ONCE UPON a time there was a very clever King.  But he did not like work.

        One day he said to himself, "I have a lovely house; I have a lovely wife, and I am King of all these people.  Why should I go hunting to get meat?  Why should I work in the fields and get hot? Why should I have to walk about and get tired?  Why should I get bark from the trees to make cloth?  Why must I work so much?"  He did not like work!

        He shut his eyes; he put his head in his hands, and he thought, and he thought, and he thought.  He thought very, very hard.

        At last a big smile came over his face.  He jumped up, and he said to his wife, and his son, and his daughter:

        "Listen.  I've thought of the answer!  I shall never hunt again to get meat.  I shall never go walking again;  I shall ride.  I shall never dig in the fields in the hot sun.  I shall never go looking for bark from the trees for your cloth.  This isf what I shall do."

        "What will you do?" they all asked.

        "I shall have a party," the King said.  "I shall ask everybody to come.  All our friends will come, and all the animals too.  After that, things will be easy!"

        When the King said he would ask all the animals to his patry, a strange smile came over his face.  His little son saw it.

        "I am looking forward to it," said each one.  "The King has very good parties.  He has lovely food.  There is singing and dancing.  I shall wear my best clothes, and I shall sing a song if only someone asks me to!"

        But not everybody was happy.  The King's son was not happy.  He went about with a long face, and he did not put out his best clothes to dry in the sun.  He did not count the days to the party.  He did not want that day to come.

        He knew that the animals were going to be hurt.  The animals were his friends and did not want this to happen.

        On the day of the party the little boy left the house and he walked along the path to meet the animals.

        He met Bear first of all.

        "You're going the wrong way," called Bear.  "This is the way to the party.  Come with me."

        "Don't go to the party," called out the boy.  "Please don't go to the party.  If you do you'll never come back to these woods again!"

        "What makes you say that?" said the bear.  "Do you think that the men are going to hurt me?  Are you trying to stop me from having a nice time?"

        "Do as you like," said the little boy, "but if things get bad, remember what I told you," and he walked down the path.

        The bear waited until he had gone, and then he went back to his cool safe home in the woods.  He did not go to the party.  "It's better to be safe than it is to be sorry!" he said to himself.  "I shall go home and sing to myself!"

        Soon the little boy met Wolf  and Fox, and the same thing happened.  The boy told them not to go to the party, and the fox and the wolf turned away and went back to their cool safe homes in the woods.

        The next animal that the boy met was Horse, and he was going as fast asf he could to the party.  You know how fast a horse can go!  He called out as he went past, "I can't stop now.  I have promised the King that I won't be late.  I want to be there in good time to sing him a song."

        "Stop! Stop!" called the boy.

        Horse stopped.  "What's wrong?" Horse asked.  "If you go to the King's party, you will never run through the woods in the cool wet mornings again," said the boy.  "You are stronger than men, but they will catch you, and tie you, and keep you.

        You will have to stay by their houses and work with them, always."

        Horse shook its head.  Then he laughed.  "I am stronger than men.  If they catch me, and tie me, and keep me, I shall break the ropes.  Then I shall go back to my cool, quiet woods, and be safe," he said.  He shook his head, and  ran on.

        The cow and the sheep and the dog and the cat would not listen to the little boy, either.  They all went on to the party.

        When they got to the party everything happened as the boy had said it would.  The animals were caught, and they could not go back to their homes.  They had to live with people and work for them.

        They never again went back to the cool wet woods, or ran through the trees in the first light of morning.  They worked very hard, instead.  The horse pulled a plough and gave people rides on his back.  The cat caught rats; the dog looked after the house day and night.  The cow gave meat and milk and her strong skin for shoes.  The sheep gave wool for clothes and more meat to eat.

        But the bear and the fox and the wolf were safe.  Nobody ever caught them.  They were always free.