of a stream gaily pulling the lilies.

All.the maidens of her court were with her.

Along the river bank came a troop of noisy, laugh-
ing boys, carrying a young cub fox. They were
trying to decide who should have its skin and who
its liver.

At a safe distance from them, in a bamboo thicket,
father fox and mother fox sat looking sadly after
their little cub.

The princess’ heart was filled with pity, and she
said:

“Boys, pray loose the little fox. See his parents
Weeping in the rocks.”

The boys shook their heads.

“We shall sell the fox’s skin,” they said. “The