The Wolf and the Horse
A Wolf on his rambles came to a field of oats, but, not being able to
eat them, he was passing on his way when a Horse came along.
"Look," said the Wolf, "here's a fine field of oats. For your sake I have
left it untouched, and I shall greatly enjoy the sound of your teeth
munching the ripe grain." But the Horse replied, "If wolves could eat
oats, my fine friend, you would hardly have indulged your ears at the
cost of your belly."
There is no virtue in giving to others what is useless to oneself.
The Bat, the Bramble, and the Seagull
A Bat, a Bramble, and a Seagull went into partnership and determined
to go on a trading voyage together. The Bat borrowed a sum of money
for his venture; the Bramble laid in a stock of clothes of various
kinds; and the Seagull took a quantity of lead: and so they set out.
By and by a great storm came on, and their boat with all the cargo
went to the bottom, but the three travellers managed to reach land.
Ever since then the Seagull flies to and fro over the sea, and every
now and then dives below the surface, looking for the lead he's lost;
while the Bat is so afraid of meeting his creditors that he hides away
by day and only comes out at night to feed; and the Bramble catches
hold of the clothes of every one who passes by, hoping some day to
recognise and recover the lost garments.
All men are more concerned to recover what they lose than to acquire
what they lack.
The Dog and the Wolf
A Dog was lying in the sun before a farmyard gate when a Wolf pounced
upon him and was just going to eat him up; but he begged for his life
and said, "You see how thin I am and what a wretched meal I should
make you now: but if you will only wait a few days my master is going
to give a feast. All the rich scraps and pickings will fall to me and I shall
get nice and fat: then will be the time for you to eat me."
The Wolf thought this was a very good plan and went away. Some time
afterwards he came to the farmyard again, and found the Dog lying out
of reach on the stable roof. "Come down," he called, "and be eaten:
you remember our agreement?" But the Dog said coolly, "My friend,
if ever you catch me lying down by the gate there again, don't you wait
for any feast."
Once bitten, twice shy.
The Wasp and the Snake
A Wasp settled on the head of a Snake, and not only stung him several
times, but clung obstinately to the head of his victim. Maddened with
pain the Snake tried every means he could think of to get rid of
the creature, but without success. At last he became desperate, and
crying, "Kill you I will, even at the cost of my own life," he laid
his head with the Wasp on it under the wheel of a passing waggon, and
they both perished together.
The Eagle and the Beetle
An Eagle was chasing a hare, which was running for dear life and was
at her wits' end to know where to turn for help. Presently she espied
a Beetle, and begged it to aid her. So when the Eagle came up
the Beetle warned her not to touch the hare, which was under its
protection. But the Eagle never noticed the Beetle because it was so
small, seized the hare and ate her up. The Beetle never forgot this,
and used to keep an eye on the Eagle's nest, and whenever the Eagle
laid an egg it climbed up and rolled it out of the nest and broke it.
At last the Eagle got so worried over the loss of her eggs that she
went up to Jupiter, who is the special protector of Eagles, and begged
him to give her a safe place to nest in: so he let her lay her eggs in
his lap. But the Beetle noticed this and made a ball of dirt the size
of an Eagle's egg, and flew up and deposited it in Jupiter's lap.
When Jupiter saw the dirt, he stood up to shake it out of his robe,
and, forgetting about the eggs, he shook them out too, and they were
broken just as before. Ever since then, they say, Eagles never lay their
eggs at the season when Beetles are about.
The weak will sometimes find ways to avenge an insult, even upon
the strong.
The Fowler and the Lark
A Fowler was setting his nets for little birds when a Lark came up to
him and asked him what he was doing. "I am engaged in founding
a city," said he, and with that he withdrew to a short distance and
concealed himself. The Lark examined the nets with great curiosity,
and presently, catching sight of the bait, hopped on to them in order
to secure it, and became entangled in the meshes. The Fowler then ran
up quickly and captured her. "What a fool I was!" said she: "but at
any rate, if that's the kind of city you are founding, it'll be a long
time before you find fools enough to fill it."
The Fisherman piping
A Fisherman who could play the flute went down one day to the
sea-shore with his nets and his flute; and, taking his stand on a
projecting rock, began to play a tune, thinking that the music would
bring the fish jumping out of the sea. He went on playing for some
time, but not a fish appeared: so at last he threw down his flute and
cast his net into the sea, and made a great haul of fish. When they
were landed and he saw them leaping about on the shore, he cried,
"You rascals! you wouldn't dance when I piped: but now I've stopped,
you can do nothing else!"
The Weasel and the Man
A Man once caught a Weasel, which was always sneaking about the house,
and was just going to drown it in a tub of water, when it begged hard
for its life, and said to him, "Surely you haven't the heart to put me
to death? Think how useful I have been in clearing your house of the
mice and lizards which used to infest it, and show your gratitude by
sparing my life." "You have not been altogether useless, I grant you,"
said the Man: "but who killed the fowls? Who stole the meat? No, no!
You do much more harm than good, and die you shall."
The Plougman, the Ass, and the Ox
A Ploughman yoked his Ox and his Ass together, and set to work to
plough his field. It was a poor makeshift of a team, but it was the best
he could do, as he had but a single Ox. At the end of the day, when the
beasts were loosed from the yoke, the Ass said to the Ox, "Well, we've had
a hard day: which of us is to carry the master home?" The Ox looked
surprised at the question. "Why," said he, "you, to be sure, as usual."
Demades and his Fable
Demades the orator was once speaking in the Assembly at Athens; but
the people were very inattentive to what he was saying, so he stopped
and said, "Gentlemen, I should like to tell you one of Æsop's fables."
This made every one listen intently. Then Demades began: "Demeter,
a Swallow, and an Eel were once travelling together, and came to a river
without a bridge: the Swallow flew over it, and the Eel swam across";
and then he stopped. "What happened to Demeter?" cried several people
in the audience. "Demeter," he replied, "is very angry with you for
listening to fables when you ought to be minding public business."
The Monkey and the Dolphin
When people go on a voyage they often take with them lap-dogs or
monkeys as pets to wile away the time. Thus it fell out that a man
returning to Athens from the East had a pet Monkey on board with him.
As they neared the coast of Attica a great storm burst upon them, and
the ship capsized. All on board were thrown into the water, and tried
to save themselves by swimming, the Monkey among the rest. A Dolphin
saw him, and, supposing him to be a man, took him on his back and
began swimming towards the shore. When they got near the Piræus,
which is the port of Athens, the Dolphin asked the Monkey if he was an
Athenian. The Monkey replied that he was, and added that he came of
a very distinguished family. "Then, of course, you know the Piræus,"
continued the Dolphin. The Monkey thought he was referring to some
high official or other, and replied, "Oh, yes, he's a very old friend of mine."
At that, detecting his hypocrisy, the Dolphin was so disgusted that he
dived below the surface, and the unfortunate Monkey was quickly drowned.
The Crow and the Snake
A hungry Crow spied a Snake lying asleep in a sunny spot, and, picking
it up in his claws, he was carrying it off to a place where he could
make a meal of it without being disturbed, when the Snake reared its
head and bit him. It was a poisonous Snake, and the bite was fatal,
and the dying Crow said, "What a cruel fate is mine! I thought I had
made a lucky find, and it has cost me my life!"
The Dogs and the Fox
Some Dogs once found a lion's skin, and were worrying it with their
teeth. Just then a Fox came by, and said, "You think yourselves very
brave, no doubt; but if that were a live lion you'd find his claws a good
deal sharper than your teeth."
The Nightingale an the Hawk
A Nightingale was sitting on a bough of an oak and singing, as her
custom was. A hungry Hawk presently spied her, and darting to the spot
seized her in his talons. He was just about to tear her in pieces when she
begged him to spare her life: "I'm not big enough," she pleaded, "to make
you a good meal: you ought to seek your prey among the bigger birds."
The Hawk eyed her with some contempt. "You must think me very simple,"
said he, "if you suppose I am going to give up a certain prize on the chance
of a better of which I see at present no signs."
The Rose and the Amaranth
A Rose and an Amaranth blossomed side by side in a garden, and the
Amaranth said to her neighbour, "How I envy you your beauty and your
sweet scent! No wonder you are such a universal favourite." But the
Rose replied with a shade of sadness in her voice, "Ah, my dear friend,
I bloom but for a time: my petals soon wither and fall, and then I die.
But your flowers never fade, even if they are cut; for they are everlasting."
The Man, the Horse, the Ox, and the Dog
One winter's day, during a severe storm, a Horse, an Ox, and a Dog came
and begged for shelter in the house of a Man. He readily admitted them,
and, as they were cold and wet, he lit a fire for their comfort: and he put
oats before the Horse, and hay before the Ox, while he fed the Dog
with the remains of his own dinner. When the storm abated, and they were
about to depart, they determined to show their gratitude in the following
way. They divided the life of Man among them, and each endowed one
part of it with the qualities which were peculiarly his own. The Horse took
youth, and hence young men are high-mettled and impatient
of restraint; the Ox took middle age, and accordingly men in middle life
are steady and hard-working; while the Dog took old age, which is the
reason why old men are so often peevish and ill-tempered, and, like dogs,
attached chiefly to those who look to their comfort, while they are
disposed to snap at those who are unfamiliar or distasteful to them.
The Wolves, the Sheep, and the Ram
The Wolves sent a deputation to the Sheep with proposals for a lasting
peace between them, on condition of their giving up the sheep-dogs to
instant death. The foolish Sheep agreed to the terms; but an old Ram,
whose years had brought him wisdom, interfered and said, "How can we
expect to live at peace with you? Why, even with the dogs at hand to
protect us, we are never secure from your murderous attacks!"
The Swan
The Swan is said to sing but once in its life--when it knows that it
is about to die. A certain man, who had heard of the song of the Swan,
one day saw one of these birds for sale in the market, and bought it
and took it home with him. A few days later he had some friends
to dinner, and produced the Swan, and bade it sing for their
entertainment: but the Swan remained silent. In course of time, when
it was growing old, it became aware of its approaching end and broke
into a sweet, sad song. When its owner heard it, he said angrily,
"If the creature only sings when it is about to die, what a fool I was
that day I wanted to hear its song! I ought to have wrung its neck
instead of merely inviting it to sing."
The Snake and Jupiter
A Snake suffered a good deal from being constantly trodden upon by
man and beast, owing partly to the length of his body and partly to his
being unable to raise himself above the surface of the ground: so he
went and complained to Jupiter about the risks to which he was
exposed. But Jupiter had little sympathy for him. "I dare say," said he,
"that if you had bitten the first that trod on you, the others would
have taken more trouble to look where they put their feet."
The Wolf and his Shadow
A Wolf, who was roaming about on the plain when the sun was getting
low in the sky, was much impressed by the size of his shadow, and said
to himself, "I had no idea I was so big. Fancy my being afraid of a lion!
Why, I, not he, ought to be King of the beasts"; and, heedless of danger,
he strutted about as if there could be no doubt at all about it.
Just then a lion sprang upon him and began to devour him.
"Alas," he cried, "had I not lost sight of the facts, I shouldn't have been
ruined by my fancies."
The Plougman and the Wolf
A Ploughman loosed his oxen from the plough, and led them away to the
water to drink. While he was absent a half-starved Wolf appeared on
the scene, and went up to the plough and began chewing the leather
straps attached to the yoke. As he gnawed away desperately in the hope
of satisfying his craving for food, he somehow got entangled in the
harness, and, taking fright, struggled to get free, tugging at the traces
as if he would drag the plough along with him. Just then the Ploughman
came back, and seeing what was happening, he cried, "Ah, you old rascal,
I wish you would give up thieving for good and take to honest work instead."
Mercury and the Man bitten by an Ant
A Man once saw a ship go down with all its crew, and commented
severely on the injustice of the gods. "They care nothing for a man's
character," said he, "but let the good and the bad go to their deaths
together." There was an ant-heap close by where he was standing,
and, just as he spoke, he was bitten in the foot by an Ant. Turning in
a temper to the ant-heap he stamped upon it and crushed hundreds of
unoffending ants. Suddenly Mercury appeared, and belaboured him with
his staff, saying as he did so, "You villain, where's your nice sense
of justice now?"
The Wily Lion
A Lion watched a fat Bull feeding in a meadow, and his mouth watered
when he thought of the royal feast he would make, but he did not dare
to attack him, for he was afraid of his sharp horns. Hunger, however,
presently compelled him to do something: and as the use of force did
not promise success, he determined to resort to artifice. Going up to
the Bull in friendly fashion, he said to him, "I cannot help saying how
much I admire your magnificent figure. What a fine head! What powerful
shoulders and thighs! But, my dear friend, what in the world makes you
wear those ugly horns? You must find them as awkward as they are
unsightly. Believe me, you would do much better without them."
The Bull was foolish enough to be persuaded by this flattery to have his
horns cut off; and, having now lost his only means of defence, fell an
easy prey to the Lion.
The Parrot and the Cat
A Man once bought a Parrot and gave it the run of his house.
It revelled in its liberty, and presently flew up on to the mantelpiece
and screamed away to its heart's content. The noise disturbed the Cat,
who was asleep on the hearthrug. Looking up at the intruder, she said,
"Who may you be, and where have you come from?" The Parrot replied,
"Your master has just bought me and brought me home with him."
"You impudent bird," said the Cat, "how dare you, a newcomer, make a
noise like that? Why, I was born here, and have lived here all my life,
and yet, if I venture to mew, they throw things at me and chase me all
over the place." "Look here, mistress," said the Parrot, "you just hold your
tongue. My voice they delight in; but yours--yours is a perfect nuisance."
The Stag and the Lion
A Stag was chased by the hounds, and took refuge in a cave, where he
hoped to be safe from his pursuers. Unfortunately the cave contained
a Lion, to whom he fell an easy prey. "Unhappy that I am," he cried,
"I am saved from the power of the dogs only to fall into the clutches of a Lion."
Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
The Impostor
A certain man fell ill, and, being in a very bad way, he made a vow
that he would sacrifice a hundred oxen to the gods if they would grant
him a return to health. Wishing to see how he would keep his vow, they
caused him to recover in a short time. Now, he hadn't an ox in the
world, so he made a hundred little oxen out of tallow and offered
them up on an altar, at the same time saying, "Ye gods, I call you to
witness that I have discharged my vow." The gods determined to be even
with him, so they sent him a dream, in which he was bidden to go to
the sea-shore and fetch a hundred crowns which he was to find there.
Hastening in great excitement to the shore, he fell in with a band of
robbers, who seized him and carried him off to sell as a slave: and
when they sold him a hundred crowns was the sum he fetched.
Do not promise more than you can perform.
The Dogs and the Hides
Once upon a time a number of Dogs, who were famished with hunger,
saw some Hides steeping in a river, but couldn't get at them because the
water was too deep. So they put their heads together, and decided to
drink away at the river till it was shallow enough for them to reach the
Hides. But long before that happened they burst themselves with drinking.
The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass
A Lion, a Fox, and an Ass went out hunting together. They had soon
taken a large booty, which the Lion requested the Ass to divide
between them. The Ass divided it all into three equal parts, and
modestly begged the others to take their choice; at which the Lion,
bursting with fury, sprang upon the Ass and tore him to pieces.
Then, glaring at the Fox, he bade him make a fresh division.
The Fox gathered almost the whole in one great heap for the Lion's share,
leaving only the smallest possible morsel for himself. "My dear
friend," said the Lion, "how did you get the knack of it so well?"
TheFox replied, "Me? Oh, I took a lesson from the Ass."
Happy is he who learns from the misfortunes of others.
The Fowler, the Partridge, an the Cock
One day, as a Fowler was sitting down to a scanty supper of herbs and
bread, a friend dropped in unexpectedly. The larder was empty; so he
went out and caught a tame Partridge, which he kept as a decoy, and
was about to wring her neck when she cried, "Surely you won't kill me?
Why, what will you do without me next time you go fowling? How will
you get the birds to come to your nets?" He let her go at this, and went
to his hen-house, where he had a plump young Cock. When the Cock
saw what he was after, he too pleaded for his life, and said, "If you kill
me, how will you know the time of night? and who will wake you up in
the morning when it is time to get to work?" The Fowler, however,
replied, "You are useful for telling the time, I know; but, for all that,
I can't send my friend supperless to bed." And therewith he caught him
and wrung his neck.
The Gnat and the Lion
A Gnat once went up to a Lion and said, "I am not in the least afraid
of you: I don't even allow that you are a match for me in strength.
What does your strength amount to after all? That you can scratch
with your claws and bite with your teeth — just like a woman in a
temper — and nothing more. But I'm stronger than you: if you don't
believe it, let us fight and see." So saying, the Gnat sounded his horn,
and darted in and bit the Lion on the nose. When the Lion felt the
sting, in his haste to crush him he scratched his nose badly, andmade
it bleed, but failed altogether to hurt the Gnat, which buzzed off in
triumph, elated by its victory. Presently, however, it got entangled in a
spider's web, and was caught and eaten by the spider, thus falling a prey
to an insignificant insect after having triumphed over the King of the Beasts.
The Farmer and his Dogs
A Farmer was snowed up in his farmstead by a severe storm, and was
unable to go out and procure provisions for himself and his family.
So he first killed his sheep and used them for food; then, as the storm
still continued, he killed his goats; and, last of all, as the weather
showed no signs of improving, he was compelled to kill his oxen and
eat them. When his Dogs saw the various animals being killed and eaten
in turn, they said to one another, "We had better get out of this or
we shall be the next to go!"
The Eagle and the Fox
An Eagle and a Fox became great friends and determined to live near
one another: they thought that the more they saw of each other the
better friends they would be. So the Eagle built a nest at the top of
a high tree, while the Fox settled in a thicket at the foot of it and
produced a litter of cubs. One day the Fox went out foraging for food,
and the Eagle, who also wanted food for her young, flew down into the
thicket, caught up the Fox's cubs, and carried them up into the tree
for a meal for herself and her family. When the Fox came back,
and found out what had happened, she was not so much sorry for the
loss of her cubs as furious because she couldn't get at the Eagle and pay
her out for her treachery. So she sat down not far off and cursed her.
But it wasn't long before she had her revenge. Some villagers happened
to be sacrificing a goat on a neighbouring altar, and the Eagle flew down
and carried off a piece of burning flesh to her nest. There was a strong
wind blowing, and the nest caught fire, with the result that her
fledglings fell half-roasted to the ground. Then the Fox ran to the spot
and devoured them in full sight of the Eagle.
False faith may escape human punishment, but cannot escape the divine.
The Butcher and his Customers
Two Men were buying meat at a Butcher's stall in the market-place,
and, while the Butcher's back was turned for a moment, one of them
snatched up a joint and hastily thrust it under the other's cloak,
where it could not be seen. When the Butcher turned round, he missed
the meat at once, and charged them with having stolen it: but the one
who had taken it said he hadn't got it, and the one who had got it
said he hadn't taken it. The Butcher felt sure they were deceiving
him, but he only said, "You may cheat me with your lying, but you
can't cheat the gods, and they won't let you off so lightly."
Prevarication often amounts to perjury.
