



Transcribed from the 1899 G. P. Putnam's Sons edition by David Price,
email ccx074@pglaf.org





FANTASTIC FABLES


BY AMBROSE BIERCE

AUTHOR OF "TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS," "CAN SUCH THINGS BE?" "BLACK
BEETLES IN AMBER," ETC.

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press _1899_




Contents:


The Moral Principle and the Material Interest

The Crimson Candle

The Blotted Escutcheon and the Soiled Ermine

The Ingenious Patriot

Two Kings

An Officer and a Thug

The Conscientious Official

How Leisure Came

The Moral Sentiment

The Politicians

The Thoughtful Warden

The Treasury and the Arms

The Christian Serpent

The Broom of the Temple

The Critics

The Foolish Woman

Father and Son

The Discontented Malefactor

A Call to Quit

The Man and the Lightning

The Lassoed Bear

The Ineffective Rooter

A Protagonist of Silver

The Holy Deacon

A Hasty Settlement

The Wooden Guns

The Reform School Board

The Poet's Doom

The Noser and the Note

The Cat and the King

The Literary Astronomer

The Lion and the Rattlesnake

The Man with No Enemies

The Alderman and the Raccoon

The Flying-Machine

The Angel's Tear

The City of Political Distinction

The Party Over There

The Poetess of Reform

The Unchanged Diplomatist

An Invitation

The Ash