The Fools and the Drum

Two fools heard a drum sounding, and said to themselves, "There is some one inside it who makes the noise."

So, watching a moment when the drummer was out, they pierced a hole in each side of it, and pushed their hands in. Each felt the hand of the other within the drum, and exclaimed, "I have caught him!"

Then one said to the other, "Brother, the fellow seems to be a stubborn knave; come what will, we should not give in."

"Not an inch, brother," said the other.

So they kept pulling each other's hand, fancying it was the man in the drum. The drummer came up, and finding them in such an awkward plight, showed them with his fist who the man in the drum really was. But as his fine drum was ruined, he said, with a sigh, "Alas! fools have fancies with a triple wing!"