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" And is that what you call justice ? " asked the shah . " We call it policy , " said Alexander . " Then let me ask you a question , " said the shah . " Does the sun shine in your country ? " " Surely . " " Does the rain fall there ? " " Oh , yes ! " " Is it possible ! But are there any gentle , harmless animals in your fields ? " " A great many . " " Then , " said the shah , " it must be that the sun shines and the rain falls for the sake of these poor beasts ; for men so unjust do not deserve such blessings . " THE GENERAL AND THE FOX There was once a famous Greek general whose name was Aristomenes . [ Footnote : Aristomenes ( pro . ar is tom'e neez ) . ] He was brave and wise ; and his countrymen loved him . Once , however , in a great battle with the Spartans , his army was beaten and he was taken prisoner . In those days , people had not learned to be kind to their enemies . In war , they were savage and cruel ; for war always makes men so . The Spartans hated Aristomenes . He had given them a great deal of trouble , and they wished to destroy him . On a mountain near their city , there was a narrow chasm or hole in the rocks . It was very deep , and there was no way to climb out of it . The Spartans said to one another , " Let us throw this fellow into the rocky chasm . Then we may be sure that he will never trouble us again . " So a party of soldiers led him up into the mountain and placed him on the edge of the yawning hole in the rocks . " See the place to which we send all our enemies , " they said . And they threw him in . No one knows how he escaped being dashed to pieces . Some of the Greeks said that an eagle caught him in her beak and carried him unharmed to the bottom . But that is not likely . I think that he must have fallen upon some bushes and vines that grew in some parts of the chasm . At any rate he was not hurt much . He groped around in the dim light , but could not find any way of escape . The rocky walls surrounded him on every side . There was no place where he could set his foot to climb out . For three days he lay in his strange prison . He grew weak from hunger and thirst . He expected to die from starvation . Suddenly he was startled by a noise close by him . Something was moving among the rocks at the bottom of the chasm . He watched quietly , and soon saw a large fox coming towards him . He lay quite still till the animal was very near . Then he sprang up quickly and seized it by the tail . The frightened fox scampered away as fast as it could ; and Aristomenes followed , clinging to its tail . It ran into a narrow cleft which he had not seen before , and then through a long , dark passage which was barely large enough for a man's body .
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