4THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY

zZESO P

’

S FABLE S ,

LITERALLY Tunsmm momm GREEK.

B Y THE

(7

REV . GEO. FY LER TOWN SEN D , M. A .

WITH ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN ILLUSTRAD ONs, DESIGNED BY

HARRISON Wem, AND ENGRAVED av J . GREENAWAY .

C H I C A G O

B E L FOR D , C LA R K E C O . ,

1 8 8 2 .

P R E F A C E .

THE TA LE,the Parable

,and the Fable are all common

and popular modes of conveying instruction . Each

is distinguished by its own special characterist ics .

The Tale consists simply in the narrat ion of a story

either founded on facts , or created solely by the im

agination ,and not necessarily associated with the

teaching of an y moral lesson . The Parable i s the

designed use of language purposely intended to con

vey a hidden and secret meaning other than that

contain ed in the words themselves ; and which may

or may not bear a special reference to the bearer, orreader . The Fable partly agrees With

,and partly

differs from both of these . It wil l con tain , l ike the

Tale, a short but real narrative ; i t will seek , l ike the

Parable,to convey a hidden meaning ,an d that not

so much by the use of language,as by the skilful

i n troduction of fictit ious characters ; and yet unlike

to ei ther Tale or Parable,it wi l l ever keep in View,

v i P reface.

as its high prerogative,and inseparable attribute

,

the great purpose of instruction,and will necessarily

seek to in culcate some moral maxim , social duty , or

pol itical truth . The true Fable , i f it rise to its high

requirements , ever aims at on e great en d and purpose

- the representation of human motive,and the im

provement of human con duct , and yet it so conceals

i ts design under the disguise of fictitious characters,

by clothing with speech the animals of the field,the

bi rds of the air,the trees of the wood

,or the beasts

of the forest , that the reader shall receive advice

without perceivin g the presence of the adviser.

Thus the superiori ty of the counselor,which often

renders counsel un palatable,i s kept out of view. and

the lesson comes with the greater acceptan ce when

the reader is led . unconsciously to him sel f, to have

his sympathies enl isted in behalf of what i s pure,

honorable,and praiseworthy , and to have his in dig

nation excited against what is low , ignoble , and un

worthy . The true fabulist , therefore , discharges a

most important function . He is neither a narrator,

n o r an allegorist . He i s a great teacher, a corrector

o f morals , a censor of vice , and a commender of

vi rtue . In this consi sts the superiority of the Fable

ove r the Tale or the Parable . The fabulist i s to

c reate a laugh,but yet, under a merry guise, to con

P reface. v ii

vey instruction . Phaedrus , the great imitator ofjEsop , plainly indicates this double purpose to be the

true office of the writer of fables .

Duplex libel l i doe est: quod risum movet.Etquod pruden t"vitam oonsflio monot.

The continual observance of this twofold aimcreates the charm ,

and accounts f or the universal

favor,o f the fables of Afi sop . The fable

,

” says

P rofessor K . O . Mueller, originated in Greece in an

intention al travestie of human affai rs . The ‘aines , ’

as its name denotes , is an admoni t i on , or rather a

reproof, vei led , e ither from fear of an excess offran kness

,or from a love of fun and jest

,beneath

the fiction of an occurrence happening among beasts ;

and wherever we have any ancient.

and authentic

account of the E sop ian fables , we find it to be the

The construction of a fable involves a minute

attention to the narration itself ; the deduc

tion of the moral ; and a careful mainten ance of

the individual characteri stics of the fictitious person

ages introduced into it . The narration should relate

to one simple action , consistent with itsel f, an dneither be overladen with a multiplic ity of details ,

A History of the Literature o f A n c ient Greece , by K. 0. Muel ler. Vol . L,

p. 191. Lon don , Parker, 1858,

viii P reface.

nor di stracted by a variety of circumstances. The

moral or lesson should be so plain , and so intimately

interwoven with ,an d so necessarily dependent on ,the narration

,that every reader should be compelled

to give to it the same undeniable interpretation .

The introduction of the animals or fictitious charac

ters should be marked with an unexceptionable care

and attention to their natural attr ibutes,and to the

qual ities attributed to them by un iversal popular

consent . The Fox should be always cunning,the

Hare tim id,the Lion hold

,the Wolf cruel

,the Bull

strong,the Horse proud , and the Ass patient . Man y

of these fables are characterized by the strictest

observance of these rules . They are occupied with .

one short narrative , from which the moral naturally

flows,and with which it i s intimately associated .

Tis the simple manner , says D odsley,

* ‘

i

‘ in'

which

the morals of ZEsop are interwoven with his fables

that distin guishes him,and gives him the preference

over all other mythologists . His ‘Mountain del ivered

of a Mouse ,

’ produces the moral of his fable in ridi

cule of pompous preten ders ; and his Crow ,when

she drops her cheese , lets fall , as i t were by accident ,

the strongest admonition against the power off

0 301001 Fables o f fE-mp .and o ther Fulm l ln l n. In three boo ks, tran slatedby ltulwrt Ih n luloy. n et

'n m p lm lm l wl l h usc lcc l louo f h o les, umlan Essay onrub lv . B irmingham , mm. 00

P reface. ix

flattery . There is no need of a separate sentence to

explain it ; no possibility of impressin g it deeper, by

that load we too often see of accumulated reflec

tions . i An equal amount of praise is due for the

consistency with which the characters of the ani

mals, fi ctitiously introduced , are marked . While

they are made to depict the motives and pass ions of

men,they retain

,in an eminent degree

,their own

special features of craft or counsel , of cowardice or

courage , of generosity or rapacity .

These terms of praise,it must be confessed

,can

not be bestowed on all the fables in this coll ection .

Many of them lack that unity of des ign , that close

con nection of the moral with the narrat ive,that

wise choice in the introduction of the animals,which

constitute the charm and excellency of true E sopian

tSome of these fables had , n o doubt, in the fi rst instan ce,aprimaryan dprivate in terpretation . On the fi rst occasion of their be ing composed theywere in ten ded to refer to some pass ing even t, or to some in d ividualacts of

wrong-doing. Thus, the fables of the “ Eaglean d the Fox (p. of the“ Fox an d Mon key " (p. are supposed to have been written by Arch il ochus, to avenge the injuries don e h im by Lycambes. Soalso the tab les ofthe

“ Swo llen Fox (p. of the “ Frogs ask ing aK in g ” (p. were

spoken by E sop f or the immediate purpow of recon c i l ing the inhabitan ts ofSamos an d A then s, to their respective rul ers , Perian deran d Pis istratuswh i le th e tab le of the Horsean d Stag was composed to caution the inhabitan ts of Himeraagainst gran ting abody- guard to Phalaris. i n asim ilarman n er, the table from Phaedrus, the Marriage of the Sun ,

”is supposed to

have referen ce to the con templated un ion of L ivia. the daughter of D rusus,with Sejanus the favorite, an d m in ister of Trajan . These tab les, however, though thus originating ih spec ial even ts.an d design edat fi rst to meetspec ial c ir cumstan ces,are soadm irab ly con structed as to be fraught wi th/lesson s of gen eral uti l ity,an d of un i versalappl ication,

fable . This inferiority of some to others is suffi

cien tly accounted for in the history of the origin and

descent of these fables . The great bulk of them are

not the immediate work of A lsop . Many are obtained

from ancient authors pr ior to the time in which he

lived . Thus the fable of the Hawk and the Night

in gale is related by Hesiod the “ Eagle woun ded

by an Arrow , winged with its own Feathers,by

ZEschylusflr the“ Fox avengin g his wron gs on the

Eagle ,” by Archilochus . 1 Man y of them again are

of later origin , and are to be traced to the mon ks of

themiddle ages : an d yet this collection , though thusmade up of fables both earl ier an d later than theera of ZEsop ,

rightful ly bears his name, because he

composed so large a number (all framed in the same

mould,and con formed to the same fashion , an d

stamped with the same lin eaments , image , and

superscription ) as to secure to himself the right to

be considered the father of Greek fables , and the

foun der of this class of writing , which has ever

sin ce borne his n ame,and has secured for him ,

Hes iod . Operaotd ies, verse 202.

0Mnchyius. Frag men t. o f the Myrm ido n s. E sehylus speaks o f th istab le mtexisting be fore h is day. See Scho l iast on th e Aves o i’ Aristophan es ,l i n e N18 .

3Fragmen t,as.M . (iatai’ord . Seealso Muc l lc r's History o f the Literatur en f Ancien t Greece , vo l . l . , pp. 190- 103,

P reface. x i

through all succeeding ages, the position of the first

of moralists . ‘

The fables were in the first instance on l v narratedby E sop

,and for a long time were han ded down by

the uncertain channel of oral tradition . Socrates is

mentioned by P lato i as having employed his time

while in prison , awaiting the return of the sac redship from Delphos which was to be the signal of his

death,i n turning some of these fables in to verse , but

he thus versifi ed only suchas he remembered . D e

metrius Phalereus , a philosopher at Athen s abou t300 B . C . ,

is said to have made the first co llect ion of

these fables . Phaedrus , a slave by birth or by subsequen t misfortunes , and admitted by Augustus to the

honors of a freedman , imitated many of these fables

in Latin iambics about the commencement of the

Christian era . A phthon ius, a rhetorician of Antioch ,

A . C . 315, wrote a treatise on ,and converted into Latin

prose,some of these fables . This translation is the

the more\worthy of notice , as it il lustratesacustom

M. Bayle has well putth is in his seman t orE sop.

“n n '

yapo in t d'apparen ce que les fables qui porten taujourd 'hui son nom so ien t les memes qu' i lavait faites ; elles vien n en t bien de lui pour laplupart, quan talamatiere et

lapen s"e ; mais les paro les son t d’ un autre.

"A nd again ,

“ C'

est don eaHesiods, que j’almerais mi euxattribuer laglo ire de i’ in ven tion ; mais san sdoute ii laissalachose tres imparfaite . Esope laperfectionn e si heureusemen t, qu'

on l’aregards comme le vrai pere de cette sorts de production .

”

Bay le, D iction naire Historique.

Plato in Phted on e,

xii P reface.

of common use,both in these and in later times .

The rhetoricians and philosophers were accustomed

to give the Fables of ZEsop as an exercise to thei r

scholars,not only inviting them to discuss the moral

of the tale , but also to practice and to perfect them

selves thereby in style and rules of grammar,by

makin g for themselves n ew and var ious version s of

the fables . Ausonius,

* the friend of the Emperor

Valentinian , and the latest poet of eminence in the

Western Empire,has handed down some of these

fables in verse,which Jul ianus Titianus, a contem

porary writer of no great name, translated intoprose . Av ienus, also , a con temporary of Ausonius .

put some of these fables into Latin elegiacs,which

are given by N evelet (in a book we shall refer to

hereafter) , an d are occasionally incorporated withthe edition s of Phaedrus .Seven centuri es elapsed before the next noti ce is

foun d of the Fables of jEsop . Durin g this long pe

riod these fables seem to have sufferedan ecl ipse , tohave disappeared and to have been forgotten ; an d i t

‘ Apolugos on i m ls lttlb l

Ab risque ithen l l im itoAusm i ias n o n l eu italumP rmeopto r Augustl tul

E m plam irlawtrlam ;(Juanaw-rtlte x l l l stylel 'm lt-stre vnae lanaua”pasFam Il 'l ‘ i"faunaari l l'i - x .

Airmai l Ep istula, Kiw i),

P reface. x iii

i sat the commencement of the fourteenth century ,when the Byzan tin e emperors were the great patrons

of learning,and amidst the splendors of an Asiatic

court , that we next find honors paid to the name and

memory of jEsop . Maximus Planudes, a learnedmonk of Constantinople , made

'

a collection of about

a hundred and fifty of these fables . Little is known

of his history . P lanudes, however, was no mere recluse, shut up in his monastery . He took an active

part in public affairs . In 1327 A . D . he was sent on adiplomatic mission to Venice by the Emperor An

dron icus the Elder. This brought him into immedi

ate contact with the Western Patriarch , whose inter

ests he henceforth advocated with so much zeal as

to bring on him suspicion and persecution from the

rulers of the Eastern Church . P lanudes has beenexposed to a two - fold accusation . He is charged on

the one hand with having had before him a copy of

Babrias (to whom we shall have occas ion to refer at

greater len gth in the end of this P reface) ,an d to havehad the bad taste to transpose , or to turn his poet

ical version in to prose : and he is asserted , on the other

hand , never to have seen the Fables of JEsop atal l ,but to have himself invented and made the fables

which he palmed off under the name of the famous

Greek fabuli st . The truth lies between these two ex

xiv P reface.

tremes . P lanudes may have invented some few fables, or have in serted some that were current in his

day ; but there is an abundance of unanswerable in

tern al evidence to prove that he had an acquaintance

with the veritable Fables of ZEsop ,although the ver

sions he had access to were probably corrupt,as con

tain ed in the various translations and disquisitionalexercises of the rhetoric ians and philosophers . His

collection is interestin g and important,not on ly as

the parent source or foundation of the earlier prin ted

version s of ZEsop , but as the direct channel of attract

ing to these fables the attention of the learned .

The eventual re - introduction , however, of these

Fables of E sop to their high place in the generall iterature of Christendom ,

is to be looked for in the

West rather than in the East . The calamities gradu

ally thicken ing round the Eastern Empire , and the

fall of Con stan tin 0ple, 1453 A . D . combin ed with other

events to promote the rapid restoration of learnin g

in Italy ; an d with that recovery of learning the re

vive l of an interest in the Fables of ZEsop i s closely

identified . These fables , indeed , were amon g the

first wri tings of an earl ier an tiquity that attracted

attention . They took thei r place beside the Holy

Sc riptures and the an c ient classic authors , i n the

mi n ds o f the great students of that day. Lorenzo

P reface. xv

Valla,one of the most famous promoters of Ital ian

learning,not only translated into Latin the Iliad of

Homer and the Histories of Herodotus and Thucydi

des,but also the Fables of ZESOp .

These fables,again

,were among the books brought.

into an extended circulation by the agency of th(

printing press . Bonus Accursius, as early as 147 5

1480,printed the collection of these fables , made by

Planudes, which , within five years afterwards , Caxt‘on translated into English , and printed at his press

in Westminster Abbey,

It must hs mentioned

also that the learning of this age has left permanenttraces of its influence on these fables , i by causingthe interpolation with them of some of those am using

Both these publ icationsare in the British Museum,andjare placed in thel ibrary in cases un der glass, for the inspection of the curious.

Fables may possibly have been n ot en tire ly un kn own to the med ie valscholars. Thereare two celebrated works wh ich m ight by some be c lassedamongstworks of th is description . The on e is the “ Speculum Sap ien tim,

”

attributed to St. Cyr i l, Archbishop of Jerusal em, butof acons iderab ly laterorigin ,an d existing on ly in Latin . It is divided in to four books,and con

sists of long con versations con ducted by fi ctitious characters un der thefi gures of the beasts of the fi eldan d forest.an daimed atthe rebuke o f particular classes of men , the boastful, the proud, the luxurious. the wrath ful,etc . Non e o f the storiesare prec isely those of Al sop,an d n one have the

con ein n ity, tersen ess, an d unm istakable deduction of the lesson in ten dedto be taught by the tab le, so con spicuous in the great G reek fabulist. The

exact titl e of the book is th is “ Speculum Sap ientite, B . Cyriil i Ep iscOp i :

al ias quadripartitusapo logeticus vocatus, in q us quidem p roverbiis omn is

et totjus sap ien tim speculum c laret et fe lic iter in c ipit. " The other isalarger work in two volumes, pub l ished in the fourteen th cen tury byCaesarHel sterbaeh ,aC isterc ian mon k, un der the title of D ialogueMiraculorum , reprin ted in 1851 . Th is work con sists of con versations in wh ic hman y storiesare in terwoven on al l kinds of subjects . It has no correspon den ce wi th the pure E so p iaufab le.

x v i P reface.

stories whi ch were so frequently introduced into the

public discourses of the great preachers of those days,

an d of which specimens are yet to be found in theextant sermons of Jean B anlin

,Meffreth

,and Gav

briel Barlette .

* The publication of this era which

most probably has in fluenced these fables, i s the

Liber Facetiarum , 1 a book consisting of a bun

dred jests and stories,by the celebrated Poggio

Bracciol ini,published A .D . 147 1 , from which the two

fables of the “ Mill er,his Son

,and the Ass

,p . 133,

and the “ Fox and the Woodcutter, p . 125, are un

doubtedly selected .

The knowledge of these fables rapidly spread from

Italy in to Germany,and their popularity was ih

creased by the favoran d sanction given to them bythe great fathers of the Reformation , who frequent

ly used them as vehicles for satire and protest against

the tricks an d abuses of the Romish ecclesiastics .The zealous and renowned Camerarius, who took anactive part in the preparation of the confession of

Augsburgh ,found time . amidst his numerous avoca

tions , to prepare a version for the studen ts in the

un iversity of Tubingen,in which hewas a professor .

Post-med imvul l ’rcnchcm by S . Bari ng-G ould . l l ivingicus. NW".

1 Foran accoun t o f th iswork see the Li fe o f Poggie Il rncc iul l n l , by theRev .Wi l l iam Bhephc n i. Liverpoo l . 1801.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

x viii

contained the Latin versions of the same fables by

Phaedrus,Av ienus, and other authors . This volume

of N evel et forms a complete Corpus FabularumZEsop icarum ; and to his labors ZEsop ewes his res

toration to universal favor as on e of the wise moral ists and great teachers of mankind . Dur ing the

interval of three centuries which has elapsed since

the publication of this volum e of N evelet’s , no book ,

with the exception of the Holy Scriptures,has had a

wider circulation than "Esop ’s Fables . They have

been translated into the greater number of the lan

guages both of Europe and of the East,and have been

read,and will be read , for gen erations , alike by J ew ,

Heathen,Mohammedan , and Christian . They are

at the present time , not only engrafted into the lit

erature of the civili zed world , but are familiar ashousehold words in the common intercourse and

daily conversation of the inhabitants of all countries .

This collection of N evel et’

s i s the great culm inatin g point in the history of the revival of the fame

and reputation of JEsop ian Fables . It is remarkable ,

also , as contain in g in its preface the germ of an idea ,

which has been since proved to have been correct by

a strange . chain of ci rcumstan ces . N evelet in ti

mates an opinion,that a wri ter named Babriaswould

be found to be the veritable author of the existing

P reface. x ix

form o f jEsopian Fables . This intim ation has since

given rise to a series of inqui ries,the knowledge of

which is necessary , in the presen t day , to a full un

derstan din g of the true position of ZE sop in connection with the writings that bear his name .The history of Babrias 18 so strange an d inte resting

,that it might not un fi tly be enumerated amon g

the curiosi t ies of literature . He is generally sup

posed to have been a Greek of Asia Minor; of one of

the Ionic Colonies,but the exact period in which he

l ived and wrote is yet unsettled . He is plac ed , by

one critic , * as far back as the insti tution of theAchaian League

,B .C . 250

,by another as late as the

Emperor Severus , who died A . D . 235 ; while oth ers

make him a contemporary with Pheedrus in the time

of Augustus . At whatever time he wrote his ver

sion of ZEsop ,by some strange accident it seems to

have entirely disappeared,and to have been lost

sight of. His name is mentioned by A v ienus ; by

Suidas, a celebrated critic , at the close of the eleven th century

,who gives in his lexicon several iso

lated verses of his version of the fables ; and by John

Tzetzes , a grammarian and poet of Constantinople ,

who lived during the latter half of the twel fth ~

cen ~

Professor Theodore Bergh . See C lassical Museum, N e. vi i i. Jul y, 1849.

xx P reface.

tury . N evelet, i n the preface to the volume which

we have described , poin ts out that the Fables of

Planudes could not be the work of JEsop , as theycontain a reference in two places to “Holy monks

,

and give a verse from the Epistle of St . James as an

Ep imith to on e of the fables , and suggests Babriasas their author . Fran cis Vavassor,

* a learned Fren ch

jesuit , entered at greater length on this subject ,an dproduced further proofs from internal evidence

,from

the use of the word P i raeus in describing the harborof Athens

,a name which was not given ti l l two

hundred years after ZEsop , and from the introduction

of other modern words,that many of these fables

must have been at least committed to writing pos

terior to the time of JE sop ,an d more boldly suggestsBabrias as their author or collector"These variousreferences to Babrias in duced Dr. Richard Bentley ,at the close of the seven teenth century

,to examine

more minutely the existing versions of JEsop’

sFables ,

Vavassor's treatise, en titled “ D e Lud leraD iction e " was written A .O.

mm.atthe request o f the celebrated M. Balzac (though publ ishedafter h iscieuth ). for the purpose o f showing thatthe burlesque style o f writingadoptm l by Scurro n an d D '

Assouei, il l l (l atthat time. so popular in Fran ce, bud n o

muwtio n from the an c ien t ciussic wriwrs.— “ Fruuc lsc i Vavnssorls opera

oum iu.

"Amsterdam , 1700.

t T he c laims o f l iubrlusalso foundawarmadvocate In the learn ed Fren chmun . M. i luylr. who , in h isadm irable D ietiouury, D ictiounulre HistoriqueM t

'rit ue do l ’ierre l iuylo . l 'urls, lace.) gives mid itlouul arguments in

co n ltrmatlon o f the opin ions o f h is learn ed predecessors, N eveletan dVuvul m r.

P reface. xxi

and he maintained that many of them could , with aslight change of words, be resolved into the Seazenic"iambics

,in which Babrias is known to have

written : and , with a greater freedom than the evi

dence then justified,he put forth

,in behalf of Babrias .

a claim to the exclusive authorship of these fables .

Such a seemingly extravagan t theo ry , thus roundly

asserted,excited much opposition . Dr. Ben tleyimet

with an able antagonist in a member of the Univer

sity of Oxford , the Hon . Mr. Charles Boyle, 1 after

wardsEarl of Orrery . Their lettersan d disputationson this subject , enl ivened on both sides with much

witand learning, will ever bear a conspicuous p lacein the literary history of the seventeenth century .

The arguments of Dr. Bentley were yet further de

fended a few years later by Mr. Thomas Tyrwhitt,a

well - read scholar,who gave up high civi l distino

tions that he might devote himself the more un reserv

edly to literary pursuits . Mr. Tyrwhitt published,

A . D . 1 7 7 6 , a Dissertation on Babrias, and a collee

Scazon te, or halti ng, iambics ; achel iambic (alame, halting iambic) differs from the iambic Senarius inalways havingaspondee or trochee for itslast foot : the fi fth foot, to avo id shortn ess of metre , be ing gen eral ly aniambic . See Fables of Babrias, tran slated by Rev. James Davies Lockwood , 1860. Preface, p. 27 .

See D r. Ben tley’s D issertations upon the Epistles of Phalaris.

2 D r. Ben tley ’

s D issertation s on the Epistles of Phalaris, an d Fab les of

E sop exam in ed . By the Hon orable Charles Boy le.

xxii P reface.

tion of his fables in choliambic metre,found in a MS .

in the Bodleian Library at Oxford . Francesco de

Furia,a learned Italian

,contributed further testi

mony to the correctness of the supposition that Bab

rias had made a veritable col lection of fables by print

in g from a MS . contained in the Vatican library sev

eral fables never before published . In the year 1844,

however,n ew and unexpected light was thrown upon

this subject . A veritable copy of Babrias was foundin a manner as singular as were the MSS . of Q uin c

til ian ’

s Institutes,and of Cicero’s Orations by Poggio

in the monastery of St . Gall A . D . 1416 . M . Men oides ,

at the suggestion of M . Villemain , Minister of Public

Instruction to King Louis Philippe,had been entrust

ed withacommission to search for ancient MSS . , and

in carrying out his instructions he found a MS . at the

convent of St . Laura , on Mount Athos , which proved

to be a copy of the long suspected and wished - for

chol iambic version of Babrias. This MS . was found

to be divided into two books , the one containing one

hundred and twenty - fi ve,and the other ninety - fi ve

fables . This discovery attracted very gen eral atten

tion , not only as confirming , in a singular manner

the conjectures so ‘

bol dly made by a long chain of

c ritics , but as bringing to light valuable l iterary treas

ures tending to establ ish the reputation , an d to con

P reface. xxiii

firm the antiquity and authentic ity of the great mass

of JEsop ian Fable . The Fables thus recovered weresoon published . They found a most worthy edito r

in the late distinguished Sir George Corn ewal l Lewis ,and a translator equally qualified for his task , in the

Reverend James Davies , M .A . , sometime a scholar

of Lincoln College,Oxford

,and himself a relation of

their English editor. Thus , after an eclipse of man y

centuries,Babrias shines out as the earliest , an d

most reliable collector of veritable jEsop ian Fables .Having thus given a complete synopsis of the

origin , descent , and history of these fables , it on ly

remains to explain the reasons which have induced

the Publishers to prepare a n ew edition of JEsop , and

to state the grounds on which they hope to establish

a claim for support and public approval in their un

dertakin g. They boldly assert that the n ew l ight

thrown upon these fables by the discovery of the

metrical version by Babrias, renders a n ew tran slation an inevitable necessity . The two chief existing

English versions of jEsopare those by ArchdeaconCroxal l , and by the late Rev . Thomas James , canon

of Peterborough . The first of these deviates so very

far from the text,that it degenerates into a parody .

The fables are so padded , diluted , and altered , as to

give very little idea to the reader either of the terse

xxiv P reface.

ness or the meaning of the original . The second of

these is an improvement on its predecessor, but Mr.

James,either out of compliance with the wishes of

the publ ishers,or in con descension to the taste prev

aleut some twenty years ago , has so freely intro

duced as the point of the fable conventional English

sayings which are not sanctioned by the Greek , and

which in many instances are scarcely equivalent to

it,that his version frequently approaches a para

phrase rather thanatranslation .

The Publishers therefore ground their first claim for

public approval on the necessity for a new tran slation . They trust further that their present work will

have met that necessity in a satisfactory manner.

They have sought to give as nearly a l iteral tran slation as possible of the Greek text ; and they hope that

if the reader should miss the smoothness and thor

oughly English tone which characterized the pre

v ious version of these fables , he will be more than

repaid , by gaining a nearer approach to the spiri t ,

thoughts , and (in some cases) to the epigrammatic

tersen ess of the origin al . The publishers trust to

v indicate , on another ground , thei r claims to a share

o f public patronage . They have inserted an hun

dred n ew fables,and they have the satisfaction of

knowing that this edition,on which they have spared

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xxv i P reface.

fables and to make a wholly new translation . The

necessity of a n ew and improved translation the

Editor then recognized,and would have will in gly

undertaken. It was a wish he had much at heart,

and when the proposal was voluntarily made to him

by the present Publishers to undertake the task of

a new tran slation of an enlarged number of JE SOp’

s

Fables,he saw no reason for refusin g the offer be

cause of his pr ior discharge of a totally different de

sign ; and he resolved to comply with the request

submitted to him,and to do his best toward theat

tainmen tof so desirable an object as a purer tran s

lation , and more l iteral rendering of fables so justly

celebrated .

The foll owing are the sources from which the pres

ent translation has been prepared

Babri l FubulmE sopeze . George Corn ewal l Lewis. Oxford , 1846 .

Il n brii Fabulm xE sopese . E COd l CO manuscrip to partem seeun dum cd id it.

G eorge Corn ewal l Lewis. London : Parker, 1867 .Mynlm log lcaAl sop loa. Operaet studiaIeuse l N ieho lal N eveleti. Frankfurt, l UlO.

Fulmhu Aflsop lacae, gualos an te P lanudem ferebantur curaet studioFran c isci do Furia. Lipsim, 1810.

Ex rocugn ltlmie Carn l l Hn lm l l . L l ps lm,

l’l iwd ri l’abulwESODlLB. D olph in C lassics. lw

THE LIFE OF ZESOP

THE knowledge of the Egyptians was concealedin hieroglyphics and other mysterious characters ;that of the Grecian s in symbols and ein blematicalallusions but jEsop , havin g penetrated through theveil they had thrown over her, broughtal l the i r mysterles to l ight

,and wrapped them up in fables . His

l i fe,as recorded by P lanudes and other wri ters of

an tiquity,is here faithfully presen ted to the public .

He was born at Ammon ius, in Phrygia the Grea t .

er ; a town in i tself obscure , though , from i ts bein gthe birthplace of jEsop ,

might successfully haveentered in to competition as a rival with those c itiesthat with a noble emulation contended for the bi rthof Homer.All agree that his person was uncommonly deformed , insomuch that the Thersi tes of Homerseems to be but an imperfect transcript of him . Hishead was lon g

,nose fiat

,l ips thick and penden t , a

hump back , and complexion dark , from which hecontracted his n ame (ZEsopus bein g the same wi thZEthiop s) , large belly , and bow legs but his greatest infirmity was

,that his speech was slow . in ertie

n late, and very obscure . Such was the person ofJEsop . But

, as Nature often sets the most refulgen tgems where they would be least expected

,so she en

dowed this extraordinary man with an accompl ished

xxvi i i

mind , capable of the most subl ime and elevatedideas . His station in life also, as well as his person ,was mean an d contemptible the former part ofwhich was spent in the most abject poverty

,and the

latter in slavery , til l a f ew years before his death .

His first master (under whose domin ion he thengroaned) , fin ding him incapable of an y domest i cbusiness

,employed him in the field

,where

,not long

after,he gave the first testimon y of his ingenuity .

It happened one day, when his master was walkingin the field

,that a laborer presen ted him with som e

del ic ious figs ; which he immediately gave to thecare of Agathopodus (another of hi s servan ts)till he returned from ‘ the bath . But he, in leaguewith his fellow - servant , agreed to eat them ,an d laythe guilt upon ZEsop . When the master returned

,

they loudly accused JEsop of eatin g the figs . Themaster, en raged , sent for JEsop , and asked himwhat could induce him to eat the figs he had orderedto be reserved ? Not answering readily fi n his defence , he was ordered to be punished . But

,fallin g

at his master’s feet,he implored him to suspend the

punishmen t. In which interval he ran an d fetchedsom e warm water

,and drank it ; then , puttin g h is

fin ger down his throat , he caused the water to re

turn,for he had eaten n othin g that day . He then

requested that hi s accusers might be ordered to dothe same ; which , h is master approving , they weretold to do ; and the consequence was, that ZEsop '

s

i n n ocence was apparent, and his en emies were givento the punishment they justly deserved .

The day followi n g h is master retu rn ed to the city ,and ZESOp was remanded to h is labor ; when he met

two priests o f Diana who had lostthei r way . They

L ife of xxix

commanded him,in the name of Jove , to direct them

into the most regular track ; which he no t on ly performed

,but refreshed them with meat ; for which

kindness he gained their good wishes , as well asthei r prayers .ZEsop ,

returning to his task , Oppressed wi th carean d labor , lay down to sleep ; and in a dream beheldFortune standing by him

,gratifying him wi th volu

bil ity of language , and the abil ity of wrappin g uphis ideas in the form of apologues . Immediatelystartin g up

,he exclaimed

,

“ O wonderful"in whatacharming trance have I been for , behold , I speakfluently , and can register each creature by its name .

This certainly is the reward of my compliance andkindn ess to the strangers .” Overjoyed , he went tohis labor. Having committed some faul t , Zenas

(overseer of the field) struck him . You arealways ,

” said jEsop ,punishing him that off ends

you not . If my master knew it , he would , no doubt ,revenge the se stripes .” Zenas

,filled with enmi ty ,

and aston ished to hear him speak fluen tly,resolved

(by way of prevention , lest he should be dischargedas an unjust steward

, ) to accuse him to his master ;whom , not long after , he accosted , desirin g the godsto protect him . Upon which his master inquired ,what it was that discomposed him ? Zenas replied

,

“ Somethin g won derful in the field . The masterasked , what the wonder could be ? He answered ,“ zEsop , who was thought dumb , has n ow foundutterance and elocut ion . His master observed

,

This will be ruin ous to thee,in whose estimation

he was reputed a mon ster. Zen as rej oined,

“Whathe hath spite-fully spoken again st me I should haveburied in silence ; but against you and the gods he

xxx L if e of

hath uttered intolerable curses . This so in censedhis master

,that he ordered him to be sold for a slave

as a recompense for his ingratitude and impiety .

No soon er had Zen as got ZEsop in his power thanhe informed him how he was to be disposed of. Towhom he replied

,

“ Do your pleasure .

” Shortlyafter which a merchant

,comin g to buy cattle

, met

Zen as who told him,that though he had no cattle ,

he had a man slave to sell . The merchan t,hearing

this,desired to see him . ZEsop bein g introduced , he

burst into laughter,sayin g ,

“ Had I n ot been con

v in ced by his voice , I should have taken him for ablown bladder. Why did you draw me aside toshock my eyes with such a deformed monster ? ” Ashe departed , jEsop desired him to stop . The mer

chant replied ,“ Be gone

,you filthy cur JEsop

then requested to know for what cause he camethither . He replied

,

“ To buy somethin g of value,

not such a worthless thin g as thou art .” ZEsop thenpressed him to buy him ,

promising he should fi n d

him worth his mon ey . The merchant desired himto explain himself. Have you at home

,said

ZEsop , any testy children ? - I shall supply theplace of bugbear

,to terri fy them into si lence . ”

Zenas was then asked , what he would take for thatuncouth creature ? Three half - pence ,

” said he .The merchant paid the price

,observing that with

nothing he had bought nothin g.

When they were come near home ,two of the mer

chant’s children , seein g ZEsop , testified thei r fear ofhim by c ryin g.

“ N ow,si r

,

” said ZEsop ,“ you see

the e ffect of my prom ise .

” As they went into thehouse the merchant

,smil in g , commanded JEsop to

salute his fellow - servan ts ; who , when they beheld

L ife of £3017 .

his deformity,exclaimed “ What could in duce my

master to bring suchawretch into his family l ”Shortly after this the merchant orderedal l thing sto be got ready for an inten ded journey in to Asia .

“Then they were assigning to each servant his proportion of burden

, ZESOp desi red (i t being his fi rstt im e) that he might have the l ightest . His requestbeing granted

,he took up the basket of bread ; at

which the other slaves laughed,conside ring that

burden enough for two . But when dinner - time approached , ZEsop , (who had with greatdi ffi culty sustain ed his load) was commanded to set it down , anddistribute an equal share of the bread to the otherslaves . His load being thus dimin ished one half hepursued his journey with pleasure . At supper - t imehe was again ordered to distr ibu te of his load ; afterwhich (the basket being empt ied ) the n ext morn inghe led the van

,and obliged those

,who before had

treated him with contempt,to applaud his in genu

i ty .

Being arrived at Ephesus,and having sold divers

of his slaves to good advantage , the merchant waspersuaded to sail with the last three to Samos ;n amely , Can tor, a native of Cappadocia , and Grammaticus, born in Lydia ; two persons of large dimen

sions ; and jEsop , whose character was before described . N ow , in order that he might the be tte r sellthe two former

,he dressed them in new clothes ; but

(supposin g that no art could improve him) heclothed "Esop in sackcloth

,which exposed him as

well to deris ion as to sale. Among those who cameto buy was Xanthus , an eminent philosopher ofSamos , attended with his scholars ; who , havin gviewed the slaves , and seeing E sop placed in the

Xx x l l

midst, supposed he was setthere that the other twomight appear to a greater advantage .The philosopher first addressed himself to Cantor

,

demandin g what he could perform .

“ All things .”

said he . Xan thus then dem anded what price wasset upon him . The merchan t replied ,

“A thousan dhalf - pen ce .

” Xan thus , displeased at the price , wen tto the other

, an d asked him what he could do . Healso replied

,

“All th ings .” The philosopher thenasked the price of G rammaticus. He was told ,“ three thousand half - pen ce .

” Xanthus,thinking

this also too much , declared he would buy n o

servants that were rated at so high a price .

Upon which the scholars suggested to Xanthus tobuy ZEsop , sayin g they would pay for him .

“ ’T isnot fit

,

” said Xanthus,

“ that I should buy him,and

you make good the paymen t . Besides , my wifewould be much displeased to have such a misshapenperson to wait upon her.” The scholars replied

,

We are n otalways obliged to comply with the desires of a woman therefore let us examine this deformed creature . Xanthus

,turning to ZEsop ,

bidhim be comforted .

“Was I ever sad ?” repliedjEsop . Of what place are you a native ?” said thephi losopher. “ Iam a negro

,

” said JEsop . I donot ask you that , but where you were born .

”ZEsOp

answered,

“ Of my mother,

“ Neither d id I askthat

,

” said Xanthus,

“but what placewere you bornin ?

” “ My mother never i nformed me whetherabove or below.

” “What can you perform ? ” “Nothin g ,

” replied jEsop ;“the two fo rmer having told

you they can do all things , there remain s nothin gfor me to do .

“ Are you will ing ,” said Xanthus ,

“ thatI should buy you?” Y ouought, answered

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xxxiv

she had enriched him,and she would abandon that

unhappy mansion . On this Xanthus rebuked ZEsop ,

who had discovered so m uch in genui ty before,that

he was so si len t now . Cast her off , said E sop .

Away with you,villain ,

” replied he . “ My lovean d my life is so incorporated into hers , as if oneheart alone managed two bodies .” At which ZEsop ,stamping

,said that Xanthus was under the domin

ion of his wife and turn in g to his m i stress,said

,

You,madam

,would have had the philosopher

have brought you a youn g , han dsom e fellow ,

whose attractions might feed your vani ty , but at thesame time might endanger his reputation . Oh

,

Euripides,thy mouth was a golden on e, for these

,words came out of it Great i s the effort of thesea when its waves swell into sedition

,an d obey n o

law and the flame or impression of devour in g fi re ;poverty

,i s a ruinous condition and thereare m an y

thin gs intolerable,but nothing equal to an impetu

ous woman .

’ You,bein g the wife of a ph il ososher,

should not be attended by such persons as wouldbring philosophy itself into disrepute.

” She,bein g

unable to con tradict him , asked Xanthus where hehad purchased th is beauty .

“ The handsomeness ofhis ingenuity , said she,

“doth recompense for the dcformity of h is person my disl ike of him is ex tin

guished .

” Your mistress ,” said Xanthus to ZESOp ,

i s n ew reconciled .

”ZEsop i ronically replied

"Tis

a d ifficult matter sure to appease a woman . Forthe future ,

”said Xan thus ,

“ be silent ; I bought you toobey

,not to con tradict .”

The day following , Xan thus , going to the gardento buy herbs , comman ded ZEsop to accompany him .

When the gardener had gathered the herbs,he en

XXI V

trusted them to ZE sop . When they were paid for ,the gardener asked Xan thus what was the naturalreason that the herbs that he planted did not improve with that quick and active growth ,as thosewhich were Nature’s voluntary production Xanthus

,not being able to an swer the question , thus

repl ied “ It thus happened from that order an dseries of P rovidence that thread ed together inferiorcauses and thei r effects ”

,

— Atwhich jEsop smiled .

Do you laugh at me ? said Xanthus . I laugh atyou ,

” an swered he,

“and not you only , but him thattaugh t you .

" Upon which Xanthus , addressin ghimself to the gardener

,said

,It is not fit for me ,

wh o have disputed in learn ed auditories , to unravelquestion s in a garden . My servant here wil l solvethe di ffi cul ty .

”The gardener replied , Is there any

knowledge treasured up in this sordid vessel ? ” Atwhich ZEsop was off en ded , and asked the garden erthis question “When a widow is engaged in secon d n uptials she is mother to the i ssue of her fi rstmarriage, but stepm other to the children of her second husband . Those

,to whom by the proper obl i

gation s of Nature her affection s are entit led , sheaff ectsan d values more than those to whom she i smother on ly by acciden tal relation . So it is herethe earth is a stepmother to those plants which arein corporated into her womb by art

,but a mother to

those which are her own free production .

” The gardch er was so well satisfied wi th his reply that hegave him liberty to gather what herbs he migh t a tan y time wan t , as a recom pen se .

Some days after this,Xan thus

,having met with

som e friends at the bath, an d in ten ding to in vite

them to dinner, ordered ZEsop to go directly home,

xxxvi L ife of

and boil some lentils . He went , as enjoined , andonly boiled one . Xanthus , after bathing , accordin gl y invited his friends , in forming them , thatthough their fare would be scan ty , yet he was con fident they would take the will for the deed . Whenthey came home Xanthus ordered E sop to brin gsomething to drin k ; who , takin g some water fromthe stream of the bath

,presented it to Xan thus ; at

which he was offended,and asked ZESOp where he

brought it from ? “ From the bath ,” said jEsop .

Xanthus,on account of his friends , concealed his

an ger,and called for a basin

,which ZEsop havin g

brought,stood still . Xanthus asked h im ,

Do younot wash ? ” He repl ied

,

’T is for you to command ,

me to obey,but to put water in the basin was no

part of the comman d .

” Upon which Xanthus askedhis frien ds whether they thought he had bought . aservant : who repl ied , that, in thei r opinion , he hadrather purchased a master. Xanthus n ow asked i fdinner was ready When ZEsop ,

putting the lenti linto a shel l , presented it to his master ; who , havingtried i f it was bo i led enough , ordered him to serveup the rest . ZEsop immediately put the broth intosaucers

,an d brought them to Xanthus who asked

where the lentils were ? “ You have i t already ,repl ied jEsop . Did you boil but on e said h ismaster. No more

,si r

,Said Al sop ; Your com

mand was in the singular number.” At which Xanthus incensed , exclaimed

,

“ This fellow is en oughto drive me mad 1 but, that I may n otdeceive myfrien ds , go i n stantly , and buy, four hogs

’ feet , andbo i l them . Which JEsop cheerfully did . N ow,

while they were boil i n g , Xan thus , wishin g to findsome cause of complain t , i n ZEsop

’

s absence took

L ife of xxxvi i

out on e of the feet which jEsop on his return missed

, an d ,suspectin g the design , ran to an adjacent

hog - sty ,an d , cutt ing off one of the feet of a fatted

hog,singed it

,and put it into the pot . Xanthus ,

suspecting that ZEsop , on the discovery , would run

away,put the foot in again . So that , when jEsop

came to serve them up on the table , he found therewere five . Upon which Xanthus inquired by whatmean s they were multiplied . E sop an swered byasking

, How many feet have two .hogs — His

master replied,Eigh t .” Here , then ,

” said fE sop ,

are five present,an d youfat ted hog hath the other

three . Xan thus,being more en raged at this , ex

claimed,Did n ot I say this fellow would drive me

madShortly afterwards on e of the scholars invi tedXanthusan d his fellow studen ts to a feas t ; whereXan thus

,wishing to reconci le the diff eren ce he had

occasioned when he first return ed,sent jEsop wi th a

choice dish to his mistress,tel ling him to give i t to

her that loved him best . ZEsop wen t ; an d , seat in ghimself in the porch

,called his mistress

,an d showedher the present Xanthus had sent to her that lovedhim best. But this

,

” said he ,

“ madam , i s not foryou . Then

,call ing his master’s bitch , Lycaena , he

cast it down,and bid her eat it . At his re turn Xan

thus asked him whether he had don e as he was or

dered He said,Y es

,an d she swallowed it in my

presence. His master then inqui red what she said .

Nothing to me ,” said jE sop , but to you she re

turns her thanks .” This so ofl‘

en ded his mistressthat she determined

‘

to leave the house . In the

mean time,while they were all heated with wine

,

one of the company asked , when would be the time

xx xv ii i

of the greatest confusion among mortals ? ZEsoprepl ied

,

“When the dead rise an d attem pt to traceout thei r ancient possessions .” At which the scholars smiled . Another asked why sheep l ie so calmly ,and swine with such an offensive noise Thesheep

,

” answered ZEsop ,

“ bein g used to be shorn ,

are silent,and expect nothing but what is custom ary ;

butswine , unaccustomed to be handled , when theyare killed , make an hideous noise. The scholarswere so pleased with his answers that they burst ihto laughter. Supper being over , Xanthus returnedhome , and would have saluted his wife but she , being highly offended at what had passed

,told him

she would have nothing to say to him,who

,instead

of sen ding her his dain ties,had sent them to his dog .

Xan thus , surprised , asked ZEsop to whom he hadpresen ted them who repl ied

,

“To her that loves youbest . ” Then , calling the spaniel .

“ This is she,

” saidhe

,

“ for , though you load her wi th stripes , yet stil lshe fawns upon and accompanies you . You shouldhave told me to present them to your wife .

” Youare n ow convinced , mistress ,

” said Xanthus,

“ i twas not my

'

fault that the present miscarried . Bearthe disappointment with patience ,an d I will takean opportun ity of avenging it upon ZEsop . Butthis d id not satisfy his wi fe . She therefore went toher father ; which caused ZEsop to triumph , saying ,N ow , si r you see which loves you best .After thi s ZEsop , observing h is master uneasy onaccount of hi s wi fe ’s departure ,

told h im not to beunhappy , for that he would soon bring her backagain . For which purpose he set off to market

,an d

purchased fowls,geese , &c . With these he in ten

tional lywent to the house where his mistress resided

L ife of £3013. xxxix

and asked the servants if they had anything to sel lthat would add to the magnificence of aweddin gfeast he was about to provide . They inquiringwhose marriage was goin g to be celebrated , be re

plied,Xanthus means to celebrate his second nup

tials to -morrow .

” This intelligen ce soon reachedthe ear of his wife ; and filled her so with jealousythat she flew home , and declared that no second es

pousals of his should be establ ished but upon herurn . Thus ZEsop , who was the occas ion of her departure , was the cause of her hasty return .

Not lon g after Xanthus invited his scholars to dinner

,and ordered ZEsop to furnish the feastwith the

choicest dainties ; who while fulfi ll in g the Commandof his master

,was studying how to expose his folly .

He therefore laid out the money in tongues,whichhe served up accompanied with a poignant sauce .

The scholars much commended his first course,as

it furn ished them with matter for conversation; butthe second and third being the same

,the guests

were astonished as wel l as their master ; who inquired if there was nothing provided but ton gues ?

jEsop repl ied , Nothing else .

” Thou lump of deformity ,

” said Xanthus,did I not command you to

prepare the choices t dainties ? ” “ Sir,

” said ZEsop ,

your rep roof before philosophers deserves mythanks . What excels the tongue ? It i s the greatchannel of learnin g and phi losophy . By thi s nobleorgan addresses

,commerce

,contracts

,eulogies

,and

marriages , are completely es tabl ished . On thismoves life itself. Therefore nothin g is equal to thetongue .

” The scholars,depart in g , declared that the

philosophy excel led that of Xan thus ,

x l L ife of E sop .

Some time after this Xanthus , perceiving the dissatisfaction of his scholars

,told them it was not his

design so to have treated them .

“ But n ow ,

” saidhe , I have ordered my servant to procure theworst meats for supper.” ZEsop ,

however, (constan t

to his purpose , ) again prov ided ton gues . Xanthus ,m ore incen sed sti ll

,asked him if this was the en ter

tainmen the had ordered To which "Esop repl iedthat he had exactly fulfilled his commands . “ Forwhat ,

” said he ,“ i s worse than the ton gue ? Is i t

not frequen tly the ruin of empi res , cities , and private connection s ? Is it not the con veyan ce of calum n ies and forgeries ? In short , i s i t not the granddisturber of c ivi l seeiety

? When the scholarsheard his reply

,they declared that the deformity of

his body was but the transcript of his distorted andi rregular mann ers ; an d gave Xan thus a caution .

lest his behavior should drive him out of his min d .

To whom JEsep observed , that their speech betrayedtheir mal ice , by endeavorin g to cause discontent between himan d his master.Xanthus , sti ll desirous to reven ge himself forthese affronts , again sought for cause to complain ofAl sop ; and commanded h im (since he had accusedthe scholars of offi ciousn ess) to find a man that regarded nothing. The next day , while traversing thestreets

,sop discovered o n e s itting in a negligent

posture,void of reflection . This man JEsop accost

ed,and invited to dinner with his master. The

clown,without hesitati on . followed him , an d sat

down at his master'

s table in h is mean attire . Xanthus immediately asked who this guest was ? JEsoprepl ied , l t is a person regardless . ” Xanthus thendesi red his wi fe to wash the stran ger

’

s feet,think

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xli i L ife of £3019.

one attempted to lay it aside , he wen t home , andtold h is master there was butone person in the bath .

Xanthus arr iving , and seeing a multitude , askedhim the reason of his false in formation . Al sop toldhim

,there was a great ston e lay at the entrance

,

over which many stumbled , but only one rem ovedthe obstacle ; so that there was on ly one man , therest being little better than ciphers .Not lon g after

,on a day fixed by Xan thus an d

other ph ilosophers for publi c rejoicing. Xanthushaving drank freely , was raised into a passion ,

be

ing worsted in some dispute that had ari sen which.

A lsop observing , said . Master , Bacchus is theparent of three evils . The first i s voluptuousn ess

,

the second intemperance , the th ird calumny or re

proach ; of which you , being en gaged in d rin k ,should beware.” At last , Xanthus being in tox icated

,one of the scholars asked h im i f itwas possible

to drink off the sea .

“ Very easy ,” said Xan thus

,I

will engage to perform i t myself.” Upon which theylaid a wager ; and havin g exchan ged rings , departed . The day followin g Xanthus missed his ring , andasked Al sop what was become of it . I know not

,

said he,

“ but this I am con fiden t of we must notstay here ; for yesterday , when disguised with liquor,you betted your whole fortune that you would drink

off the ocean an d , to‘bind the wager , you ex chan g

ed your ring. Xan thus repl ied , What could I en

gage less ? But can you contri ve how to get rid ofi t ? To perform it ,

” said Al sop , is impossible ;but how to avoid i t I will show you . When youmeet again , be as confident as ever, an d order atable to be pl aced on the shore , and person s prepared

to lave the ocean with cups ; and , when the multi

Life of £3019 . xli i i

tude are assembled,ask what was the wager. The

reply will be , that you en gaged to drin k up the sea :then do you address them thus , Ye ci t izens ofSamos

,you are not ignorant that man y rivers d is

charge themselves into the sea. My agreemen t wasto drink up the ocean , and not those streams . Ifyou

,then , can obstruct their course , I am ready to

perform my engagement . Xanthus,bein g pleased

with the expedien t,when the people assembled , ac t

ed and said as Al sop had instructed him for whichhe was highly applauded . When the scholar fel l athis feet , and owned himself wrong , at the same t imerequesting that the wager mightbe dissolved whichXanthus , at the desi re of the Samians , granted .

Al sop,on h is return hom e ,

intimated to Xanthushow much he had meri ted his freedom , tha t he hadbid him go to the door ;an d , i f there were two crewsin sight, to tel l him ,

for i t was an auspicious omenbut

,i f he beheld but on e

,i t would be a bad one .

Al sop returned,and told him he saw two pe rched

on a tree. But , when Xanthus went out, one ofthem was gone . Upon which he called Al sop an ungrateful villain

,observing that his whole aim was

to make him an object of ridicule,for which he

should n ow be scourged . Al sop , groaning with hisstripes , addressed one who entered to sup with hismaster, in a sad accent , thus :

“ You , that beheldone crew , are rewarded with a supper ; and I , thatdiscovered two , am recompensed un deservedly .

”

Which ingenious address so softened Xanthus,that

he forbade the continuance of his punishment .Shortly after , Xanthus designing to entertain thephilosophers and c raters , comman ded Al sop to stand

at the gate , andadmi t n on ebutwise men . At the

xliv Lif e of

appointed time several came to the gate,requesting

admittance : but Al sop put this question to them all— “What stirs the dog?” At which they were muchoff ended

,supposin g he mean t to give them that ap

pellation . At last one came who made thi s replyto his question

,

“ His ears and his tail . JEsop ,

satisfied with the answer,adm itted him , and con

ducted him to his master,sayin g there was only on e

philosopher had desired admittan ce . The day following

,when they met at the schools

,they reproach

cd Xanthus with treating them contemptuously,by

permitting Al sop to stan d at the gate and salutethem with the opprobrious epithet of dogs .” Xanthus asked if they were serious . They replied

,they

were . Upon which Al sop was called , and askedhow he dared to affron t his friends ? To which herepl ied , Did you not tell me that none but philoso

phers should be admitted And what arethese said Xanthus ,

“ do they not merit thatcharacter ?” By no mean s

,said Al sop , for

,

when they came to the gate I deman ded of themWhat sti rs the dog ? and but on e among them allgave a proper an swer .” Upon this al l agreed thatAl sop had acted strictly as his master commandedhim .

One day , when Xan thus , accompanied by Al sop ,wen t to vi sit the monuments

,an d to amuse himsel f

with the insc ription s , Al sop , seeing these letters 011

o n e of them ,so. a. b, d , o , e, 0, fr. showed them

to Xan thus . asking him thei r meaning. W110,after

serious cons ideratio n , con fessed he kn ew n ot.

“Master,

”said Al sop , i f by these characters I trace out

a treasure ,what reward shall I rece ive ?” Xanthus

answered,

“ Thy freedom . and ha lf the treasure ,

”

L if e of Al sop .x l v

Then Al sop , havin g dug the earth four feet from theston e

,foun d it ;an d ,

giving it to his master , claimedhis reward .

“ No,

” said Xan thus ,“ not til l I can

unravel the mystery , the knowledge of which willbe worth more than the treasure .” Al sop told him aprudent man had engraven them , and the sense wasthis agoing, b paces , d four , 0 digging , e thoushalt find

,0 a treasure

,a: of gold l ” Xanthus an

swered , It will be more to my interest to keep theethan to let thee go .

” “ Then , said Al sop , I willprove that the gold belongs to the king of B izan tium .

” How do you prove it said his maste r.Thus . replied he

,arestore , b to the king , d Di

on ysius, e which , 6 thou hast found , 0 treasure , x ofgold .

” Upon this Xan thus requested Al sop to aocept the half

,as a reward for his s ilence . JEsop

replied,I receive not this as the effect of your

bounty , but of his who concealed it ; for this is thegenuine sense of the le tters — ataking

,b go your

way,d divide

,e which , e you have found , 0 the

treasure .” Xan thus repl ied , Come,depart the

moiety of the gold,and your freedom ,

shall be yourreward .

” As they returned,Xanthus (fearing Al sop

would discover the aff air) commanded that theyshould take him to pr ison . As they were tak in g himaway , Al sop exclaimed

,Do the solemn prom ises of

phi losophers,an d thei r spec ious intimation of l iberty

en d in prison and fetters Upon which Xanthusordered his release

,observing that what he had said

was true ; though he was con fident , when he hadgot his freedom , he would do all that lay in his power to injure him . Al sop answered

,In spite ofal l

yourartifi ces, I shall obtain my liberty .

xlv i L ife of Al sop .

Soon after this , on a day appointed for generalfestivity by the eitzens of Samos

,an eagle descend

ed , snatched up the publ ic rin g, and afterwardsdropped it into the lap of a slave . The astonishedSam ians appl ied to Xanthus to unfold the mysterywho

,knowing himself in capab le, was very much de

jected . Al sop , perceiving this, asked what madehim so unhappy. To -morrow

,when you appear

in publi c,

” says he, tell the Sam ians , that you arenot dexterous in these matters

, butyou have a servant that is .” To this Xanthus agreed , an d accordin gly the next day A3s0p was called forth . But ,when they saw him , they smiled , asking contemptuously ,

How can such a deformed creature unfoldthis great mystery ?” Al sop

,waving his hand

, re

pl ied,

“ Ye citizens of Samos, you should not onlyview the front of the house , but the tenant also ; forfrequently an upright and un derstan ding soul dwellsin a deformedan d disordered body ; an d you kn owit i s not the shape of the cask that men admire

,but

the wine concealed therein . Hearing this , theydesired him to proceed : wherefore he contin ued ,

"YeSamians , i t rests with you to judge between the

master and the servant . If I do not un fold the mystery concea led in this signal accident , let stri pes bemy reward ; but , i f the master be outvied by the d iscovery , then letmy freedom be given me . Uponthis they insisted that Xanthus should give Al soph is freedom . Xanthus m aking no reply , the citypraetor addressed him thus If you do not grantthe request of the people

,I wil l declare Al sop free.

”

Whereupon,Xan thn s dec lared Al sop free an d the

city crier proclaimed it . Then said Al sop to his master,

“ In spite of your mal ice , I have obtained my

L ife of Al sop . xl vi i

freedom . And then , add ress ing the people , he thusunfolded the mystery Y e ci ti zen s of Samos I theeagle

,you know, i s the monarch of bi rds ; an d , as

the public rin g was dropped in to the lap of a slave,

i t seems to forebode that some of the adjacen t kin gswill attempt to overthrow your establ ished laws

,

and entomb your l iberty in slavery .

”

This filled the Samians wi th grief. Shortly after,letters arrived from Croesus of Lydia, requirin g theSamians to pay tr ibute , or else prepare to suffer thecalamities of a destructive war.Upon which a public council was cal led , and Al sopwas requested to give his advice ; who thus addressed them . We have , said have , buttwo objectsbefore us. The one is liberty ; which in the beginnin g is rough and difficul t , bu t in the end is smoo thand easy ; and the o ther is bon dage ; whose beginning is easy

, but the con clusion fatal and calamitous .” The Samians , when they heard this , dec lard ,

that , as they were at present free , so they and the i rl iberty would stand or fal l together — and wi th thisresolute reply dismissed the ambassadors . Croesusbeing informed of their resolution

,determined to go

to war wi th them . But the ambassadors advised himfirst to send for Al sop , with the promise that the tribu te should be suspended

,an d then perhaps he mightreduce them ; but that , as lon g as they were strengthen ed wi th the coun sel s of Al sop , he would not beable. Croesus took their advice , and sent for him onthose con di t ion s . The Samians , be ing well satisfied ,agreed to give him up . But , when Al sop heard ofit , he thus addressed them Y e c iti zens of Sam os ,I am ready to prostrate my self at the feet of Croesus ,but first I will tell you a tale . The wolves commen c

xlvi i i L ife of Al sop .

ed war wi th the sheep , but the sheep were securedby the gen erous protection of the dogs ; on whichthe wolves sent ambassadors to the sheep

,to this

end,that

,i f they desired peace

,they should give up

their dogs . The timorous and unwary sheep agreedto it

,and sent away their protectors . The wolves

immediately destroyed thei r dogs,and then the

sheep fel l an easy prey . The Samians,comprehend

ing his meaning,refused to let Al sop go , but he re

solved to accompany the ambassadors .When they arrived at Lydia , they presented Al sop .

As soon as the king saw him he was angry ; despisingthe idea that so despicable a person should by hiscoun sels prevent him from conquering the Samians .Al sop

,observing his astonishment

,said

,

“ Mightysir"since neither by force n or necessity

,but of my

own free wi ll , I give myself up , I request your attention . A certain man , having gathered many locusts, k illed them ; and having with them taken agrasshopper, she thus bespoke him

‘ Sir,do not kill

me,for I am no ways destructive

,my whole employ

ment bein g to charm to sleep the weary traveller. ’

Upon which he let her go . Thus I , 0 kin g, prostrate before you , desi re my l ife may be the men ument of your mercy , since i t cannot be prejudicialto any man ; for in thi s deformed body you shallfind an exalted mind .

” Croesus repl ied ,“ Al sop ,

not only thy l i fe , but a fortune, shall be the proof ofmy ben efi cen ce . Demand , therefore , what youplease , and it shal l be granted .

” “ Oh king ,”said

Al sop ,“ be reconc iled to the Samian s . The kin g

repl ied,

“ I am .

”A n d shortly after sent Al sop back

with letters of reconci liation . On his arrival , the

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L ife of

the king had read the letter he cried out,

“ Al sop,

the pillar of my kingdom ,i s dead N ew Herm ip

pus,hearin g the kin g deplore his loss , informed him

he had not performed his command,but had pre

served the l ife of Al sop ; well knowing that the kinghimself would in the end be grieved.At which the king rejoiced

,and sent for A l sop ;

who,after having established his innocen ce

,was

again received into favor, and Eunus was condemned te die ; but , on the in tercession of Al sop , his li fewas spared . Now , as soon as the King of Egypt

’sletter was shown to Al sop , he desired that this message might be return ed that , after winter wasexpired , one shoul d appear who would n ot onlyerect the tower, bu t answer every quest ion deman ded .

” Which was immediately dispatched . JEsop ,

having readopted Eunus, admonished him to thiseffect My son

,worship God

,and honor the kin g ;

make thyself a terror to thine enemies,and useful

to thy fr iends . Pray that thine enemies may be in digent

,that they may not off end thee ; and thy friends

opulen t,that they may be able to assist thee . Be

con stant to thy consort , lest thy inconstancy shouldmake her so . Be slow to speak and swift to hear.

En vy not thosewho do well . So man age thy domestic aff ai rs that those who fear may love . B e notashamed to learn . Trust not thy secrets to a woman ,

lest she should be insolent . Let to - day ’s stock bethe pledge of to -morrow ’s store . B e gentle to all .Discard parasi tes and whisperers . Always act asthou mayest have no cause to repent .” These sayings had suchan effect upon Eunus , thathe shortlyafter died with remorse and compunction .

L ife of Al sop . l i

The winter being nearly expi red,Al sop procured

four young eagles ; which he taught to carry baskets with little children in them

,and to obey thei r

command and,having prepared for his journey in

to Egypt, in a short time set off, taking the eagles

with him .

Nectenabo,being told that Al sop was arrived ,

ex

pressed his surprise,having understood that he was

dead . The next day all his officers were assembled ,dressed in whi te robes and the king in his royalatti re and imperial diadem. When seated on histhrone he sen t for Al sop

,andasked him ,

to what heresembled him

,and those who surrounded the

throne ? Al sop replied,

“ You resemble the vernalsun ,an d your attendants a fruitful harvest .” l Vith

which answer the king was grea tly pleased . Theday followin g the king appeared in white , and hisretinue in purple whenA l sop was asked the samequestion to which he answered , You are an emblem of the sun , and those that stand roun d a typeof effused beams .” Then N ectenabo inquired hisOpinion of his kingdom , and whether he did notthink it preferable to that of Lycerus. Do not flatter yourself ,

” said Al sop,though your kingdom

may shine like the rays of the sun , yet , i f put in tocompetition with his

,i t would soon fade .

” Neeten ~

abo,applauding his answer

,asked where they were

that could erect the tower. Theyare ready ,” saidAl sop ,

“ i f you have appointed the place. Uponwhich the king showed him a spacious plain . ThenAl sop produced the eagles

,with the chi ldren in the

baskets and,giving them thei r working in stru

ments , commanded the eagles to fly , who, be ingraised in the air

,demanded the necessary materials.

Iii L ife of Al sop .

N ectenabo , hearing thei r request , said to Al sop ,“ I

have n o m en that can fly .

”Al sop replied , How

then can you think of en gagin g in a contest withKin g Lycerus, who is stored with such ?

”N ecte

nabo acknowledged himself subdued .

Shortly after he sent for several sages from Hel iopolis

,to ask Al sop a var iety of questions . On e of

the Hel iopol itan s at the banquet said to Al sop , Iam employed by on e of our deities to ask you thisquestion .

” “ You discover your ignorance,

” saidZEsop ,

“ by dimin ishing the kn owledge of on e ofyour gods . A second put this question

,desiring

ZEsop to explain i t There is a vast temple, an d a

colum n supporting twelve magnificent c ities,each

of which is sustained with thi rty rafters,an d con

stan tly circulated by two women .

” To this Al sopanswered

,

“ The temple i s the world,the cities the

months,the rafters the days of the month ,an d the

dayan d night are the two women who successivelyatten d each other.The day following N ectenabo summoned his

frien ds,an d confessed that the tribute exacted by

Lycerus was due to the i n gen uity of Al sop . On e ofthem replied , We will try him again with question sthat were n ever heard of.” “ And I ,

” said Al sop ,“ will answer them .

”

He then departed , and prepared a schedule , whereo n was engrossed N ectenabo confesses he is ihdebted a thousand talents to Lycerus .

” And in themorning presented it to the king ; who , paying himthe mo n ey , observed that Lycerus was fortunate tohave his kingdom supported by so sagacious a person . He then dismissed him ,

bidding him farewell .

L ife of £3010. l i i i

E sop, having digested the whole into a narrative .returned to Babylon

,and presented it wi th the tri

bute to Lycerus ; who was so well pleased ,that he

commanded an elegant statue to be erected to hismemory .

Shortly after he obtained leave of the king to sailinto Greece

,upon condi t ion that he should return to

Babylon . Having surveyed the di ff erent provin ces ,and obtained an eminent charac ter

,he set off for

Delphos,where the temple of Apollo stood . But

here they paid but l ittle at tention to his eloquenceobserving which

,Al sop said ,

“ Y e citi zens of Delphos you justly resemble the wood that floats on thesea which at a distance appears some thing worth ,but when it approaches we are disappoin ted . So I ,when at a great distance from your ci ty

,d id admire

you , but n ow am led to think you the most uselessamon g men .

” Hearing this,they were afraid that

he would,at his departure

,speak disrespectfully of

them ; they therefore determine d to ensnarean d destroy him . For which end they took a golden cupout of the temple , and concealed it in Al sop

’s baggage who , unsuspecting, departed to Phoc ide. TheD el ph ian s pursued him , and there charged him withsacrilege. He denied the fact, but they untied hisbaggage , found the cup , and discovered it to thec ity. Al sop , n ow seeing through their maliciousstratagem , desi red they would not deprive him ofhis life. But they first condemned him to prison

,

and then to death . Al sop , unable to extr icate himself, deplored his fate in the prison . While he wascomplaining, one Demas (afriend) asked him the

cause of his violent sorrow . Al sop replied,A we

man , having lately buried her husband, wept daily

l iv L ife of E sop .

over his grave . One,who was plowing not far off ,

fel l in love with her ; and , leaving his oxen , went tothe grave

,an d mourned with her. She asked why

he wept. Because,

’ repl ied he , I have latelyburied an amiable wife

,and find it gives me ease . ’

Such is my fate,

’ said the woman . Then,

’ said he,

as we are united in trouble , why should we not bejoined in marriage , since we love each other ?

’

While they were thus en gaged some villain tookaway his oxen upon which he went homean d weptmuch . The woman inquired , why he wept n ow .

He replied,I have just cause to weep .

’ So I,after

having escaped many dangers,have cause to weep

that I cannot extricate myself from this . The Del

phian s then came , and dragged him to the verge ofa craggy precipice when Al sop thus addressedthem When beasts did parley , the mouse, beingintim ate with the frog , invited her to supper in thestorehouse of a rich man , desiring her to make hersel f welcome . After this the frog invited the mouse ;an d , that he might not be tired of swimming, shetied his leg to hers . This done , they endeavored togo across the stream ; but , before they were halfever

,the mouse was drowned ; and , when dying,

declared the frog was the cause,and that some more

powerful than themselves would avenge his death .

The eagle , beholding the mouse floating on thewater, snatched at him ,

and with him took the frog ;thus both fell a prey to the eagle . So I , who amready to fall avictim to your injustice

,shall not

wantan avenger ; for al l G reece and Babylon willuni te for that purpose .”

But all this was of no avail neither his attemptto she lter himsel f in the temple . They stil l contin

L ife of Al sop .V

ued dragging him to the precipice when he againaddressed them Ye citizen s of Delphos , the hare ,being pursued by the eagle

,retreated into the nes t

of the hornet. The horn et implored the eagle tohave pity on the hare . The eagle repulsed the hern et

,and destroyed the hare . The hornet traced ou t

the nest of the eagle,and demolished her eggs . The

next time the eagle built her nest higher ; but thehornet stil l pursued

,and again destroyed them . The

third t ime the eagle soared,and deposited her eggs

between the knees of Jupiter,invoking his p rotec

t ion . The horne t,composing a ball of dirt , dropped

it into Jupiter’s lap who ,forgetting the egg , shook

all off together . Being informed by the hornet thatthis was in revenge for a former in j ury

,he en deav

ored to reconcile them,lest the progeny of his favor

ite bird should be destroyed . But , the : horn et persisting , he respited the hatching of the eagles till thetime when the hornets sally forth . An d you , cit izens of Delphos , despise not this deity , from whom Ihave implored refuge .

”

N ow Al sop,perceiving they continued st ill deaf to

his entreaties , sternly , and for the last time , bespokethem thus Ye cruel and obdurate men , a certainhusbandman , growing aged , who had never beheldthe city

,desired his servants to convey him thither,

that he might see it before he died . As he went hewas overtaken by a violent storm and gloomy darkness

,so that the asses which drew the carriage mis

took the way , and guided him to a precipice where,being upon the verge of approaching ruin , he thusexclaimed Oh Jove

,what in jury have I comm itt

ed , that hath incensed thee to cause this misfortuneespecially that I should owe my death not to gener

l vi Life of A l sop .

ous horses, nor to active mules , but to dull and desp icable asses ?” “ And this ,

” said Al sop ,“ is my

unhappy fate,not by the hands of persons of worth

and abil ities , but by those of the vi lest and mostworthless of men . This said

,the D el phian s threw

him from the precipice,and he perished .

Not long after, adestructive pestilence havin g

raged among them,they were told by the oracle ,

that it was the expiation of Al sop ’s unjust tragedy .

Wherefore,i n order to avert the judgment

,they

erected a pompous monumen t over his bones .But

,when the principals of Greecean d the Sages

were informed of the catastrophe , and having maturely weighed the fact , they severely revenged theinnocent eff usion of Al sop ’s blood .

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L ist qf I l lustration s .

Fox WHO HAD LOST HIs TA ILVA IN JACK D AwK ID AND T HE WOLFOx AND T HE FROGF IG HTI NG COC K S AND T HE EAG LEHOR SE AND H Is R IDE R (Three I l lustration s)VINE AND THE GOATHAWK

,T HE K ITE

,AND T H E P IG EON s

Two POT STH I EF AND H is MOTH ERWOL F AND T HE S H E E PFo x AND T HE CROWO LD WOMAN

'

AN D T HE W I N E -

jAR

STAG I N T H E Ox - S '

rALL

EAG LE AND THE AR ROWL ION AND T HE BOARO N E - EYED D OE

MILKWOMAN AND HE R PA ILWOLF AND T HE HOUS E - D OG

A ss CARR Y ING T HE IMAG EOLD HOUNDWOLF AND T HE SH EPH ERDSA ss AN D H l S S HADOWO AK AN D T HE R E E D s

Fo x AND T HE WOODCUTTERWOLF AN D T HE L I ONl l A R Es AND T H E FROG sP‘

i S HERMAN AND T HE L1TT LE F I SHCAM EL AND T HE A R AB

C AT AND THE M IC EDOG AN D THE COOK

L ist of I l lustration s .

THE L ION , THE BEAR , AN D T HE Fo x

S EA - G ULL AND T HE K ITEFox AND T HE LEOPARDBULL AND T HE GOATBALD KN IG HTHAR E AND THE HOUNDHE N AND T HE GOLDEN EGG STR E E S AND T HE A x E

BOWMAN AND L IONWOMAN AND HE R HE N

Fo x AND T HE H EDG E HOGhIU LE

CROW AND T H E P ITCHERFo x AND T HE GRAPESHART AND T HE V IN EK ID AND THE WOLFMONK EY AND T HE DOLPH I NHOR SE AND T HE STAGTH I E F AND THE HOUSE - D OG

Fox AND THE L ION (Three I l lustration s)BOY BATH I N GWOLF AND THE S H E PHE RDLARK AND HER YOUNG ONE SA ss AND THE WOLFD OG ,

T HE COCK , AND THE FoxFox AND THE MASKWOLF AND THE GOATL ION AND T HE TH R E E BULLSTOWN MOU SE AND T H E COUNTR Y MOUSEG E E SE AND THE CRANE SBLINDMAN AN D THE WHELP

L ist of I l lustration s.

WOLF AND TH E HORSE

Q UACK FROGNORTH W I ND AND T HE S UNT R UMPETE R TAK EN PR ISONE RA SS I N TH E L ION’S S K I NMAN AND T HE SATYRDOV E AND T H E CROWEAGLE AND THE JAC KDAWEAG LE AND THE FoxSTAG AT T HE POOLDOG S AND T HE H IDE SMONK E Y AND T HE CAM ELL I ON AND T HE '

Fox

A ss AND H I S DR IV ERMOTH ER AND T HE WOLFPARTR I DG E AND T HE FOWLERA ss AND THE CHARG E R (Two I l lustIation s)LAMB AND THE WOLFVI PE R AND T HE FILEK I NG ’S SON AND THE PAI NTED L IONBUFFOON AND THE COUNTRYMANMOU SE , THE FROG , AND THE HAWK

T HE

FA B L E S O F AESO P .

THE LION AND THE MOUSE.

A L ION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse run

ning over his face . Rising up in an ger, he caught

him and was about to kil l him when the Mouse

piteously entreated,saying If you would only

spare my life , I would be sure to repay your kind

ness. The Lion laughed and let him go. It

36 THE FABLES OF Al soP .

happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught

by some hun ters, who bound him by stron g ropes to

the ground . The Mouse,recogn izing his rear

,came

up , and gnawed the rope with his teeth , and setting

him free , exclaimed : You ridiculed the idea of my

ever b eing able to help you,not expecting to receive

from mean y repayment Of your favor ; but n ow youknow that it is possible for even a Mouse to confer

benefits on a Lion .

”

THE FATHER AND HIS SONS .

A FATHER had a family of sons who were perp etu

ally quarrell ing among themselves . When he failed

to heal thei r disputes by his. exhortations,he deter

mined to give them a practical i llu stration of the evils

Of disunion ; and for this purpose he one day told

them to bring him a bundle of sticks . When they

had done so,he placed the faggot into the han ds of

each of them in succession,and ordered them to

break it in pieces . They each tried with all their

strength , an d were not able to do it . He next unclosed the faggot , and took the sticks separately , one

by on e , an d again put them into their hands , onwhich they broke them easily . He then addressed

them in these words : “My sons , i f you are of one

mind , and unite to assist each other, you will be as

this faggo t , uni n jured by al l the attempts of your

enemies ; but if you are divided among yourselves ,

youwill be broken as easilyas these sticks . ”

THE WOLF AN D THE LAMB .

A WOLF meeting withaLamb astray from the fold ,resolved not to lay violent hands on him , but to find

some plea , which should justify to the Lamb him

self his right to eat him . He thus addressed him"

Sirrah , last year you grossly insulted me .

” In

deed ,” bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice ,

I was not then born .

” Then said the Wolf,You

feed in my pasture .” “ N O, good sir ,” repli ed the

Lamb ,“ I have not yet tasted grass .

” Again said

theWolf, You drink of my well .”

N O,

”exclaimedthe Lamb , I never yet drank water, for as yet my

mother’s milk is both food an d drink to me .” On

which the Wolf seized him , and ate him up , say

38 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

ing , Well I won’t remain supperless,even though

you refute every on e of my im putation s .”

The tyrant will always fi n d a pretext for his

tyranny.

THE BAT AND THE WEASELS .

A B AT fall ing upon the groun d was caught by a

Weasel, Of whom he earnestly sought his l ife . The

Weasel refused,sayin g

,that he was by nature the

enemy of all birds . The Bat assured him that he

was not a bird,but a mouse

,and thus saved his l ife .

Shortly afterwards the Bat again fell on the ground,

and was caught by another Weasel , whom he like

wise entreated not to eat him . The Weasel said

that he had a special hostility to mice . The Bat

assured him that he was not a mouse,but a bat ;

and thus a second time escaped .

It is wise to turn circumstances to good account.

THE ASS AND THE GRASSHOPPER .

AN Ass having heard some Grasshoppers chirping ,

was highly enchanted ; and , desi ring to possess thesame charms Of melody

,demanded what sort of

food they lived on , to give them such beautiful

vo ices . They replied ,“ The dew. The A ss re

Solved that he would only l ive upon dew , and in a

short time died of hunger.

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40 THE FABLES OF Al SOP .

THE CHARCOAL - BURNER AND THE FULLER .

A CHARCOAL - BURNER carried on his trade in his own

house ._

One day he met a friend, a Fuller, and en

treated him to come and live with him , saying, that

they should be far better neighbors , and that their

housekeeping expenses would be lessened . The

Fuller replied : The arrangement is impossible as far

as I am concerned,for whatever I should whiten ,

you would immediately blacken again with your

charcoal .

Like will draw l ike .

THE BOY HUNTING LOCUSTS .

A B OY was hunting for locusts . He had caught a

goodly number,when he saw a Scorpion

,and

,mis

taking him for a locust,reached out his hand to take

him. The Scorpion , showing his sting , said : If you

had but touched me,my friend

,you would have lost

me ,an d all your locusts too l”

THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER.

THE ANTS were employing a fine winter’s day in

d ryin g grain collected in the summer time . A Grass

hopper,perishin g with famme, passed by and earn

estly begged for a little food . The Ants inquired of

him ,

“Why did you not treasure up food during the

summer?” He replied ,“ I had not leisure enough .

I passed the days in singi ng . They then said in deri

Si on : I f you were fool ish enough to sing all the sum

mer, you mus t dance supperless to bed in thewinter.”

THE COOK AND THE JEWEL.

A COCK,scratching for food for himself and his hens ,

found a precious stone ; on which he said :“ If your

owner had found thee,and not I , he would have

taken thee up , and have set thee in thy first estate ;but I have found thee for no purpose . I woul d rather

have one barleycorn than all the jewels in the world. ”

THE FABLES OF Al soP .

THE KINGDOM OF THE LION .

THE beasts of the field and forest had a Lion as their

king. He was neither wrathful,cruel

,nor tyran

n ical,but just and gentle as a king could be . He

made during his reign a royal proclamation for a

general assembly of all the birds and beasts,an d

drew up condi t ions for an un iversal league,in which

the Wolf and the Lamb,the Panther and the Kid

,

the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare , Should

l ive together in perfect peace and amity . The Hare

said ,“ Oh , how I have longed to see this day, i n

which the weak shall take their place with impunity

by the side of the strong .

”

THE FISHERMAN PIPING.

A FISHERMAN skilled in music took his flute and his

nets to the sea - shore . Standing on a projecting rock

he played several tunes,in the hope that the fish ,

attracted by his melody , would of their own accord

dance into his net,which he had placed below. At

last,having long waited i n vain , he laid aside his

flute,and casting his n et into the sea, made an ex

collent haul of fish . When he saw them leapingabout in the n otupon the rock he said : 0 you most

perverse creatures,when I piped you would not

dance,but n ow that I have ceased you do so merrily .

”

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE.

A HARE one day ridiculed the short feet and slow

pace of the Tortoise. The latter, laughing , said :“ Though you be swift as the wind , I will beat you

in a race . The Hare , deeming her assert ion to be

simply impossible,assented to the proposal ; an d

they agreed that the Fox should choose the course ,and fix the goal . On the day appointed for the race

they started together. The Tortoise never for a

moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady

pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare ,trusting to his n ative swiftness , cared l ittl eabout

44 THE FABLE S OF JESOP .

the race , and layin g down by the wayside, fell fast

asleep . At last wakin g up , an d moving as fast ashe could

,he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal

,

and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue.

THE TRAVELER AND HIS DOG .

A TRAVELER,about to set out on his j ourney

, sawhis Dog standing at the door stretching himself. He

asked him sharply : “ What do you stand gapin g

there for? Everything is ready but you ; so come

with me instantly .

” The Dog,wagging his tail

,re ~

plied “ 0, master ' I am quite ready ; i t is you for

whom I am waitin g.

The loiterer often imputes delay to his more active

friend .

HERCULES AND THE WAGONER.

A CARTER was driving a wagon alon g a countrylane, when the wheels sank down deep into a rut .

The rustic driver, stup ifi ed and aghast, stood looking

at the wagon,and did nothing but utter loud cries

to Hercules to come and help him . Hercules , i t is

said,appeared ,an d thus addressed him :

“ Putyour

shoulders to the wheels , my man . Goad on your

bullocks , and never more pray to me for help , until

you have done your best to help yoursel f,or depend

upon i t youwil l henceforth pray in vain .

Self- help i s the best help.

THE DOG AND THE SHADOW .

A DOG ,,

crossing a bridge over a stream with apiece of flesh in his mouth , saw his own shadow in

the water, and took it for that of another Dog, with

a piece of meat double his own in size. He there

fore let go his own , and fiercely attacked the other

Dog,to get his larger piece from him . He thus lost

both : that which be grasped at in the water, because

it was a shadow ; and his own , because the streamswept it away.

46 THE FABLES OF Al soP .

THE MOLE AND HIS MOTHER.

A MOLE,a creature blind from its birth

,once said

to his mother I am sure that I can see,mother"”

In the desire to prove to him his mistake,hi smother

placed before him a few grains of frankincense , and

asked,

“ What is it ? ” The youn g Mole said,

“ It is

a pebble . His mother exclaimed : “ My son,I am

afraid that you are not only blind,but that you have

lost your sense of smell.”

THE SWALLOW AND THE CROW.

THE Swallow and the Crow had a contention about

their plumage . The Crow put an end to the dispute

by saying : Your feathers are all very well in the

spring,but mine protect me again st the winter.”

Fine weather friends are not worth much .

THE FARMER AND THE SNAKE .

A FARMER found in the winter time a Snake stiff

and frozen with cold . He had compassion on it ,and taking it up placed it in his bosom . The Snake

on bein g thawed by the warmth quickly revived,

when,resuming its natural instincts , he hithis bene

factor, infl ictin g on him a mortal wound . The

Farmer said with h is latest breath ,“ I am rightly

served for pitying a scoundrel"The greatest benefits will not bind the ungrateful .

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48 THE FABLES OF JE SOP .

who had stolen the Calf,he would offer a lamb in

sacrifice to Hermes,Pan

,and the Guardian Deities

of the forest . Not long afterwards,as he ascen ded

a small hillo‘ck , he saw at its foot a Lion feeding on

the Calf . Terrified at the sight,he l ifted his eyes

and his hands to heaven,and said : Just n ow I

vowed to offer a lamb to the Guardian Deities of the

forest if I could only find out who had robbedme ;but n ow that I have discovered the thief , I would

willingly add a full - grown Bull to the Calf I have

lost,if I may only secure

'

my own escape from him

in safety.

”

THE FARMER AND THE STORK .

A FARMER placed nets on his newly sown plough

lands,and caught a quantity of Cranes

,which came

to pick up his seed . With them he trapped a Stork

also . The Stork having his leg fractured by the net ,earnestly besought the Farmer to spare his l ife .

“ P ray,save me

,Master , he said ,

“ and let me go

free this once . My broken limb should excite your

pity . Besides , Iam no Crane , I am a Stork , a birdof excellent character ; and see how I love and slave

f o r my father and mother. Look too , at my feathors, theyare not the least like to those of a Cran e .

The Farmer laughed aloud , and said ,“ It may be

all as yousay ; I only know this , I have taken you

with these robbers, the Cranes , and you must die i n

thei r company .

”

B i rds of a feather flock together,

THE FAWN AND HIS MOTHER.

A YOUNG FAWN once said to his mother, “ You are

larger than a dog , and swifter , and more used to run

ning , and you have too your horns as a defence ;why , then , O Mother"are you always in such a terrible fright of the boun ds ?” She smiled , and said :

I know ful l well , my son , that all you say is true .

I have the advan tages you men tion,but yet when I

hear only the bark of a single dog I feel ready to

faint,and fly away as fast as I can .

N o argumen ts will give courage to the coward,

50 THE FABLES OF Al SOP .

THE POMEGRANATE , APPLE TREE ,

AND BRAMBLE .

THE POMEGRANATE and Apple - tree disputed as to

which was the most beautiful . When their strife

was at its height,a Bramble from the neighborin g

hedge l ifted up its voice, an d said in a boastful tone :P ray

,my dear friends

,in my presence at least

cease from such vain disputings .

THE MOUNTAIN IN LABOR .

A MOUNTAIN was once greatly agitated . Loud

groan san d noises were heard ; and crowds of peoplecame from all parts to see what was the matter .

While they were assembled in anxious expectation

of some terrible calamity , out cam e a Mouse .

Don ’t make much ado about nothing.

THE BEAR AND THE FOX .

A BEAR boasted very much of his philanthropy , say

ing “ that of all animals he was the most tender in

his regard for man , for he had such respect for him ,

that he would not even touch h is dead body .

” A

Fox hearing these words said with a smile to the

Bear,

“ Oh"that youwould eat the dead and n ottheli ving.

THE ASS, THE FOX , AN D THE LION .

THE Ass and the Fox having entered into partn er

ship together for their mutual protection,went out

into the forest to hunt . They had not proceeded far,when they met a Lion . The Fox , seeing the immin

ency of the danger , approached the Lion , and prom

ised to contrive for him the capture of the Ass,i f he

would pledge his word that his own life should not

he endan gered . On his assuring him that he would

n ot in jure him , the Fox led the Ass to a deep pit, and

contrived that he should fall into it. The Lion see

ing that the Ass was secured , immediately clutched

the Fox , and then attacked the Ass at his leisure.

52 THE FABLES OF zEsor.

THE FLIES AND THE HONEY - POT .

A J AR of Honey having been upset in a house

keeper’s room,a number of fl ies were attracted by

its sweetness,and placing their feet in it

,ate it

greedily. Their feet however became so smeared

with the honey that they could not use their win gs,

nor release themselves,and were suffocated . Just

as they were expiring,they exclaimed

,

“ O foolish

creatures that we are,for the sake of a l ittle pleasure

we have destroyed ourselves .”

P leasure bought with pains,hurts.

THE MAN AND THE LION .

A MAN and a Lion travelled together through the

forest . They soon began to boast of their respective

superiority to each other i n strength and prowess .

As they were disputin g,they passed a statue,

carved in stone , which represented a Lion strangled

by a Man .

” The traveller pointed to i t and said :

See there"How strong weare, and how we p rovail ever even the king of beasts .” The Lion re

plied “ This statue was made by on e of you men .

If we Lions knew how to erect statues,you would

see the Man placed under the paw of the Lion .

”

On e story is good,til l another is told.

THE TORTOISE AND THE

EAGLE .

A TORTOISE , laz i ly basking in the

sun , complained to the sea - birds of

her hard fate , that no one would

teach her to fly. An Eagle hover

in g near, heard her lamentation ,and demanded what reward she

would give him,if he would

take her aloft, an d float

54 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

in the air. I will give you,she said ,

“ all the

riches of the Red Sea.

” “ I will teach you to fly

then,

” said the Eagle ; and takin g her up in his

talons,he carried her almost to the clouds ,— when

suddenly letting her go,she fell on a lofty moun tain ,

an d dashed her shell to pieces . The Tortoise exclaimed in the m om en t of death : “ I have deserved

my present fate ; for what had I to do with wings

and clouds,who can with difficulty move about on

the earth ? ”

If men had all they wished, they would be often

ruined .

THE FARMER AND THE CRANES .

SOME Cranes made their feeding grounds on some

plough - lands newly sown with wheat. For a long

tim e the Farmer,brandishing an empty sl ing

,

chased them away by the terror he inspired ; but

when the birds found that the sling was on ly swung

in the ai r, they ceased to takean y notice of it , an dwould not move . The farmer on seeing this

,

charged his sl ing with stones,an d killed a great

number. They at once forsook his plough - lands,

and cried to each other,“ It is t ime for us to be off

to Lil iput : for th is man is no longer content to scare

us,but begins to show us in earnest what he can

do .

If words suffi ce not , blows must follow.

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56 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

you will place your fore - feet upon the wall,and

bend your head,I will run up your backand escape,

an d will help you out afterwards .” On the Goat

readily assenting to this second proposal, the Fox

'

leapt upon his back , and steadyin g him selfwith theGoat’s horns

,reached in safety the mouth of the

well , when he immediately made off as fast as he

could . The Goat upbraided him with the breach of

his bargain , when he turned round and cried out :

You foolish old fellow"If you had as many brainsin your head as you have hairs in your beard , you

would never have gone down before you had in

spected the way up , nor have exposed yourself to

dangers from which you had no means of escape.”

Look before you leap

THE LIONESS .

A CoN TROVERsv prevailed among the beasts of

the field,as to which of the animals deserved the

most credit for producing the greatest number ofwhelps at ' a birth . They rushed clamorously into

the presence of the Lioness , and demanded of her

the settlement of the dispute . “ And you ,” they

said ,

“ how many sons have you at a birth ? The

Lioness laughed at them ,and said “Why"I have

only one ; but that on e i s altogether a thorough - bred

Lion .

”

The value i s i n the worth , not in the number.

THE BEAR

THE TWO TRAVELERS .

TWO men were traveling together,

when a bear suddenly met them on

their path . One of them climbed up

quickly into a tree , and concealed

himself in the branches. The other,

seeing that he must be attacked , fell

flat on the ground , when the

Bear came felt him with

his snout , and smelt himal l over, he held his breath ,and feigned the appearance of death as much as

he could . The Bear soon left him , for it is said he

will not touch a dead body . When he was qui te

58 THE FABLES or ZESOP .

gone,the other traveler descended from the tree,

an d accostin g his friend , j ocularly in qu i red “ what

i t was the Bear had wispered in his ear?” he replied

,

He gave me this advice : Never travel with a

frien d who deserts you at the approach of danger.”

Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

THE THIRSTY P IGEON.

A P IGEON , oppressed by excessive thirst, saw agoblet of water painted on a sign - board . Not supposin g it to be only a picture, she flew towards it

with a loud whirr,an d unwittingly dashed against

thesign - board and jarred herself terribly . Havin g

broken her wings by the blow,she fell to the ground ,

an d was caught by one of the bystanders .Zeal should not outrun di scretion .

THE OXEN AND THE AXLE - TREES .

A HEAVY wagon was being dragged along a country

lan e by a team of ox en . The axle - trees groanedan dc roaked terribly : when the oxen turning round , thus

addressed the wheels . Hullo thore l why do you

make so much noise? Wo bear all the labor, and

we , n otyou , ought to cry out.”

Those who suff e rmost cry out the least.

THE DOG IN THE MANGER .

A DOG lay in a manger, and by his growling and

snapping prevented the oxen from eating the haywhich had been placed for them .

“What a selfish

Dog"” said one of them to his companions ; “ he cannot eat the hay himself, and yet refuses to al low

those to catwho can .

”

THE SICK LION.

A LION being unable from old age and in fi rm ities to

provide himself with food by force,resolved to do so

by artifice . He betook himself to his den , and lying

down there, pretended to be sick , taking care that

60 THE FABLE S OF ZESOP .

his sickness should be publicly known . The beasts

expressed their sorrow,and came one by on e to his

den to visit him,when the Lion devoured them .

After many of the beasts had thus disappeared,the

Fox discovered the tr ick,an d presen tin g himself to

the Lion , stood on the outside of the cave, at a re

spectful distance, and asked of him how he did ; to

whom he replied,I am very middling

,but why do

you stand without ? pray enter within to talk with

me . The Fox replied,

“ No,than k you

,I notice

that there are man y prin ts of feet entering your

cave,but I see no trace ofan y returnin g .

”

He is wise who is warned by the misfortunes of

others .

THE RAVEN AN D THE SWAN.

A RAVEN saw a Swan , and desired to secure forhimself a like beauty of plumage . Supposing that

his splendid white color arose from his washing in

the water in which he swam , the Raven left the

altars in the neighborhood of which he picked up his

l iving,and took up his abode in the lakesan d pools .

But cleansing his feathers as oftenas he would , hecould n otchan ge thei r color, while through want of

food he perished .

Change of habitcannot alter nature.

THE CAT AND THE COOK.

A CAT caught a Cock , and took counsel with him

self how he might find a reasonable excuse for eating him . He accused him as being a nuisance to

men , by crowing in the night time , and not permi t

ting them to sleep . The Cock defended himself by

saying, that he did thi s for the benefit of men , that

they might rise betimes for their labors . The Cat

replied ,“ Although you abound in specious apolo

I shall n ot remain supperless ;” and he made a

62 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE BOASTING TRAVELER .

A MAN who had traveled in foreign lands,boasted

very much,on returnin g to hi s own coun try

,of the

many wonderful and heroic things he had done in

the different places he had visited . Among other

things , he said that when he was at Rhodes he hadleapt to such a distance that no man of his day could

leap anywhere near him— and as to that there were

in Rhodes many persons who saw him do it,and

whom he could call as witnesses . One of the bystanders interrupting him , said N ow

,my good

man,if this be all true there is no need of witn esses .

Suppose this to be Rhodes ; and n ow for your leap .

”

THE WOLF IN SHEEP ’S CLOTHING .

ONCE upon a time a Wolf resolved to disguise his

nature by his habit , that so he might get food with

out stint . Encased in the skin of a sheep , he pas

tured with the flock , beguiling the shepherd by his

art ifice. In the evening he was shut up by the

shepherd in the fold ; the gate was closed , and the

entrance made thoroughly secure . The shepherd

coming into the fold durin g the night to provide

food for the morrow,caugh t up the Wolf, in stead of

a sheep , an d kil led h im with h is knife i n the fold .

Harm seek, harm fi n d .

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64 THE FABLES OF j—ESOP .

THE GOAT AND THE GOATHERD .

A GOATHERD had sought to bring back a stray goat

to his flock . He whistled and sounded his horn in

vain ; the straggler paid no atten tion to the summons .

At last the Goatherd threw a stone,and breaking its

horn , besought the Goat not to tell his master . The

Goat repl ied ,“Why

,you silly fellow

,the horn will

speak though I be silent .”

Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be

hid .

THE MISER .

A M ISER sold all that he had,and bought a lump of

gold,which he took and buried in a hole dug in the

ground by the side of an old wall,and went daily to

look at it. One of his workmen , observing his fre

covered the secret of,

the hidden treasure,and dis

quent v isits to the spot , watched his movements , dig

ging down,came to the lump of gold , and stole it .

The Miser,on his next visit , found the hole empty ,

and began to tear his hair, and to make loud lamen

tation s. A neighbor , seeing him overcome with

grief,and learning the cause , said ,

“ P ray do not

grieve so ; but go and take a ston e, and place i t in the

ho le,and fancy that the gold is still lyin g there. It

wil l do you quite the same service ; for when the gold

was there,you had it not, as you did not make the

sl ightestuse of it.”

THE FROGS AS KING FOR A KING .

THE Frogs , grieved at havin g no established Ruler,

sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King.

He,perceiving their simplicity , cast down a huge

log into the lake . The Frogs , terrified at the splash

occasioned by its fall,hid themselves in the depths

of the pool . But no sooner did they see that the

huge log continued motionless, than they swam

again to the top of the water,dismissed their fears ,

and came so to despise it as to cl imb up , and to

squat upon it . After some time they began to think

themselves ill - treated in the appointment of so inert

a Ruler , and sent a second deputation to Jupiter to

pray that he would set over them another sovereign .

He then gave them an Eel to govern them . When

the Frogs discovered his easy good nature , they yet

a third time sent to Jupiter to beg that he would

66 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

once more choose for them another King. Jupiter,displeased at their complaints

,sen t a Heron

,who

preyed upon the Frogs day by day,till there were

none left to croak upon the Lake.

THE PORKER,THE SHEEP ,

AND THE GOAT .

A YOUNG P ig was shut up in a fold - yard with a

Goat and a Sheep . On one occasion the Shepherd

laid hold of him,when he grunted

,and squeaked

,

an d resisted violently . The Sheep and the Goat

complained of his distressing cries, an d said , “ he

often han dles us,and we do not cry out .” To this

he replied,

“ Your handling and mine are very dif

feren t things . He catches you only for your wool ,or your milk

,but he lays hold on me for my very

life .”

THE BOY AND THE FILBERTS .

A BOY put his hand into a pitcher full of fi lberts.

He grasped as many as he could possibly hold , but

when he endeavored to pull out his hand , he was

prevented from doing so by the neck of the pitcher.

Unwilling to lose his filberts,and yet unable to

withdraw his hand,he burst into tears , and bitterly

lamented his d isappointment . A bystander said to

him ,

“ B e satisfied with half the quantity, and you

will readily draw out your hand .

”

Do n otattempt too much at once.

THE LABORER AND THE SNAKE .

A SNAKE,having made his hole close to the porch

of a cottage,infl icted a severe bite on the Cottager’s

infant son,of which he died

,to the great grief of his

parents . The father resolved to kill the Snake , and

the next day,on its coming out of its hole for food

,

took up his axe ; but, making too much haste to hit

him as he wriggled away,missed his head

,and cut

off only the end of his tail . After some time the

Cottager , afraid lest the Snake should bite him also ,endeavored to make peace , and placed some bread

68 THE FABLES OF ZESOP .

and salt in his hole . The Snake, sl ightlyhissing ,said : “ There can henceforth be no peace between

us ; for whenever I see you I shall remember the loss

of my tail , and whenever you see me you will be

thinking of the death of your son .

”

No on e truly forgets injuries in the presence of him

who caused the injury .

THE ASS AND THE MULE .

A MULETEER set forth on a journey,driving before

him an Ass and a Mule,both well laden . The Ass

,

as lon g as he traveled alon g the plain,carried his

load with ease ; but when he began to ascend the

steep path of the mountain , he felt his load to be

more than he could bear. He entreated his com

panion to relieve him of a small portion,that he

might carry home the rest ; but the mule paid no

attention to the request . The Ass shortly afterwards

fell down dead under his burden . The Muleteer,not

knowing what else to do in so wild a region,placed

Upon the Mule the load carried by the Ass in addi

tion to h is own , and at the top of all placed the hide

of the A ss, after he had flayed him . The Mule,

groaning beneath his heavy burden , said thus to

himself I am treated accordin g to my deserts .I f I had only been wi ll ing to assist the A ss a l ittle in

his n eed , I should not n ow be hearing,together with

his burden,himsel f as well .”

THE HORSE AND GROOM .

A GROOM used to spend whole days in currycxm i b

ing and rubbing down his Horse , but at the same

time stole his oats,and sold them for his own profit .

Alas"” said the Horse , if you really wish me tobe in good condition , you should groomme less , and

feed me more .”

Honesty is the best pol icy .

THE ASS AND THE LAP 'DOG .

A MAN had an Ass,and a Maltes e Lap - dog

,a very

great beauty . The Ass was left in a stable , and hadplenty of oats and hay to eat

,just as any other Ass

70 THE FABLES OF jESOP .

would . The Lap - dog knew many tricks,and was a

great favorite with his master,who often fondled

him,and seldom went out to dine or to sup without

br inging him home some tit - bit to eat,when he

fr isked and jumped about him in a manner pleasant

to see . The Ass , on the contrary , had much work

to do , in grinding the corn - mill,and in carryin g wood

from the forest or burdens from the farm . He often

lamented his own hard fate and contrasted it with

the luxury and idleness of the Lap - dog , till at last

on e day he broke his cords and halter, and galloped

i n to his master’s house,kickin g up his heels without

measure,and frisking and fawnin g as well as he

could . He next tried to jump about his master as

he had seen the Lap - dog do,but he brokethe table

and smashed all the dishes upon it to atoms . He

then attempted to lick his master,and

'

jumped upon

his back . The servants hearing the stran ge hubbub ,and perceiving the danger of their master

,quickly

rel ieved him , and drove out’

the Ass’

to his stable,

with kicks , and clubs , and cuffs . The Ass,as he

returned to his stal l beaten nearly to death,thus

lamen ted I have brought it all on myself Why

could I not have been contented to labor with mycompanion s , and not wish to be idle all the day l ike

that useless l i ttle Lap - dog"

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72 THE FABLES OF E sor.

THE LION ,THE MOUSE

,AN D THE FOX.

A LION,fatigued by the heat of a summer’s day

,fell

fast asleep in his den . A Mouse ran over his mane

and ears,an d woke him from his slumbers . He rose

up and shook himself in great wrath,and searched

every corner of his den to find the Mouse . A Fox

seeing him, said : A fine Lion you are to be fright

ened of a Mouse . Tis not the Mouse I fear,

” said

the Lion ; I resent his familiarity and ill - breeding.

Little l iberties are great offences.Q

THE SHEPHERD ’S BOY AND WOLF.

A SHEPHERD - BOY,who watched a flock of sheep

near a village,brought out the villagers three or four

times by crying out,

“Wolf"Wolf"” and when hisneigh bors came to help h im ,

laughed at them for

their pain s . The Wolf, however , did truly come at

last . The Shepherd - boy , n ow really alarmed , shouted

in an agony of terror : “ P ray , do come and help me ;

the Wolf is kill ing the sheep ; but no one paid any

heed to his cries,nor rendered any assistance. The

Wolf, having no cause of fear, took it easily , and

lacerated or destroyed the whole flock .

There is n o bel ie vi n g a l iar, even when he speaks

the truth .

THE MISCHIEVOUS DOG .

A DOG used to run up quietly to the heels of every

one he met,and to b ite them without notice . His

master suspended a bell about his neck,that he

might give notice of his presence wherever he went .

The Dog grew proud of his bell,an d went tinkl ing

it all over the market - place . An old hound said to

him “Why do you make such an exhibition of

yourself ? That bell that you carry is not,believe

me , any order of merit , but , on the contrary a mark

of disgrace , a public notice toall men to avoid youas an ill -mannered dog.

”

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame .

74 THE FABLES or JESOP .

THE BOYS AND THE FROGS .

’

SOME boys,playing near a pond , saw a number of

Frogs in the water, and began to pelt them with

stones . They killed several of them,when on e of

the Frogs , l iftin g his head out of the water, cried

out “ P ray stop , my boys : what is sport to you , is

death to us .

THE SALT MERCHANT AND HIS ASS .

A PEDLAR , dealing in salt, drove his Ass to the sea

shore to buy salt. His road home lay across a

stream,i n passing which his Ass

,making a false

step,fell by accident into the water

,and rose up

again wi th his load considerably l ighter,as the

water melted the salt . The Pedlar retraced his

steps,and refilled his panniers with a larger quan

tity of salt than before . When he came again to

the stream , the Ass fell down on purpose in the same

spot,and

,regaining his feet with the weight of his

load much diminished,brayed triumphantly as if he

had obtained what he desired . The Pedlar saw

through his trick,and drove him for the third time

to the coast, where he bought a cargo of sponges

instead of sal t. The Ass,again playing the knave ,

when he reached the stream ,fell down on purpose ,

when the sponges becomin g swollen with the water,

his load was very,

greatly increased ; and thus his

trick recoiled on h imself i n fitting to his back a

double burden .

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7 6 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

the night. On the morrow it snowed very hard,so

that he could not take the herd to their usual feed

ing places , but was obliged to keep them in the fold .

He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep

them alive,but fed the stran gers more abundantly

,

in the hope of enticing them to stay with him,and

of“

making them his own . When the thaw set in , heled them all out to feed

,and the wild goats scam

pered away as fast as they could to the mountains .

The Goatherd taxed them with their ingratitude in

leaving him,when during the storm he had taken

more care of them than of his own herd . One of

them.turn in g about said to him ,

“ That is the very

reason why we are so cautious ; for if you yesterday

treated us better than the Goats you have had so

long,i t i s plain also that i f others came after us , you

would in the same manner, prefer them to our

selves .

Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for

new 011 8 8 .

THE BOY AN D THE NETTLES .

A BOY was stung by a Nettle . He ran home and

told his mother , saying , Although it pains me so

much,I did but touch it ever so gently .

” “ That

was just it,

” said his mother ,“ which caused it to

sting you . The next time you touch a Nettle , grasp

it boldly,and i t wil l be softas silk to your hand , and

not in the least hurt you .

Whatever youdo , do withal l your might,

THE FOX WHO HAD LOST HIS TA IL.

A Fox caught in a trap , escaped with the loss of his

brush .

” Henceforth feeling his l ife a burden from

the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed , he

schemed to bring all the other Foxes into a like

condition with himself, that in the common loss he

might the better conceal his own deprivation . He

assembled a good man y Foxes,and publicly advised

them to cut off their tai ls , saying that they would

not only look mu ch better without them , but that

they would get rid of the weight of the brush,which

was a very great inconvenience .

” One of them in

terruptin g him said ,“ If you had not yourself lost

your tail, my friend , you would not thus coun sel us ,”

7 8 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE MAN AND HIS TWO SWEETHEARTS .

A MIDDLE - AGED man,whose hair had begun to turn

grey,courted two women at the same time . On e of

them was young ; and the other well advanced in

years . The elder woman , ashamed to be courted by

a man youn ger than herself,made a point, when ever

her admirer visited her,to pull out some portion of

his black hairs . The younger,on the contrary

,not

wi shin g to become the wife of an old man , was

equally zealous in removin g every grey hair she

could find . Thus it came to pass , that between them

both he very soon found that he had not a hair left

on his head .

Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.

THE ASTRONOMER.

AN Astronomer used to go out'

of a night to ob

serve the stars . One evening , as he wan dered

through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed

on the sky,he fel l un awares into a deep ‘wel l . While

he lamentedan d bewailed his sores and bruises ,an dcried loudly for help , a n eighbor ran to the wel l , andlearning what had happen ed said

“ Hark ye , old

fel low,why

,in stri ving to pry into what is in heaven

do you n otmanage to see what is on earth?”

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80 THE FABLES OF ZESOP .

beauty of his plumage,the birds in dignantly pro

tested , and each plucking from him his own feathers ,the Jackdaw was again nothing but a Jackdaw.

THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP.

WHY should there always be this internecine andimplacable warfare between us ? ” said the Wolves

to the Sheep . Those evil - disposed Dogs have much

to answer for. They always bark whenever weapproach you, and attack us before we have done any

harm . If you would only dismiss them from your

heels,there might soon be treaties of peace and of

reconciliation between us .” The sheep,poor silly

creatures"were easily beguiled , an d dismissed theDogs . The Wolves destroyed the unguarded fl ock

at their own pleasure .

THE CAT AND THE BIRDS .

A CAT , hearing that the Birds in a certain aviarywere ail ing

,dressed himsel f up as a physician , and ,

taking with h im his can e and the in struments be

comin g his profession , went to the aviary , knocked

at the door,and inquired of the i nmates how they

all did,saying that i f they were i ll , he would be

happy to prescribe for them and cure them. They

replied ,“We are al l very well ,an d shall contin ue

so,i f you will o n ly be good en ough to go away , and

leave us as weare ,

THE KID AND THE WOLF.

A KID standing on the roof of a house , out of

harm’s way , saw a Wolf passing by : and imm edi

ately began to taunt and revile him . The Wolf,

lookingup, said : Sirrah"I hear thee : yet it is n ot

82 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

then who mockest me, but the roof on which thou

art standing .

”

Time and place often give the advantage to the

weak over the strong.

THE FARMER AND HIS SONS .

A FARMER being on the point of death wished to

ensure from his son s the sam e attention to his farm

as he had himself given it . He called them to his

bedside,and said ,

“ My sons , there is a great trea

sure hid in one of my vin eyards . The sons after

his death took their spades and mattocks,and care

fully dug over every portion of their land . They

foun d no treasure , but the V i n es repaid their labor

by an extraordinary and superabundant crop .

THE HEIFER AND THE OX .

A HEIFER saw an Ox hard at work harnessed to a

plough,and tormented him with reflections on his

unhappy fate in being compelled to labor . Shortly

afterwards,at the harvest home , the owner released

the Ox from his yoke , but bound the Heifer'

with

cords,and led him away to the altar to be slain in

honor of the festival . The Ox saw what was beingdone , and said with a smi l e to the Hei fer : “ For

this you were allowed to l ive in idleness,because

youwere presen tly to be sacrificed .

”

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84 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

THE OLD WOMAN AND THE PHYSICIAN .

A N old woman having lost the use of her eyes,called

in a Physician to heal them , and made this bargain

with him in the presence of witnesses : that i f he

should cure her blindness , he should receive from

her a sum of money ; but if her in firmity remained ,she should give him nothing . This agreement being

entered into ,'

the Physician , time after time, applied

his salve to her eyes , and on every visit taking

something away,stole by little and little all her

property : and when he had got all she had , he healed

her,and deman ded the promised payment . The old

woman,when she recovered her sight and saw none

of her goods in her house, would give h im nothing.

The Physician insisted on his claim , and , as she stil l

refused,summoned her before the Archons . The

old woman standing up in the Court thus spoke :“ This man here speaks the truth in what he says ;for I did promise to give him a sum of money

,if I

should recover my sight : but i f I continued blind , I

was to give h im n othing. N ow he declares ‘ that I

am healed .

’ I on the contrary affirm ‘ that I am

still bl ind ;’ for when I lost the use of my eyes , I

saw in my house various chattel s and valuablegoods : but n ow,

though he.

swears I am cured of my

blindness,I am not able to see a single th in g in it.

THE FIGHTING COCKS AND THE EAGLE.

Two Game Cocks were fiercely fighting for the

mastery of the farm - yard . One at last put the

other to fl ight . The vanquished Cock skulked away

and hid himself in a quiet corner. The conqueror,

flying up to a high wall , flapped his wings and

crowed exultingly with all his might . An Eagle

sailing through the air pounced upon him,and car

ried him off in his talons . The vanquished Cock

immediately came out of his corner , and ruled hence

forth with un disputed maste ry .

Pride goes before destruction .

86 THE FABLES OF ZESOP .

THE CHARGER AND THE MILLER.

A CHARGER,feeling the in fi rm ities of age

,betook

him to a mill instead of goin g out to battle . But

when he was compelled to grin d in stead of serving

in the wars,he bewailed his change of fortune

,and

called to mind his former state,saying

,

“Ah"Miller ,I had in deed to goacampaign ing before , but I wasbarbed from counter to tail ,an d a man went alongto groom me ; and n ow , I cannot tell what ailed me

to prefer the mill before the battle . “ Forbear,

’

said the Miller to him ,

“ harping on what Was ofyore

,for it i s the common lot of mortals to sustain

the ups and downs of fortune .

THE FOX AND THE MONKEY.

A MONKEY once danced in an assembly of the Beasts

an d so pleased them all by his performance thatthey elected him their King. A Fox en vying him

the honor , discovered a piece of meat lying in a

trap,and leading the Monkey to the place where it

was , said , “ that she had found a store , but had not

used it,but had kept it for h im as treasure trove of

h is k ingdom , and counselled him to lay hold of it.”

The Monkey approached carelessly , and was caught

i n the trap ; and on his accusing the Fox of pur~

p osely leadin g h im into the snare , she replied ,“ 0

Mo n key , and are you , with such a mindas yours ,going to bo Ki n g over the Beasts ? ”

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88 THE FABLES OF jESOP .

War,however

,bein g again proclaimed

,and the

trumpet summoning him to his standard , the Sol

dier put on his charger its mil itary trappings , and

mounted,being clad inhis heavy coat of mail . The

Horse fell down straightway under the weight,no

longer equal to the burden , and said to his master ,Y oumust n ow e’en go to the war on foot , for youhave transformed me from a Horse into an Ass ; and

how cani

you expect that I can again turn in a mo

ment from an Ass to a Horse ? ”

THE BELLY AND THE MEMBERS .

THE members of the Body rebelled against the Belly

and said ,“ Why should we be perpetually engaged

in adm in isterin g to your wants,while you do

n o thing but take your rest , and enjoy yourself in

luxury and sel f- indulgence ? The members carried

outtheir resolve , and refused thei r assistance to the

Body . The whole body quickly became debil itated ,

an d the hands,feet

,mouth , and eyes , when too late ,

repented of the i r folly .

THE VINE AN D THE GOAT.

A VINE was luxuriant in the time of vintage withleaves and grapes . A Goat , passing by , nibbled its

young tendrils and its leaves . The Vine addressed

him , and said :“Why do you thus injure me with

outacause , and crop my leaves ? Is there no younggrass left ? But I shal l not have to wait long for myjust revenge ; for if you now should crop my leaves ,and cut me down to my root

,I shal l provide the

wine to pour over you when you are led as a victim

to the sacrifice .”

90 THE FABLES OF zssop .

JUP ITER AN D THE MONKEY.

JUP ITER i ssued a proclamation to all the beasts of

the forest,and promised a royal reward to the on e

whose offspr ing should be deemed the han dsomest .

The Monkey came with the rest , and presented , with

all a mother’s tenderness,a flat- nosed

,hairless

,i ll

featured youn g Monkey as a candidate for the prom

ised reward . A general laugh saluted her on the

presentation of her son . She resolutely said ,“ I

know not whether Jupiter will allot the prize to myson ; but this I do know,

that he is at least in the

eyes of me his mother, the dearest, handsomest, and

most beautiful of all .”

THE WIDOW AND HER LITTLE MAIDENS .

A WIDOW woman,fond of cleaning, had two little

maidens to wait on her. She was in the habit ofwaking them early in the morn ing , at cockcrow.

Tho maidens being aggrieved by such excessive

labor,resolved to kill the cock who roused their m is

tress so early . When they had done this , they

found that they had only prepared for themselves

greater troubles,for thei r mistress , no longer hear

ing the hour from the cock , woke them up to their

work in the midd le o f the night.

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92 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

consented . When they had admitted him into the

cote,they found that he made more havoc and slew

a larger number of them in on e day,than the Kite

could pounce upon in a whole year.

Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease .

THE DOLPHINS,THE WHALES

,AND THE

SPRAT .

THE Dolphins and Whales waged a fierce warfare

with'

each other. When the battle was at its height ,a Sprat lifted its head out of the waves , and said

that he would reconcile their differences,i f they

would accept him as an umpire. One of the DOI

phin s replied ,“We would far rather be destroyed

in our battle with each other, than admit any inter

ference from you in our affairs .”

THE SWALLOW , THE SERPENT, AN D THE

COURT OF JUSTICE .

A SWALLOW , returning from abroad , and ever fond

of dwelling with men,built herself a nest in the wall

of a Court of Justice , and there hatched seven young

birds . A Serpent gliding past the nest , from its

hole in the wall , ate up the young un fledged nest

lings . The Swallow fi n ding her nest empty,lament

ed greatly , and exclaimed : Woe to me a stran ger"that in this place where all others’ rights are pro

tected , I al one should suff er wrong.

THE TWO POTS .

A RIVER carried down in its stream two Pots , one

made of earthenware , and the other of brass . The

Earthen Pot said to the Brass Pot,

“P ray keep at a

distance , and do not come near me : for i f you touch

me ever so slightly , I shall be broken in pieces ; and

besides , I by no means wish to come near you .

”

Equals make the best friends .

THE SHEPHERD AND THE WOLF .

A SHEPHERD once found the whelp of a Wolf,and

brought it up,and after a while taught it to steal

lambs from the neighboring flocks . The Wolf hav

ing shown himself an apt pupil , said to the Shep

herd, since you have taught me to steal , you must

keep a sharp look - out,or you wi ll lose some of your

own flock,

”

94 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE CRAB AND ITS MOTHER.

A CRAB said to her son,Why do you walk so one

sided , my child ? It i s far more'

becom in g to go

straightforward . The young Crab replied : Q uite

true , dear mother ; and if you will show me the

straight way , I will promise to walk in i t .”The

mother tried in vain , and submittedwithout remonstrance to the reproof of her child .

Example is more powerful than precept .

THE FATHER AND HIS TWO DAUGHTERS .

A MAN had two daughters , the one married to a

gardener,and the other to a tile -maker. After a time

he went to the daughter who had married the gar

den er, and inquired how she was , and how all thin gs

went with her. She said ,“ All things are prosper

ing with me,and I have only one wish , that there

may be a heavy fall of rain , in order that the plants

may be well watered .

” Not long after he wen t to

the daughter who had married the tile -maker, and

l ikewise inquired of her how she fared ; she replied ,I want for nothing

,and have only one wish , that

the dry weather may continue ,and the sun shin e

hot and bright , so that the bri cks might be dried .

”

He said to her,“ If your sister wishes for rain

,and

you for dry weather , with which of the two am I

to jo in my wishes? ”

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96 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

ear with his teeth and bit it off. The mother upbraided him asan unnatural child , whereon he replied ,

“ Ah"i f you had beaten me , when I first stoleand brought to you that lesson - book , I should not

have come to this , nor have been thus led to a dis

graceful death .

THE OLD MAN AND DEATH .

A N old man was employed in cutting wood in the

forest,and

,in carrying the faggots into the city for

sale one day,being very wearied with his long jour

ney,he sat down by the wayside

,and

,throwing

down his load,besought “Death” to come . Death”

imm ediately appeared,in answer to his summons

,

and asked for what reason he had called him . The

old man replied,That , l ifting up the l ead , you

may place it again upon my shoulders .

THE FIR TREE AND THE BRAMBLE .

A F IR TREE said boastingly to the Bramble ,“ You

are useful for nothing at all ; while I am everywhere

used for roofs and houses . The Bramble made

answer “ You poor creature , i f you would only

call to mind the axes and saws which are about to

hew you down , you would have reason to wish that

you had grown up a B rambl e , not a Fir Tree.

Better povertywithout care ,than riches with .

THE WOLF AND THE SHEEP.

A WOLF,sorely wounded and bitten by dogs

, laysick and maimed in his lair. Being in want of food ,

he called to a Sheep , who was passing , and asked

him to fetch some water from a stream flowin g close

beside him .

“ For,

” he said,

“ if you will bring me

drink , I will find means to provide myself with

meat . Yes , said the Sheep ,“ if I should bring

you the draught , you would doubtless make me pro

vide the meat al so .

”

Hypocritical speechesare easily seen through,

THE FABLES OF E SOP.

THE MAN BITTEN BY A DOG.

A MAN who had been bitten by a Dog, went about

in quest of some one who might heal him . A friend

meetin g him , and learning what he wanted , said ,If you would be cured

,take a piece of bread

,and

dip it in the blood from your woun d,and go and

give it to the Dog that bit you . The man who had

been bitten,laughed at this advice , and said ,

“Why ?

If I should do so,it would be as if I should pray

every Dog in the town to bite me .”

Benefits bestowed upon the ev il - disposed,increase

their means of injuring you .

THE HUNTSMAN AND THE FISHERMAN .

A HUNTSMAN,returning with his dogs from the field

,

fel l in by chance with a Fisherman,bringing home

a basket well ladened with fish . The Huntsman

wished to have the fish ; and thei r owner ex peri

en ced an equal longin g for the contents of the game

bag. They quickly agreed to exchan ge the produce

of their day ’s sport . Each was so well pleased with

his bargain , that they made for some time the same

exchange day after day . A neighbor said to them,

If you go on in this way , you will soon destroy , by

frequen tuse ,the pleasure of your exchange, and

each will again wish to retain the fruits of his own

sport .”

Abstain and enjoy.

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100 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

deceitfully ; but the Crow ,anxious to refute the re

flection cast upon her voice,set up a loud caw , and

dropped the flesh . The Fox quickly picked it up ,

and thus addressed the crow : My good Crow, your

voice is right enough,but your wit is wanting.

THE TWO DOGS .

A MAN had two dogs ; a Hound , trained to assist

him in his sports,and a House - dog

,taught to watch

the house . When he returned home after a good

day’s sport, he always gave the House - dog a large

share of his spoil . The Hound , feeling much aggrieved at this reproached his companion , saying ,“ It is very hard to have all this labor, while you ,who do not assist in the chase

,luxuriate on the fruits

of my exertions .” The House - dog repl ied ,“ Do not

blame me,my friend , but find fault with the mas

ter, who has not taught me to labor, but to dependfor subsistence on the labor of others .

Children are not to be blamed for the faults ofthe i r parents .

THE OLD WOMAN AND THE WINE - JAR.

An Old Woman found an empty jar which had late

l y been full of prime old wine , and whi ch still re

tain ed the fragrant smell of its former contents .She greedily placed it several times to her nose , and

drawing it backwards and forwards said ,“0 most

delic ious"How nice must the Wine itself have been '

when it leaves behind in the very vessel which con

tain ed i t so sweet a perfume"”

,The memory of a good deed lives .

102 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

THE WIDOW AND THE SHEEP .

A CERTAIN poor Widow had one solitary Sheep . At

shearing time,wishin g .to take his fleece

, an d toavoid expense , she sheared him herself, but used the

shears so unskilfully,that with the fleece She sheared

the flesh . The Sheep,writhing with pain

,said

,

Why do you hurt me so,Mistress? What weight

can my blood add to the wool ? If you want my

flesh , there is the butcher, who will ki ll me in a

trice ; but if you want my fleece an d wool,there is

the shearer,who will shearan d not hurt me.

The least outlay is not always the greatest gain .

THE WILD ASS AND THE LION .

A W ILD Ass and a Lion entered in toan all iance thatthey might capture the beasts of the forest with the

greater ease . The Lion agreed to assist th eWild

Ass with his strength , while the Wild Ass gavetheLion the benefit of his greater speed . When they

had taken as many beasts as their necessities re

qui red, the Lion un dertook to distribute the prey ,

and for this purpose d ivided it in to three shares . “ I

wil l take the first share,

”he said ,

“ because I am

King : an d the secon d share ,as a partner with youin the chase : an d the thi rd share (bel ieve me) will

be a source of great evi l to you , un less you wil lingly

resign it to me , an d setO ff as fastas youcan .

”

Mightmakes right .

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104 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

gratulating himself on his safety,began to express

his sin cere than ks to the Oxen who had kindlyafforded him help in the hour of need . On e of them

again answered him : We indeed wish you well,

but the danger is not over. There is one other yet

to pass through the shed,who has as it were a hun

dred eyes ,an d , until he has come and gone , yourlife is sti ll i n peril .” At that moment the master

himself entered,and having had to complain that

his oxen had not been properly'

f ed , he went up to

thei r racks,an d cried out “Why is there such a

scarcity of fodder ? There is not - half enough straw

for them to l ie on . Those lazy fellows have not even

swept the cobwebs away .

” While he thus examined

everything in turn,he spied the tips of the antlers of

the Stag peeping out of the straw. Then summon

ing his laborers , he ordered that the Stag should be

seized,and killed .

THE PLAY FU L ASS .

An Ass climbed up to the roof of a building,and

,

frisk ing about there ,broke in the tiling. The owner

went up after him , an d quickly drove him down ,beating him severely wi th a thick wooden cudgel .

The Ass said,Why , I saw the Mon key do this very

thin g yesterday , and you all laughed heartily , as i f

it afforded you very great amusement .

Those who do n otknow the i r righ t place must be

taught it.

THE EAGLE AND THE ARROW.

AN Eagle sat on a lofty rock, watching the move

ments of a Hare , whom he sought to make hi s prey .

An archer who saw him from a place of conceal

ment,took an accurate aim , and wounded him mor

tally . The Eagle gave one look at the arrow that

hade n tered his heart, and saw in that single glancethat its feathers had been furnished by himself. It

is a double grief to me, he ex clain ied , “ that I

should perish by an arrow feathered from my own

win gs.

A consciousness of misfortunes arising from a

man’s own misconduct aggravates their bitte rness .

106 THE FABLES OF msor

THE SICK KITE .

A K ITE,sick unto death

,said to his mother O

Mother"do n ot mourn , but at once invoke the godsthat my life may be prolonged .

” She replied,

“Alas"my son

,which of the gods do you thin k will pity

you ? Is there on e whom you have not outraged by

fi lchin g from thei r very altars a part of the sacrifice

offered up to them ? ”

We must make friends in prosperity , if we would

have their help in adversity.

THE LION AND THE DOLPHIN .

A L ION roaming by the sea - shore, saw a Dolphin

lift up its head out of the waves,and asked him to

contract an allian ce with him ; saying that ofal l theanimals they ought to be the best friends

,sincethe

one was the kin g of beasts on the earth,and the

other was the sovereign ruler of all the inhabitantsof the ocean . The Dolphin gladly consented to this

request . Not long afterwards the Lion had a com

bat withawild bull , and called on the Dolphin tohelp him . The Dolphin , though quite willing to give

him assistance , was unable to do so , as he could not

by any mean s reach the land . The Lion abused him

as a traitor. The Dolphin replied , Nay , my friend ,blame not m e

,but N ature ,

which , while giving me

the sovereignty of the sea,has quite denied me the

power of livin g Upon the land .

”

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108 THE FABLES OF JE SOP .

THE MICE AND THE WEASELS .

THE Weasels and the Mice waged a perpetual war

fare with each other,in which much blood was

_

shed .

The Weasels were always the v ictors . The Mice

thought that the cause of their frequent defeats was ,that they had not leaders set apart from the general

army to command them , and that they were exposed

to dangers from want of discipline . They chose

therefore such mice as were most renowned f or their

family descent,stren gth

,and counsel

,as well as

most noted for their courage in the fight , that they

might marshal them in battle array,and form them

into troops,regiments and battalions . When all

this was done,and the army disciplined

,and the

herald Mouse had duly proclaimed war by chal len ging the Weasels , the newly chosen generals bound

their heads with straws,that they might be more con

sp icuous to all their troops . Scarcely had the battlecommenced

,when a great rout overwhelmed the

Mice,who scampered off as fast as they could to

their holes . The generals n ot being able to get in

on account of the ornaments on their heads , were all

captured and eaten by the Weasels .

The more honor the more danger.

THE ONE - EY ED DOE .

A DOE , blind of an eye, was accustomed to graze asnear to the edge of the cliff as she possibly could

,in

the hope of securing her greater safety . She turned

her sound eye towards the land,that she might get

the earl iest ‘ tidings of the approach of hunter or

hound , an d her injured eye towards the sea, fromwhich she entertained no anticipation of danger.

Some boatmen sailing by , saw her, and taking asuccessful aim , mortally wounded her. Yielding up

her breath , she gasped forth this lament : O

wretched creature that I am"to take such precaution against the land ,an d after all to find this sea

shore , to which I had come for safety, so much more

perilous ,”

110 THE FABLES OF ZESOP .

‘ THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA.

A SHEPHERD,keeping watch over his sheep near the

shore, saw the sea very calm and smooth , and longed

to make a voyage with a V iew to traffic . He sold

all his flock,and invested it in a cargo of datesan d

set sail . Butavery great tempest coming on ,an dthe ship bemg in danger of sinkin g , he threw all his

merchandise overboard , and hardly escaped with

his life in the empty ship . Not long afterwards,on

some one passing by ,an d observin g the unruffledcalm of the sea , he interrupted him and said , B e

l ike it is again in want of dates , and therefore looks

quiet.

THE A SS, THE COOK,AN D THE LION.

AN Ass and a Cock were in a straw - yard together,when a Lion

,desperate from hunger, approached the

spot . He was about to spring upon the Ass , when

the Cook (to the sound of whose voice the Lion , i t i s

said,has a singular aversion) crowed loudly , and

the Lion fled away as fast as he could . The Ass ob

serving his trepidation at the mere crowin g of a

Cock,summ oned courage to attack h im ,

and gal

loped after h im for that purpose . He had run n o

long distance ,when the Lion turning about

,seized

h im and tore h im to pieces .

False confidence o ften leads into danger.

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1 12 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

head,and refuse them every one . At this moment

she tossed her head in unison with her'

thoughts,

when down fell the Milk - pail to the groun d , and all

her imaginary schemes perished in a moment.

THE MICE IN COUNCIL .

THE M ice summoned a counci l to decide how they

m ight best devise means for obtainin g notice of the

approach of their great enemy the Cat . Am ong the

many plans devised , the one that found most favor

was the proposal to tie a bel l to the neck of the Cat ,that the Mice being warned by the soun d of the

tinkling might run away and hide themselves in

thei r holes at his approach . But when the Miro

further debated who among them should thus he l l

the Cat, there was no on e found to do it.

THE WOLF AND THE HOUSE - DOG .

AWOLF, meeting with a big well - fed Mastiff , havinga wooden collar about his neck

,inquired of him who

it was that fed him so well,and yet comp elled him

to drag that heavy log about wherever he wen t :‘ The master , he replied . Then said the Wolf

May no friend of mine ever be in such a plight ;for the weight of this chain is enough to spoil the

appetite .

”

THE RIVERS AND THE SEA .

THE Rivers joined together to complain to the Sea,saying,

“ Why is it that when we flew into your

tides so potable an d sweet,you work in us such a

change ,an d make us saltan d unfit to drin k ? ” TheSea, perceiving that they intended to throw the

1 14 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

blame on him,said

,

“ P ray cease to flow into me

and then you will not be made brin y .

Some find fault with those thin gs by which they

are chiefly benefited .

THE WILD BOAR AND THE FOX .

A W ILD BOAR stood under a tree , an d rubbed histusks against the trunk . A Fox passing by

,asked

him why he thus sharpened his teeth when there

was no danger threatening from either huntsman

or hound . He replied,

“ I do it advisedly ; for it

would never do to have to sharpen my weapons

just at the time I ought to be using them .

To be well prepared for war is the best guarantee

of peace .

THE THREE TRADESMEN .

A GREAT city was besieged,and its inhabitants were

called together to consider the best means of pro

teeting it from the enemy . A Bricklayer present

earnestly recommended bricks , as aff ordin g the best

material s for an effectual resi stance . A Carpen ter

with equal energy proposed timber , as providin g

a preferable method of defence . Upon which a

Currier stood up , and said ,“ Si rs , I di ff er from you

altogether : there is no material for resistance equal

to a coveri n g of hides ; and n othing so good asleatherf ’

Every man for himse l f.

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1 16 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE TWO TRAVELERS AND THE AXE .

Two men were journeyin g together in each other’s

compan y. On e of them picked up an axe that lay

Upon the path , and said ,“ I have found an axe .

Nay,my friend

,

” replied the other,

“ do not say‘ I ,

’ but ‘We ’ have found an axe.

” They had not

gone far before they saw the owner of the axe pur

suin g them,when he who had picked up the axe

said,

“ We are un don e .

” “ Nay , repl ied the other,keep to your first mode of speech , my friend ; what

you thought right then , think right n ow . Say ‘ I ,’

not We are un done .

”

He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.

THE OLD LION.

A LION,worn out with years , and powerless from

disease,lay on the ground at the poin t of death . A

B ear rushed upon him ,an d avenged with a stroke

o f his tusks a lon g remembered i n jury . Shortly

afterwards the Bull with his horn s gored h im as if

he were an en emy . When the A ss saw that the

huge beast c ould be assailed wi th impun ity , he let

di'ive at’ h is fo rehead wi th h is heels . The expirin g

Lio n said ,

“ I have reluctan tly brooked the insul ts

o l'

the brave ,but to be compelled to endure eon

tume ly from thee . a d isgrace to Nature , is in deed to

d ie a double death .

"

THE OLD HOUND .

A HOUND,who in the days of his youthan d strength

had never yielded to any beast of the forest , en coun

tered in his old age a boar in the chase. He seized

him boldly by the ear , but could not retain his holdbecause of the decay of his teeth , so that the boar

escaped . His master , quickly coming up, was very

much disappointed,and fiercely abused the dog. The

Houn d looked up,and said

,It was not my fault

,

master ; my spirit was as good as ever, but I could

not help mine in fi rmities. I rather deserve to be

praised for what I have been,than to be blamed for

what I am.

118 THE FABLES OF jESOP .

THE BEE AN D JUP ITER .

A B EE from Mount“

Hymettus , the queen of the

hive,ascen ded to Olympus

,to present to Jupiter

some hon ey fresh from her combs. Jupiter , delighted

with the off ering of honey,promised to give what

ever she should ask . She therefore besought him ,

saying,Give me ,

”

I pray thee,a sting

,that if any

m ortal shall approach to take my hon ey,I may kill

him .

” Jupiter was much displeased,for he loved

much the race of man but could not refuse the

request on accoun t of his promise . He thus an swered

the Bee “ You shall have your request ; but it will

be at the peril of your own l ife . For if you use your

sting,i t shall remain in the wound you make , and

then you will die from the loss of it .

Evil wishes,l ike chickens

,come home to roost.

THE MASTER AND HIS DOGS .

A CERTAIN man,detain ed by a storm in his country

house,first of all k illed his sheep , and then his goats ,

for the maintenance of his household . The storm

still continuing , he was obl iged to slaughter his yokeoxen for food . On seeing this , his Dogs took counsel

together,and said

,It i s time for us to be off : for

i f the master spare not his oxen , who work for his

gain, how can we expect him to spare us ? ”

He is not to be trustedas a friend who il ltreats hisown fam i ly .

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120 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

the shore , they found that it could at the most be asmall boat ,an d not a ship . When however it reached

the beach , they discovered that i t was only a large

fagot of sticks , and on e of them said to his com

panion s , We have waited for no purpose,for after

all there is nothing to see but a fagot .”Our mere anticipations of life outrun its realities .

THE BRAZIER AND HIS DOG .

A BRAZ IER had a little Dog,which was a great

favori te with his master , and his constant compau

ion . While he hammered away at his metals the

Dog slept but when,on the other hand

,he went to

din ner,and began to eat

,the Dog woke up , and

wagged his tail,as if he would ask for a share of his

meal . His master one day, pretend in g to be an gry ,and shaking his stick at him , said , You wretched

little sluggard what shal l I do to you While I am

hammering on the anvil,you sleep on the mat ; and

when I begin to eatafter my toil , you wake up , andwag your tail for food . Do you n otknow that labor

is the source of every bl essin g , an d that none butthose who work are entitled to eat

THE ASS AND HIS SHADOW.

A TRAVELER hired an Ass to convey him to a dis

tant place. The day being intensely hot , and the

sun shining in its strength , the traveler stopped to

rest , and sought shelter from the heat under the

Shadow of the Ass . As this afforded only protection

for one,and as the traveler and the owner of the

Ass both claimed it , a violent dispute arose between

them as to which of them had the right to it . The

owner maintained that he had let the Ass on l y, and

not his Shadow . The traveler asserted that he had ,with the hire of the A ss

,hired his Shadow also . The

122 THE FABLES OF jESOP .

quarrel proceeded from words to blows,and while

the m en fought the Ass galloped off .

In quarreling about the shadow we often lose the

substance.

THE ASS AND HIS MASTERS .

AN Ass belonging to a herb - seller,who gave him too

litle food and too much work,made a petition to

Jupiter that he would release him from his presen t

service and provide him with another master. Ju

piter,after warning him that he would repent his re

quest,caused him to be sold to a tile -maker. Short

ly afterwards , finding that he had heavier loads to

carry,and harder work in the brick - fi eld, he peti

tion ed for another change of master. Jupiter, tel

l in g h im that it shoul d be the last time that he could

grant his request,ordained that he should be sold

to a tan n er . The Ass , findin g that he had fallen

in to worse hands , an d noting his master’s occupation

,said

,g l oamin g “ It would have been better

for me to have been either starved by the one,or to

have been overworked by the other of my former

masters,than to have been bought by my present

own er , who will even after I am dead tan my hide ,

and make me useful to him .

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124 THE FABLES OF ABSOP .

THE LION IN A FARM -YARD .

A L ION entered a farm - yard . The farmer,wishing

to catch him, shut the gate . The Lion,when he

found that he could not escape,flew upon the Sheep

,

and killed them,and then attacked the oxen . The

farmer,beginnin g to be alarmed for his own safety

,

Open ed the gate,when the Lion got offas fast as he

he could . On his departure the farmer grev iouslylam en ted the destruction of his sheep and oxen ;when his wife

,who had been a spectator of all that

took place,said,

“ 011 my word , you are rightly

served ; for how could you for amoment think ofshutting up a Lion along with you in the farmy ard ,when you know that you Shake in your shoes i f you

only hear his rear at ever so great a distance ? ”

MERCURY AND THE SCULPTOR.

MERCURY once determined to learn in what esteem

he was held am ong mortals . For this purpose he

assumed the character of a man , and visited in this

d isguise a Sculptor’s studio . Having looked at

various statues,he demanded the price of two fig?

arcs of Jupiter and of Jun e . When the sum at

which they were valued was named , he pointed to afigu re of himself

,saying to the Sculptor , You will

certainly want much more for this , as it i s the sta

tue of the Messenger of the Gods, and the author of

all your gain .

”The Sculptor repl ied ,

“Well , i f you

will buy these , I’l l fl ing you that into the bargain .

”

THE FOX AND THE WOOD - CUTTER.

A Fox running before the boun ds, came across a

Wood - cutter felling an oak , and besought him to

show him a safe hiding - place . The Wood - cutter

advised him to take shelter in his own hut . The Fox

crept in,and hid himself in a corner. The huntsman

came up , with his hounds , in a few minutes , and

inquired of the Wood - cutter if had seen the fox .

He declared that he had not seen him , and yet pointed

all the time he was speaking,to the hut where the

Fox lay hid . The huntsman took no notice of the

signs,but

,believing his word

,hastened forward in

the chase . As soon as they were well away, the Fox

departed without taking an y notice of the Woodcutter : whereon he called to him , and reproached

.

bme, saying, Y ouungrateful fellow,

you owe your

126 THE FABLES OF jESOP .

l ife to me,and yet you leave me without a word of

thanks .” The Fox replied,Indeed , I should have

thanked you most fervently , if your deeds had been

as good as your words,and if your hands had not

been traitors to your speech.

”

THE BIRDCATCHER, THE PARTRIDGE , AND

THE COCK .

A B IRDCATCHER was about to sit down to a dinner of

herbs,when a friend unexpectedly came in . The

bird - trap was quite empty , as he had caught nothin g .

He proceeded to kill a pied Partridge,which he had

tamed for a decoy . He entreated thus earn estly for

his life “What would you do without me when

next you spread your nets ? Who would chi rp you

to sleep , or call for you the covey of answerin g

birds The Birdcatcher spared his l ife,and deter

mined to pick out a fine young Cock just attaining

to his comb . He thus expostulated in piteous ton es

from his perch : “ If you kill me,who will announce

to you the appearance of the dawn Who will wake

you to you 1 daily tasks ? or tel l you when it is time

to visi t the bird - trap in the morning ? ” He repl ied ,

What you say is true . Youare a capital bird.

at

tel l ing the time of day . But I and the friend who

has come in must have our dinners .

Necessi ty knows no law.

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128 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

sitting on a tree overhanging the water, plucked a

leaf,an d let it fall in to the stream close to her. The

Ant , cl imbin g on to it , floated in safety to the bank .

Shortly afterwards a birdcatcher came and stood

un der the tree , and laid his lime - twigs for the Dove,

which sat in the branches . The Ant,perceiving his

design , stung h im in the foot . He suddenly threw

down the twigs,and thereupon made the Dove take

win g .

The grateful heart will always find opportunities

to Show its gratitude .

THE MONKEY AND THE FISHERMEN .

A MONKEY perched upon a lofty tree saw someFishermen castin g their nets into a river and

narrowly watched their proceedin gs . The Fishermen

after a while gave over fishing, and , on going home

to dinner,left their n ets upon the bank . The

Monkey,who is the most imitative of animals

,

lescen ded from the tree - top , and endeavored to do as

.hey had done . Having handled the n ot, he threw it

into the river, but became entangled in the meshes .

When drowning , he said to himsel f ,“ Iam rightly

served ; for what business had I who had neverhandled a n et to try and catch fish ?”

THE HARES AND THE FROGS.

THE Hares , oppressed with a sense of their own ex

ceedin g timidity , and weary of the perpetual alarm to

which they were exposed , with one accord deter

mined to put an end to themselves and their troubles ,by jumping from a lofty precipice into a deep lake

below . As they scampered off in a very num erous

body to carry out their resolve , the Frogs lying on

the banks of the lake heard the noise of their feet,

and rushed helter - skelter to the deep water for

safety . On seeing the rapid disappearance of theFrogs , on eof the Hares cried out to his compan ions

130 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

Stay, my friends , do not do as you intended ; for

you now see that other creatures who yet l ive aremore timorous than ourselves .”

THE SWAN AND THE GOOSE .

A CERTAIN rich man bought in the market a Goose

and a Swan . He fed the on e for his table, an d keptthe other for the sake of its song. When the time

came for killing the Goose,the cook went to take

him at night,when it was dark

,and he was not able

to distinguish on e bird from the other , an d he caughtthe Swan instead of the Goose . The Swan , threaten ed with death

,burst forth in to song

,and thus

made himself known by his voice , and preserved his

l ife by his melody .

A word in season is most precious .

THE DOE AND THE LION.

A DOE hard pressed by hunters entered a cave for

shelter which belonged to a Lion . The Lion con

coaled himself on seein g her approach ; but , when

she was safe within the cave, sprang upon her, andtore her to pieces . “Woe is me

,

” exclaimed the

D oe,

“ who have escaped from man , only to throw

mysel f into the mouth o fawild beast"v

In avoid ing one evil care must be taken not to fall

into another.

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132 THE FABLES OF .ZESOP .

THE HUNTER AND THE WOODMAN .

A HUNTER,not very bold

,was searching for the

tracks of a Lion . He asked a man felling oaks in

the forest if he had seen any marks of his footsteps,

or i f he kn ew where his lair was I will,

” he said,

at on ce show you the Lion himself.” The Hunter,turning very pale

,and chatter ing with his teeth

from fear, replied ,“ No , thank you . I did not ask

that ; it i s his track only I am in search of, n otthe

Lion himself.

The hero is brave in deeds as well as words.

THE . SWOLLEN FOX .

A Fox ,very much famished

,seeing some bread and

meat left by shepherds in the hollow of an oak , crept

into the hole an d made a hearty meal . When hefin ished

,he was so ful l that he was not able to get

out,and began to groan and lament very sadly.

Another Fox passing by,heard his cries

,and coming

U p ,inquired the cause of hi s complaining . On learn

ing what had happen ed , he said to him ,

“ Ah,you

will have to remain there , my friend , until you be

come such as you were when you crept in , and then

youwill easi ly getout.”

THE CAMEL AND THE ARAB .

AN Arab Camel - driver having completed the lading

of his Camel,asked him which he would like best , to

go up hill or down hill . The poor beast replied , notwithout a touch of reason Why do you ask me ?Is it that the level way through the desert is closed ?”

THE MILLER,HIS SON , AND THEIR ASS .

A M ILLER and his son were dr iv ing their Ass to a

neighboring fair to sell him .

’

They had not gone far

when they met with a troop of women collected round

a well , talking and laughing.

“ Look there , cried

one of them,

“ did you ever see such fell ows,to be

trudging along the road on foot when they might

ride ?” The old man hearing this quickly made his

son mount the Ass,and continued to walk along

merrily by his side . P resently they came up to a

group of old men in earn est debate . There , said

one of them ,

“ it proves what I wasa- saying. What

respect is shown to old age in these days ? Do yousee that idle lad ridin g while his old father has to

134 THE FABLES OF .ZESOP .

walk ? Get down , you young scapegrace , and let

the old man rest his weary limbs .” Upon this the

old man made his Son dismount,and got up himself.

In this man ner they had n otproceeded far when they

met a company of women and children : “Why , you

lazy old fellow ,

” cried several tongues at once,how

can you ride Upon the beast,while that poor little

lad there can hardly keep pace by the Side of you ? ”

The good - natured Miller immediately took up his

son behind him . They had now almost reached the

town .

P ray,honest friend , said a citizen , i s that Ass

your own ? ” “ Yes,

” says the old man .

“0,one

would not have thought so,said the other

,

“ by the

way you load him . Why, you two fellows are better

able to carry the poor beast than he you .

” “Anythin g

to please you,said the old man we can but try .

So fal ightin g with his son , they tied the legs of theAss together

,an d by the help of a pole en deavoredto carry him on their shoulders over a bridge near the

entrance of the town . This entertaining sight

brought the people in crowds to laugh at it til l the

Ass,not l iking the noise , nor the strange handling

that he was subject to , broke the cords that boun d

h im ,and

,tumbling o ff the pol e , fel l i n to the river.

Upon this , the old man ,vexed an d ashamed , made

the best of h is way home again . convinced that by

en deavorin g to p lease eve rybody he. had pleasedno body , and losth is A ss i n to the bargain .

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136 THE FABLES OF ZESOP .

I‘HE MOUSE AND THE BULL .

A BULL was bitten byaMouse , and , pained by thewound

,tried to capture him . The Mouse first reached

his hole in safety, and the Bull dug into the walls

with his horns,until wearied , crouching down , he

slept by the hole. The Mouse peeping out, crept

furtively up his flank,and

,again biting him

,

retreated to his hole . The Bull rising up,an d notknowin g what to do

,was sadly perplexed . The

Mouse murmured forth,

“ The great do not always

prevail . There are times when the small and lowly

are the strongest to do mi schief.

THE TWO FROGS .

Two FROGS dwelt in the same pool . The pool being

dried up under the summer’s heat, they left it, and

set out together for another home . As they went

along they chanced to pass a deep well , amply sup

plied with water, on seeing which one of the Frogs

said to the other,

“ Let us descend and make our

abode i n this wel l : i t wi ll furnish us with shelter and

fo od .

” The other replied with greater caution , But

suppose the water shoul d fail us , how can we getout again from so great a depth?”

Do nothing without a regard to the consequences.

THE DOG AND THE COOK.

A RICH man gave a greatfeast ,to which he invited many friends

and ac quaintances . His dog

availed himself of the occas ionto invite a stranger dog, a friend

of his , saying ,“ My master gives

a feast ; you wi l l have unusually

good cheer ; come and sup'

wi th

me to - night .” The D og thus in

vited went at the

hour appointed,

and seeing the

preparations for

so grand an eu

te rtai n m e n t,

said,in the joy of

his heart ,“How

glad I am that I

cam e"I do notoften get such a

chance as this .I will take carean d. eat enough

138 THE FABLES OF ZESOP .

to last me both to - day and to -morrow . While he

thus congratulated himself,and wagged his tail

,as

if he would convey a sense of his pleasure to his

friend , the Cook saw him moving about among hisdishes

,and

,seizing him by his fore and bin d paws,

bundled him without ceremony out of the window .

He fell with force upon the ground,and limped

away,howling dreadfully . His yelling soon at

tracted other street dogs,who came U p to him , and

in quired how he had en joyed his supper. He re

plied,

“Why,to tell you the truth

,I drank so much

wine that I remember nothing. I do not know how

I got out of the house .”

Uninvited guests seldom meet a welcome.

THE THIEVES AND THE COOK.

SOME thieves broke into a house,and found nothing

but a Cock,whom they stole

,and got off as fast as

they could . On arriving at home they proceeded to

k ill the Cock,who thus pleaded for his l ife “ Pray

spare me ; I am very serviceable to men . I wake

them up in the night to their work .

” “ That is the

very reason why we must the more k ill you ,” they

repl ied ;“ for when you wake your neighbors, yOu

entirely put an en d to our busi n ess .

”

The safeguards o f v i rtue are hateful to the evil

d isposed .

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140 THE FABLES or JESOP .

THE FARMER AND THE FOX .

A FARMER,having a long spite against a Fox for

robbing his poultry yard , caught him at last , and ,being determined to take an ample revenge , tied

some tow well soaked with oil to his tail,and set it

on fire . The Fox by a strange fatality rushed to the

fields of the Farmer who had captured him . It was

the time of the wheat harvest ; but the Farmer

reaped nothing that year,and returned home griev

ing sorely.

THE DANCING MONKEYS .

A PR IN CE had some Monkeys trained to dance.

Bein g naturally great mimics of men’s actions,they

showed themselves most apt pupils ; and , when anrayed in their rich clothes and masks

,they danced

as well as any of the courtiers . The spectacle was

often repeated with great applause,til l on one oc

casion a courtier, bent on mischief, took from his

pocket a handful of nuts , and threw them upon the

stage. The Monkeys at the sight of the nuts forgot

the i r dancing , and became (as in deed they were)Monkeys instead of actors , and pull ing off their

masks , and tearing their robes , they fought with on e

an other for the nuts . The danc ing spectacle thus

came to an end,amidst the laughter and ridicule of

the aud ience.

A SEA - GULL havin g bolted down too large afi sh ,

burst its deep gullet - bag , and lay down on the shore

to die . A Kite , seeing him , exclaimed You richly

deserve your fate for a bird of the air has no business to seek its food from the sea.

”

Every man should be content to min d his own

business.

THE PHILOSOPHER, THE ANTS , AND

MERCURY.

A PHILOSOPHER witnessed from the shore the ship

wreck of a vessel , of which the crew and passengers

wereal l drown ed . He inveighed against the injustice

142 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

of P rovidence,which would for the sake of one

criminal perchance sail ing in theship allowso manyinnocent persons to perish . As he was indulging inthese reflections , he found himself surrounded by a

whole army of Ants, near to whose nest he was

standin g. One of them climbed up and stung him,

an d he imm ediately trampled them all to death withhis foot . Mercury presented himself, and striking

the Philosopher with his wand , said , And are you

indeed to make yourself a judge of the dealings of

Providence , who hast thyself in a similar manner

treated these poor Ants ? ”

THE TRAVELER AND FORTUNE .

A TRAVELER,wearied with along journey

,lay

down overcome with fatigue on the very br ink of a

deep well . Being withinan inch of fall ing into thewater , Dame Fortune , i t is said , appeared to him ,

and waking him from his slumber,thus addressed

him : Good Sir,pray wake up : for had you fallen

into the well , the blame will be thrown on me , and I

shall get an ill name among mortals for I find that

men are sure to impute their calamities to me , how

ever much by thei r own folly they have really

brought them on themselves .”

Every one is more or less master of his own fate.

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THE FABLES OF JESOP

THE PEASANT AND THE EAGLE .

A PEASANT found an Eagle captured in a trap,and

,

much admiring the bird,set him free . The Eagle

did not prove ungratefu l to his deliverer,for seeing

him sit under a wall , which was not safe, he flew

towards him,and snatched off with his talons a

bundle resting on his head , and on his r isingto pursue him he let the bun dle fall again . The P easant

taking it up,and returning to the same place

,found

the wall under which he had been sitting fallen to

the ground ; and he much marvelled at the requital

made him by the Eagle for the service he had

rendered him .

THE IMAGE OF MERCURY AND THE CARFENTER .

A VERY poor man , a Carpen ter by trade , had awooden image of Mercury

,before which he made

offeri n gs day by day , and entreated the idol to make

him rich : but in spite of his entreaties he became

poorer and poorer. At last , bein g very wroth , he

took his image down from its pedestal , and dashed

it again st the wall : when its head being knocked off

out came a stream of gold , which the Carpenter

qu ickly picked up , and said ,“Well , I think thou

art altogether contradictory and unreasonabl e ; forwhen I paid you hon or, l reaped no ben efits : but

n ow that I maltreat you I am loaded with anabnudan ce Of riches.

THE BULL AND THE GOAT.

A BULL, escaping from a Lion , entered a cave ,which some shepherds had lately occupied . A He

goat was left in it , who sharply attacked him with

his horns . The Bull quietly addressed him— “ Butt

away as much as you will . I have no fear of you,but of the Lion . Let that monster once go , and I

will soon let you know what is the respective strength

of a Goat and a Bull .”

It shows an evil disposition to take advan tage of afriend in distress .

146 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE LAMP .

A LAMP soaked with too much oil , and flarin g very

much,boasted that it gave more light than the sun .

A sudden pufi of wind arising, i t was imm ediately

extin guished . Its owner lit it again,and said :

Boast no more,but henceforth be con tent to give

thy light in silence . Know that not even the stars

need to be r'

elit .”

THE LION,THE FOX

,AND THE ASS .

THE Lion , the Fox , and the Ass entered into an

agreement to assist each ether in the chase . Having

secured a large booty,the Lion , on their return from

the forest,asked the Ass to allot his due portion to

each of the three partners in the treaty . The Ass

carefully divided the spoil into three equal shares,

and modestly requested the two others to make the

fi rst choice . The Lion,bursting out into a great

rage , devoured the Ass . Then he requested the Fox

to do him the favor to make a division . The Fox

accumulated all that they had killed into one largeheap , and l eft to himself the smallest possibl e

morsel . The Lion said,

“Who has taught you my

very excel lent fol low,the art of division ? “ Youare

perfect to a fraction . He repl ied , I learnt it from

the Ass , by witnessin g his fate .

”

Happy is the man who learns from themisfortunes

of others ,

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148 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

THE MONKEYS AND THEIR MOTHER.

THE Mon key,i t is said

,has two young ones at a

birth . The mother fondles one,and nurtures it with

the greatest affection and care ; but hates and

n eglects the other . It happened once on a time that

the young one which was caressed and loved was

sm othered by the too great affection of the mother ,while the desp i sed one was nurtured and reared in

spite of the neglect to which it was exposed .

The best intentions will not always ensure success .

THE OAKS AND JUP ITER.

THE Oaks presen ted a complaint to Jupiter, saying,We hear for no purpose the burden of life

,as of all

the trees that grow we are the most continually in

peri l of the axe .

” Jupiter made answer,

“ You have

only to thank yourselves for the misfortunes to

which you are exposed : for i f you did not make such

excelle n t pillars and posts , and prove yourselves so

serviceable to the carpen ters and the farmers , the axe

would not so frequently be laid to your roots .

THE HARE AND THE HOUND.

A HOU N B having started a Hare from his form , after .

a long run,gave up the chase . A Goat - herd seeing

him stop,mocked him

,saying

,The little one is the

best run ner of the two .

” The Hound replied , You

do not see the diff erence between us : I was only

running for a dinner , but he, for his l ife .

THE OAK AND THE WOODCUTTERS .

THE Woodcutters cut down a Mountain Oak,split itin pieces

,making wedges of its own branches for

dividing the trun k,and for saving their labor . The

Oak said with a sigh, I do not care about the blows

150 THE FABLES OF ZESOP .

of the axe aimed at my roots , but I do grieve at

bein g torn in pieces by these wedges made from myown branches .”

Misfortunes springing from ourselves are the

hardest to bear.

THE WASP AND THE SNAKE .

A WASP seated himself upon the head of a Snake,

and strikin g himun ceasin gl y with his stin gs woundedhim to death . The Snake , being in great torment,an d not knowing how to rid himself of his enemy ,or to scare him away

,saw a wagon heavily laden

with wood,and went and purposely placed his head

under the wheels,and said

,I and my enemy shall

thus perish together.”

THE PEACOCK AND THE CRANE .

A PEACOCK Spreading its gorgeous tail mocked a

Crane that passed by,ridiculi n g the ashen hue of its

plumage , and sayin g ,

“ I am robed,l ike a kin g , in

gold and purple,and al l the colors of the rainbow ;

while you have not a bit of color on your wings .”

True ,

” replied the Crane ; but I soar to the heights

of heaven,and lift up my voice to the stars , while

you walk below , l ike a cock , among the bi rds of the

dunt L”

Fine feathers don’

t make fi n e birds .

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152 THE FABLES or JESOP .

THE ASS AN D THE PRoes.

A N Ass, carrying a load of wood , passed through apond . As he was crossing through the water he lost

his footing,and stumbledan d fell

,and not being able

to raise on account of his load , he groaned heavily .

Som e Frogs frequenting the pool heard his lamen ta

tion,and said

,

“What would you do if you had to

l ive here always as we do, when you make such a

fuss about a mere fall into the water ?”

Men often bear l ittte grievances with less couragethan they do large misfortunes .

THE CROW AND THE RAVEN.

A CRow was very jealous of the Raven , because he

was con sidered a bird of good omen,and always

attracted the attention of m en , as indicatin g by his

flight the good or evil course of future even ts . Seeing

some travellers approaching , she flew up into a tree ,

an d porchi n g herself on on e of the branches , cawedas loudlyas she could . The travellers turned towards

the sound , and won dered what it boded , when on e of

them said to his companion , Let us proceed on our

journey,my friend

,for it is only the caw of a crew ,

and her cry,you know , is no omen .

”

Those who assume a character which does not

bel ong to them,only make themselves ridiculous .

THE TREES AND THE AXE .

A MAN came into a forest, and made a petition to

the Trees to provide him a handle for his axe . The

Trees consented to his request , and gave him a young

ash - tree . No sooner had the man fitted from it a n ew

handle to his axe,than he began to use it , and quickly

felled with his strokes the noblest giants of the forest .

An old oak , lamenting when too late the destruc

tion of his compan ions,said to a neighborin g cedar ,

The first step has lost us all . If we had not given

up the rights of the ash , we might yet have retained

our own privileges , and have stood for ages .”

154 THE FABLES OF zEsor .

THE BULL, THE LIONESS , AND THE WILD

BOAR HUNTER .

A BULL findin g a l ion ’s cub asleep gored him to

death with his horns . The Lion ess cam e up,and

bitterly lam ented the death of her whelp . A Wild

boar Hunter seeing her distress,stood afar off

,an d

said to her,

“ Thin k how many men there are who

have reason to lam ent the loss of their children ,whose deaths have been caused by you .

”

THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP - DOGS .

THE WOLVES thus addressed the Sheep - dogs : “Why

should you,who are like us in so many things

,not

be entirely of one min d with us , and live with us as

brothers should ? We differ from you in one poin t

only . We live in freedom ,but you bow down to ,an d

slave for , men ; who ,in return for your services

,flog

you with whips,and put col lars on your necks.

They make you also guard their sheep , and while

they eat the mutton throw only the bones to you . If

you wil l be persuaded by us , you wil l give us the

sheep,and we will enjoy them in common , til l we

al l are surfei ted .

”The Dogs l istened favorably to

these proposals , and , en tering the den of theWolves ,they were setmum and to rn to pieces .

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156 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

for i f he sen ds so fearful a m essenger , how shall I

abide the attack of the man himself ?”

A man who can strike from a distance is no pleasan tneighbor.

THE CAMEL .

WHEN man first saw the Cam el , he was so frightened

at his vast size that he fled away . After a time , per

ceiv in g the meekness and gentlen ess of h is tem per,he summ on ed courage en ough to approach him . Soon

afterwards,observing that he was an an imal alto

gether deficient in spirit,he assumed such boldness as

to put a bridle in his mouth,and set a child to drive

him .

Use serves to overcome dread .

THE CRAB AND THE FOX .

A CRAB,forsaking the sea - shore, chose a neighboring

green meadow as its feeding ground . A Fox cameacross him

,an d being very much famished ate himup . Just as he was on the point of being eaten , hesaid

,I well deserve my fate ; for what business had

I on the land , when by my n aturean d habits I amonly adapted for the sea?”

Contentment with our lot is an element of happi

ness .

THE WOMAN AND HER HEN .

A WOMAN possessed a Hen that gave her an egg

every day . She often thought with herself how she

might obtain two eggs daily in stead of on e , and at

last,to gain her purpose

,determined to give the Hen

a double allowance of barley . From that day the Hen

became fat and sleek,and never once laid another

egg.

Covetousness overreacheth i tself.

THE ASS AND THE OLD SHEPHERD .

A SHEPHERr watched his Ass feeding in a meadow.

Being alarmed on a sudden by the cries of the enemy,

he appealed to the Ass to fly with him,lest they

158 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

should both be captured . He lazily replied,

“Why

should I , pray ? Do you think it likely the conqueror

will place on me two sets of panniers ?” “ No,

”re

joined the Shepherd “ Then ,” said the Ass,

lon g as I carry the panniers, what matters it to me

whom I serve ?”

In a chan ge of governmen t the poor change noth

ing beyond the name of their master.

THE KITES AN D THE SWANS .

THE Kites of old tim e had , equal ly with the Swans ,the privilege of song . But having heard the neigh

of the horse,they were so en chan ted with the sound ,

that they tried to imitate it ; an d , in trying to neigh ,they forgethow to sin g .

The desi re for im agin ary benefits often involves

the loss of present blessings .

THE HARES AND THE FOXES .

THE Hares waged war with the Eagles , and called

Upo n the Foxes to help them . They replied ,

“ We

would will ingly have helped you , i f we had not known

who ye were , and with whom ye were fighting .

"

Count the P ostbefo re you comm i t yourselves.

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1 60 THE FABLES OF E SOP .

THE DOG AND THE HARE .

HOUND havin g started a Hare on the hill - side

pursued her for some distan ce : at on e time bitin g her

wi th his teeth as if he would take her l ife,and at

an other tim e fawn ing upon her, as if in play with

an other dog . The Hare said to him,

“ I wish you

would act sin cerely by m e,and show yourself in your

true colors . If youare a frien d , why do you bite meso hard ? i f an en emy

,whv do you fawn on me ?”

Theyare n o frien ds whom you kn ow n otwhether

to trust or to dist-rust .

THE BULL AND THE CALF .

A BULL was striving with al l his might to squeezehimself through a narrow passage which l ed to his

s tall . A youn g Calf came up,an d off ered to go before

and show him theway by which he could man age topass . Save yourself the trouble ,

” said the Bull ; I

knew that way long before you were born .

”

THE STAG,THE WOLF

,AND THE SHEEP .

A STAG asked a Sheep to lend h im a measure of

wheat, and said that the Wolf would be his surety .

The Sheep , fearing some fraud was intended . excused

hersel f, saying ,“ The Wolf is accustomed to sei ze

what he wants,and to run off ; and you , too , can

quickly outstrip me in your rapid fl ight . How then

shal l I be able to find you , when the day of payment

comes ?”

Two blacks do n otmake on e white

THE .MULE .

A MULE,frolicsome from want of work and from

overmuch corn,galloped about in a very extravagant

manner,and said to himself : “My father surely was

a high -mettled racer, and I am his own child in speed

and spirit . On the next day , being dr iven a long

journey,and feeling very wearied , he exclaimed in

a disconsolate tone : I must have made a mistake ;my father, after all , could have been only an ass.

”

THE EAGLE , THE CAT , AND THE WILD SOW .

A N EAGLE had made her nest at the top of a loftVoak . A Cat , having found a convenient hole , kitten ed

in the middle of the trunk ; an daVVild Sow . with her

162 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

young, had taken shelter in a hollow at its foot . The

Cat resolved to destroy by her arts this chance -made

colony . To carry out her design,she climbed to the

nest of the Eagle,and said

,

“Destruction is preparin g

for you,and for me too

,un fortunately . The Wild

Sow ,whom you may see daily digging up the earth ,

wishes to uproot the oak , that she may on its fall

seize our families as food for her young .

” Having

thus deprived the Eagle of her senses through terror,she crept down to the cave of the Sow, and said ,

Your children are in great danger ; for as soon as

you shall go out with your litter to find food , the

Eagle is prepared to pounce upon one of your little

pigs .” Having instil led these fears into the Sow , she

went and pretended to hide herself in the hollow of

the tree . When night came she went forth with silent

foot and obtained food for herself and her kittens ;but, feigning to be afraid , she kept a look - out all

through the day . Meanwhile , the Eagle , full of fear

of the Sow ,sat sti ll on the branches

,and the Sow

,

terrified by the Eagle,did not dare to go out from

her cave ; and thus they each , with their families ,peri shed from hunger, and afforded an ample pro

vision to the Cat and her k ittens.

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164 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE WOLF AND THE‘

FOX;

A VERY largean d strong Wolf was born among thewolves

,who exceeded all his fellow - wolves in

strength,size

,and swiftness

,so that they gave him ,

with un an imous con sen t,the name of “Lion .

” The

Wolf,with a want of sense proportioned to his en or

mous size,thought that they gave him this name in

earn est ,an d ,leaving his own race

,consorted exclu

sively wi th the l ions . An old sly Fox , seeing this ,said

,

“May I never make myself so ridiculous as you

do in your pride and self - conce it ; for you really show

like a l ion among wolves , whereas in a herd of lions

you are a wolf.

THE PROPHET.

A W IZ AR D,sitting in the market - place , told the for

tunes of the passers - by . A person ran up in great

haste,and an noun ced to him that the doors of his

house had been broken open , and that all his goods

were being stolen . He sighed heavily , and hasten ed

away as fast as he could run . A neighbor saw himrunning , and said ,

“ Oh"you follow those ? y ou say

youcan foretel l th e fortunes of others ; how i s i t youdid n otforesee your own ?”

THE FOX AND THE

GRAPES .

A FAMISHED Fox saw someclusters of ripe black grapes

hanging from a trellised

V ine. She resorted to all

her tricks to get at them,

but wearied herself in vain,

for she could not reach

them. At last turned

away beguiling herself of her disappointment andsaying :

“The Grapes are sour

, an d not ripe as Ithought

166 THE FABLE S OF ZESOP .

THE SERPEN T AND THE EAGLE .

A SERPENT and an Eagle were struggling with each

other in the throes of a deadly confl ict . The Serpent

had the advantage,and was about to strangle the

bird . A countrym an saw them,and run ning up

,

loosed the coil of the Serpent,an d let the Eagle go

free . The Serpen t,i rr itated at the escape of his

prey,l etfly his poison

,and in j ected .it in to the drink

ing horn of the coun trym an . The rustic,ignorant

of his danger,was about to drin k

,when the Eagle

struck his han d with his win g,an d

,seizing the

drinking horn in his talon s,carried it up aloft.

THE TWO FROGS .

Two FROGS were neighbors . The one inhabited a

deep pon d,far removed from public V iew ; the other

l ived in a gully containin g little water, and traversed

by a country road . He that lived in the pond warned

his friend ,and entreated him to change his residence ,

and to come and live with him , saying that he would

enjoy greater safety from danger and more abundant

fo'

od . The other refused , sayin g that he felt i t so

very hard to remove from a place to which he had

become accustomed . A few days afterwards a heavy

wagon passed through the gully , and crushed him to

death under i ts wheels .

A wi lful man will have his way to h is own hurt.

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168 THE FABLES or ABSOP .

waited some days in vain,he saw the Innkeeper

dressed in a new and handsome coat,and sitting be

fore his door. The Thief sat down beside him, and

talked with him . As the conversation began to flag,

the Thief yawn ed terribly,and at the same time

howled like a wolf. The Innkeeper said,

“Why do

you howl so fearfully?” I will tel l you,said the

Thief “ but first let me ask you to hold my clothes,

for I wish to leave them in your hands . I know not,sir

,when I got this habit of yawn ing

,nor whether

these attacks of howlin g were inflicted on me as a

judgment for my crimes,or for any other cause ; but

this I do know,that when I yawn for the third time,

I actually turn into a wolf,and attack men .

” With

this speech he commenced a secon d fit of yawning,and again howled as a wolf, as he did at first. The

Inn keeper hear ing his tale,and

,believing what he

said,became greatly alarmed

,and rising from his

seat,attempted to run away . The Thief laid hold of

his coat,an d entreated him to stop , sayin g , “P ray

wait,sir

,and hold my clothes , or I shall tear them

to pieces in my fury , when I turn into a wolf.” At

the same moment he yawn ed the third tim e , and set

up a howl l ike a wol f . The Innkeeper, frighten ed

lest he should be attacked , l eft his n ew coat in his

hand,and ran as fast as he could into the inn for

safety. The Thief made off with his new coat, and

did not return again to the i nn .

Every tale is not to be bel ieved.

THE KID AND THE WOLF.

A KID ,returning without protection from the pas

ture , was pursued by a Wolf. He turned round , and

said to the Wolf : I know,friend Wolf

,that I must

be your prey ; but before I die, I would ask of you

one favor, that you will play me a tune, to which I

may dance . The Wolf complied,and while he was

pipin g, and the Kid was dancing , the hounds , hear

in g the sound , came up , and , i ssuing forth , gave

chase to the Wolf. The Wolf,turning to the Kid

,

said , “ It is just what I deserve ; for I , who am only a

butcher, should not have turned piper to please you.

”

1 70 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE WALNUT - TREE .

A WALNUT - TREE standing by the roadside bore an

abun dant crop of fruit . The passers - by broke its

branches with ston es and sticks for the sake of the

nuts . The Walnut - tree piteously exclaimed,

“ O

wretched me"that those whom I cheer with myfruit should repay me with these painful requitals"”

THE GNAT AND THE LION .

A GNAT came and said to a Lion,

“ I do not the least

fear you,nor are you stronger than I am . For in

what does your strength consist ? You can scratch

with your claws,and bite with your teeth— so can a

wom an in her quarrels . I repeat that I am altogether

more powerful than you ; and if you doubt it, let us

fightan d see who wil l con quer .” The Gnat, having

sounded his horn ; fastened itself upon the Lion , and

stung h im on the nostrils and the parts of the face

devoid of hai r . The Lion , trying to crush him ,tore

himself with his claws,until be pun ished himself

severely . The Gnat thus prevailed over the Lion ,an d , buzzing about in a song of triumph , flew away .

But shortly afterwards he became entangled in the

meshes of a cobweb , and was eaten by a spider. He

greatly lamented his fate , sayin g ,“Woe i s me"that

I , who can wage war successfully with the hugest

beasts , should perish myself from this spider, the

most incons iderable of insects"”

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1 7 2 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

den in sight of land not far from Athens,he de

man ded of the Monkey if he were an Athenian , whoreplied that he was , and that he was descended from

one of the most noble famil ies in that city . He

then . inquired if he knew the P iraeus (the famousharbor of Athens) . The Monkey

,supposin g that a

man was mean t , answered , that he knew him very

well , and that he was an intimate friend . The Dol

phin,indign ant at these falsehoods

,dipped the Mon

key under the water,and drowned him .

THE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES .

A JACKDAW seeing some Doves in a cote abundantly

provided with food,painting himself white

,j oined

himself to them,that he might share their plentiful

main tenance . The Doves as long as he was silent ,supposing him to be one of themselves , admitted

him to thei r cote ; but when , one day forgetting him

self,he began to chatter, they , discoverin g his true

character,drove him forth , pecking him with thei r

beaks . Fail ing to obtain food among the Doves , he

betook himsel f again to the Jackdaws. They too ,not recognizin g him on account of h is color, ex

p el led him from liv ing with them . So desiring two

objects,he Obtained neither.

THE HORSE AND THE STAG .

THE HORSE had the plain entirely to himself . A Stag

in truded into his domain , and shared his pasture .

The Horse desiring to revenge himself on the

stranger, requested a man , if he were will ing , to help

him in punishing the Stag . The man rep l iedsthatif the Horse would receive a bit in his mouth

,an d

agree to carry him,that he would contrive eff ectual

weapons against the Stag . The horse consented,

and allowed the man to mount him . From that hour

he found that, instead of obtain in g reven ge on the

Stag, he had enslaved himself to the service of man .

1 74 THE FAB LES OF E SOP

THE FOX AND THE MONKEY.

A Fox and a Monkey were travellin g together on the

same read . As they journeyed, they passed through

a cemetery full of monuments . “All these monu

ments which you see,”said the Monkey

,

“are erected

in honor of my an cestors,who were in thei r day

freed m en , and citizens of great renown .

” The Fox

repl ied,“You have chosen a most appropriate sub

ject for your falsehoods , as Iam sure n one of your

ancestors will be able to con tradict you .

”

A false tale often betrays itself.

THE MAN AND HIS WIFE .

A MAN had a Wife who made herself hated by all

the members of his household . He wished to find

out if she had the same effect on the persons in her

father’s house . He therefore made some excuse to

send her home on a visit to her father. After a Short

time she returned , when he inquired how she had got

on , and how the servants had treated her. She re

plied ,“ The neatherds and shepherds cast on me

looks of aversion . He said,

“0Wife , i f you were

d isl iked by those who go out early in the morning

with their flocks,and return late i n the evening

,

what must have been felt towards you by those with

whom you passed the whole of the day"”

Straws show how the wind blows.

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1 7 6 THE FABLES OF .ZE SOP .

THE MAN , THE HORSE ,THE ox , AN D THE

DOG .

A HORSE , Ox , and Dog, driven to great straits by the

cold,sought shelter and protection from Man . He

received them kindly,l ighted a fire

,and warmed

them . He made the Horse free of his oats , gave the

Ox abundance of hay,and fed the Dog with meat

from his own table . Grateful for these favors , they

determined to repay h im to the best of their ability .

They divided for this purpose the term of his life

between them,an d each en dowed on e portion of it

with the qualities which chiefly characteri zed him

self. The Horse chose his earliest years , and en

dowed them with his own attributes : hence every

man is i n his youth impetuous , headstrong , and oh

stinate in maintainin g his own opinion . The Ox took

under his patronage the next term of li fe , and there

fore man in his middle age i s fond of work , devoted

to labor,and resolute to amass wealth , and to hus

band his resources . The end of l ife was reserved to

the Dog , wherefore the old man i s often sn appish ,i rritable, hard to please ,an d selfish

,tolerant on ly of

his own household , but averse toStrangers , and to

all who do not administer to his comfort or to his

necessities .

THE FOX AND THE LION .

A Fox who had never yet seen a Lion , when he fel l

in with him by a certain chance for the first time in

the forest, was so frightened that he was near dying

with fear. On his meeting with him for the second

time he was stil l much alarmed,but not to the sam e

exten tasatfirst, On seein g him the third time, he

17 8 THE FABLES OF ABSOP .

so increased in boldness that he wen t up to him , and

comm enced a familiar conversation with him .

Acquaintance softens prejudices .

THE WEASEL AND THE M ICE .

A WEASEL , inactive from age and in fi rm ities, was

not able to catch m ice as he on ce did . He therefore

rolled himself in flour and lay down in a dark corner.

A Mouse ,supposing him to be food , leapt upon him ,

an d ,being instantly caught

,was squeezed to death .

Another perished in a S imilar manner , and then a

thi rd,and stil l others after them . A very old Mouse ,

who had escaped ful l many a trap and snare ,observ

i ng from a safe distan ce the trick of his crafty foe ,

said,

“Ah"you that l ie there ,may you prosper just

in the same proportion as youare what you pretendmto c ,

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180 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

One of the Apes,who had raised himself to be king

,

comm anded them to be laid hold of,and brought be

fore h im,that he m ight know what was said of him

among men . He ordered at the same tim e that all

the Apes should be arranged in a long row on his

right hand and on hi s left, and that a throne should

be placed for him , aswas the custom among men .

After these preparations he signified his will that

the two men should be brought before him,an d

greeted them with this salutation : “What sort of a

kin g do I seem to you to be, 0 strangers ?

” The lying

Traveller replied ,“You seem to me a most mighty

king .

” “And what is your estimate of those you

see around me ?” These,

” he made answer,“ are

worthy companions of yoursel f,fit at least to beam

bassadors and leaders of armies . The Ape and all

his court,gratified with the l ie , commanded a han d

some present to be given to the flatterer. On this the

truthful Traveller thought within himself ,“ If so

great a reward be given for a l ie , with what gi ft

may n ot I be rewarded , i f, according to my custom ,

I shall tel l the truth ?” The Ape quickly turned to

him . And pray how do I and these my friends

around me seem to you ?” Thou art,

”he said ,

“ a

most excel lent A pe ,and all these thy companions

after thy example are excel lent Apes , too .

” The

Ki n g of the Apes , enraged at hearing these truths ,gave h im over to the teeth and claws of his com

panions .

THE WOLF AND THE SHEPHERD .

A WOLF followed a flock of sheep for a long time ,and did n ot attempt to injure one of them The

Shepherd at first stood on his guard against him , as

against an enemy,and kept a strict watch over hi s

movements . But when the Wolf, day after day , kept

in the com pany of the sheep , and did not make the

slightest eff ort to seize them , the Shepherd began to

look upon him as a guardian of his flock rather than

as a plotter of evi l against it ; and when occasioncalled him one day in to the city

,he left the sheep

entirely in his charge . The Wolf, now that he had

the opportun ity , fell upon the sheep , and destroyed

the greater part of the flock . The Shepherd on his

182 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

return findin g his flock destroyed , exclaimed : I

have been r ightly served ; why did’ I trust my sheep

to a Wolf?”

THE HARES AND THE LIONS .

THE HAREs haran gued the assembly , and argued that

all should be on an equal ity . The Lions made this

reply : “Your words , 0 Hares"are good ; but theylack both clawsan d teeth such as we have .

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184 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

not real ly in earnest . The owner of the field again

came a f ew days later,and saw the wheat sheddin g

the grain from excess of ripeness,and said

,

“ I will

com e myself to -morrow with my laborers,an d with

as man y reapers as I can hire,and will get in the

harvest .” The Lark on hear in g these words , said to

her brood,

“ It i s time n ow to be off , my little ones ,for the man is in earnest this time ; he n o longer

trusts to his fr iends,but will reap the field himself.”

Self - help is the best help .

THE PEACOCK AND JUNO .

THE PEACOCK made complaint to Juno that , while

the nightingale pleased every ear with his song , heno sooner open ed his mouth than he became a laughin g

- stock to all who heard him . The Goddess , to

console him,said

,

“But you far excel in beauty and

size . The splendor of the emerald shines i n your

n eck,an d you unfold a tai l gorgeous with pain ted

plumage . But for what purpose have I , said the

bi rd,

“ this dumb beauty so lon g as I am surpassed

in song?” “The l ot Of each ,

” replied Juno ,“ has

been assigned by the will of the Fates— to thee ,

beauty ; to the eagle ,strength ; to the n ightin gale ,

son g ; to the raven , favorable ,an d to the crow , nu

favorable , auguries . These are all con tented withthe endowments allotted to them .

”

THE ASS AN D THE WOLF .

AN Ass,feed ing in a meadow , saw a Wolf approach

ing to seize him ,and immediately pretended to be

lame . The Wolf , coming up , inquired the cause of

his lameness . The Ass said , that passing through a

hedge he trod with his foot upon a sharp thorn,and

requested the Wolf to pull it out , lest when he supped

on him it Should injure his throat . The Wolf con

senting,and liftin g up the foot

,and givin g his whole

mind to the discovery of the thorn,the ASS with his

heels kicked his teeth into his mouth,and galloped

away . The\Vol f , bein g thus fearfully m auled , said ,

I am rightly served,for why did I attem pt theart

of healin g , when my father only taught me the trade

of a butcher ?"

THE FABLE S OF zESOP

THE SELLER OF IMAGES.

A CERTAIN man m ade a wooden im age of Mercury,

an d offered it for sale . When no on e appeared willin g to buy it, in order that he might attract purchas

ers,he cried out that he had the statue to sell of a

ben efactor,who bestowed wealth and helped to heap

up r iches . On e of the bystanders said to him , My

good fell ow,why do you sell him

,being such a one

as you describe,when you may yourself enjoy the

good thin gs he has to give ?” “Why,

” he repl ied ,I am in want of immediate help , and he is won t to

give his good gifts very slowly .

”

THE HAWK AND THE NIGHTINGALE .

A N IGHT INGALE sittin g aloft upon an oak,and sing

in g according to his wont , was seen by a Hawk ,who bein g in wan t of food

,made a sweep down ,an d

se i zed him . The Nightin gale,about to lose his li fe,

earn estly besought the Hawk to let him go , sayin g

that ho was not big en ough to satisfy the hunger of

t l lawk,who , i f he wanted food , ought to pursue

the larger birds . The Hawk ,i n terrupting him , said

I should indeed have lost my senses i f I should l et

go food ready to my hand,for the sake of pursuing

birds whichare not yeteven within S ight.

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188 THE FABLES OF .E SOP.

the morning dawned,the Cook,

as usual,crowed

very loudly several times . A Fox hear ing the sound,

an d wishin g to make a breakfast on h im,came and

stood under the bran ches,saying how earnestly he

desired to make the acquaintance of the owner of so

magnificent a voice . The Cook, suspectin g his c1v1

l ities, said : Sir , I wish you would do me the favor

to go round to that hollow trunk below me,and wake

up my porter, that he may open the door ,an d letyouin .

” On the Fox approaching the tree,the Dog

sprung out and caught him,and tore him in pieces .

THE GOAT AND THE ASS .

A MAN once kept a Goat and an Ass . The Goat

envyin g the Ass on account of his greater abundance

of food , said , How shameful ly you are treated : at

one time grinding in the mill,an d at another carry

ing heavy burdens and he further advised him that

he should pretend to be epileptic,and fall into a

ditch,and so obtain rest . The Ass gave credence to

his words , and fall ing into a ditch , was very much

bruised . His master, sm din g for a leech , asked h is

advice. He bade him pour upon the wounds the

lights of a Goat . They at once killed the Goat , and

so healed the A’

ss .

THE FOX AND THE MASK.

A Fox entered the house ofan '

actor,and

, rummaging through all his properties , came upon a Mask ,an admirable imi tation of a human head . He placed

his paws on it , and said ,“What a beauti ful head"

yet it 18 of no value , as it entirely wan ts brains .

”

THE LION AND THE BULL.

A LION,greatly desirous of fighting a Bul l ,an d yet

afraid to attack him on account of his great size ,resorted to a trick to ensure his destruct ion . He

approached him and said ,“ I have slain a fine sheep

,

my friend ; and if you will come home and partake

of him with me,I shall be delighted to have your

company .

” The Lion said this in the hope that,as

the Bull was in the act of rec lining to eat, he might

100 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

attack him to advan tage,and make his meal on him .

The Bull,however

,on his approach to his den , saw

the huge spitsan d giant caldron s,and no Sign what

ever of the sheep , an d , without saying a word ,quietly took his departure . The Lion in quired why

he went off so abruptly without a word of sal utation

to his host,who had not given him any cause of

off ence . I have reasons en ough,

” said the Bull .

I see no in dication whatever of your havin g

slaughtered a sheep,while I do see

,very plain ly,

every preparation for your dining on a bull .

THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE OWL .

A N OWL , accustomed to feed at night and to sleep

during the day,was greatly disturbed by the noise

of a Grasshopper,and earnestly besought her to

leave off chirpin g. The Grasshopper refused to de

sist,an d chirped louder and louder the more the Owl

entreated . The Owl , when she saw that She couldget no redress

,and that her words were despised ,

attacked the chatterer by a stratagem . Since I

can not sleep,she said ,

“on account of your song ,

which,believe me , is sweet as the lyre of Apollo , I

shall indulge myself in drinkin g some nectar which

Pallas lately gave me . If you do n otdisl ike i t, com e

to me,and we will drink it together.” The G rass

hOpper, who was at once thi rsty , and pleased with

the praise of her voice,eagerly fl ew up . The Owl ,

coming forth from her hollow,seized her, and put

her to death ,

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102 THE FABLES OF AESOP.

THE FOWLER AND THE VIPER .

A FOWLER,tak i n g his bird - l im ean d his twigs , wen t

out to catch birds . Seeing a thrush sitting upon a

tree,he wished to take it , an d fittin g his twigs to a

proper len gth , he watched inten tly , havin g his whole

thoughts directed towards the Sky . While thus

looking upwards,he unawares trod upon a Viper

asleep just before his feet . The Viper , turn in g

towards him,stun g him ;an d he, fall ing in to a swoon ,

said to himself,

“Woe is m e"that while I proposedto hun t an other , am myself fallen unawares into

the snares of death .

”

THE HORSE AN D THE ASS .

A HORSE , proud of his fi n e trappin gs , met an Ass on

the highway . The Ass bein g heavily laden moved

sl owly out of the way .

“Hardly ,” said the Horse

,

“ can I resi st k icking you wi th withmy heels . The

Ass held his peace,an d made on ly a si len t appeal to

the justice of the gods . N ot long afterwards the

Horse,having become broken -winded , was sent by

his owner to the farm . The Ass seein g h im draw

ing a dung - cart , thus derided him Where,O

boaster,are n ow al l thy gay trappings , then who

art thysel f reduced to the condition you so lately

treated with contempt?”

THE LION AND THE THREE BULLS .

THREE BULLS for a long time pastu red together. ALion lay in ambush in the hope of making them his

prey , but was afraid to attack them whilst they kept

together. Having at last by guileful speeches succeeded in separating them , he attacked them wi th

out fear, as they fed alone , and fasted on them on e

by one at his own leisure .

Union is strength .

194 THE FABLES OF ABSOP .

THE FLY AN D THE DRAUGHT - MULE .

A FLY sat on the axle - tree of a chariot , and address

in g the Draught -mule said ,“How slow you are"

Why do you not go faster ? See if I do not prick

your neck with my sting.

” The Draught -mule re

plied,

“ I do n ot heed your threats ; I on ly care for

him who sits above you , who quickens my pace with

his whip,or holds me back with the reins . Away ,

therefore,with your in solence , for I know well when

to go fast,and when to go Slow .

”

THE FISHERMEN.

SOME Fishermen were out trawling thei r nets . Per

ceivin g them to be very heavy , they danced about

for joy,and supposed they had taken a large draught

of fish . When they had dragged the nets to the

shore they found but few fish,and that the nets were

ful l of sand and stones,and they were beyond meas

ure cast down— not so much at the disappointment

which had befallen them,as because they had formed

such very di fferent expectations . One of their com

pany ,an old man , said , “ Let us cease lamenting,

my mates , for, as it seems to me,sorrow is always

the twi n sister of joy ; and it was only to be looked

for that we , who just now were over- rejoiced , should

next have somethin g to make us sad .

”

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196 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

pressed his satisfaction in warm terms,and lamen ted

his own hard fate . Just as they were beginning to

eat,some on e Open ed the door , and they both ran off

squeakin g as fast as they could to a hole so narrow

that two could only find room in it by squeezin g.

They had scarcely again begun thei r repast when

some on e else entered to take something out of a cup

board , on which the two Mice , more frightened than

before , ran away and hid themselves . At last the

Coun try Mouse,almost famished , thus addressed his

friend : “Although you have prepared for me so

dainty a feast,I must leave you to enjoy it by your

self. It is surrounded by too man y dangers to please

me . I prefer my bare plough - lands and roots from

the hedge - row,so that I only can l ive in safety , and

without fear.”

THE WOLF , THE FOX , AND THE APE .

A WOLE accused a Fox of theft , but he enti rely de

n ied the charge. An Ape undertook to adjudge the

matter between them . When each had fully stated

h is case , the Ape pronounced this sentence : I do

not thi n k you , Wolf, ever lost what you claim ;an dI do bel ieve you

,Fox

,to have stolen what you so

stoutly den y .

The d ishonest , if they act honestly , get no cred it .

AND

THE CRANES .

THE GEESE and the Cranes

fed in the same meadow . A

bird - catcher came to en snare

them in his nets . The Cranes

being light of wing , fled away at his approach ; while

the Geese,being slower of flight and heavier in their

bodies,were captured .

THE WASPS,THE PARTRIDGES , AND THE

FARMER .

THEWASPS and the Partridges , overcome with thirst ,came to a Farmer an d besought him to give themsom e water to drin k . They promised amply to repay

him the favor which they asked . The Partridges

198 THE FABLES OF IESOP .

declared that they would dig around his vines,an d

make them produce fin er grapes . The Wasps said

that they would keep guard and drive off thieves

with thei r stin gs . The Farmer,interruptin g them

,

said : “ I have already two ox en,who wi thout mak

in g any promises , do all these things . It i s surely

better for me to give the water to them than to you .

THE BROTHER AND THE SISTER.

A FATHER had one son and one daughter ; the former

remarkable for his good looks,the latter for her ex

traordinary ugliness . While they were playing oneday as children

,they happened to chance to look

together in to a mirror that was placed on their

mother’

s chair. The boy con gratulated himself on

his good looks ; the girl grew an gry , and could not

bear the sel f - praises of her Brother ; interpreting all

he said (and how could she do otherwise ?) in to reflec

tion on hersel f. She ran Off to her father, to be

avenged in her turn on.

her Brother, and spitefully

accused him of having , as a boy , made use of that

which belonged only to girls . The father embraced

them both , and bestowing his kisses and affection

impartially o n each,said : “ I wish you both every

day to look into the mirror : you , my son , that you

may n otspo il your beauty by evil conduct ; and you ,

my daughte r, that you may make up for you r wanto f beauty by your virtues .

”

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200 THE FABLES or JESOP

THE DOGS AND THE FOX .

SOME DOGS , fin din g the skin of a l ion , began to tear

it in pieces with their teeth . A Fox , seein g them ,

said ,“ If this l ion were al ive

,you would soon find

out that his claws were stron ger than your teeth .

”

It i s easy to kick a man that is down .

THE COBBLER TURNED DOCTOR .

A COBBLER unable to make a living by his trade,

rendered desperate by poverty,began to practice

medicine in a town in which he was not known .

He sold a drug,pretending that ‘i t was an antidote

to all poisons,and obtain ed a great name for himself

by long - winded puff s and advertisements . He happened to fall s ick himself of a serious illness , on

which the Governor of the town determined to test

his skill . For this purpose he called for a cup , and

while fill ing it with water,pretended to mix poison

with the Cobbler’s antidote

,and comman ded h im to

drink it,on the promise of a reward . The Cobbler,

under the fear of death , confessed that he had noknowledge of medicine , and was only made famous

by the stupid clamors of the crowd . The Governor

called a publ ic assembly,an d thus addressed the

citi zens : “ O f what folly have you been guilty ? You

have not hesitated to en trust you r heads to a man ,

whom no o n e could employ to make even the shoes

for thei r foot.”

THE WOLF AND THE HORSE .

A ’ WOLF coming out of a field of oats met with aHorse

,and thus addressed him :

“ I would advise you

to go into that field . It is full of capital oats , whichI have left untouched for you , as you are a friend

the very sound of whose teeth it will be a pleasureto me to hear.” The Horse replied ,

“ If oats had

been the food of wolves , you would never have in

dul ged your ears at the cost of your belly .

Men of evil reputation . when they perform a good

deed,f ail to get credit for i t .

202 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE TWO MEN WHO WERE ENEMIES .

Two MEN ,deadly enemies to each other

,sailed in

the same vessel . Determined to keep as far apart as

possible,the one seated himself in the stern

,an d the

other in the prow of the ship . A violent storm hav

in g ari sen , and the vessel being in great danger of

sin king,the one in the stern inquired of the pilot

which of the two ends of the ship would go down

first . On his replying that he supposed it would be

the prow,then said the Man ,

“ Death would n ot be

grievous to me, i f I could only see my Enemy die

before me .”

THE GAME - COCKS AND THE PARTRIDGE .

A MAN had two Game - cocks in his poultry - yard .

One day by chance he fel l in with a tame Partridge

for sale . He purchased it , and brought it home that

i t might be reared with his Game - cocks . On its

being put into the poultry - yard they struck at it , and

followed it about , so that the Partridge was grievously troubled in mind , and supposed that he wasthus evilly treated because he was a stranger. Not

long afterwards he saw the Cocks fighting together ,

and not separatin g before on e had wel l beaten the

other. He then said to himself,“ I shal l no longer

distress mysel f at being struck at by these Game

cocks , when 1 see that they cannot even refrain

from quarrel li n g with each other.”

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204 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

portun ity, accused the Fox to the Lion for not pay

ing any respect to him who had the rule over themall

,and for not coming to visit him . At that very

moment the Fox came in,and heard these last words

of the Wolf. The Lion roarin g out in a rage against

him,he sought an opportunity to defen d him self,

and said,

“And who of all those who have come to

you have benefited you so much as I , who have

travelled from place to place in every direction,and

have sought an d learnt from the physicians themeans of healing you ?” The Lion comman ded him

immediately to tell him the cure,when he replied

,

“ You must flay a wolf ali ve,and wrap his skin yet

warm around you .

” The Wolf was at on ce taken

and flay ed ; whereon the Fox , turn in g to him ,said

,

with a smile,You should have moved your master

not to il l , but to good , will .

THE DOG’S HOUSE .

A DOG,in the winter time , rolled together and coiled

up in as small a space as possible on account of the

cold,determined to make himsel f a house. When

the summer returned again he lay asleep , stretched

at his ful l len gth , and appeared to h imself to be of a:

great size , and considered that it would be neither

an easy nor a necessary work to make himsel f such

a house as wouldacco n n n odatc him.

THE NORTH WIND AND THE SUN.

THE North Wind and the Sun disputed which wasthe most powerful

,and agreed that he should be

declared thevictor , who could first strip a wayfaring

man of his clothes . The North Win d first tried his

power , and blew with all his might : but the keener

became his blasts, the closer the Traveller wrapped

his cloak around him ; till at last , resigning all hope

of victory , he called upon the Sun to see what he

could do . The Sun suddenly shone out with al l hiswarmth . The Traveller no sooner felt his genial

rays than he took off on e garmen t after another,and

206 THE FABLE S OF j-ESOP.

at last , fairly overcome with heat , undressed , and

bathed in a stream that lay in his path .

Persuasion is better than Force .

THE CROW AND MERCU RY .

A CROW caught in a snare prayed to Apollo to release

h im,making a vow to offer some frankincense at

his shrine . Bein g rescued from his danger, he forgot

his promise . Shortly afterwards , on being again

caught in a second snare , passi n g by Apollo he made

the same promise to off er frankincen se to Mercury ,

when he appeared , and sa id to him ,

“0 thou mos t

base fellow"how can I bel ieve thee , who hast dis

owned and wronged thy former patron

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208"

THE FABLES OF zE SOP .

THE BIRDS,THE BEASTS , AND THE BAT .

THE Bi rds waged war with the Beasts , an d eachparty were by turns the conquerors . A Bat

,fearing

the uncertain i ssues of the fight . always betook h im

sel f to that side which was the strongest. When

peace was proclaimed , his deceitful conduct wasapparent to both the combatants , he was driven forth

from the light of day, an d henceforth concealed

himself in dark hiding - places,flying alwaysalone

and at night.

THE SPENDTHRIFT AND THE SWALLOW.

A Y OU N G man , a great spendth ri ft , had run through

al l his patrimony,an d had but one. good cloak left .

He happened to see a Swallow , which had appeared

before its season,skimming along a pool and twit

tering gaily . He supposed that summer had come,

an d went and sold his cloak . Not m any days after,

the winter having set in again with renewed frost

an d cold , he found the unfortunate Swallow lifelesson the ground ; and said ,

“ Unhappy bird"what haveyou done ? By thus appearing before the sprin g

t ime you have not only killed yoursel f,but you have

wroughtmy destructionalso ,

THE TRUMPETER TAKEN PRISONER.

A TRUMPETER , bravely leading on the soldiers , was

captured by the enemy . He cried out to his captors ,“ P ray spare me , and do not take my life wi thou t

cause or withou t injury . I have not slain a single

man of your troop . I have no arms , and carry

nothing but this one brass trumpet .” That is the

very reason for which you should be put to death,

”

they said ; for while youdo not fight yoursel f, your

trumpet sti rs upal l the others to battle .”

2 10 THE FABLES OF jESOP .

THE FOX AND THE LION .

A FOX saw a Lion confin ed in a cage,and

,standing

n ear him , bitterly reviled him . The Lion said to the

Fox ,“ It is not thouwho revilest me ; but this mis

chance which has befallen me .

”

THE OWL AND THE BIRDS .

A N OWL,in her wisdom

,counselled the Birds

,when

the acorn first began to sprout,to pull i t up by all

means out of the groun d , and not to allow it to growbecause it would produce the mistletoe

,from which

an i rremediable poison , the bird - l ime , would be ex

tracted,by which they would be captured . The Owl

next advised them to pluck up the seed of the flax ,

which men had sown , as it was a plant which boded

no good to them . And , lastly , the Owl , seeing an

archer approach,predicted thatthis man , being on

foot,would contrive darts armed with feathers

,

which should fly faster than the wings of the Birds

them selves . The Birds gave no credence to these

warn in g words,but considered the Owl to be beside

hersel f, and said that she wasmad . But afterwards ,findi n g her words were true , they wondered at her

knowledge,and deemed her to be the wisest of birds .

Hence it is that when she appears they resort to her

as k n owing all things ; while she n o longer gi ves

them advice,but in so l itude laments thei r past fol ly .

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212 THE FABLES OF AESOP.

righteous vengeance on thei r persecutors . They en

treated Jupiter that they m ight n o lon ger be asso

e lated with the I l ls , as they had nothin g in common ,

an d could not live together, but were engaged inun ceasin g warfare

,and that an indissoluble law

m ight be laid down,for their future protection .

Jupiter granted their request,and decreed that

hen ceforth the I l ls should visit the earth in compan y

with each other,but that the Goods should one by

on e enter the habitations of men . Hen ce i t arises

that I l ls abound,for they come not on e by on e, but

in troops,and by no means singly : whil e the Goods

proceed from Jupiter,and are given , not al ike to

all , but sin gly , and separately ; and one by one to

those who are able to discern them.

THE SPARROW AND THE HARE .

A HARE pounced upon by an eagle sobbed very

much , and uttered cries l ike a child . A Sparrow

upbraided her, and said ,“Where now is thy re

markable swiftness of foot? Why were your feetso slow ?” While the Sparrow was thus speaking, ahawk seized him on a sudden , and killed him . The

Hare was com forted in her death , and expir in g said ,“Al l"you who so lately , when you supposed your

sel f sa l’

e, exulted over my calamity

,have n ow your

se l f reason to deplo re a similar misfo rtune .

”

THE MAN AN D THE SATYR.

A MAN and a Satyr once poured out libationsgether in token of a bond of al l iance bein g formed

between them . One very cold win try day,as they

talked together,the Man put his fingers to his mouth

and blew on them . On the Satyr inquiring the

reason of this , he told him that he did it to warm his

hands , they were so cold . Later on in the day they

sat down to eat , the food prepared being quite scald

ing . The man raised one of his dishes a little towards

his mouth and blew in it . On the Satyr again in

quiring the reason of this , he said that he did it to

cool the meat, it was so hot . I can no lon ger con

sider you as a friend ,” said the Satyr

,a fellow who

with the same breath blows hotan d cold .

”

5314 THE FABLE S OF

THE ASS AND HIS PURCHASER.

A MAN Wished to purchase an Ass,andagreed with

its owner that he should try him before he bought

him . He took the Ass home,an d put him in the

straw - yard with‘his other Asses , upon which he left

all the others , and joined h imself at once to the

m ost idle and the greatest eater of them all . The

man put a halter on him , and led him back to his

owner and on his inquiring how ,in so short a time .

he could have made a trial of him,I do not need ,

”

he answered,

“ a trial ; I know that he wi l l be just

such another as the one whom of all the rest he

chose for his companion .

”

A man is known by the company he keeps.

THE FLEA AND THE OX.

A FLEA thus questioned the Ox : “What ails you ,that

,be in g so huge and strong , you submit to the

wrongs you receive from men , and thus slave for

them day by day ; while I , bein g so small a creature ,mercilessly feed on their flesh , and drink thei r blood

without stint ?” TheOx replied : “ I do not wish to

be ungrateful ; for I am loved and wel l cared for by

men ,and they often pat my head and shoulders .

Woe’s me"” said the Flea ; “ this very patting whichyou like

,whenever it happens to me

,brings with it

my inevi table destruc t ion .

”

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216 THE FABLES OF ZESOP.

down on the ban k , and lamented his hard fate .

Mercury appeared , and demanded the cause of his

tears . He told him his misfortun e , when Mercury

plunged into the stream , and , brin ging up a golden

axe,inquired if that were the one he had lost . On

his saying that it was not his,Mercury disappeared

beneath the water a second time,and returned-with

a silver axe in his hand , and again demanded of the

Workman “ i f it were his .” On the Workman say

ing it was not, he dived into the pool for the third

time ,an d brought up the axe that had been lost . 011the Workman claimin g it

,and expressing his joy at

its recovery,Mercury

,pleased with his honesty ,

gave him the golden and the silver axes in addition

to his own .

The Workman,on his return to his house

,related

to his companions all that had happened . On e of

them at once resolved to try whether he could not

also secure the same good fortune to himself. He

ran to the river,and threw his axe on purpose in to

the pool at the same place , and sat down on the bank

to weep . Mercury appeared to him just as he hoped

he would ; and having learn ed the cause of his grief,

plunged into the stream ,and brought up a golden

ax e ,and inquired if he had lost it . The Workman

seized it greedily,and declared that of a truth it

was the very same axe that he had lost . Mercury,

d i spleased at his knavery , not only took away the

goldenax e ,but refused to recover for h im the axe

he had thrown into the pool .

THE EAGLE AND THE JACKDA\V .

EAGLE flying down from his eyrie,on a lofty

rock,seized upon a lamb

,and carried him aloft on

his talons . A Jackdaw ,who witnessed the capture

of the lamb,was stirred with envy , and determined

to emulate the strength and fl ight of the Eagle . He

flew round with a great whirr of his wings , and

settled upon a large ram,with the inten tion of carry

in g him off,but his claws becomin g entangled in his

fleece he was not able to release him self , althoughhe fluttered with his feathers as m uch as he could .

The shepherd,seein g what had happened . ran up

218 THE FABLES or JESOP.

and caught him . He at on ce cl ipped h is wings,and

taking him home at n ight,gave him to his children .

On their saying,

“ Father,what kind of bird is i t ?”

he repl ied , To my certain knowledge he is a Daw ;but he will have it that he is an Eagle .

JUPITER , NEPTU N E ,MINERVA , AND MOMUS .

ACCORD ING to an ancient legend , the first man was

made by Jupiter, the first bull by Neptun e , and the

first house by Min e rva . On the completion of thei r

labors , a dispute arose as to which had made themost perfect work . Theyagreed to appoint Momusas judge , and to abide by his decision . Momus , how

ever, bein g very envious of the han dicraft of each ,

found fault with all . He first blamed the work of

Neptune . because he had n otmade the horns of the

bull below his eyes,that he might better see where

to strike . He then condemned the work of Jupi ter,

because he had not placed the heart of man on theoutside , that every on e might read the thoughts ofthe evi l d isposed , and take p recauti nat thei n tended mischie f. And , las againstMinerva , because she had n ot 0 wheels

in the foundation Of her house ,

might more easily remove if a n eunpleasant. Jupi ter, in d ignant eteratefaul t - fi n d ing , drove him from judge ,

an d expelled him from the mansions of Olympus .

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220 THE FABLES OF‘ msor.

wood and there produced her youn g . Not long after

they had agreed upon this plan , when the Fox was

ranging for food , the Eagle being in want of pro

v ision for her youn g ones , swooped down and seized

upon on e of the l ittle cubs ,an d feasted herself andbrood . The Fox on her return , discovering what

had happen ed , was less grieved for the death of heryoung than f or her in abil ity to avenge them . A just

retribution , however, quickly fell upon the Eagle .

While hovering near an altar,on which some

villagers were sacrificin g a goat , she sudden ly seized

a piece of the flesh,an d carried with i t to her nest a

burning cinder. A strong breeze soon fanned the

spark into a flame , and the eaglets , as yet un fledged

and helpless,were roasted in thei r nest and dropped

down dead at the bottom of the tree . The Fox gob

bled them up in the sight of the Eagle .

THE TWO BAG S .

EVERY man , according to an ancient legend , i s born

into the world with two bags suspended from his

neck—asmall bag in front full of his n eighbors ’

faults,and a large bag behi n d filled with h is own

faults . Hence it is that men are quick to see the

faults of others , and yet are Often blind to their own

fail ings .

THE STAG AT THE POOL .

A STAG overpowered by heat came to a spring to

drink . Seeing his own shadow reflected in the water,he greatly admired the size and variety of his horns

,

but felt angry with himself for having such slender

and weak feet . While he was thus con templating

himself,aLion appeared at the pool and crouchedto spring upon him. The Stag immediately betook

himself .to fl ight : and exerting h is utmost speed,as

long as the plain was smooth and open,kept himself

with ease at a safe d i stan ce from the Lion . But

enterin g a wood he became entan gled by his horns :

an d the Lion quickly came up W ith him and caught

222 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

him . When too late he thus reproached him self

Woe is me"How have I deceived myself"Thesefeet which would have saved me I despised

,and I

glor ied in these antlers which have proved my

destruction .

What is most truly valuable is often underrated .

THE BITCH AND HER WHELPS .

A B ITCH ready to whelp , earnestly begged of a

shepherd a place where she might l itter. On her

request being granted , she again besought per

mission to rear her puppies in the same spot. The

shepherd again consented . But at last the B itch,

protected with the body - guard of her Whelps,who

had n ow grown U p , and were able to defend them

selves , asserted her exclusive right to the place ,an dwould not permit the shepherd to approach .

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224 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

r ipen . A Fox seeing him sitting so long,and learn

ing the reason of his doing so,said to him

,

“ You

are indeed , si r , sadly deceivin g yourself ; you are ih

dulgin g a hope strong en ough to cheat you ,"but

which will never reward you with enjoym ent .”

THE LARK BURYING ITS FATHER .

THE LARK (accordin g to an an cient legend) wascreated before the earth itself : and when her father

died by a fell disease,as there was n o earth , she

could find for him n o place of burial . She let him

l ie uninterred for five days,and on the sixth day ,

bein g in perplexi ty , she buried him in her own head .

Hen ce she obtained her crest , which is popularly

said to be her father’s grave - hillock .

Youth’s first duty is reverence to parents.

THE GNAT AND THE BULL .

A GNAT settled on the horn of a Bull,and sat there

a long t ime . Just as he was about to fly off , he

made a buzzing noise ,and inqui red of the Bull i f he

would like him to go . The Bul l replied , I did not

know you had come , and I shall not miss you when

yougo away .

Some men are of more consequence in their own

eyes than in the eyes of thei r neighbors .

THE MONKEY AND THE CAMEL .

THE beasts of the forest gave a splendid entertain

ment at which the Monkey stood up and danced .

Having vastly delighted the assembly , he sat down

amidst universal applause . The Camel , envious of the

praises bestowed on the Monkey , and desirous to di

vert to himself the favor of the guests , proposed to

stand up in his turn , and dance for their amusemen t .

He moved about in so utterly ridiculous a manner ,that the Beasts in a fit of indignat ion set upon him

with clubs , and drove him out of the assembly.

It is absurd to ape our betters.

226 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE SHEPHERD AN D THE SHEEP .

A SHEPHERD driving his Sheep to a wood, saw an

oak of unusual size , full of acorns , and , spreadin g

his cloak under the branches,he climbed up into the

tree , and shook down the acorns . The Sheep eatin g

the acorn s,inadvertently frayed and tore the cloak .

The Shepherd coming down , and seeing what was

done , said ,“ 0 you most ungrateful creatures"you

provide wool to make garments for all other men ,

but you destroy the clothes of him who feeds you .

THE PEASANT AND THE APPLE - TREE .

A PEASANT had in his garden an Apple - tree , which

here no fruit , but on ly served as a harbor for the

sparrows and grasshoppers . He resolved to cut it

down , and , tak ing his axe in his hand , made a bold

stroke at its roots . The grasshoppers and sparrows

entreated him not to cut down the tree that sheltered

them,but to spare it, and they would sing to him

and listen to his labors . He paid no attention to

thei r request , butgave the tree a second and a third

blow with his axe : when he reached the hol low of

the tree , he found a hive full of honey . Having

tasted the honeycomb , he threwdown his axe , and ,looking on the tree as sacred took great care of it.

Self interest alone moves some men .

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228 THE FABLES OF JESOP

of their choice . Jupiter replied , It is l est we should

seem to covet the hon or for the fruit ." But said

Min erva,

“ Letan y on e say what he W l l l the olive

is more dear to me on account of its fruit . Then

said Jupiter,

“ My daughter,you are rightly called

wise ; for unless what we do is useful , the glory of

i t i s vain .

TRUTH AND THE TRAVELLER .

A WAYFARING Man,travellin g in the desert

,met a

wom an standin g alon e an d terribly dejected . He

in quired of her,

“Who art then ?” My name is

Truth ,” she replied .

“And for what cause,

” he

asked,

“ have you left the city,to dwell alone here

in the wilderness ?” She made answer,

“ Because in

former t im es,falsehood was with few ,

but is n ow

with all men , whether you would hear or speak .

”

THE MANSLAYER.

A MAN committed a murder , and was pursued by the

relations of the man whom he murdered . On his

reaching the river Nile he saw a Lion on its ban k ,and bein g fearfully afraid , climbed up a tree . He

fou n d a serpent in the upper branches of the tree ,

and again being greatly alarmed he threw himself

i n to the river , whe n a c rocodile caught h im and ate

h im . Thus the earth,the ai r, and the water, alike

v ifused shel ter to a murderer.

THE LION AND THE FOX.

A FOX entered into partnership with a Lion , on the

pretence of becoming his servant . Each undertook

his proper duty in accordance with his own natureand powers . The Fox discovered and pointed out

the prey , the Lion sprung on it . and seized it . The

Fox soon became jealous of the Lion carrying ofi the

Lion’s share,and said that he would no longer find

out the prey , but would capture it on his own accoun t .

The next day he attempted to snatch a lamb from

the fold , but fell himself a prey to the huntsmen and

houn ds .

230 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE LION AND THE EAGLE .

AN EAGLE stayed his fl ight,and entreated a Lion to

make an all iance with him to their mutual advantage . The Lion replied

,

“ I have‘

no objection,but

you must excuse me for requirin g you to find surety

for your good faith ; for how can I trust any on e as a

frien d , who is able to fly away from his bargain

whenever he pleases ?”

Try before you trust .

THE HEN AND THE SWALLOW .

A HEN findin g the eggs of a viper,and carefully

keeping them warm,nourished them into l ife . A

Swallow observing what she had done , said , “ You

silly creature"why have you hatched these vipers ,whi ch

,when they shall have grown

,will infl ict in

jury ouall,beginning with yourself?”

THE FLEA AND THE WRESTLER.

A FLEA settled upon the bare foot of a Wrestler,andbit him ; on which he called loudly upon Hercules

for help . The Flea a second time hopped upon his

feet, when he groaned and said ,“ O Hercules"i f

you wil l not help me against a Flea , how can I hope

for your assistance againstgreater antagonists?”

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232 THE FABLES OF JESOP

her . The Thrush, bein g at the poin t of death , ex

claim ed .

“ 0 foolish creature that I am"For thesake of a little pleasant food I have deprived myself

Of my life .

THE ROSE AND THE AMARANTH .

AN AMARANTH planted in a garden near a Rose - tree

thus addressed it : “What a lovely flower is the Rose ,a favorite alike with Gods and with men . I en vy

you your beauty and your perfume . The Rose re

plied , I indeed,dear Am aranth

,flourish but fora

brief season"If no cruel hand pluck me from my

stem,yet I must perish by an early doom . But thou

art immortal,and dost never fade , but bloomest for

ever in renewed youth .

”

THE TRAVELLERS AND THE PLANE - TREE .

Two Travellers,worn out by the heat of the sum

mer’s sun,laid themselves down at noon under the

wide - spreading bran ches of a P lane - tree . As they

rested under its shade,one of the Travellers said to

the other ,“What a singularly useless tree is the

P lan e"Itbears no fruit ,an d is not of the least service to mani” The P lane - tree

,in terruptin g him ,

said,

“ Y ou u n grateful fellows"Do you, while re

ceiv in g benefits from m e,an d restin g un der my

shade,dare to describe me as useless

,an d un profi t

able?”

Some men despise thei r best blessings .

THE MOTHER

THE WOLF.

A FAMISHEDWolfwasprowling about in the

morning in search of

food . As he passed

the door of a cottagebuilt in the forest

,he

heard a Mother say to

her child ,“ Be quiet

,

or I will throw you

out of the window,

and the”Wolf shall eat

you . The Wolf satall day waitingat thedoor. In the evening

he heard the samewoman , fondling her child and saying :

He is quiet now,and i f the Wolf should

come , we will kill him .

” The Wolf,

hearin g these words,went home

,gaping

234 THE FABLES or JESOP.

with cold an d hunger . On his reaching his den,

Mistress Wolf in quired of him why he returned

wearied an d supperless,so con trary to his won t.

He repl ied : “Why,forsooth l— because I gave cred

ence to the words of a woman"”

THE ASS AND THE HORSE .

A N Ass besough t a Horse to spare him a small por

t ion of h is feed .

“Yes,

” said he ;“ i f an y remain s

out of what Iam now eatin g I will give it to you,for

the sake of my own superior dignity ;an d i f you wil lcom e when I shal l reach my own stall in the even

in g ,I will give you a l ittle sack full of barley .

” The

A ss repl ied : Than k you . I can’

t think that you ,who refuse me a little matter n ow ,

will by and by

confer on me a greater benefit .

THE CROW AND THE SHEEP .

A TROUBLESOME Crow seated herself on the back of

a Sheep . The Sheep , much against h is will , carried

her backward and forward for a long time , and at

last said,

“ If you had treated a dog in this way , youwould have had your deserts from his sharp teeth .

”

To th is the Crow repl ied , I despise the weak , and

yield to the strong . I know whom I may bully , and

whom I must flatter ; and I thus prolong my life to a

good oldage .

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236 THE FABLES OF .ZESOP .

ance,she had used him worse than the hedge itself.

The Bramble,interrupting him

,said

,

“But you really

must have been out of your senses to fasten yourself .

on me,who am myself always accustomed to fasten

upon others . ”

THE DOG AND THE OYSTER.

A DOG,used to eatin g eggs , saw an Oyster ; and

opening his mouth to its widest exten t,swallowed it

down with the utmost relish , supposing it to be an

egg . Soon afterwards suffering great pain in his

stomach , he said ,“ I deserve all this torment

,for

my folly in think ing that everything round must be

an egg.

They who act without sufficient thought,will often

fall into unsuspected danger.

THE FLEA AND THE MAN.

A MAN , very much annoyed with a Flea . caught him

at last, and said ,“Whoare you who dare to feed on

my limbs , and to cost me so much trouble in catch

ing you ?” The Flea repl ied ,“ O my dear sir

,pray

spare my life , and destroy me not , for I cannot pos

sibly do you much harm. The Man ,laughing

, re

pl ied ,“ N ow you shal l certainly die by mine own

hands , for no evil , whether it be small or large,

ought to be tolerated ,”

THE ASS AND THE CHARGER.

AN Ass congratulated a Horse on being so ungrudgin gly and carefully provided for, while he himself

had scarcely enough to eat , nor even that withouthard work . But when war broke out , and the heavy

armed soldier mouted the Horse , and riding him to

the charge , rushed into the very midst of the enemy ,

and the Horse , being wounded , fell dead on the'

battle - fi eld ; then the Ass , seeing all these things ,changed his mind .an d commiserated the Horse .

238 THE FABLES OF E SOP.

THE LION,JUP ITER

,AND THE ELEPHANT .

THE L ION wearied Jupiter with his frequent com

plaints . It is true, he said , O Jupiter"that I amgigan tic in strength

,handsome in shape

,an d power

ful in‘

attack . I have jaws well provided with teeth ,and feet furnished with claws

,and I lord it over all

the beasts of the forest ; and what a disgrace it is ,that bein g such as Iam

,I should be frightened by

the crowing of a cock .

” Jupiter replied,

“Why do

you blame me without a cause ? I have given you

all the attributes which I possess mysel f, and your

courage never fails you except in this on e instance .

”

On this the Lion groaned and lamented very much ,an d reproached himself with his cowardice, andwished that he might die . As these thoughts passed

through his mind,he met an Elephant, and came

near to hold a conversation with him . After a time

he observed that the Elephant shook his ears very

often,and he inquired what was the matter, and

why his ears moved with such a tremor every now

and then . Just at that moment a Gnat settled on

the head of the Elephant , and he repl ied ,“Do you

see thatl ittle buzzing insect? If i t enters my ear,my fate i s sealed . I should die presently .

” The

Lion said,

“Wel l , since so huge a beast is afraid of

a tiny gnat,I will no more complain , nor wish my

sel f dead . I fi n d mysel f, even as I am , better off

than the Elephant , in that very same degree , that a

Cock is greater than a Gnat.”

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240 THE FABLES OF ACSOP .

THE RICH MAN AND THE TANNER .

A RICH man lived near a Tan n er , and not being ableto bear the unpleasant smell of the tan - yard

,he

pressed his neighbor to go away . The Tanne r put

off his departure from time to time,saying that he

would remove soon . But as he still contin ued to

stay , it came to pass , as timewent on , the rich manbecame accustom ed to the smell

,and feel in g no

manner of inconvenience, made no further com

plaints .

THE MULES AND THE ROBBERS .

TWO MULES well laden with packs were trudgin g

along.\One carri ed pan n iers filled with money , the

other sacks weighted with grain . The Mule carry

in g the treasure walked with head erect, as if con

scious of the value of his burden , and tossed up and

down the clear toned bel ls fastened to his neck . His

companion followed with quiet and easy step . All

on a sudden Robbers rushed from their hiding - places

upon them ,and in the scuffle with their owners ,

wounded with a sword the Mule carrying the treas

ure,which they greedi ly seized upon , while they

took no notice of the grain . The Mule which hadbeen robbed and wounded , bewailed hismisfortunes .

The other replied ,“ I am indeed glad that I was

thought so l ittle o f , fo r I have lost n othing , noramI hurt with any wound .

THE VIPER AND THE FILE .

A VIPER entering the workshop of a smith , sought

from the tools the means of satisfying his hunger.

He more particularly addressed himself to a File .

and asked of him the favor of a meal . The File re

plied , You must indeed be a simple -min ded fellow

if you expect to get anything from me , who am

accustomed to take from every one, and ne ver to

give anything in return .

”

The covetous are poor givers.

242 THE FABLES OF IESOP .

THE LION AND THE SHEPHERD .

A L ION ,roam in g th rough a forest

,trod upon a thorn ,

and soon after came up towards a Shep herd , and

fawned upon h im,waggin g his tail

,as if he would

say,

“ I am a supplian t,an d seek your aid .

” The

Shepherd boldly examin ed,an d discovered the thorn ,

and placing his foot upon his lap , pulled it out and

reli eved the Lion of his pain , who returned into the

forest . Some time after , the Shepherd being im

prison ed on a false accusat ion , is condemn ed “ to be

cast to the Lion s ,” as the punishmen t of his imputed

crime . The Lion , on bein g released from his cage ,

recognizes the Shepherd as the man who healed h im ,

an d,instead of attacking him , approaches and places

his foot upon his lap . The Kin g , as soon as he heard

the tale,ordered the Lion to be set free again i n the

forest,and the Shepherd to be pardoned and restored

to his friends .

THE CAMEL AND JUP ITER .

THE Camel , when he saw the Bul l adorned withhorns

,envied him , and wished that he himself could

obtain the same honors . He went to Jupiter,and

besought him to give him horns . Jupiter, vexed at

his request,because he was not satisfied with his

si zean d strength o f body,and desired yetmore , not

on ly refused to give him horns , but even deprived

him of a portion of h is ears ,

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244 THE FABLES OE .ZESOP .

returned the Kite,

“ I am much stronger than you

are .

” “Why , are you able to secure the means of

l iving by your plunder ?” “Well,I have often caught

and carried away an ostrich in my talon s .” The

Eagle,persuaded by these words accepted him as

her mate . Shortly after the nup t ials the Eagle said ,Fly off , and brin g me back the ostrich you prom

ised me.

” The Kite , soaring aloft into the air ,

brought back the shabbiest possible mouse , and

stinking from the length of time it had lain about

the fields “ Is this,” said the Eagle ,

“ the faithful

fulfi lment of your promise to me ?” The K ite replied ,“ That I might attain to your royal hand

,there is

nothing that I would not have promised,however

much I knew that I must fail in the performance .”

THE EAGLE AND HIS CAPTOR.

A N EAGLE was once captured by a man,who at once

cl ipped his wings,and put him i nto his poultry yard

with the other bi rds ; at which treatment the Eagle

was weighed down with grief. Another neighbor

having purchased him , suffered his feathers to grow

again . The Eagle took fl ight , and pouncing upon a

hare brought itat once as an off erin g to his bene

factor. A Fox , seein g thi s , exclaimed , Do not

propitiate the favor of this man , but of your former

owner , lest he should again hunt for you,and de

prive you a second time of your wings .

THE KING’S SON AND THE PAINTED LION .

A K ING who had one only son , fond of mart ial ex er

cises , had a dream in which he was warned that his

son would be killed by a lion . Afraid lest the dream

shoul d prove true,he built for his son a pleasant

palace , and adorned its walls for his amusement

with all kinds of animals of the size of life , among

which was the picture of a lion . When the young

P rince saw this,his grief at being thus confined

burst out afresh , and standin g n ear the lion , he thusspoke : 0 you most detestable of animals"througha lying dream of my father’s , wh ich he saw in hissleep , I am shut up on your accour t in this palace as

246 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

i f I had been a girl : what shal l I n ow do to you ?”

With these words be stretched out his hands towarda thorn tree , meaning to cut a stick from its branches

that he might'

beat the lion,when one of its sharp

pri ckles pierced his ringer,and caused great pain

and inflamm ation,so that the youn g P r in ce fell

down in a fainting fit . A violen t fever suddenly set

in , fromwhich he died not man y days after.

We had better hear our troubles bravely than tryto escape them .

THE CAT AND VENUS .

A OAT fell in love with a handsome young man, and

en treated Venus that she would change her into the

form of a woman . Venus consen ted to her request ,

and transformed her in to a beautiful damsel,so that

the youth saw her, and loved her, and took her homeas his bride . While they were recl ining in thei r

chamber, Venus , wishing to discover if the Cat in

her change of shape had also altered her habits of

li fe , let down a mouse in the middle of the room .

She , qui te forgetti n g her present condition , started

up from the couch , and pursued the mouse , wishing

to eat i t . Venus,much disappointed . again caused

her to return to her former shape .

Nature exceeds nurture .

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248 THE FABLES or ACSOP .

THE BALD MAN AND THE FLY .

A FLY bit the bare head of a Bald Man,who endea

vorin g to destroy it,gave himself a heavy slap .

Then said the Fly mockingly,You who have

wished to revenge,even with death

,the prick of a

tin y in sect,what will you do to yourself

,who have

added in sult to injury ?” The Bald Man repl ied

,

“ I

can easily make peace with myself,because I kn ow

there was no intention to hurt . But you,an ill

favored and contemptible in sect,who delight in

suck ing human blood,I wish that I could have killed

you,even if I had incurred a heavier penalty .

”

THE SHIPWRECKED MAN AND THE SEA .

A SHIPWRECKED Man,having been cast upon a cer

tain shore,slept after his buffetings with the deep .

After a while waking up , when he looked upon the

sea, be loaded i t with reproaches that , enticin g m en

wi th the calmness of its looks , when it had in duced

them to plough its waters , i t grew rough and des

troyed them utterly . The Sea, assuming the formo f a woman , repl ied to him Blame not me. my

go od si r , but the win ds , for I am by my own nature

as calm and fi rm even as this earth ; but the win ds

fall in g o n me on a sudden , create these waves ,an dlash me i n to fury .

"

THE BUFFOON AND THE COUNTRYMAN .

A RICH nobleman once opened the theatres without

charge to the people,and gave a public notice that

he would handsomely reward any person who should

invent a n ew amusement for the occasion . Various

public performers contended for the prize . Among

them came a Bufi'

oon well known amon g the popu

lace for his jokes , and said that he had a kin d of

entertainment which had never been brought out on

any stage before . This report being spread about

made a great stir in the place,and the theatre was

crowded in every part . The Bufl'

oon appeared alone

upon the boards , w ithout any apparatus or confed

250 THE FABLES OF jESOP .

erates,and the very sen se of expectation caused an

inten se silence . The Bufl'

oon sudden ly bent hishead towards his bosom

,and imitated the squeakin g

of a little pig so adm irably with his voice,that the

audience declared that he had a porker un der his

cloak,and demanded that it should be shaken out .

When that was done , and yet nothing was found ,they cheered the actor

,and loaded him with the

loudest applause . A Countryman in the crowd , ob

servin g all that had passed , said ,“So help me , Her

cules,he shall not beat me at that trick"” and at

on ce proclaimed that he would do the same thin g on

the next day , though in a much more natural way .

On the morrow a still larger crowd assembled in the

theatre ; but now partiality for their favorite actor

very generally prevailed , an d the audience camerather to ridicule the Countryman than to see the

spectacle . Both of the performers , however, appeared on the stage . The Buffoon grunted and

squeaked very fast , and obtain ed , as on the preced

ing day , the applause an d cheers of the spectators .

Next the Countryman commenced ,and pretending

that he concealed a little pig beneath his clothes

(which in truth he did , but not suspected of the

audience) contrived to lay hold of and to pull his car ,

when he began to squeak ,and to express in his pain

the actual cry o f the pig . The crowd , however,cried out with on e co n sen t that the Bu ffoon had

given a far more exact imitat ion , and clamored for

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252 THE FABLES OF .zssoP .

THE OLIVE - TREE AND THE FIG - TREE .

THE Ol ive - tree ridiculed the Fig - tree because,while

she was green all the year round,the Fig - tree

changed its leaves with the seasons . A shower of

snow fell upon them,and

,finding the Ol ive full of

foliage , i t settled upon its branches , and , breaking

them down with its weight,at once despoiled it of

its beauty and killed the tree ; but finding the Fig

tree denuded of leaves,i t fell through to the ground

,

and did not injure it at all .

THE FROGS ’ COMPLAINT AGAINST THE SUN .

ONCE upon a time,when the Sun announced his

intention to take a wife,the Frogs l ifted up their

voices in clamor to the sky . Jupiter , disturbed by

the noise of thei r creakin g ,inquired the cause of

the i r complaint . One of them said,The Sun , n ow

while he is sin gle,parches up the marsh , and com

po l s us to die miserably in our arid homes ; what

will be our future condition if he should beget other

sun s r”

THE MOUSE , THE FROG , AND THE HAWK .

A MOUSE who always l ived on the land , by an un

lucky chance formed an in t imate acquain tan ce with

a Frog, who lived for the most part in the water.

The Frog , one day in tent on m ischief, boun d the

foot of the Mouse tightly to his own . Thus joined

together, the Frog first of all led his friend the

Mouse to the meadow where they were accustomed

to find their food . After thi s,he gradually led him

toward the pool in which he l ived,until he reached

the very brink , when suddenly jumping in he

dragged the Mouse in with him . The Frog en joyed

the water amazingly , and swam creakin g about , asif he had done a meritorious action . The unhappy

Mouse was soon suff ocated with the water, and his

dead body floated about on the surface,tied to the

footof the Frog. A Hawk observed it , and , poun c

254. THE FABLES or JESOP .

ing upon it with his talons,carr ied it up aloft . The

Frog being still fastened to the leg of ‘ the Mouse,

was also carried off a prisoner,and was eaten by

the Hawk .

Harm hatch,harm catch .

THE ZETHIOP .

THE purchaser of a black servant was persuadedthat the color of his skin arose from dirt contracted

through the neglect of his former masters . On bring

ing him home he resorted to every means of clean

ing,and subjected him to incessant scrubbin gs . He

caught a severe cold , but he never changed his

color or complexion .

What’s bred in the bone will stick to the flesh .

THE FISHERMAN AND HIS NETS .

A FISHERMAN,engaged in his call ing , made a very

successful cast , and captured a great haul of fish .

He managed by a skilful handling of his net to re

tain all the large fish,and to d raw them to the

shore ; but he could not prevent the sm al l er fi sh from

falling back through the meshes of the n et into

the sea.

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256 THE FABLE S OF .zEsor .

while he was doing,he entered

“

into this reflectionHow man y greedy epicures would think them

selves happy , amidst such avariety of del icatev iands as I n ow carry"But to me , this bitter ,prickly Thistle i s more savory an d reli shing thanthe most exquisite and sumptuous banquet.”

Every to his taste : one man ’s meat i s anotherman’s poison

,and one man’s poison is another man ’s

meat .

THE COOK AND THE FOX .

THE Fox,passing early one summer’s morning near

a farm yard,was caught in a sp rin gs , which the

farmer had plan ted there for that end . The Cook,

at a d istan ce, saw what happened ,

an d,hardly yet

darmg to trust himself too near so dangerous a foe,

approached him cautiously , and peeped at him ,not

without som e horror and dread of min d . Reynardno soon er perceived i t , but he addressed himsel f tohim

,with all the designin g artifice imaginable.

Dear cousin , says he , you see whatan un fortunate acciden t has befallen me here

,and all upon

your account for,as I was creepin g through yon

der hedge , in my way homeward , I heard you crow,

and was resolved to ask you how you did before Iwent any further but

,by the way , I met with thi s

d isaster ; and therefore n ow I must become an humble sui tor to you for a kn i fe to cut this plaguy string ;o r

,atleast , tha t youwould conceal my misfortune ,

t i l l I have knawed i t asunder with my teeth .

” TheCock

,see ing how the case stood

,made no reply , but

posted awayas fastas he could ,an d gave the farm

THE FABLES or msor . 257

er an account of the whole matter ; who , taking agood weapon along with him , came an d did the

Fox ’s business,before he could have time to con trive

his escape .

It is the duty of humanity to succor the un fortunate and the troubled ; but to aid the vicious and theevil - minded is to become a partner in thei r guilt .

THE FROG AND THE FOX .

A FROG,leaping out of the l ake , and taking the

advantage of a rising ground,made proclamation to

all the beasts of the forest , that he wasan able physician ,

and,for curing all manner of distempe rs ,

would turn hi s back to no person l iving. This discourse , uttered in a parcel of hard , c ramped words ,

which nobody un derstood,made the beasts adm ire

his learnin g , and give credit to every thin g he said .

At last the Fox , who was present , with indigna t ionasked him

,how he could have the impudence , wi th

those thin lantern - jaws,that meagre

,pale phiz

, an dblotched , spotted body , to set up for one who wasable to cure the in fi rm ities of others .

Physic ian heal thyself.”

THE FOX IN THE WELL .

A Fox, having fallen into a Well , made a shi ft , by

stickin g his claws in to the sides,to keep his head

above water. Soon after, a\Vo l f came and peeped

258 THE FABLES or .ZEsor .

over the brink ; to whom the Fox applied him se lfvery earnestly for assistan ce entreating that hewould help him to a rope , or somethin g of that kin d ,which might favor his escape. The Wolf

,moved

with compassion at his misfortune,could not forbear

expressing his con cern “Ah poor Reynard ,” says

he , I am sorry for you with all my heart ; howcould you possibly come into this melancholy condition “ Nay

,prithee

,friend ,

” replies the Fox,

“ i f

youwish me well , do not stand pitying of me , butlen d me some succor as fast as you can for pity isbut cold comfort when one i s up to the chin in water

,and within a hair’s breadth of starvin g or drown

ing .

”

A grain of help is worth a bushel of pity .

THE FOWLER AND THE RINGDOVE .

A FOWLER took his gun , and went into the woodsa shoot ing. He spied a Ringdove amon g the

branches of an oak , an d inten ded to kill i t . Heclapped the piece to his shoulder , an d took his aimaccordin gly . But, just as he was goin g to pull thetrigger

,an adder

,which he had trod upon under the

grass,stung him so pain fully i n the leg , that he was

forced to quit h is design , and threw his gun down ina passion . The poison immediately infected h isblo od

,and his whole body began to mortify which ,

when be perceived , he could n ot help owning it tobe just . Fate ,

” says he,

“ has brought destructionUpo n me while I was contriv ing the death ofan other. ”

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260 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

THE HORSE AND THE LOADED ASS .

AN idle Horse,and an Ass labor in g under a heavy

burden , were travell ing the road together ; theyboth belon ged to a country fel low

,who trudged it on

foot by them . The A ss, ready to faint under hisheavy load

,en treated the Horse to assist him , an d

l ighten his burden,by taking some of it upon his

back . The Horse was i ll - natured and refused to doit ; upon which the poor Ass tumbled down in themidst of the highway , an d expired in an instan t.The countryman un girded his pack - saddle

,and tried

several ways to rel ieve him , but all to no purpose ;which

,when he perceived , he took the whole bur

den ,and laid it upon the Horse , together with

the skin of the dead Ass so that the Horse,by his

morosen ess in refusing to do a smal l kin dness,justly

brought upon himself a great inconvenience .

Sel fi shn ess often prepares a burden as well as arod for its own back.

THE PEACOCK AND THE MAGPIE .

THE birds met together upon a time to choose aking ; and the Peacock standing candidate , displayed h is gaudy plumes , and caught the eyes of thesi lly multitude wi th the richness of his feathers .The majority declared for him ,

an d clapped thei rwin gs wi th great applause ; but , just as they weregoi n g to proclaim him , the Magpie stepped forth inthe midst of the assembly , and addressed him sel fthus to the n ew king May itplease your majesty

THE FABLES OF‘ IESOP. 61

elect to permit one of your unworthy subjects torepresent to you his suspicions and apprehensions ,in the face of this whole congregat ion , we havechosen you for our kin g

,we have put our l ives and

fortunes into your han ds , and our whole hope anddependen ce is upon you ; i f therefore the eagle , orthe vulture

,or the k ite ,

should at any time make adescent upon us

,as it is highly probable they will ,

may your majesty be so gracious as to dispel ourfears

,an d clear our doubts about thatmatter , by let

tin g us know how you intend to defend us againstthem This pithy unan swerable quest ion drewthe whole audience into so just a reflec t ion , that theysoon resolved to proceed to a n ew choice . But, fromthat time

,the Peacock has been looked upon as a

vain,insignificant pretender ,an d the Magpie esteem

ed as emin en t asaspeaker as any among the wholecommun i ty of birds.

A king chosen for his adornments,will bring his

people to shame .

THE KITE AND THE PIGEONS .

A KITE , who had kept sailing in the air for manydays near a dove - house

,and made a stoop at several

P igeon s , but all to no purpose , (for they were toonimble for him , ) at last had recourse to s t ratagem ,

and took his opportunity on e day to make a declaration to them , in which he set forth his own justan dgood intentions , who had n othin g more at heartthan the defence an d protection of the P igeons intheir an cient rights and liberties

,and how concerned

262 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

he was at thei r fearsan d jealousies of a foreign iavasion , especial ly the i r un just an d un reasonablesuspicions of him self

,as i f he in ten ded

,by force of

arms,to break in upon thei r con stitu t ion

,an d erecta tyrann ical governmen t over them . To preven t allwhich ,an d thoroughly quiet their minds , he thoughtproper to propose to them such term s of al lian cean darticles of peace as might forever cement a good understan d in g between them ; the prin cipal of whichwas

,that they should accept of him for thei r kin g

,

an d in vest him with all kin gly privi legean d prerogative over them . The poor simple P igeons con sen ted ; the Kite took the coron ation oath after a verysolemn manner

,on his part

, an d the Doves , theoaths of al legian ce an d fidel i ty

,on thei rs . But

much time had not passed over their heads,before

the good Kite pretended that it was part of his prerogative to devour a P igeon when ever be pleased .

And this he was not contented to do himself only,

but instructed the rest of the royal family in the

same kin gly arts of governmen t . The P igeons,re

duced to this miserable con dition , said on e to theother ,

“ Ah"we deserve no better"Why did we

lethim come in ?

Men should look before they leap . A too readyloyalty often leads to peri l .

THE SWALLOW AND OTHER BIRDS .

A FARMER was sowing his field with flax . The

Swallow obse rved it, an d des ired the othe r Birds toassist her in picking the seed up and destroying i t

,

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264 THE FABLES OF .ZESOP .

and know no better , or else you would n otdo it . Seewhat a happy life I lead I go just where I pleasesometimes I l ie down under the cool shade ; som e

times fri sk about in the open sun shin e ; and , whenI please

,slake my thirst in the clear sweet brook

but you,i f you were to peri sh

,have not so much as

a l ittle dirty water to refresh you .

” The Ox,n otat

al l moved with what he said , went quiet lyan d calmly on with his work ; and , in the even ing was unyoked and turned loose . Soon after which he sawthe calf taken out of the field , and del ivered into thehands of a pr iest , who imm ediately led him to thealtar

,and prepared to sacr ifice him . His head was

hun g round with fi llets of flowers,and the fatal

kn i fe was just goin g to be applied to his throat,

when the Ox drew nearan d whispered him to thispurpose “ Behold the en d of your insolen ce an darrogan ce it was for this on ly you were suffered tol ive at all ; and pray n ow

,friend , whose condition is

best,yours or min e ? ”

Boastful idlen ess often comes to grief.

THE HUSBANDMAN AND THE STORK .

THE Husbandman pitched a n et i n h is fields to takethe cranes and geese which came to feed upon then ew- sown corn . Accordin gly he took several

,bo th

c ran es and geese ; and amon g them a Stork , whopleaded hard for his l ife , and , among other apologies which he made , alleged , that he was nei thergoose nor c ran e , but a poor harmless Stork , whoperformed h is duty to his parents to all i n tents an dpurposes

,feeding them when they were old , and ,as

THE FABLES OF ABSOP . 265

occasion required carryin g them from place to placeupon his back . All this may be true, replied theHusbandman but

,as I have taken you in bad

company,and in the same crime , you must expec t

to suffer the same punishment . ”

However good a man may be he cannot afford tomix with evil companions .

THE HORSE AND THE LION .

A LION seein g a fine plump Nag , had a grea t mindto eat a bit of him . bu t kn ew n otwhich way to gethim into his power. At last he bethought himself ofthis contrivan ce he gave ou t that he was a physie ian ,

who,having gained experience by his t rave ls

into foreign countries,had made himse lf capable of

curin g any sort of malady or distem per in c iden t toany kind of beast

,hoping by this s tratagem to get

an easier admittance among catt le . an d fi n d an op

portun ity to execute his design . The Horse , whosmoked the matter

,was resolved to be even wi th

him and,so humor ing the thing as if be suspected

nothing,he prayed the Lion to give him his adv ice

in relation to a thorn he had got in his foot , which“

had quite lamed him,an d gave him great pain and

uneasiness . The Lion readily agreed,and desi red

he m ight see the foot . Upon which the Horse l i ftedup on e of his hind legs

,and

,while the Lion preten d

ed to be porin g earn estly upon his hoof,gave him

such a kick in the face as qui te stun ned h im, an d

left him sprawlin g upon the groun d . In the meantime the Horse trot ted away

,n eighin g and laugh

ing merrily at the success of the t r ick,by which he

266 THE FABLE S or JESOP .

had defeated the purpose of on e who intended tohave tri cked h im out of h is l ife .

The sharpest tricksters are often overm atched .

The en gineer gets hoist with his own petard .

”

CUP ID AND DEATH .

CUPID,one sultry summer’s noon , tired with play ,

an d fain t with heat , wen t in to a cool grotto to reposehimself , which happened to be the cave of Death .

He threw himself carelessly down on the floor , an dhis quiver turn in g topsy - turvy

,all the arrows fel l

out, an d mingled wi th those of Death , which layscattered upan d down the place . When he awokehegathered them up as well as he could , but theywere so intermin gled that , though he kn ew the cer

tain number , he could not rightly distin guish them ;from which it happen ed that he took up some of thearrows which belon ged to Death ,

an d left several ofhis own in the room of them . This i s the cause thatwe ,now and then , see the hearts of the oldan d de

crep it tran sfixed wi th the bolts of love ; and wi th

equal griefan d surprise behold the youthful blooming part of our species smitten wi th the darts ofDeath .

Cupid ’s arrows are as peri lous as they are capri

c ious.

THE OLD MAN AND HIS SONS .

AN Old Man had man y Son s , who were often fall ingoutwith o n e ano the r. Whe n the Father had exe rted his authori ty , and used othe r mean s in o rde r to

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268 THE FABLES OF JESOP .

out of your skin for fear ? ” What you observeis true, repl ied the Stag

,though I know n othow

to accoun t for it Iam in deed vigorous , an d ableenough

,I thin k

,to make my party good anywhere,

and often resolve with my self that nothin g shall ever dismay my courage for the future but

,alas"I

no sooner hear the voi ce of a hound but my spir itsfail me

,an d I can n ot help making off as fast as ev

er my legs can carry me .

The greatest braggarts are generally the mostahj cet cowards

THE HAWK AND THE FARMER .

A HAWK,pursuing a pigeon over a corn field with

great eagern essan d force , threw himself in to a n etwhich a husban dm an had planted there to take thecrews who bein g employed not far off

,and seein g

the Hawk fluttering in the net , came and took him ;but

,just as he was goin g to kill him

,the Hawk be

sought him to let him go,assuring him that he was

only fol lowing a pigeon,and neither in tended n or

had done any harm to h im . To whom the Farmerrepl ied

,And what harm had the poor pigeon done

to you Upon which he wrung his head off immed iately .

Oppressors are never short of excuses for thei rcvil designs .

THE NURSE AND THE WOLF .

A NURSE ,who was en deavoring to quiet a froward

,

bawling child,among other attempts, threatened to

THE FA BLEs OF ABSOP . 260

throw it out of doors to the Wolf,i f i t did not leave

off crying . A Wolf, who chanced to be prowl ingnear the door just at that time , heard the expression

,and , believing the woman to be in earnest ,

waited a long while about the house in expectat ionof seeing her words made good . But at last thechild , wearied with its own importunities , fel lasleep , and the poor Wolf was forced to return backto the woods empty and supperless . The fox meeting him , and surprised to see him going hom e so

th in and di sconsolate,asked him what the matter

was,and how he came to speed no better that n ight ;

Ah do not ask me ,” says he ; I was so silly as

to believe what the Nurse said,and have been dis

appointed .

”

Even Wolves are sometimes too trustful

THE SATYR AND TRAVELER .

A SATYR,as he was ran ging the forest in an exceed

ing cold,sn owy season

,met with a Traveler half

starved with the extremity of the weather . He tookcompassion on him

,an d kindly invited him home to

a warm comfortable cave he had in the hollow of arock . As soon as they en teredan d sat down , notwithstanding there wasagood fire in the place , thechilly Traveler could not forbear blowin g his fingers’

ends . Upon the Satyr s askin g him why he did so ,he answered

,that he did it to warm his han ds . The

honest sylvan ha v in g seen l ittle of the world , admi redaman who was master of so valuable a qual ~

i ty as that of blowing heat, an d therefore was re

solved to entertain him in the bestm an n er he could ,

270 THE FABLES OF .zssor .

He spread the table before him with dried fruits ofseveral sorts ; an d produced a remnant of cold cordial win e

,which

,as the r igor of the season made

very proper,he mulled with some warm spices , in

fused over the fire, an d presented to his shivering

guest . But this the traveler thought to blow likewise and upon the Satyr’s deman din g a reason whyhe blowed again , he replied , to cool his dish . Thissecond answer provoked the Satyr’s indignation asmuch as the first had kindled his surprise : so

,takin g

the man by the shoulder, he thrust him out of doors ,saying

,he would have nothing to do with a wretch

who had so vile a quality as to blow hot and coldwith the same mon th .

The mean est of men is he who combines in himself the flatterer and the slanderer.

THE ENVIOUS MAN AND THE COVETOUS .

AN Envious Man happened to be offering up hisprayers to Jupiter just in the time and place with acovetous miserable fellow . Jupiter , not caring to betroubled with thei r impertinences h imsel f

,sen tApolloto examine the merits of their petitions

,and to give

them such rel ief as he should think proper. Apollotherefore opened his commission , and withal toldthem that , to make short of the matter, whateverthe one asked the other should have it double. U pon this , thc Covetous Man , though he had a thousandthings to request , yetforebore to ask first , hopi n g torece ive a double quantity for he con cluded that allmen

’

s wishes sympathized with h is. By this means

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2 7 2 THE FABLE S OF

with a great deal of ease but the Stork,who could

but jus t dip in the point Of his bill , was not a bitbetter all the while : however , in a f ew days after ,he returned the compl imen t

,an d in vited the Fox ;

but suffered n othin g to be brought to the table butsom e minced meat in a glass j ar

,the neck of which

was so deep and so n arrow,that

,though the Stork

with his lon g bill m ade a shift to fill his belly,all

that the Fox,who was very bun gy

,could do

,was to

l ick the brims,as the Stork slabbered them with his

eating. Reyn ard was hearti ly vexed at first , but ,when he came to take his leave

,owned in genuously,

that he had been used as he deserved , and that hehad no reason to take an y threatmen t i ll , of

'

whichhimself had set the example .

The Fox may be full of cunning but the Stork is amatch for him .

THE BEAR AND THE BEE - HIVES .

A BEAR,cl imbin g over the fen ce in to a place where

Bees were kept , began to plunder the Hives , and robthem of thei r honey . But the Bees , to revenge thei n jury . attacked liim in a whole swarm together ;and

, though they were n otable to pierce his ruggedhide , yet, with thei r l i ttle sti n gs , they so annoyedhis eyes an d nostrils , that , unable to endure thesmarting pain

,with impatien ce he tore the skin

o ver h is ears with h is own c laws,and suffered am

p le pun ishment for the i n jury he d id the Bees inbreakin g open the i r waxen cel ls .

I l l - gotten gains bring many pain s,

THE FABLES or .zEsor . 2 7 3

THE EAGLE AND THE CROW .

AN Eagle flew down from the top of a high rock ,and settled upon the back of a lamb ; and then in

stan tly flyin g up into the air again , bore his bleatin gpri ze aloft in his pounces . A Crow who sat upon anelm ,

and beheld the exploit , resolved to imi tate i tso flying down upon the back of a ram , and entangling his Claws in the wool , he fell a chattering andattempting to fly by which means he drew the oh

ser vation of the shepherd upon him , who find ing h isfeet hampered in the fleece of the ram ,

easil v tookhim

,and gave him to his boys for thei r sport an d

diversion .

It is not always safe to imitate a bad example .

THE DOG AND THE SHEEP .

THE Dog sued the Sheep for debt , of which thekite and the wolf were to be judges . They , withoutdebating long upon the matter . or makin gan y scru

ple for wan t of e v iden ce . gave senten ce for theplain tiff ; who immediately tore the poor Sheep inpieces

,and divided the spoi l with the unjus t judges .

Justice.

can only be obtained by an appeal torighteous judges .

THE YOUNG MAN AND THE SWALLOW .

A PRODIGAL youn g spen d thrift , who had was ted h iswhole patrimon y in taverns an d gamin g- houses

,

274 THE FABLES OF .E sor .

among lewd,idle compan y,

was taking a m elanchely walk near a brook . It was in the mon th ofJan uary ; an d happened to be on e of those warmsun shin y days which som etimes sm i le upon us evenin that win terly season of the year an d to make i tthe more flattering , a Swallow ,

which had m ade h isappearan ce

,by m i stake

,too soon

,flew skimmi n g

alon g upon the surface of the water . The giddyYouth observin g th is ,withoutan y farthercon sideration

,concluded that summer was n ow come

,an d

that he should have l i ttle or n o occasion for clothes ,so he wen t and pawned them at the broker’s

,an d

ventured the money for on e s take more , amon g h issharpin g companions . When this too was gon e thesame way with the rest , he took an other sol itarywalk in the same place as before . But the weatherbe in g severe and frosty , had made everythin g lookwi th an aspect very different from what i t d id before the brook was quite frozen Over

,and the poor

Swal low ‘ lay dead upon the bank of i t ; the verysight of which cooled the young Spark ’s brain s ;an dcom in g to a sense of his misery , he reproached thedeceased bird as the author of all his misfortunes :Ah

,wretch that thou wert says he

,

“ thou has tun done both thysel fan d me . who was so credulousas to depend upon thee .

The spen dthrift blames everybody but himself forhis poverty .

THE WOOD AND THE CLOWN .

A COUNTRY Fel low came on e day i n to the wood ,and looked about him with some concern ; upon

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27 6 THE FABLES or JESOP .

strengthan d courage enough to wound so m ightyan d valorous a beast Ah says the Tiger

,I

was mistaken in my reckonin g it was that in vin cible man yonder . ”It is never wise to be to boastful . There is always

some vuln erable point in the strongest armor.

JUP ITER AND THE CAMEL .

THE Camel presen ted a pet ition to Jupiter,complain

in g of the hardship of his case in not havin g , l ikebullsan d other creatures , horns , oran y weapon s ofdefen ce, to protect himself from the attacks of hisenem ies ,an d praying that rel ief might be given himin such m ann er as might be thought most expedien t ,Jupiter could not help smilin g at the impertin en taddress of the great si lly beast , but , however , rejected the peti tion ;an d told him that , so far from grantin g his unreasonable request , hen ceforward he

would take care his ears should be shortened,as a

pun ishm en t for his presumptuous importun ity .

Dissatisfaction tends to diminish the value ofpresent possessions .

THE WIND AND THE SUN.

A msP U'

rE o n ce arose betwixt the north Wind andthe Sun ,

about the superiori ty o f thei r power ; andtheyagreed to try thei r stren gth upon a traveler,wh ich should be able to gethis c loak off fi rs t . Thenorth Wi n d b egan

,and blew a very cold blast,ac

THE FABLES OF 27 7

companied with a sharp dr i v in g shower . But this ,an d whatever e lse he could do , instead of makin g

the man quit his cloak , obliged him to gird it abouthis body as close as possible . Next came the Sun ;who

,breaking out fromathick watery cl oud , drove

away the cold vapors for the sky, an d darted hiswarm sultry rays upon the head of the poor weather- beaten traveler. The man growin g fain t with theheat

,and unable to endure i t any longer , first th rows

off his heavy cloak , and then fl ies for protection tothe shade of a neighboring grove .

Extremes are always dangerous a medium coursei s always most to be desired .

THE OLD WOMAN AND HER MAIDS .

A CERTAIN Old Woman had several Maids , whomshe used to call up to their work , every morning , atthe crowin g of the cock . The Wen ches , who foun dit gr ievous to have their sweet sleep disturbed soearly , combined together, and kill ed the cockthinkin g that , when the alarm was gone

,they

might enjoy themselves in their warm beds a littlelon ger. The Old Woman , grieved for the loss of hercock , and having , by some means or other, d iscovered the whole plot , was resolved to be even wi ththem ; for , from that time , she obliged them to r isecon stantly at midn ight .

In rash endeavors to reduce exist ing ills,we may

easily increase our troubles .

27 8 THE FABLES or zssor .

THE PORCUP INE’

AND THE SNAKES .

A PORCUPINE,wantin g to shelter himself

,desired a

nest of Sn akes to give h im adm ittan ce in to theircave . They were prevailed upon

,and l et h im in

accordin gly ; but were so annoyed with his sharpprickly quills that they soon repen ted of their easycompli an ce

,an d entreated the Porcupin e to wi th

d raw, an d lea v e them their hole to them selv es .

No,

” says he,

“ let them quit the place that don'

tl ike it for my part

,I am well enough satisfied as I

am .

”

Hospitality i s a v irtue but should be wisely ex er

cised , we may by though tlessness entertain fees instead of frien ds .

THE CAT AND THE FOX .

As the Catan d the Fox were talkin g politics togethon a time

,in the m iddle of a forest , Reynard said ,

“ Let thin gs turn ou t ever so bad , he did not care ,for he had a thousand tricks for them yet, beforethey should hurt him .

” “ Butpray,

” says he,

“Mrs .

Puss,suppose there should be an invasion ,

whatcourse do you design to take Nay

,

”says the

Cat , I havebut on e shi ft for i t,and if that won

’

tdo , l am un don e .

” “ I am sorry for you,

” repl iesltevnard ,

“ with all my heart , and would glad ly furn ish you with on e or two of mine , but i n deed ,

n e ighbor,as times go , it i s not good to trust ; we

musteve n be eve ry on e fo r himsel f,as the say i n g is ,

an d so your humble servant . ” These words were

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80 THE FABLES or .E sor.

proper supplies . Then (n oddin g his head towardsthe third) that I shall take by v irtue of my prorogative ; to which ,

I m ake n o questi on , but so dut i fuland loyal a people will pay al l the deferencean d regard that I can desire . N ow , as for the remainingpart

,the necessity of our presentaffairs is so very

urgent,our stock so l ow

,an d our credi t so impaired

and weakened, that I must insist upon your gran t

in g that , without an y hesitation or demur andhereof fai l not at your per i l .”

We should be careful how we place ourselves atthe mercy of the powerful .

THE FATAL MARRIAGE .

THE Lion touched with gratitude by the noble procedure of a Mouse , and resol v in g not to be outdon ein generosity byan y wild beast whatsoever , desi redhis l ittle del iverer to name h is own terms

,for that

he might depen d upon h is complyin g with an y proposal he should make . The Mouse , fired with ambition at this gracious offer , did n ot so much con sider what was proper for him to ask

,as what was in

the power of h is pr in ce to grant ; an d so p resumptuously demanded his pri n cely daughter , the youn gLion ess

,in marriage . The Lion con sen ted but

,

when he would have given the royal vi rgin i n to h ispo ssession , she , l ike a giddy thi n g as she. was , n ot

minding how she walked , by chance set her paw upo n her spouse , who was coming to meet her, andc rushed her little dear to pieces .

THE FABLE S or .s sor 281

Ambition o ften times overleaps i tsel fan d falls intogreat peri l .

THE ANT AND THE FLY .

ON E day there happened some words between theAnt and the Fly about precedency , and the pointwas argued with great warmth and eagerness onboth sides . Says the Fly

,It is well known what

my pretensions are,and how justly theyare ground

ed : there is never asacrifice offered but I alwaystaste of the entrails

,even before the gods them

selves. I have one of the uppermost seats at church ,

and frequent the altar as often as anybody I havea free admission at court and can never want theking’s ear

,for I sometimes sit upon h is shoulder.

There is not a maid of honor,or handsome youn g

creature comes in my way,but , if I l ike her, I set t lebetwixt her balmy lips . And then I eat and drin kthe best of everythin g

,without having any occasion

to work for my li v ing. What is there that suchcountry pusses as you en j oy to be compared to a l ifel ike this ? ” The Ant

,who by thi s time had com

posed herself , repl ied wi th a great deal of temper,and no less se v er i ty Indeed ,

to be a guest at anen tertainmen t of the gods i s a very great honor

,i f

on e is in vited ; but I should not care to be a disagreeable in truder anywhere . You talk of the kin gan dthe court , an d the fi n e lad ies there , w i th greatfamiliari ty ; but , as I have been get tin g in my harvest ih summer , I have seen a certain person. underthe town walls makin g a hearty meal upon something that is n ot so proper to be mentioned . As to

282 THE FABLES OF msor .

your frequen tin g the altars,you are in the right to

take sanc tuary where you are like to meet wi th theleast disturbance ; but I have known people beforen ow run to altars

,and call it devotion , when they

have been shut out of all good compan y , and hadnowhere else to go . You do not work for yourl iving , you say— true : therefore , when you haveplayed away the summer , and win ter com es

,you

have nothing to live upon ;an d ,while you are starv

in g with cold an d hun ger , I have a good , warmhouse over my head

,and plenty of provisions about

me.”

Gaiety and folly are all very well for the summer,

but when the win ter comes thev chan ge to discontent and wretchedness .

THE COUNTRYMAN AND THE SNAKE .

A VILLAGER,in a frosty

,sn owy winter

,found a

Sn ake under a hedge , almost dead with cold . Hecould not help having a compassion for the poorcreature , so he brought it home ,an d laid it upon thehearth near the fire ; but i t had . not lain there long

,

before (being revived with the heat) it began toe rect i tsel f, an d fly at h is wife an d children

,fi l l ing

the whole cottage with dreadful h issin gs . The

(Joun trymen bearin g an outc ry , an d perceivin gwhat the matter was , caught up a mattock , andsoo n dispatched h im ; upbraiding h im at the same

time in these words Is this , .vile wretch , the re

ward you make to him that saved your l i fe? D ie asyou deserve ; but a single death is too good for you .

”

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I N D EX .

A n tan d Fl yAn tsan d GrasshoppersApesan d Two Travell ersA ssan d ChargerAssan d Dri verAssan d FrogsA ssan d GrasshopperA ssan d h is MastersA ssan d h is Purchasers .

Assan d h is Shadow .

A ssan d HorseAssan d Lap - dog .

A ssan d MuleA ssan d Old Shepherd .

A ssan d Wol f .

A ss carry i n g ImageA ss eatin g ThistlesA ss, Cockan d L ionAss, Fox an d L ionA ss in the Lion ’

s Sk in . .

Astron omer

Bal d Man an d FlyBald K n i ht.

Batan d easelBearan d Bee- hi ve .

Bearan d Fox .

Bearan d Two Travel lers .

Beean d Ju i terBe l l an d embersB ircpcatcher, Partridgean dCo ck .

B i r ds, Beastsan d Bat.

B itchan d herWhe l

B l i nd Man an d Wh o p . .

Roast i n g Travel lerBearan d Ass

XX V I""

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

CamelCamelan d ArabCamel an d JupiterCatan d B irdsCatan d Cook

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bowman an d L ionB oyan d F il berts .

B oyan d Nett lesB oy Bath in g .

Boy Hun t in g LocustsBoysan d Frogs .

Braz ieran d h is D ogBrotheran d S ister .

Buffoon an d the Coun tryman

Bul l an d Cal f .

Bul lan d GoatBul l , Lion ess an d WildBoar Hun ter .

Catan d M ice .

Catan d Venus .

Cobb ler turn ed DoctorCockan d Fox .

Cockan d JewelCharcoal - burn eran d Ful lerChargeran d M i l ler .

Coun tryman an d SnakeCraban d FoxCraban d its MotherCrowan d MercuryCrewan d PitcherCrewan d Raven .

Crewan d Serpen tCrowan d SheepCupidan d Death .

Dan c i n Mo n keyDoe mi f L ion

In dex .

Dogan d Cook .

Dogan d OysterDogan d ShadowDogan d SheepDog,

Cockan d FoxDog in Man ger .

Dogsan d Fox .

Dogsan d H idesDogs’ House 2MDo l phin s, Whal esan d Sprat 92

Devean d Crow 215

Eaglean d ArrowEaglean d BeetleEaglean d CaptorEaglean d 27 3

Eaglean d Fox 219

Eaglean d Jackdaw 217

Eaglean d Kite . 343

Eagle, Catan d Wi ld Sow 16 1

En v iousan d CovetousMan 270

Farmerand Cran esFarmeran d FoxFarmeran d h is Son sFarmeran d SnakeFarmeran d StorkFatal MarriageFatheran d his Son s .

Fatheran d h is Two Daughters

Fawn an d hisMother :F ightin g Cocksan d Eagle .

F ir Treean d Bramb le .

F isherman an d h is NetsFisherman an d Li ttle Fi sh.

F ishermanF ishermen .

Fleaan d Man .

Fleaan d OxFleaan d Wrestler .

F l iesan d Hon ey - pot

Fl y an d the Draugh t Mule .

Fow leran d Rin gdoveFow leran d V i perFox an d Bramble

285

Fox an d Crew

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

o o o o o o o o o o o

Harean d Houn dHarean d Torto1seHaresan d FoxesHaresan d Frogs

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

o o o o o o o o o

Fox an dFox anal Leopar

dox anFox an d Lion .

Fox an d Mask .

Fox an d Mon keyFox an d Mon keyFox an d S torkFoxan d TigerFox an d S ick L ionFox an d WoodcutterFox in the Wel lFox who had lost his Tai lFrogan d F ox .

Frogsask in g foraFr

ggs’

complain t again stun

Game—Cocksan d PartridgeGeesean d Cran esGnatan d Bul lGnatan d LionGoatan d AssGoatan d Goatherd .

Goatherd an d W i ld GoatsGood.an d Il lsGrasshopper an d Ow l

Hart an d V in e .

Hawkan d Farmer .

Hawkan d Night in gal eHawk , Kitean d Pigeon sHe iferan d Ox .

Hen an d Go lden EggsHen an d Swal low .

Hercul esan d Wagon er .

Herd sman an d lost Bul lHorsean d AsstHorsean d GroomHorsean d Loaded AssHorsean d Lion

286

Horsean d his RiderHorsean d StagHun teran d HorsemanHun teran d WoodmanHun tsman an d FishermanHusban dman an d Stork .

Image of Mercuryan d Carp en ter .

Jackdawan d Doves .

Jackdawan d FoxJupiteran d Camel .Jupi teran d Mon key .

Jupiter, Neptun e. M i n ervaan d

K idan d Wo l f ”K idan d Wo l f ”K in gdom of the L1on

K in g 8 Son an d Pain tedL ion

R 1tean d Pigeon s .

Kitesan d Swan s

Laboreran d SnakeLamban d Wol fLam pLarkan d her Youn g On esLark bury i n g h e1 FatherL ion an d B earL ion an d Bul lLion an d D e l h iL ion an d Bag e

L ion an d Four Bul lsL ion an d FoxL ion an d Hare .

Lion an d Mouse

Lio n an d other Beasts . .

Lion an d Shepherd .

Lio n an d Three Bul lsL io n , Bearan d FoxL io n . Fo x an d AssLio n in aFarmyal dLion 111 LoveL io n , Jupi teran d Elephan tLio n . Mousean d FoxLio n , Wol fan d Fox

In dex .

L ion ess

Man an d h is two SweetheartsMan an d h is WifeMan an d L ion .

Man an d Satyr .

Man b i tten byaDog

Man , Horse, Ox an d D og .

Man slayer .

Masteran d his Dogs.

Mercuryan d Scul ptorMercuryan d Werkmen

M icean d WeaselsM ice in Coun c i l .Mil k -woman an d her Pai lM i l ler, h is Son an d their

M isch ievous Dog

0 0 0 0 0 0

North Wi n dan d SunNursean d Wo l f

Mo lean d h is MotherMon keyan d (‘am elMon keyan d Do l ph i n .

Mon keyan d F ishermanMon keysan d their Mother.Motheran d Wo lfMoun tain in LaborMousean d Bul l .

Mouse,R e gan d Hawk

MuleMulesan d Robbers .

Oakan d Reeds .

Oakan d WoodcuttersOaksan d Jupi terOld Houn dOld Lion .

Old Man an d DeathO ld Manand his Son sO ld Woman an d her Ma1dsO ld Woman an d Phys ic ianO ld Woman an d W1 11e ~jarOl ive - treean d F ig - treeOn e - eyed

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I n dezc.

Wild Assan d L ionWin dan d SunWolfan d Cran eWolfan d Fox .

Wo lfan d GoatWolfan d HorseWo lfan d House- degWolfan d Lamb . .

Wol fan d L ionWol fan d L ion Youn g Man an d Swal low .

Wol fan d Sheep

Wol fan d ShepherdWo l fan d ShepherdsWolf, Fox an d Ape\Vol f m Sheep 8 C loth in gWol vesan d Sheep ”

Wol vesan d Sheep - dogsWoman an d her Hen

Woodan d the C lown