Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself. - Aesop

An Eagle swooped down upon a Serpent and seized it in his talons with the intention of carrying it off and devouring it. But the Serpent was too quick for him and had its coils round him in a moment; and then there ensued a life-and-death struggle between the two. A countryman, who was a witness of the encounter, came to the assistance of the Eagle, and succeeded in freeing him from the Serpent and enabling him to escape. In revenge the Serpent spat some of his poison into the man’s drinking horn. Heated with his exertions, the man was about to slake his thirst with a draught from the horn, when the Eagle knocked it out of his hand, and spilled its contents upon the ground. One good turn deserves another.

No plea will protect the innocent from the unjust judge.

A certain venerable Goat was one day deeply engaged in a serious dispute with a crafty Fox, and the argument became very warm on both sides; when the Goat in order to give the greater weight to his sentiments on the matter, rather rashly and inconsiderately laid the wager of his beard against the Fox, so certain was he of being on the right side of the question; but unfortunately it was at last clearly proved that the poor Goat had lost his wager, and although the Fox had neither law nor power on his part to enforce the payment, yet the honest dignity of the Goat would not suffer him to take any unfair advantage, and he immediately submitted to the lesser disgrace, the loss of his beard, to preserve his honour pure and unsullied, and patiently let his chin be shaved clean by a dextrous Monkey, who was at hand, and presented the shaggy trophy to the unrelenting victor.