The Tail of the Sphinx


  A DOG of a taciturn disposition said to his Tail:

  "Whenever I am angry, you rise and bristle; when I am pleased, you 
wag; when I am alarmed, you tuck yourself in out of danger.  You 
are too mercurial - you disclose all my emotions.  My notion is 
that tails are given to conceal thought.  It is my dearest ambition 
to be as impassive as the Sphinx."

  "My friend, you must recognise the laws and limitations of your 
being," replied the Tail, with flexions appropriate to the 
sentiments uttered, "and try to be great some other way.  The 
Sphinx has one hundred and fifty qualifications for impassiveness 
which you lack."

  "What are they?" the Dog asked.

  "One hundred and forty-nine tons of sand on her tail."

  "And - ?"

  "A stone tail."