SOME CRANES made their feeding grounds on some plowlands newly sown with wheat. —-
For a long time the Farmer, brandishing an empty sling, chased them away by the terror he inspired; —-
but when the birds found that the sling was only swung in the air, they ceased to take any notice of it and would not move. —-
The Farmer, on seeing this, charged his sling with stones, and killed a great number. —-
The remaining birds at once forsook his fields, crying to each other, “It is time for us to be off to Liliput: —-
for this man is no longer content to scare us, but begins to show us in earnest what he can do.”
If words suffice not, blows must follow.