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Title: The Fables of Aesop

Author: Aesop

Editor: Joseph Jacobs

Release date: March 1, 1992 [eBook #28]
Most recently updated: October 25, 2021

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FABLES OF
AESOP ***

The Fables of Aesop

SELECTED, TOLD ANEW
AND
THEIR HISTORY TRACED
By
JOSEPH JACOBS

DONE INTO PICTURES
BY
RICHARD HEIGHWAY

LONDON
MACMILLAN & CO.
& NEW YORK
1894
All rights reserved

To
PROF. F.J. CHILD
OF HARVARD

Contents

PREFACE
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ÆSOPIC FABLE
The Cock and the Pearl
The Wolf and the Lamb
The Dog and the Shadow
The Lion’s Share
The Wolf and the Crane
The Man and the Serpent
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
The Fox and the Crow
The Sick Lion
The Ass and the Lapdog
The Lion and the Mouse
The Swallow and the Other Birds
The Frogs Desiring a King
The Mountains in Labour
The Hares and the Frogs
The Wolf and the Kid
The Woodman and the Serpent
The Bald Man and the Fly
The Fox and the Stork
The Fox and the Mask
The Jay and the Peacock
The Frog and the Ox
Androcles

The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts
The Hart and the Hunter
The Serpent and the File
The Man and the Wood
The Dog and the Wolf
The Belly and the Members
The Hart in the Ox-Stall
The Fox and the Grapes
The Horse, Hunter, and Stag
The Peacock and Juno
The Fox and the Lion
The Lion and the Statue
The Ant and the Grasshopper
The Tree and the Reed
The Fox and the Cat
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
The Dog in the Manger
The Man and the Wooden God
The Fisher
The Shepherd’s Boy
The Young Thief and His Mother
The Man and His Two Wives
The Nurse and the Wolf
The Tortoise and the Birds
The Two Crabs
The Ass in the Lion’s Skin
The Two Fellows and the Bear
The Two Pots
The Four Oxen and the Lion
The Fisher and the Little Fish
Avaricious and Envious
The Crow and the Pitcher

The Man and the Satyr
The Goose With the Golden Eggs
The Labourer and the Nightingale
The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog
The Wind and the Sun
Hercules and the Waggoner
The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey
The Miser and His Gold
The Fox and the Mosquitoes
The Fox Without a Tail
The One-Eyed Doe
Belling the Cat
The Hare and the Tortoise
The Old Man and Death
The Hare With Many Friends
The Lion in Love
The Bundle of Sticks
The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts
The Ass’s Brains
The Eagle and the Arrow
The Milkmaid and Her Pail
The Cat-Maiden
The Horse and the Ass
The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner
The Buffoon and the Countryman
The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar
The Fox and the Goat

PREFACE

It is difficult to say what are and what are not the Fables of Æsop. Almost
all the fables that have appeared in the Western world have been sheltered at
one time or another under the shadow of that name. I could at any rate
enumerate at least seven hundred which have appeared in English in various
books entitled Æsop’s Fables. L’Estrange’s collection alone contains over
five hundred. In the struggle for existence among all these a certain number
stand out as being the most effective and the most familiar. I have attempted
to bring most of these into the following pages.
There is no fixed text even for the nucleus collection contained in this
book. Æsop himself is so shadowy a figure that we might almost be
forgiven if we held, with regard to him, the heresy of Mistress Elizabeth
Prig. What we call his fables can in most cases be traced back to the fables
of other people, notably of Phædrus and Babrius. It is usual to regard the
Greek Prose Collections, passing under the name of Æsop, as having
greater claims to the eponymous title; but modern research has shown that
these are but medieval prosings of Babrius’s verse. I have therefore felt at
liberty to retell the fables in such a way as would interest children, and have
adopted from the various versions that which seemed most suitable in each
case, telling the fable anew in my own way.
Much has been learnt during the present century about the history of the
various apologues that walk abroad under the name of “Æsop.” I have
attempted to bring these various lines of research together in the somewhat
elaborate introductory volume which I wrote to accompany my edition of
Caxton’s Æsop, published by Mr. Nutt in his Bibliothèque de Carabas. I
have placed in front of the present version of the “Fables,” by kind
permission of Mr. Nutt, the short abstract of my researches in which I there
summed up the results of that volume. I must accompany it, here as there,
by a warning to the reader, that for a large proportion of the results thus
reached I am myself responsible; but I am happy to say that many of them

have been accepted by the experts in America, France, and Germany, who
have done me the honour to consider my researches. Here, in England, there
does not seem to be much interest in this class of work, and English
scholars, for the most part, are content to remain in ignorance of the
methods and results of literary history.
I have attached to the “Fables” in the obscurity of small print at the end a
series of notes, summing up what is known as to the provenance of each
fable. Here, again, I have tried to put in shorter and more readable form the
results of my researches in the volume to which I have already referred. For
more detailed information I must refer to the forty closely-printed pages
(vol. i. pp. 225-268) which contain the bibliography of the Fables.

JOSEPH JACOBS.

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ÆSOPIC FABLE

Most nations develop the Beast-Tale as part of their folk-lore, some go
further and apply it to satiric purposes, and a few nations afford isolated
examples of the shaping of the Beast-Tale to teach some moral truth by
means of the Fable properly so called.[1] But only two peoples
independently made this a general practice. Both in Greece[2] and in India
we find in the earliest literature such casual and frequent mention of Fables
as seems to imply a body of Folk-Fables current among the people. And in
both countries special circumstances raised the Fable from folklore into
literature. In Greece, during the epoch of the Tyrants, when free speech was
dangerous, the Fable was largely used for political purposes. The inventor
of this application or the most prominent user of it was one Æsop, a slave at
Samos whose name has ever since been connected with the Fable. All that
we know about him is contained in a few lines of Herodotus: that he
flourished 550 B.C.; was killed in accordance with a Delphian oracle; and
that wergild was claimed for him by the grandson of his master, Iadmon.
When free speech was established in the Greek democracies, the custom of
using Fables in harangues was continued and encouraged by the
rhetoricians, while the mirth-producing qualities of the Fable caused it to be
regarded as fit subject of after-dinner conversation along with other jests of
a broader kind (“Milesian,” “Sybaritic”). This habit of regarding the Fable
as a form of the Jest intensified the tendency to connect it with a well-
known name as in the case of our Joe Miller. About 300 B.C. Demetrius
Phalereus, whilom tyrant of Athens and founder of the Alexandria Library,
collected together all the Fables he could find under the title of Assemblies
of Æsopic Tales (Λόγων Αἰσωπείων συναγωγαι). This collection, running
probably to some 200 Fables, after being interpolated and edited by the
Alexandrine grammarians, was turned into neat Latin iambics by Phædrus,
a Greek freedman of Augustus in the early years of the Christian era. As the

modern Æsop is mainly derived from Phædrus, the answer to the question
“Who wrote Æsop?” is simple : “Demetrius of Phaleron.”[3]
[1] E.g. Jotham’s Fable, Judges ix., and that of Menenius Agrippa in Livy, seem
to be quite independent of either Greek or Indian influence. But one fable does
not make Fable.

[2] Only about twenty fables, however, are known in Greece before Phædrus, 30
A.D. See my Caxton’s Æsop vol. i. pp. 26–29, for a complete enumeration.

[3] For this statement and what follows a reference to the Pedigree of the Fables
on p. 196 will be found useful.

In India the great ethical reformer, Sakyamuni, the Buddha, initiated (or
adopted from the Brahmins) the habit of using the Beast-Tale for moral
purposes, or, in other words, transformed it into the Fable proper. A
collection of these seems to have existed previously and independently, in
which the Fables were associated with the name of a mythical sage,
Kasyâpa. These were appropriated by the early Buddhists by the simple
expedient of making Kasyâpa the immediately preceding incarnation of the
Buddha. A number of his itihâsas or Tales were included in the sacred
Buddhistic work containing the Jātakas or previous-births of the Buddha, in
some of which the Bodisat (or future Buddha) appears as one of the
Dramatis Personæ of the Fables; the Crane, e.g., in our Wolf and Crane
being one of the incarnations of the Buddha. So, too, the Lamb of our Wolf
and Lamb was once Buddha; it was therefore easy for him—so the
Buddhists thought—to remember and tell these Fables as incidents of his
former careers. It is obvious that the whole idea of a Fable as an anecdote
about a man masquerading in the form of a beast could most easily arise
and gain currency where the theory of transmigration was vividly credited.
The Fables of Kasyâpa, or rather the moral verses (gathas) which served
as a memoria technica to them, were probably carried over to Ceylon in 241
B.C. along with the Jātakas. About 300 years later (say 50 A.D.) some 100 of
these were brought by a Cingalese embassy to Alexandria, where they were
translated under the title of “Libyan Fables” (Λόγοι Λυβικοί), which had
been earlier applied to similar stories that had percolated to Hellas from
India; they were attributed to “Kybises.” This collection seems to have
introduced the habit of summing up the teaching of a Fable in the Moral,
corresponding to the gatha of the Jātakas. About the end of the first century
A.D. the Libyan Fables of “Kybises” became known to the Rabbinic school

at Jabne, founded by R. Jochanan ben Saccai, and a number of the Fables
translated into Aramaic which are still extant in the Talmud and Midrash.
In the Roman world the two collections of Demetrius and “Kybises”
were brought together by Nicostratus, a rhetor attached to the court of
Marcus Aurelius. In the earlier part of the next century (c. 230 A.D.) this
corpus of the ancient fable, Æsopic and Libyan, amounting in all to some
300 members, was done into Greek verse with Latin accentuation
(choliambics) by Valerius Babrius, tutor to the young son of Alexander
Severus. Still later, towards the end of the fourth century, forty-two of these,
mainly of the Libyan section, were translated into Latin verse by one Avian,
with whom the ancient history of the Fable ends.
In the Middle Ages it was naturally the Latin Phædrus that represented
the Æsopic Fable to the learned world, but Phædrus in a fuller form than
has descended to us in verse. A selection of some eighty fables was turned
into indifferent prose in the ninth century, probably at the Schools of
Charles the Great. This was attributed to a fictitious Romulus. Another
prose collection by Ademar of Chabannes was made before 1030, and still
preserves some of the lines of the lost Fables of Phædrus. The Fables
became especially popular among the Normans. A number of them occur on
the Bayeux Tapestry, and in the twelfth century England, the head of the
Angevin empire, became the home of the Fable, all the important
adaptations and versions of Æsop being made in this country. One of these
done into Latin verse by Walter the Englishman became the standard Æsop
of medieval Christendom. The same history applies in large measure to the
Fables of Avian, which were done into prose, transferred back into Latin
verse, and sent forth through Europe from England.
Meanwhile Babrius had been suffering the same fate as Phædrus. His
scazons were turned into poor Greek prose, and selections of them pass to
this day as the original Fables of Æsop. Some fifty of these were selected,
and with the addition of a dozen Oriental fables, were attributed to an
imaginary Persian sage, Syntipas; this collection was translated into Syriac,
and thence into Arabic, where they passed under the name of the legendary
Lôqman (probably a doublet of Balaam). A still larger collection of the
Greek prose versions got into Arabic, where it was enriched by some 60
fables from the Arabic Bidpai and other sources, but still passed under the
name of Æsop. This collection, containing 164 fables, was brought to

England after the Third Crusade of Richard I., and translated into Latin by
an Englishman named Alfred, with the aid of an Oxford Jew named
Berachyah ha-Nakdan (“Benedictus le Puncteur” in the English Records),
who, on his own account, translated a number of the fables into Hebrew
rhymed prose, under the Talmudic title Mishle Shu‘alim (Fox Fables).[4] Part
of Alfred’s Æsop was translated into English alliterative verse, and this
again was translated about 1200 into French by Marie de France, who
attributed the new fables to King Alfred. After her no important addition
was made to the medieval Æsop.
[4] I have given specimens of his Fables in my Jews of Angevin England, pp.
165–173, 278–281.

With the invention of printing the European book of Æsop was compiled
about 1480 by Heinrich Stainhöwel, who put together the Romulus with
selections from Avian, some of the Greek prose versions of Babrius from
Ranuzio’s translation, and a few from Alfred’s Æsop. To these he added the
legendary life of Æsop and a selection of somewhat loose tales from Petrus
Alphonsi and Poggio Bracciolini, corresponding to the Milesian and
Sybaritic tales which were associated with the Fable in antiquity.
Stainhöwel translated all this into German, and within twenty years his
collection had been turned into French, English (by Caxton, in 1484),
Italian, Dutch, and Spanish. Additions were made to it by Brandt and
Waldis in Germany, by L’Estrange in England, and by La Fontaine in
France; these were chiefly from the larger Greek collections published after
Stainhöwel’s day, and, in the case of La Fontaine, from Bidpai and other
Oriental sources. But these additions have rarely taken hold, and the Æsop
of modern Europe is in large measure Stainhöwel’s, even to the present day.
The first three quarters of the present collection are Stainhöwel mainly in
Stainhöwel’s order. Selections from it passed into spelling and reading
books, and made the Fables part of modern European folk-lore.[5]
[5] An episode in the history of the modern Æsop deserves record, if only to
illustrate the law that Æsop always begins his career as a political weapon in a
new home. When a selection of the Fables were translated into Chinese in 1840
they became favourite reading with the officials, till a high dignitary said, “This
is clearly directed against us,” and ordered Æsop to be included in the Chinese
Index Expurgatorius (R. Morris, Cont. Rev. xxxix. p. 731).

We may conclude this history of Æsop with a similar account of the
progress of Æsopic investigation. First came collection; the Greek Æsop

was brought together by Neveletus in 1610, the Latin by Nilant in 1709.
The main truth about the former was laid down by the master-hand of
Bentley during a skirmish in the Battle of the Books; the equally great critic
Lessing began to unravel the many knotty points connected with the
medieval Latin Æsop. His investigations have been carried on and
completed by three Frenchmen in the present century, Robert, Du Méril,
and Hervieux; while three Germans, Crusius, Benfey, and Mall, have
thrown much needed light on Babrius, on the Oriental Æsop, and on Marie
de France. Lastly, I have myself brought together these various lines of
inquiry, and by adding a few threads of my own, have been able to weave
them all for the first time into a consistent pattern.[6]
[6] The Fables of Æsop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, now again
edited and induced by Joseph Jacobs (London, 1889), 2 vols., the first
containing a History of the Æsopic Fable.

So much for the past of the Fable. Has it a future as a mode of literary
expression? Scarcely; its method is at once too simple and too roundabout.
Too roundabout; for the truths we have to tell we prefer to speak out
directly and not by way of allegory. And the truths the Fable has to teach
are too simple to correspond to the facts of our complex civilisation; its
rude graffiti of human nature cannot reproduce the subtle gradations of
modern life. But as we all pass through in our lives the various stages of
ancestral culture, there comes a time when these rough sketches of life have
their appeal to us as they had for our forefathers. The allegory gives us a
pleasing and not too strenuous stimulation of the intellectual powers; the
lesson is not too complicated for childlike minds. Indeed, in their grotesque
grace, in their quaint humour, in their trust in the simpler virtues, in their
insight into the cruder vices, in their innocence of the fact of sex, Æsop’s
Fables are as little children. They are as little children, and for that reason
they will for ever find a home in the heaven of little children’s souls.

Aesop’s Fables

The Cock and the Pearl

A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens
when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw. “Ho! ho!”
quoth he, “that’s for me,” and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw.
“What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in
the yard? “You may be a treasure,” quoth Master Cock, “to men that prize
you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of
pearls.”

Precious things are for those that can prize them.

The Wolf and the Lamb

Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside, when,
looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to drink a little
lower down. “There’s my supper,” thought he, “if only I can find some
excuse to seize it.” Then he called out to the Lamb, “How dare you muddle
the water from which I am drinking?”
“Nay, master, nay,” said Lambikin; “if the water be muddy up there, I
cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to me.”
“Well, then,” said the Wolf, “why did you call me bad names this time
last year?”
“That cannot be,” said the Lamb; “I am only six months old.”
“I don’t care,” snarled the Wolf; “if it was not you it was your father;”
and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb and

WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA

ate her all up. But before she died she gasped out—

“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.”

The Dog and the Shadow

It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was carrying it home
in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way home he had to cross a
plank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw
his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was another dog
with another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So he
made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the
piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.

The Lion’s Share

The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the
Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they surprised a Stag, and
soon took its life. Then came the question how the spoil should be divided.
“Quarter me this Stag,” roared the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and
cut it into four parts. Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and
pronounced judgment: The first quarter is for me in my capacity as King of
Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share comes to me for my part
in the chase; and as for the fourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to
see which of you will dare to lay a paw upon it.”
“Humph,” grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail between his
legs; but he spoke in a low growl—

“You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil.”

The Wolf and the Crane

A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when suddenly a
small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow it. He
soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran up and down groaning and
groaning and seeking for something to relieve the pain. He tried to induce
every one he met to remove the bone. “I would give anything,” said he, “if
you would take it out.” At last the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to
lie on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then the Crane put its
long neck down the Wolf’s throat, and with its beak loosened the bone, till
at last it got it out.
“Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?” said the Crane.
The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: “Be content. You have
put your head inside a Wolf’s mouth and taken it out again in safety; that
ought to be reward enough for you.”

Gratitude and greed go not together.

The Man and the Serpent

A Countryman’s son by accident trod upon a Serpent’s tail, which turned
and bit him so that he died. The father in a rage got his axe, and pursuing
the Serpent, cut off part of its tail. So the Serpent in revenge began stinging
several of the Farmer’s cattle and caused him severe loss. Well, the Farmer
thought it best to make it up with the Serpent, and brought food and honey
to the mouth of its lair, and said to it: “Let’s forget and forgive; perhaps you
were right to punish my son, and take vengeance on my cattle, but surely I
was right in trying to revenge him; now that we are both satisfied why
should not we be friends again?”
“No, no,” said the Serpent; “take away your gifts; you can never forget
the death of your son, nor I the loss of my tail.”

Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

Now you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a visit
to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he
loved his town friend and made him heartily welcome. Beans and bacon,
cheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely. The
Town Mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country fare, and said: “I
cannot understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as this,
but of course you cannot expect anything better in the country; come you
with me and I will show you how to live. When you have been in town a
week you will wonder how you could ever have stood a country life.” No
sooner said than done: the two mice set off for the town and arrived at the
Town Mouse’s residence late at night. “You will want some refreshment
after our long journey,” said the polite Town Mouse, and took his friend into
the grand dining-room. There they found the remains of a fine feast, and
soon the two mice were eating up jellies and cakes and all that was nice.
Suddenly they heard growling and barking. “What is that?” said the
Country Mouse. “It is only the dogs of the house,” answered the other.
“Only!” said the Country Mouse. “I do not like that music at my dinner.”
Just at that moment the door flew open, in came two huge mastiffs, and the
two mice had to scamper down and run off. “Good-bye, Cousin,” said the
Country Mouse. “What! going so soon?” said the other. “Yes,” he replied;

“Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.”

The Fox and the Crow

A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and
settle on a branch of a tree. “That’s for me, as I am a Fox,” said Master
Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. “Good-day, Mistress
Crow,” he cried. “How well you are looking to-day: how glossy your
feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of
other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that
I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.” The Crow lifted up her head and
began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of
cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox. “That will
do,” said he. “That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give
you a piece of advice for the future—

“Do not trust flatterers.”

The Flatter doth rob by stealth,
His victim, both of Wit and Wealth.

The Sick Lion

A Lion had come to the end of his days and lay sick unto death at the
mouth of his cave, gasping for breath. The animals, his subjects, came
round him and drew nearer as he grew more and more helpless. When they
saw him on the point of death they thought to themselves: “Now is the time
to pay off old grudges.” So the Boar came up and drove at him with his
tusks; then a Bull gored him with his horns; still the Lion lay helpless
before them: so the Ass, feeling quite safe from danger, came up, and
turning his tail to the Lion kicked up his heels into his face. “This is a
double death,” growled the Lion.

Only cowards insult dying majesty.

The Ass and the Lapdog

A Farmer one day came to the stables to see to his beasts of burden:
among them was his favourite Ass, that was always well fed and often
carried his master. With the Farmer came his Lapdog, who danced about
and licked his hand and frisked about as happy as could be. The Farmer felt
in his pocket, gave the Lapdog some dainty food, and sat down while he
gave his orders to his servants. The Lapdog jumped into his master’s lap,
and lay there blinking while the Farmer stroked his ears. The Ass, seeing
this, broke loose from his halter and commenced prancing about in
imitation of the Lapdog. The Farmer could not hold his sides with laughter,
so the Ass went up to him, and putting his feet upon the Farmer’s shoulder
attempted to climb into his lap. The Farmer’s servants rushed up with sticks
and pitchforks and soon taught the Ass that

Clumsy jesting is no joke.

The Lion and the Mouse

Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down
upon him; this soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him,
and opened his big jaws to swallow him. “Pardon, O King,” cried the little
Mouse: “forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but what I
may be able to do you a turn some of these days?” The Lion was so tickled
at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw
and let him go. Some time after the Lion was caught in a trap, and the
hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while
they went in search of a waggon to carry him on. Just then the little Mouse
happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, went
up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the
Beasts. “Was I not right?” said the little Mouse.

Little friends may prove great friends.

The Swallow and the Other Birds

It happened that a Countryman was sowing some hemp seeds in a field
where a Swallow and some other birds were hopping about picking up their
food. “Beware of that man,” quoth the Swallow. “Why, what is he doing?”
said the others. “That is hemp seed he is sowing; be careful to pick up every
one of the seeds, or else you will repent it.” The birds paid no heed to the
Swallow’s words, and by and by the hemp grew up and was made into cord,
and of the cords nets were made, and many a bird that had despised the
Swallow’s advice was caught in nets made out of that very hemp. “What
did I tell you?” said the Swallow.

Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin.

The Frogs Desiring a King

The Frogs were living as happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just
suited them; they went splashing about caring for nobody and nobody
troubling with them. But some of them thought that this was not right, that
they should have a king and a proper constitution, so they determined to
send up a petition to Jove to give them what they wanted. “Mighty Jove,”
they cried, “send unto us a king that will rule over us and keep us in order.”
Jove laughed at their croaking, and threw down into the swamp a huge Log,
which came down splashing into the swamp. The Frogs were frightened out
of their lives by the commotion made in their midst, and all rushed to the
bank to look at the horrible monster; but after a time, seeing that it did not
move, one or two of the boldest of them ventured out towards the Log, and
even dared to touch it; still it did not move. Then the greatest hero of the
Frogs jumped upon the Log and commenced dancing up and down upon it,
thereupon all the Frogs came and did the same; and for some time the Frogs
went about their business every day without taking the slightest notice of
their new King Log lying in their midst. But this did not suit them, so they
sent another petition to Jove, and said to him, “We want a real king; one
that will really rule over us.” Now this made Jove angry, so he sent among
them a big Stork that soon set to work gobbling them all up. Then the Frogs
repented when too late.

Better no rule than cruel rule.

The Mountains in Labour

One day the Countrymen noticed that the Mountains were in labour;
smoke came out of their summits, the earth was quaking at their feet, trees
were crashing, and huge rocks were tumbling. They felt sure that something
horrible was going to happen. They all gathered together in one place to see
what terrible thing this could be. They waited and they waited, but nothing
came. At last there was a still more violent earthquake, and a huge gap
appeared in the side of the Mountains. They all fell down upon their knees
and waited. At last, and at last, a teeny, tiny mouse poked its little head and
bristles out of the gap and came running down towards them, and ever after
they used to say:

“Much outcry, little outcome.”

The Hares and the Frogs

The Hares were so persecuted by the other beasts, they did not know
where to go. As soon as they saw a single animal approach them, off they
used to run. One day they saw a troop of wild Horses stampeding about,
and in quite a panic all the Hares scuttled off to a lake hard by, determined
to drown themselves rather than live in such a continual state of fear. But
just as they got near the bank of the lake, a troop of Frogs, frightened in
their turn by the approach of the Hares scuttled off, and jumped into the
water. “Truly,” said one of the Hares, “things are not so bad as they seem:

“There is always someone worse off than yourself.”

The Wolf and the Kid

A Kid was perched up on the top of a house, and looking down saw a
Wolf passing under him. Immediately he began to revile and attack his
enemy. “Murderer and thief,” he cried, “what do you here near honest folks’
houses? How dare you make an appearance where your vile deeds are
known?”
“Curse away, my young friend,” said the Wolf.

“It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.”

The Woodman and the Serpent

One wintry day a Woodman was tramping home from his work when he
saw something black lying on the snow. When he came closer he saw it was
a Serpent to all appearance dead. But he took it up and put it in his bosom
to warm while he hurried home. As soon as he got indoors he put the
Serpent down on the hearth before the fire. The children watched it and saw
it slowly come to life again. Then one of them stooped down to stroke it,
but the Serpent raised its head and put out its fangs and was about to sting
the child to death. So the Woodman seized his axe, and with one stroke cut
the Serpent in two. “Ah,” said he,

“No gratitude from the wicked.”

The Bald Man and the Fly

There was once a Bald Man who sat down after work on a hot summer’s
day. A Fly came up and kept buzzing about his bald pate, and stinging him
from time to time. The Man aimed a blow at his little enemy, but—whack—
his palm came on his head instead; again the Fly tormented him, but this
time the Man was wiser and said:

“You will only injure yourself if you take notice of despicable enemies.”

The Fox and the Stork

At one time the Fox and the Stork were on visiting terms and seemed
very good friends. So the Fox invited the Stork to dinner, and for a joke put
nothing before her but some soup in a very shallow dish. This the Fox could
easily lap up, but the Stork could only wet the end of her long bill in it, and
left the meal as hungry as when she began. “I am sorry,” said the Fox, “the
soup is not to your liking.”
“Pray do not apologise,” said the Stork. “I hope you will return this visit,
and come and dine with me soon.” So a day was appointed when the Fox
should visit the Stork; but when they were seated at table all that was for
their dinner was contained in a very long-necked jar with a narrow mouth,
in which the Fox could not insert his snout, so all he could manage to do
was to lick the outside of the jar.
“I will not apologise for the dinner,” said the Stork:

“One bad turn deserves another.”

The Fox and the Mask

A Fox had by some means got into the store-room of a theatre. Suddenly
he observed a face glaring down on him and began to be very frightened;
but looking more closely he found it was only a Mask such as actors use to
put over their face. “Ah,” said the Fox, “you look very fine; it is a pity you
have not got any brains.”

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.

The Jay and the Peacock

A Jay venturing into a yard where Peacocks used to walk, found there a
number of feathers which had fallen from the Peacocks when they were
moulting. He tied them all to his tail and strutted down towards the
Peacocks. When he came near them they soon discovered the cheat, and
striding up to him pecked at him and plucked away his borrowed plumes.
So the Jay could do no better than go back to the other Jays, who had
watched his behaviour from a distance; but they were equally annoyed with
him, and told him:

“It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.”

The Frog and the Ox

“Oh Father,” said a little Frog to the big one sitting by the side of a pool,
“I have seen such a terrible monster! It was as big as a mountain, with horns
on its head, and a long tail, and it had hoofs divided in two.”
“Tush, child, tush,” said the old Frog, “that was only Farmer White’s Ox.
It isn’t so big either; he may be a little bit taller than I, but I could easily
make myself quite as broad; just you see.” So he blew himself out, and
blew himself out, and blew himself out. “Was he as big as that?” asked he.
“Oh, much bigger than that,” said the young Frog.
Again the old one blew himself out, and asked the young one if the Ox
was as big as that.
“Bigger, father, bigger,” was the reply.
So the Frog took a deep breath, and blew and blew and blew, and swelled
and swelled and swelled. And then he said: “I’m sure the Ox is not as big as
this. But at this moment he burst.

Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction.

Androcles

A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the
forest. As he was wandering about there he came upon a Lion lying down
moaning and groaning. At first he turned to flee, but finding that the Lion
did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came near,
the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and
Androcles found that a huge thorn had got into it, and was causing all the
pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the Lion, who was
soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the Lion
took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat from
which to live. But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the Lion were
captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the Lion, after the
latter had been kept without food for several days. The Emperor and all his
Court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was led out into the middle
of the arena. Soon the Lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding
and roaring towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles he
recognised his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands like a
friendly dog. The Emperor, surprised at this, summoned Androcles to him,
who told him the whole story. Whereupon the slave was pardoned and
freed, and the Lion let loose to his native forest.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts

A great conflict was about to come off between the Birds and the Beasts.
When the two armies were collected together the Bat hesitated which to
join. The Birds that passed his perch said: “Come with us”; but he said: “I
am a Beast.” Later on, some Beasts who were passing underneath him
looked up and said: “Come with us”; but he said: “I am a Bird.” Luckily at
the last moment peace was made, and no battle took place, so the Bat came
to the Birds and wished to join in the rejoicings, but they all turned against
him and he had to fly away. He then went to the Beasts, but soon had to
beat a retreat, or else they would have torn him to pieces. “Ah,” said the
Bat, “I see now,

“He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends.”

The Hart and the Hunter

The Hart was once drinking from a pool and admiring the noble figure he
made there. “Ah,” said he, “where can you see such noble horns as these,
with such antlers! I wish I had legs more worthy to bear such a noble
crown; it is a pity they are so slim and slight.” At that moment a Hunter
approached and sent an arrow whistling after him. Away bounded the Hart,
and soon, by the aid of his nimble legs, was nearly out of sight of the
Hunter; but not noticing where he was going, he passed under some trees
with branches growing low down in which his antlers were caught, so that
the Hunter had time to come up. “Alas! alas!” cried the Hart:

“We often despise what is most useful to us.”

The Serpent and the File

A Serpent in the course of its wanderings came into an armourer’s shop.
As he glided over the floor he felt his skin pricked by a file lying there. In a
rage he turned round upon it and tried to dart his fangs into it; but he could
do no harm to heavy iron and had soon to give over his wrath.

It is useless attacking the insensible.

The Man and the Wood

A Man came into a Wood one day with an axe in his hand, and begged all
the Trees to give him a small branch which he wanted for a particular
purpose. The Trees were good-natured and gave him one of their branches.
What did the Man do but fix it into the axe head, and soon set to work
cutting down tree after tree. Then the Trees saw how foolish they had been
in giving their enemy the means of destroying themselves.

The Dog and the Wolf

A gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to meet a
House-dog who was passing by. “Ah, Cousin,” said the Dog. “I knew how
it would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruin of you. Why do you not
work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly given to you?”
“I would have no objection,” said the Wolf, “if I could only get a place.”
“I will easily arrange that for you,” said the Dog; “come with me to my
master and you shall share my work.”
So the Wolf and the Dog went towards the town together. On the way
there the Wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part of the Dog’s neck was
very much worn away, so he asked him how that had come about.
“Oh, it is nothing,” said the Dog. “That is only the place where the collar
is put on at night to keep me chained up; it chafes a bit, but one soon gets
used to it.”
“Is that all?” said the Wolf. “Then good-bye to you, Master Dog.”

Better starve free than be a fat slave.

The Belly and the Members

One fine day it occurred to the Members of the Body that they were
doing all the work and the Belly was having all the food. So they held a
meeting, and after a long discussion, decided to strike work till the Belly
consented to take its proper share of the work. So for a day or two, the
Hands refused to take the food, the Mouth refused to receive it, and the
Teeth had no work to do. But after a day or two the Members began to find
that they themselves were not in a very active condition: the Hands could
hardly move, and the Mouth was all parched and dry, while the Legs were
unable to support the rest. So thus they found that even the Belly in its dull
quiet way was doing necessary work for the Body, and that all must work
together or the Body will go to pieces.

The Hart in the Ox-Stall

A Hart hotly pursued by the hounds fled for refuge into an ox-stall, and
buried itself in a truss of hay, leaving nothing to be seen but the tips of his
horns. Soon after the Hunters came up and asked if any one had seen the
Hart. The stable boys, who had been resting after their dinner, looked
round, but could see nothing, and the Hunters went away. Shortly
afterwards the master came in, and looking round, saw that something
unusual had taken place. He pointed to the truss of hay and said: “What are
those two curious things sticking out of the hay?” And when the stable boys
came to look they discovered the Hart, and soon made an end of him. He
thus learnt that

Nothing escapes the master’s eye.

The Fox and the Grapes

One hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he
came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained
over a lofty branch. “Just the thing to quench my thirst,” quoth he. Drawing
back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch.
Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no
greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at
last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “I
am sure they are sour.”

It is easy to despise what you cannot get.

The Peacock and Juno

A Peacock once placed a petition before Juno desiring to have the voice
of a nightingale in addition to his other attractions; but Juno refused his
request. When he persisted, and pointed out that he was her favourite bird,
she said:

“Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.”

The Horse, Hunter, and Stag

A quarrel had arisen between the Horse and the Stag, so the Horse came
to a Hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the Stag. The Hunter agreed,
but said: “If you desire to conquer the Stag, you must permit me to place
this piece of iron between your jaws, so that I may guide you with these
reins, and allow this saddle to be placed upon your back so that I may keep
steady upon you as we follow after the enemy.” The Horse agreed to the
conditions, and the Hunter soon saddled and bridled him. Then with the aid
of the Hunter the Horse soon overcame the Stag, and said to the Hunter:
“Now, get off, and remove those things from my mouth and back.”
“Not so fast, friend,” said the Hunter. “I have now got you under bit and
spur, and prefer to keep you as you are at present.”

If you allow men to use you for your own purposes, they will use you for
theirs.

The Fox and the Lion

When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran away
and hid himself in the wood. Next time however he came near the King of
Beasts he stopped at a safe distance and watched him pass by. The third
time they came near one another the Fox went straight up to the Lion and
passed the time of day with him, asking him how his family were, and when
he should have the pleasure of seeing him again; then turning his tail, he
parted from the Lion without much ceremony.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

The Lion and the Statue

A Man and a Lion were discussing the relative strength of men and lions
in general. The Man contended that he and his fellows were stronger than
lions by reason of their greater intelligence. “Come now with me,” he cried,
“and I will soon prove that I am right.” So he took him into the public
gardens and showed him a statue of Hercules overcoming the Lion and
tearing his mouth in two.
“That is all very well,” said the Lion, “but proves nothing, for it was a
man who made the statue.”

We can easily represent things as we wish them to be.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

In a field one summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping
and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with
great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of
toiling and moiling in that way?”
“I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and
recommend you to do the same.”
“Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of
food at present.” But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When
the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of
hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the
stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

The Tree and the Reed

“Well, little one,” said a Tree to a Reed that was growing at its foot, “why
do you not plant your feet deeply in the ground, and raise your head boldly
in the air as I do?”
“I am contented with my lot,” said the Reed. “I may not be so grand, but
I think I am safer.”
“Safe!” sneered the Tree. “Who shall pluck me up by the roots or bow
my head to the ground?” But it soon had to repent of its boasting, for a
hurricane arose which tore it up from its roots, and cast it a useless log on
the ground, while the little Reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon
stood upright again when the storm had passed over.

Obscurity often brings safety.

The Fox and the Cat

A Fox was boasting to a Cat of its clever devices for escaping its
enemies. “I have a whole bag of tricks,” he said, “which contains a hundred
ways of escaping my enemies.”
“I have only one,” said the Cat; “but I can generally manage with that.”
Just at that moment they heard the cry of a pack of hounds coming towards
them, and the Cat immediately scampered up a tree and hid herself in the
boughs. “This is my plan,” said the Cat. “What are you going to do?” The
Fox thought first of one way, then of another, and while he was debating the
hounds came nearer and nearer, and at last the Fox in his confusion was
caught up by the hounds and soon killed by the huntsmen. Miss Puss, who
had been looking on, said:

“Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon.”

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the
vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a
sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt
and strolled down among the sheep. The Lamb that belonged to the sheep,
whose skin the Wolf was wearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep’s
clothing; so, leading the Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her,
and for some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty
meals.

Appearances are deceptive.

The Dog in the Manger

A Dog looking out for its afternoon nap jumped into the Manger of an Ox
and lay there cosily upon the straw. But soon the Ox, returning from its
afternoon work, came up to the Manger and wanted to eat some of the
straw. The Dog in a rage, being awakened from its slumber, stood up and
barked at the Ox, and whenever it came near attempted to bite it. At last the
Ox had to give up the hope of getting at the straw, and went away
muttering:

“Ah, people often grudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.”

The Man and the Wooden God

In the old days men used to worship sticks and stones and idols, and
prayed to them to give them luck. It happened that a Man had often prayed
to a wooden idol he had received from his father, but his luck never seemed
to change. He prayed and he prayed, but still he remained as unlucky as
ever. One day in the greatest rage he went to the Wooden God, and with one
blow swept it down from its pedestal. The idol broke in two, and what did
he see? An immense number of coins flying all over the place.

The Fisher

A Fisher once took his bagpipes to the bank of a river, and played upon
them with the hope of making the fish rise; but never a one put his nose out
of the water. So he cast his net into the river and soon drew it forth filled
with fish. Then he took his bagpipes again, and, as he played, the fish leapt
up in the net. “Ah, you dance now when I play,” said he.
“Yes,” said an old Fish:

“When you are in a man’s power you must do as he bids you.”

The Shepherd’s Boy

There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot
of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he
thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some
excitement. He rushed down towards the village calling out “Wolf, Wolf,”
and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him
for a considerable time. This pleased the boy so much that a few days
afterwards he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help.
But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from the forest, and
began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course cried out “Wolf, Wolf,” still
louder than before. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice
before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to
come to his help. So the Wolf made a good meal off the boy’s flock, and
when the boy complained, the wise man of the village said:

“A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.”

The Young Thief and His Mother

A young Man had been caught in a daring act of theft and had been
condemned to be executed for it. He expressed his desire to see his Mother,
and to speak with her before he was led to execution, and of course this was
granted. When his Mother came to him he said: “I want to whisper to you,”
and when she brought her ear near him, he nearly bit it off. All the
bystanders were horrified, and asked him what he could mean by such
brutal and inhuman conduct. “It is to punish her,” he said. “When I was
young I began with stealing little things, and brought them home to Mother.
Instead of rebuking and punishing me, she laughed and said: “It will not be
noticed.” It is because of her that I am here to-day.”
“He is right, woman,” said the Priest; “the Lord hath said:

“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not
depart therefrom.”

The Man and His Two Wives

In the old days, when men were allowed to have many wives, a middle-
aged Man had one wife that was old and one that was young; each loved
him very much, and desired to see him like herself. Now the Man’s hair was
turning grey, which the young Wife did not like, as it made him look too old
for her husband. So every night she used to comb his hair and pick out the
white ones. But the elder Wife saw her husband growing grey with great
pleasure, for she did not like to be mistaken for his mother. So every
morning she used to arrange his hair and pick out as many of the black ones
as she could. The consequence was the Man soon found himself entirely
bald.

Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.

The Nurse and the Wolf

“Be quiet now,” said an old Nurse to a child sitting on her lap. “If you
make that noise again I will throw you to the Wolf.”
Now it chanced that a Wolf was passing close under the window as this
was said. So he crouched down by the side of the house and waited. “I am
in good luck to-day,” thought he. “It is sure to cry soon, and a daintier
morsel I haven’t had for many a long day.” So he waited, and he waited,
and he waited, till at last the child began to cry, and the Wolf came forward
before the window, and looked up to the Nurse, wagging his tail. But all the
Nurse did was to shut down the window and call for help, and the dogs of
the house came rushing out. “Ah,” said the Wolf as he galloped away,

“Enemies’ promises were made to be broken.”

The Tortoise and the Birds

A Tortoise desired to change its place of residence, so he asked an Eagle
to carry him to his new home, promising her a rich reward for her trouble.
The Eagle agreed and seizing the Tortoise by the shell with her talons
soared aloft. On their way they met a Crow, who said to the Eagle:
“Tortoise is good eating.” “The shell is too hard,” said the Eagle in reply.
“The rocks will soon crack the shell,” was the Crow’s answer; and the
Eagle, taking the hint, let fall the Tortoise on a sharp rock, and the two birds
made a hearty meal of the Tortoise.

Never soar aloft on an enemy’s pinions.

The Two Crabs

One fine day two Crabs came out from their home to take a stroll on the
sand. “Child,” said the mother, “you are walking very ungracefully. You
should accustom yourself, to walking straight forward without twisting
from side to side.”
“Pray, mother,” said the young one, “do but set the example yourself, and
I will follow you.”

Example is the best precept.

The Ass in the Lion’s Skin

An Ass once found a Lion’s skin which the hunters had left out in the sun
to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village. All fled at his
approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud Ass that day. In his
delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then every one knew him, and
his owner came up and gave him a sound cudgelling for the fright he had
caused. And shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and said: “Ah, I knew
you by your voice.”

Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool.

The Two Fellows and the Bear

Two Fellows were travelling together through a wood, when a Bear
rushed out upon them. One of the travellers happened to be in front, and he
seized hold of the branch of a tree, and hid himself among the leaves. The
other, seeing no help for it, threw himself flat down upon the ground, with
his face in the dust. The Bear, coming up to him, put his muzzle close to his
ear, and sniffed and sniffed. But at last with a growl he shook his head and
slouched off, for bears will not touch dead meat. Then the fellow in the tree
came down to his comrade, and, laughing, said “What was it that Master
Bruin whispered to you?”
“He told me,” said the other,

“Never trust a friend who deserts you at a pinch.”

The Two Pots

Two Pots had been left on the bank of a river, one of brass, and one of
earthenware. When the tide rose they both floated off down the stream.
Now the earthenware pot tried its best to keep aloof from the brass one,
which cried out: “Fear nothing, friend, I will not strike you.”
“But I may come in contact with you,” said the other, “if I come too
close; and whether I hit you, or you hit me, I shall suffer for it.”

The strong and the weak cannot keep company.

The Four Oxen and the Lion

A Lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell.
Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned
their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was
met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell a-quarrelling
among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner
of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end
of all four.

United we stand, divided we fall.

The Fisher and the Little Fish

It happened that a Fisher, after fishing all day, caught only a little fish.
“Pray, let me go, master,” said the Fish. “I am much too small for your
eating just now. If you put me back into the river I shall soon grow, then
you can make a fine meal off me.”
“Nay, nay, my little Fish,” said the Fisher, “I have you now. I may not
catch you hereafter.”

A little thing in hand is worth more than a great thing in prospect.

Avaricious and Envious

Two neighbours came before Jupiter and prayed him to grant their hearts’
desire. Now the one was full of avarice, and the other eaten up with envy.
So to punish them both, Jupiter granted that each might have whatever he
wished for himself, but only on condition that his neighbour had twice as
much. The Avaricious man prayed to have a room full of gold. No sooner
said than done; but all his joy was turned to grief when he found that his
neighbour had two rooms full of the precious metal. Then came the turn of
the Envious man, who could not bear to think that his neighbour had any
joy at all. So he prayed that he might have one of his own eyes put out, by
which means his companion would become totally blind.

Vices are their own punishment.

The Crow and the Pitcher

A Crow, half-dead with thirst, came upon a Pitcher which had once been
full of water; but when the Crow put its beak into the mouth of the Pitcher
he found that only very little water was left in it, and that he could not reach
far enough down to get at it. He tried, and he tried, but at last had to give up
in despair. Then a thought came to him, and he took a pebble and dropped it
into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the
Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then
he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took
another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another
pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. At last, at last, he saw the water
mount up near him, and after casting in a few more pebbles he was able to
quench his thirst and save his life.

Little by little does the trick.

The Man and the Satyr

A Man had lost his way in a wood one bitter winter’s night. As he was
roaming about, a Satyr came up to him, and finding that he had lost his way,
promised to give him a lodging for the night, and guide him out of the
forest in the morning. As he went along to the Satyr’s cell, the Man raised
both his hands to his mouth and kept on blowing at them. “What do you do
that for?” said the Satyr.
“My hands are numb with the cold,” said the Man, “and my breath
warms them.”
After this they arrived at the Satyr’s home, and soon the Satyr put a
smoking dish of porridge before him. But when the Man raised his spoon to
his mouth he began blowing upon it. “And what do you do that for?” said
the Satyr.
“The porridge is too hot, and my breath will cool it.”
“Out you go,” said the Satyr. “I will have nought to do with a man who
can blow hot and cold with the same breath.”

The Goose With the Golden Eggs

One day a countryman going to the nest of his Goose found there an egg
all yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he
was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played
upon him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found to his
delight that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the same thing
occurred, and he soon became rich by selling his eggs. As he grew rich he
grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give,
he killed it and opened it only to find nothing.

Greed oft o’er reaches itself.

The Labourer and the Nightingale

A Labourer lay listening to a Nightingale’s song throughout the summer
night. So pleased was he with it that the next night he set a trap for it and
captured it. “Now that I have caught thee,” he cried, “thou shalt always sing
to me.”
“We Nightingales never sing in a cage.” said the bird.
“Then I’ll eat thee.” said the Labourer. “I have always heard say that a
nightingale on toast is dainty morsel.”
“Nay, kill me not,” said the Nightingale; “but let me free, and I’ll tell thee
three things far better worth than my poor body.” The Labourer let him
loose, and he flew up to a branch of a tree and said: “Never believe a
captive’s promise; that’s one thing. Then again: Keep what you have. And
third piece of advice is: Sorrow not over what is lost forever.” Then the
song-bird flew away.

The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog

One moonlight night a Fox was prowling about a farmer’s hen-coop, and
saw a Cock roosting high up beyond his reach. “Good news, good news!”
he cried.
“Why, what is that?” said the Cock.
“King Lion has declared a universal truce. No beast may hurt a bird
henceforth, but all shall dwell together in brotherly friendship.”
“Why, that is good news,” said the Cock; “and there I see some one
coming, with whom we can share the good tidings.” And so saying he
craned his neck forward and looked afar off.
“What is it you see?” said the Fox.
“It is only my master’s Dog that is coming towards us. What, going so
soon?” he continued, as the Fox began to turn away as soon as he had heard
the news. “Will you not stop and congratulate the Dog on the reign of
universal peace?”
“I would gladly do so,” said the Fox, “but I fear he may not have heard of
King Lion’s decree.”

Cunning often outwits itself.

The Wind and the Sun

The Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger. Suddenly
they saw a traveller coming down the road, and the Sun said: “I see a way
to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveller to take off
his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin.” So the Sun retired
behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the
traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his
cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun
came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too
hot to walk with his cloak on.

Kindness effects more than severity.

Hercules and the Waggoner

A Waggoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At
last he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the
mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the
Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the
Strong. “O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress,” quoth he. But
Hercules appeared to him, and said:
“Tut, man, don’t sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the
wheel.”

The gods help them that help themselves.

The Miser and His Gold

Once upon a time there was a Miser who used to hide his gold at the foot
of a tree in his garden; but every week he used to go and dig it up and gloat
over his gains. A robber, who had noticed this, went and dug up the gold
and decamped with it. When the Miser next came to gloat over his
treasures, he found nothing but the empty hole. He tore his hair, and raised
such an outcry that all the neighbours came around him, and he told them
how he used to come and visit his gold. “Did you ever take any of it out?”
asked one of them.
“Nay,” said he, “I only came to look at it.”
“Then come again and look at the hole,” said a neighbour; “it will do you
just as much good.”

Wealth unused might as well not exist.

The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey

A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they
were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You
fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”
So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But
soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy
youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”
So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they
hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the
other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”
Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up
before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the
passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked
what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself
for overloading that poor donkey of yours and your hulking son?”
The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and
they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey’s feet to it,
and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid
the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the
Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to
drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and
his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.
“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them:

“Please all, and you will please none.”

The Fox and the Mosquitoes

A Fox after crossing a river got its tail entangled in a bush, and could not
move. A number of Mosquitoes seeing its plight settled upon it and enjoyed
a good meal undisturbed by its tail. A hedgehog strolling by took pity upon
the Fox and went up to him: “You are in a bad way, neighbour,” said the
hedgehog; “shall I relieve you by driving off those Mosquitoes who are
sucking your blood?”
“Thank you, Master Hedgehog,” said the Fox, “but I would rather not.”
“Why, how is that?” asked the hedgehog.
“Well, you see,” was the answer, “these Mosquitoes have had their fill; if
you drive these away, others will come with fresh appetite and bleed me to
death.”

The Fox Without a Tail

It happened that a Fox caught its tail in a trap, and in struggling to release
himself lost all of it but the stump. At first he was ashamed to show himself
among his fellow foxes. But at last he determined to put a bolder face upon
his misfortune, and summoned all the foxes to a general meeting to consider
a proposal which he had to place before them. When they had assembled
together the Fox proposed that they should all do away with their tails. He
pointed out how inconvenient a tail was when they were pursued by their
enemies, the dogs; how much it was in the way when they desired to sit
down and hold a friendly conversation with one another. He failed to see
any advantage in carrying about such a useless encumbrance. “That is all
very well,” said one of the older foxes; “but I do not think you would have
recommended us to dispense with our chief ornament if you had not
happened to lose it yourself.”

Distrust interested advice.

The One-Eyed Doe

A Doe had had the misfortune to lose one of her eyes, and could not see
any one approaching her on that side. So to avoid any danger she always
used to feed on a high cliff near the sea, with her sound eye looking towards
the land. By this means she could see whenever the hunters approached her
on land, and often escaped by this means. But the hunters found out that she
was blind of one eye, and hiring a boat rowed under the cliff where she used
to feed and shot her from the sea. “Ah,” cried she with her dying voice,

“You cannot escape your fate.”

Belling the Cat

Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures they
could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and
some said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a proposal
to make, which he thought would meet the case. “You will all agree,” said
he, “that our chief danger consists in the sly and treacherous manner in
which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could receive some signal of
her approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore, to
propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a ribbon round the
neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know when she was
about, and could easily retire while she was in the neighbourhood.”
This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up and
said: “That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?” The mice looked at
one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said:

“It is easy to propose impossible remedies.”

The Hare and the Tortoise

The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. “I
have never yet been beaten,” said he, “when I put forth my full speed. I
challenge any one here to race with me.”
The Tortoise said quietly, “I accept your challenge.”
“That is a good joke,” said the Hare; “I could dance round you all the
way.”
“Keep your boasting till you’ve beaten,” answered the Tortoise. “Shall
we race?”
So a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out
of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the
Tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on,
and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise just near the
winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race. Then said the
Tortoise:

“Plodding wins the race.”

The Old Man and Death

An old labourer, bent double with age and toil, was gathering sticks in a
forest. At last he grew so tired and hopeless that he threw down the bundle
of sticks, and cried out: “I cannot bear this life any longer. Ah, I wish Death
would only come and take me!”
As he spoke, Death, a grisly skeleton, appeared and said to him: “What
wouldst thou, Mortal? I heard thee call me.”
“Please, sir,” replied the woodcutter, “would you kindly help me to lift
this faggot of sticks on to my shoulder?”

We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.

The Hare With Many Friends

A Hare was very popular with the other beasts who all claimed to be her
friends. But one day she heard the hounds approaching and hoped to escape
them by the aid of her many Friends. So, she went to the horse, and asked
him to carry her away from the hounds on his back. But he declined, stating
that he had important work to do for his master. “He felt sure,” he said,
“that all her other friends would come to her assistance.” She then applied
to the bull, and hoped that he would repel the hounds with his horns. The
bull replied: “I am very sorry, but I have an appointment with a lady; but I
feel sure that our friend the goat will do what you want.” The goat,
however, feared that his back might do her some harm if he took her upon
it. The ram, he felt sure, was the proper friend to apply to. So she went to
the ram and told him the case. The ram replied: “Another time, my dear
friend. I do not like to interfere on the present occasion, as hounds have
been known to eat sheep as well as hares.” The Hare then applied, as a last
hope, to the calf, who regretted that he was unable to help her, as he did not
like to take the responsibility upon himself, as so many older persons than
himself had declined the task. By this time the hounds were quite near, and
the Hare took to her heels and luckily escaped.

He that has many friends, has no friends.

The Lion in Love

A Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden and proposed marriage
to her parents. The old people did not know what to say. They did not like
to give their daughter to the Lion, yet they did not wish to enrage the King
of Beasts. At last the father said: “We feel highly honoured by your
Majesty’s proposal, but you see our daughter is a tender young thing, and
we fear that in the vehemence of your affection you might possibly do her
some injury. Might I venture to suggest that your Majesty should have your
claws removed, and your teeth extracted, then we would gladly consider
your proposal again.” The Lion was so much in love that he had his claws
trimmed and his big teeth taken out. But when he came again to the parents
of the young girl they simply laughed in his face, and bade him do his
worst.

Love can tame the wildest.

The Bundle of Sticks

An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give
them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a faggot of
sticks, and said to his eldest son: “Break it.” The son strained and strained,
but with all his efforts was unable to break the Bundle. The other sons also
tried, but none of them was successful. “Untie the faggots,” said the father,
“and each of you take a stick.” When they had done so, he called out to
them: “Now, break,” and each stick was easily broken. “You see my
meaning,” said their father.

Union gives strength.

The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts

The Lion once gave out that he was sick unto death and summoned the
animals to come and hear his last Will and Testament. So the Goat came to
the Lion’s cave, and stopped there listening for a long time. Then a Sheep
went in, and before she came out a Calf came up to receive the last wishes
of the Lord of the Beasts. But soon the Lion seemed to recover, and came to
the mouth of his cave, and saw the Fox, who had been waiting outside for
some time. “Why do you not come to pay your respects to me?” said the
Lion to the Fox.
“I beg your Majesty’s pardon,” said the Fox, “but I noticed the track of
the animals that have already come to you; and while I see many hoof-
marks going in, I see none coming out. Till the animals that have entered
your cave come out again I prefer to remain in the open air.”

It is easier to get into the enemy’s toils than out again.

The Ass’s Brains

The Lion and the Fox went hunting together. The Lion, on the advice of
the Fox, sent a message to the Ass, proposing to make an alliance between
their two families. The Ass came to the place of meeting, overjoyed at the
prospect of a royal alliance. But when he came there the Lion simply
pounced on the Ass, and said to the Fox: “Here is our dinner for to-day.
Watch you here while I go and have a nap. Woe betide you if you touch my
prey.” The Lion went away and the Fox waited; but finding that his master
did not return, ventured to take out the brains of the Ass and ate them up.
When the Lion came back he soon noticed the absence of the brains, and
asked the Fox in a terrible voice: “What have you done with the brains?”
“Brains, your Majesty! it had none, or it would never have fallen into
your trap.”

Wit has always an answer ready.

The Eagle and the Arrow

An Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whizz
of an Arrow, and felt itself wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down to
the earth, with its life-blood pouring out of it. Looking down upon the
Arrow with which it had been pierced, it found that the shaft of the Arrow
had been feathered with one of its own plumes. “Alas!” it cried, as it died,

“We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.”

The Cat-Maiden

The gods were once disputing whether it was possible for a living being
to change its nature. Jupiter said “Yes,” but Venus said “No.” So, to try the
question, Jupiter turned a Cat into a Maiden, and gave her to a young man
for a wife. The wedding was duly performed and the young couple sat down
to the wedding-feast. “See,” said Jupiter, to Venus, “how becomingly she
behaves. Who could tell that yesterday she was but a Cat? Surely her nature
is changed?”
“Wait a minute,” replied Venus, and let loose a mouse into the room. No
sooner did the bride see this than she jumped up from her seat and tried to
pounce upon the mouse. “Ah, you see,” said Venus,

“Nature will out.”

The Milkmaid and Her Pail

Patty the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a Pail on
her head. As she went along she began calculating what she would do with
the money she would get for the milk. “I’ll buy some fowls from Farmer
Brown,” said she, “and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to
the parson’s wife. With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs I’ll
buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market,
won’t all the young men come up and speak to me! Polly Shaw will be that
jealous; but I don’t care. I shall just look at her and toss my head like this.
As she spoke she tossed her head back, the Pail fell off it, and all the milk
was spilt. So she had to go home and tell her mother what had occurred.
“Ah, my child,” said the mother,

“Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.”

The Horse and the Ass

A Horse and an Ass were travelling together, the Horse prancing along in
its fine trappings, the Ass carrying with difficulty the heavy weight in its
panniers. “I wish I were you,” sighed the Ass; “nothing to do and well fed,
and all that fine harness upon you.” Next day, however, there was a great
battle, and the Horse was wounded to death in the final charge of the day.
His friend, the Ass, happened to pass by shortly afterwards and found him
on the point of death. “I was wrong,” said the Ass:

“Better humble security than gilded danger.”

The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner

A Trumpeter during a battle ventured too near the enemy and was
captured by them. They were about to proceed to put him to death when he
begged them to hear his plea for mercy. “I do not fight,” said he, “and
indeed carry no weapon; I only blow this trumpet, and surely that cannot
harm you; then why should you kill me?”
“You may not fight yourself,” said the others, “but you encourage and
guide your men to the fight.”

Words may be deeds.

The Buffoon and the Countryman

At a country fair there was a Buffoon who made all the people laugh by
imitating the cries of various animals. He finished off by squeaking so like a
pig that the spectators thought that he had a porker concealed about him.
But a Countryman who stood by said: “Call that a pig’s squeak! Nothing
like it. You give me till tomorrow and I will show you what it’s like.” The
audience laughed, but next day, sure enough, the Countryman appeared on
the stage, and putting his head down squealed so hideously that the
spectators hissed and threw stones at him to make him stop. “You fools!” he
cried, “see what you have been hissing,” and held up a little pig whose ear
he had been pinching to make him utter the squeals.

Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.

The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar

You must know that sometimes old women like a glass of wine. One of
this sort once found a Wine-jar lying in the road, and eagerly went up to it
hoping to find it full. But when she took it up she found that all the wine
had been drunk out of it. Still she took a long sniff at the mouth of the Jar.
“Ah,” she cried,

“What memories cling ’round the instruments of our pleasure.”

The Fox and the Goat

By an unlucky chance a Fox fell into a deep well from which he could
not get out. A Goat passed by shortly afterwards, and asked the Fox what he
was doing down there. “Oh, have you not heard?” said the Fox; “there is
going to be a great drought, so I jumped down here in order to be sure to
have water by me. Why don’t you come down too?” The Goat thought well
of this advice, and jumped down into the well. But the Fox immediately
jumped on her back, and by putting his foot on her long horns managed to
jump up to the edge of the well. “Good-bye, friend,” said the Fox,
“remember next time,

“Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties.”

And this is the end of Æsop’s Fables. HURRAH!

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FABLES OF
AESOP ***

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