a peasant had a faithful horse which had grown old and could do no more work, so his master would no longer give him anything to eat and said, "i can certainly make no more use of thee, but still i mean well by thee; if thou provest thyself still strong enough to bring me a lion here, i will maintain thee, but now take thyself away out of my stable," and with that he chased him into the open country. the horse was sad, and went to the forest to seek a little protection there from the weather. then the fox met him and said, "why dost thou hang thy head so, and go about all alone?" "alas," replied the horse, "avarice and fidelity do not dwell together in one house. my master has forgotten what services i have performed for him for so many years, and because i can no longer plough well, he will give me no more food, and has driven me out." "without giving thee a chance?" asked the fox. "the chance was a bad one. he said, if i were still strong enough to bring him a lion, he would keep me, but he well knows that i cannot do that."