Read The Nick Klaus's Fables for Free Online

the horse and said bluntly: “What have
you done with your fourth leg?”
    The horse put on an unpleasant air of
surprise on his face. “What fourth leg?” he said.
    The little girl frowned. She was not ready
to let this horse have the last word, especially not a horse with
three legs.
    “The one you’re missing,” she said, pointing
at the missing leg. The horse’s head followed her finger pointing
at the missing leg. Confused, he raised his head again, grinning
his big white teeth.
    “There’s nothing there, how can a leg be
missing?”
    Far from feeling intimidated, the little
girl clenched her fists. “You must have lost it somewhere
then?”
    “There’s no leg there, how can I possibly
have lost it? How do you know it’s missing in the first place,
anyway?”
    “All horses have four legs!”
    “Not true,” answered the horse huffing and
digging his hooves in the mud. “How can you claim that when you’ve
got only two legs?! What happened to your other twos?”
    The little girl pinched her lips and thought
the horse was being rather difficult. “I only have two legs,
because I’m meant to be this way. I would find it hard to run on
four legs. But you, you’d run much faster with four legs.”
    “I need what I need, and three legs are
plenty for me.”
    At that moment, the little girl spotted the
sun going down behind the forest. She remembered she had to go
home.
    “Please give me a ride back home.”
    The horse shook his head vigorously.
    “I was going to give you a ride. But it’s
late now, and horses with three legs don’t run in the dark.”

The Lost Little Girl (#21)
     
    Once upon a time a horse with legs,
galloping up and down a hill, spotted a little girl, crossing a
field back and forth. “This little girl seems lost. I better give
her a ride home,” he told himself. And so he approached her.
    “Are you looking for your way back home?” he
asked her. She stared at the horse surprised when she realized that
he only had three legs. How strange, it did not seem to prevent him
from jumping, reeling, frolicking, trotting, and of course
galloping up and down the hill. The little girl crossed her arms
and said bluntly: “What have you done with your fourth leg?”
    The horse put on an air of surprise on his
face: “What fourth leg?”
    The little girl frowned. She was not ready
to let this horse have the last word, especially not a horse with
three legs.
    “The one you’re missing,” she said, pointing
at the missing leg. The horse’s head followed her finger pointing
at the missing leg. Confused, he raised his head again, grinning
his big white teeth.
    “There’s nothing there, how can a leg be
missing?”
    Far from feeling intimidated, the little
girl clenched her fists. “You must have lost it somewhere
then?”
    “There’s no leg there, how can I possibly
have lost it? How do you know it’s missing in the first place,
anyway?”
    “All horses have four legs!”
    “Not true,” answered the horse huffing and
digging his hooves in the mud. “How can you claim that when you’ve
got only two legs?! What happened to your other twos?”
    The little girl pinched her lips and thought
the horse was being rather difficult. “I only have two legs,
because I’m meant to be this way. I would find it hard to run on
four legs. But you, you’d run much faster with four legs.”
    “I just need what I need, and three legs are
plenty for me.”
    “I would never ride a horse with three legs.
You look ridiculous.”
    At that moment, they spotted the sun going
down behind the forest. She remembered she had to go home. The
horse drew his big wide head near hers.
    “It’s getting late. Do you really want to
sleep in the woods, alone?”
    She little girl shook her head no
vigorously.
    “Well, whether I have three or four legs
should not matter if it gets you home.”
    While the little girl pondered, he lowered
his front legs so that the little girl could climb on back