SOME CRANES made their feeding grounds on some plowlands newly

　　sown with wheat. For a long time the Farmer, brandishing1 an

　　empty sling2, chased them away by the terror he inspired; but when

　　the birds found that the sling was only swung in the air, they

　　ceased to take any notice of it and would not move. The Farmer,

　　on seeing this, charged his sling with stones, and killed a great

　　number. The remaining birds at once forsook3 his fields, crying

　　to each other, "It is time for us to be off to Liliput: for this

　　man is no longer content to scare us, but begins to show us in

　　earnest what he can do."

　　If words suffice not, blows must follow.