Blessed Almalexia ' s Fables for Morning Content . The Tallest Shroom Beetle A shroom beetle , lamenting its small stature , crawled to the top of a great mushroom . It gazed out over the Ashlands and cried , " Ha ! There is no shroom beetle taller than I ! There is nothing I cannot see ! " Just then , a cliff racer swooped down and plucked the beetle from its perch . The beast grinned a wide toothy grin and said , " Had you stayed on the ground , I never would have seen you . Is it not better to be short than dead ? " Alas , the beetle learned too late that forsaking one ' s nature brings nothing but ruin . < nowiki > * * * < / nowiki > The Tale of Two Herders Two guar herders met in the market square , preparing to sell their stock . The shorter of the two laughed at the other and jeered , " You bring only one guar to market ? Look upon my herd ! I have brought ten and twenty and stand to make a fortune ! " The tall herder merely shook his head . " You may have ten and twenty guars , but they are scrawny and frail . Better to have one steady beast than a hundred sickly ones . " The short herder released an oafish chuckle and prepared to usher his beasts into the pens . Just then , a great ash storm arrived and pummeled the market with howling winds and choking fumes . Eventually , the storm relented . The tall herder and his great , strong guar were unharmed , but the short herder ' s guars were thrown this way and that , and not one of them had survived . " Do you see now , my friend ? " the tall herdsman said . " Numbers are no substitute for quality . " < nowiki > * * * < / nowiki > The Friendly Alit A jovial alit pranced across the Ashlands , ever watchful for a beast it could call " friend . " Presently it came upon a nix - hound who was preening itself in an ashpit . The alit smiled a great smile and cried out , " Greetings , friend ! " The nix - hound , seeing the alit ' s huge teeth , panicked and dashed under a rock . The alit sighed and pranced on . In due course it came upon a vvardvark rooting through a beetle - nest . " Hello ! " the alit shouted , smiling widely and revealing its huge , sharp teeth . The vvardvark squealed in terror and scampered off into the bushes . The alit released another mournful sigh , and trundled on toward the shore . Finally , it spotted an ash - hopper rolling in the sand . The alit summoned up its widest , most cheerful smile and said , " Hail , ash - hopper ! " The ash - hopper leapt back in horror and sprung away as fast as it could . The alit was heartbroken . " I will never have a friend as long as I have these terrible teeth ! " it hissed . The beast resolved to be done with them altogether . It took a huge rock in its mouth and bit down hard — knocking out all its teeth like a box of loose nails . " Finally , " it sighed " other beasts will no longer be afraid ! " Just then a great Kagouti arrived , stomping its feet and preparing to pounce . The alit growled and opened its wide jaws to frighten the predator away , but the kagouti just laughed . " You fool ! You ' ve no teeth left in your head ! " The alit realized its folly too late . The kagouti lunged and swallowed the cheerful beast in one huge gulp . So you see , child — that which we hate in ourselves is often our greatest gift . < nowiki > * * * < / nowiki > Vivec and the Cripple Lord Vivec , while walking down a road , came upon a cripple with a gnarled and withered hand . " Young bravo ! " the cripple cried , " Will you not help an oathman in need ? " Vivec stood before the cripple and furrowed his brow . " What is wrong with you , old mer ? " he queried . The cripple lifted his hand and replied , " Do you not see my withered hand ? It is twisted as old roots and pains me greatly when the storms roll in . Women shun me because of its ugliness , and children run at the sight of it . Please , have pity ! " Vivec stood quiet for a moment , then drew his bright sword and severed the mer ' s hand in one clean stroke . The cripple howled in pain as the warrior - poet dressed the wound . " Do not bawl so , old mer , " said Vivec . " Do you not see that I have done you the greatest kindness ? Better to be done with an evil than to carry it on for pity ' s sake . "