THE TALE, the Parable,
and the Fable are all common and popular modes of conveying instruction. Each
is distinguished by its own special characteristics. The Tale consists simply
in the narration of a story either founded on facts, or created solely by the
imagination, and not necessarily associated with the teaching of any moral
lesson. The Parable is the designed use of language purposely intended to
convey a hidden and secret meaning other than that contained in the words
themselves; and which may or may not bear a special reference to the hearer, or
reader. The Fable partly agrees with, and partly differs from both of these. It
will contain, like the Tale, a short but real narrative; it will seek, like the
Parable, to convey a hidden meaning, and that not so much by the use of
language, as by the skilful introduction of fictitious characters; and yet
unlike to either Tale or Parable, it will ever keep in view, as its high
prerogative, and inseparable attribute, the great purpose of instruction, and
will necessarily seek to inculcate some moral maxim, social duty, or political
truth. The true Fable, if it rise to its high requirements, ever aims at one
great end and purpose representation of human motive, and the improvement of
human conduct, and yet it so conceals its design under the disguise of
fictitious characters, by clothing with speech the animals of the field, the
birds of the air, the trees of the wood, or the beasts of the forest, that the
reader shall receive advice without perceiving the presence of the adviser.
Thus the superiority of the counsellor, which often renders counsel
unpalatable, is kept out of view, and the lesson comes with the greater
acceptance when the reader is led, unconsciously to himself, to have his
sympathies enlisted in behalf of what is pure, honorable, and praiseworthy, and
to have his indignation excited against what is low, ignoble, and unworthy. The
true fabulist, therefore, discharges a most important function. He is neither a
narrator, nor an allegorist. He is a great teacher, a corrector of morals, a
censor of vice, and a commender of virtue. In this consists the superiority of
the Fable over the Tale or the Parable. The fabulist is to create a laugh, but
yet, under a merry guise, to convey instruction. Phaedrus, the great imitator
of Aesop, plainly indicates this double purpose to be the true office of the
writer of fables.
Duplex libelli dos est:
quod risum movet,
Et quod prudenti vitam
consilio monet.
The continual
observance of this twofold aim creates the charm, and accounts for the
universal favor, of the fables of Aesop. "The fable," says Professor
K. O. Mueller, "originated in Greece in an intentional travestie of human
affairs. The 'ainos,' as its name denotes, is an admonition, or rather a
reproof veiled, either from fear of an excess of frankness, 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 Aesopian fables, we
find it to be the same." l
The construction of a
fable involves a minute attention to (1) the narration itself; (2) the
deduction of the moral; and (3) a careful maintenance of the individual
characteristics of the fictitious personages introduced into it. The narration
should relate to one simple action, consistent with itself, and neither be
overladen with a multiplicity of details, nor distracted by a variety of
circumstances. The moral or lesson should be so plain, and so intimately
interwoven with, and 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 characters should be marked with
an unexceptionable care and attention to their natural attributes, and to the
qualities attributed to them by universal popular consent. The Fox should be
always cunning, the Hare timid, the Lion bold, the Wolf cruel, the Bull strong,
the Horse proud, and the Ass patient. Many 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 is
intimately associated. "'Tis the simple manner," says Dodsley, 2
"in which the morals of Aesop are interwoven with his fables that
distinguishes him, and gives him the preference over all other mythologists.
His 'Mountain delivered of a Mouse,' produces the moral of his fable in
ridicule of pompous pretenders; and his Crow, when she drops her cheese, lets
fall, as it were by accident, the strongest admonition against the power of
flattery. There is no need of a separate sentence to explain it; no possibility
of impressing it deeper, by that load we too often see of accumulated
reflections." 3 An equal amount of praise is due for the consistency with
which the characters of the animals, fictitiously introduced, are marked. While
they are made to depict the motives and passions 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, cannot be bestowed on all the fables in this collection.
Many of them lack that unity of design, that close connection of the moral with
the narrative, that wise choice in the introduction of the animals, which
constitute the charm and excellency of true Aesopian fable. This inferiority of
some to others is sufficiently accounted for in the history of the origin and
descent of these fables. The great bulk of them are not the immediate work of
Aesop. Many are obtained from ancient authors prior to the time in which he
lived. Thus, the fable of the "Hawk and the Nightingale" is related
by Hesiod; 4 the "Eagle wounded by an Arrow, winged with its own Feathers,"
by Aeschylus; 5 the "Fox avenging his wrongs on the Eagle," by
Archilochus. 6 Many of them again are of later origin, and are to be traced to
the monks of the middle ages: and yet this collection, though thus made up of
fables both earlier and later than the era of Aesop, rightfully bears his name,
because he composed so large a number (all framed in the same mould, and
conformed to the same fashion, and stamped with the same lineaments, image, and
superscription) as to secure to himself the right to be considered the father
of Greek fables, and the founder of this class of writing, which has ever since
borne his name, and has secured for him, through all succeeding ages, the
position of the first of moralists.7
The fables were in the
first instance only narrated by Aesop, and for a long time were handed down by
the uncertain channel of oral tradition. Socrates is mentioned by Plato 8 as
having employed his time while in prison, awaiting the return of the sacred ship
from Delphos which was to be the signal of his death, in turning some of these
fables into verse, but he thus versified only such as he remembered. Demetrius
Phalereus, a philosopher at Athens about 300 B.C., is said to have made the
first collection of these fables. Phaedrus, a slave by birth or by subsequent
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. Aphthonius, a rhetorician of Antioch, A.D. 315, wrote a treatise on, and
converted into Latin prose, some of these fables. This translation is the more
worthy of notice, as it illustrates a custom of common use, both in these and
in later times. The rhetoricians and philosophers were accustomed to give the
Fables of Aesop as an exercise to their scholars, not only inviting them to
discuss the moral of the tale, but also to practice and to perfect themselves
thereby in style and rules of grammar, by making for themselves new and various
versions of the fables. Ausonius, 9 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 Julianus Titianus, a contemporary writer of no
great name, translated into prose. Avienus, also a contemporary of Ausonius,
put some of these fables into Latin elegiacs, which are given by Nevelet (in a
book we shall refer to hereafter), and are occasionally incorporated with the
editions of Phaedrus.
Seven centuries elapsed
before the next notice is found of the Fables of Aesop. During this long period
these fables seem to have suffered an eclipse, to have disappeared and to have
been forgotten; and it is at the commencement of the fourteenth century, when
the Byzantine 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 Aesop. Maximus Planudes, a learned monk of Constantinople, made a
collection of about a hundred and fifty of these fables. Little is known of his
history. Planudes, 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 a diplomatic
mission to Venice by the Emperor Andronicus the Elder. This brought him into
immediate contact with the Western Patriarch, whose interests he henceforth
advocated with so much zeal as to bring on him suspicion and persecution from
the rulers of the Eastern Church. Planudes has been exposed 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 occasion to refer at greater length in the end
of this Preface), and to have had the bad taste "to transpose," or to
turn his poetical version into prose: and he is asserted, on the other hand,
never to have seen the Fables of Aesop at all, but to have himself invented and
made the fables which he palmed off under the name of the famous Greek
fabulist. The truth lies between these two extremes. Planudes may have invented
some few fables, or have inserted some that were current in his day; but there
is an abundance of unanswerable internal evidence to prove that he had an
acquaintance with the veritable fables of Aesop, although the versions he had
access to were probably corrupt, as contained in the various translations and
disquisitional exercises of the rhetoricians and philosophers. His collection
is interesting and important, not only as the parent source or foundation of
the earlier printed versions of Aesop, but as the direct channel of attracting
to these fables the attention of the learned.
The eventual
re-introduction, however, of these Fables of Aesop to their high place in the
general literature of Christendom, is to be looked for in the West rather than
in the East. The calamities gradually thickening round the Eastern Empire, and
the fall of Constantinople, 1453 A.D. combined with other events to promote the
rapid restoration of learning in Italy; and with that recovery of learning the
revival of an interest in the Fables of Aesop is closely identified. These
fables, indeed, were among the first writings of an earlier antiquity that
attracted attention. They took their place beside the Holy Scriptures and the
ancient classic authors, in the minds of the great students of that day.
Lorenzo Valla, one of the most famous promoters of Italian learning, not only
translated into Latin the Iliad of Homer and the Histories of Herodotus and
Thucydides, but also the Fables of Aesop.
These fables, again,
were among the books brought into an extended circulation by the agency of the
printing press. Bonus Accursius, as early as 1475-1480, printed the collection
of these fables, made by Planudes, which, within five years afterwards, Caxton
translated into English, and printed at his press in West- minster Abbey, 1485.
10 It must be mentioned also that the learning of this age has left permanent
traces of its influence on these fables, ll by causing the interpolation with
them of some of those amusing stories which were so frequently introduced into
the public discourses of the great preachers of those days, and of which
specimens are yet to be found in the extant sermons of Jean Raulin, Meffreth,
and Gabriel Barlette. 12 The publication of this era which most probably has
influenced these fables, is the "Liber Facetiarum," l3 a book
consisting of a hundred jests and stories, by the celebrated Poggio
Bracciolini, published A.D. 1471, from which the two fables of the
"Miller, his Son, and the Ass," and the "Fox and the
Woodcutter," are undoubtedly selected.
The knowledge of these
fables rapidly spread from Italy into Germany, and their popularity was
increased by the favor and sanction given to them by the great fathers of the
Reformation, who frequently used them as vehicles for satire and protest
against the tricks and abuses of the Romish ecclesiastics. The zealous and
renowned Camerarius, who took an active part in the preparation of the
Confession of Augsburgh, found time, amidst his numerous avocations, to prepare
a version for the students in the university of Tubingen, in which he was a
professor. Martin Luther translated twenty of these fables, and was urged by
Melancthon to complete the whole; while Gottfried Arnold, the celebrated
Lutheran theologian, and librarian to Frederick I, king of Prussia, mentions
that the great Reformer valued the Fables of Aesop next after the Holy
Scriptures. In 1546 A.D. the second printed edition of the collection of the
Fables made by Planudes, was issued from the printing-press of Robert Stephens,
in which were inserted some additional fables from a MS. in the Bibliotheque du
Roy at Paris.
The greatest advance,
however, towards a re-introduction of the Fables of Aesop to a place in the
literature of the world, was made in the early part of the seventeenth century.
In the year 1610, a learned Swiss, Isaac Nicholas Nevelet, sent forth the third
printed edition of these fables, in a work entitled "Mythologia
Aesopica." This was a noble effort to do honor to the great fabulist, and was
the most perfect collection of Aesopian fables ever yet published. It
consisted, in addition to the collection of fables given by Planudes and
reprinted in the various earlier editions, of one hundred and thirty-six new
fables (never before published) from MSS. in the Library of the Vatican, of
forty fables attributed to Aphthonius, and of forty-three from Babrias. It also
contained the Latin versions of the same fables by Phaedrus, Avienus, and other
authors. This volume of Nevelet forms a complete "Corpus Fabularum
Aesopicarum;" and to his labors Aesop owes his restoration to universal
favor as one of the wise moralists and great teachers of mankind. During the
interval of three centuries which has elapsed since the publication of this
volume of Nevelet's, no book, with the exception of the Holy Scriptures, has
had a wider circulation than Aesop's Fables. They have been translated into the
greater number of the languages both of Europe and of the East, and have been
read, and will be read, for generations, alike by Jew, Heathen, Mohammedan, and
Christian. They are, at the present time, not only engrafted into the
literature of the civilized world, but are familiar as household words in the
common intercourse and daily conversation of the inhabitants of all countries.
This collection of
Nevelet's is the great culminating point in the history of the revival of the
fame and reputation of Aesopian Fables. It is remarkable, also, as containing
in its preface the germ of an idea, which has been since proved to have been correct
by a strange chain of circumstances. Nevelet intimates an opinion, that a
writer named Babrias would be found to be the veritable author of the existing
form of Aesopian Fables. This intimation has since given rise to a series of
inquiries, the knowledge of which is necessary, in the present day, to a full
understanding of the true position of Aesop in connection with the writings
that bear his name.
The history of Babrias
is so strange and interesting, that it might not unfitly be enumerated among
the curiosities of literature. He is generally supposed to have been a Greek of
Asia Minor, of one of the Ionic Colonies, but the exact period in which he
lived and wrote is yet unsettled. He is placed, by one critic, l4 as far back
as the institution of the Achaian League, B.C. 250; by another as late as the
Emperor Severus, who died A.D. 235; while others make him a contemporary with
Phaedrus in the time of Augustus. At whatever time he wrote his version of
Aesop, by some strange accident it seems to have entirely disappeared, and to
have been lost sight of. His name is mentioned by Avienus; by Suidas, a
celebrated critic, at the close of the eleventh century, who gives in his
lexicon several isolated 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 twelfth century. Nevelet, in the preface to the volume which we have
described, points out that the Fables of Planudes could not be the work of
Aesop, as they contain a reference in two places to "Holy monks," and
give a verse from the Epistle of St. James as an "Epimith" to one of
the fables, and suggests Babrias as their author. Francis Vavassor, 15 a
learned French jesuit, entered at greater length on this subject, and produced
further proofs from internal evidence, from the use of the word Piraeus in
describing the harbour of Athens, a name which was not given till two hundred
years after Aesop, and from the introduction of other modern words, that many
of these fables must have been at least committed to writing posterior to the
time of Aesop, and more boldly suggests Babrias as their author or collector.
16 These various references to Babrias induced Dr. Plichard Bentley, at the
close of the seventeenth century, to examine more minutely the existing
versions of Aesop's Fables, and he maintained that many of them could, with a
slight change of words, be resolved into the Scazonic l7 iambics, in which
Babrias is known to have written: and, with a greater freedom than the evidence
then justified, he put forth, in behalf of Babrias, a claim to the exclusive
authorship of these fables. Such a seemingly extravagant theory, thus roundly
asserted, excited much opposition. Dr. Bentley l8 met with an able antagonist
in a member of the University of Oxford, the Hon. Mr. Charles Boyle, 19
afterwards Earl of Orrery. Their letters and disputations on this subject,
enlivened on both sides with much wit and learning, will ever bear a
conspicuous place in the literary history of the seventeenth century. The
arguments of Dr. Bentley were yet further defended a few years later by Mr.
Thomas Tyrwhitt, a well-read scholar, who gave up high civil distinctions that
he might devote himself the more unreservedly to literary pursuits. Mr. Tyrwhitt
published, A.D. 1776, a Dissertation on Babrias, and a collection of his fables
in choliambic meter found in a MS. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Francesco
de Furia, a learned Italian, contributed further testimony to the correctness
of the supposition that Babrias had made a veritable collection of fables by
printing from a MS. contained in the Vatican library several fables never
before published. In the year 1844, however, new and unexpected light was
thrown upon this subject. A veritable copy of Babrias was found in a manner as
singular as were the MSS. of Quinctilian's Institutes, and of Cicero's Orations
by Poggio in the monastery of St. Gall A.D. 1416. M. Menoides, at the
suggestion of M. Villemain, Minister of Public Instruction to King Louis Philippe,
had been entrusted with a commission 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
choliambic version of Babrias. This MS. was found to be divided into two books,
the one containing a hundred and twenty-five, and the other ninety-five fables.
This discovery attracted very general attention, not only as confirming, in a
singular manner, the conjectures so boldly made by a long chain of critics, but
as bringing to light valuable literary treasures tending to establish the
reputation, and to confirm the antiquity and authenticity of the great mass of
Aesopian Fable. The Fables thus recovered were soon published. They found a
most worthy editor in the late distinguished Sir George Cornewall 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 many centuries, Babrias shines out as
the earliest, and most reliable collector of veritable Aesopian Fables.
The following are the
sources from which the present translation has been prepared: Babrii Fabulae
Aesopeae. George Cornewall Lewis. Oxford, 1846.
Babrii Fabulae Aesopeae. E codice manuscripto partem secundam edidit. George
Cornewall Lewis. London: Parker, 1857.
Mythologica Aesopica. Opera et studia Isaaci Nicholai Neveleti. Frankfort,
1610.
Fabulae Aesopiacae, quales ante Planudem ferebantur cura et studio Francisci de
Furia. Lipsiae, 1810.
?. Ex recognitione Caroli Halmii. Lipsiae, Phaedri Fabulae Esopiae. Delphin
Classics. 1822.
GEORGE FYLER TOWNSEND
WOLF, meeting with a
Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to
find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf's right to eat him. He thus
addressed him: "Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me."
"Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was
not then born." Then said the Wolf, "You feed in my pasture."
"No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted
grass." Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well."
"No," exclaimed the Lamb, "I never yet drank water, for as yet
my mother's milk is both food and drink to me." Upon which the Wolf seized
him and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though
you refute every one of my imputations." The tyrant will always find a
pretext for his tyranny.
A BAT who fell upon the
ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be spared his life. The Weasel
refused, saying 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 was set free. Shortly
afterwards the Bat again fell to the ground and was caught by another Weasel,
whom he likewise 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.
AN ASS having heard
some Grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the
same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them
such beautiful voices. They replied, "The dew." The Ass resolved that
he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger.
A LION was awakened
from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up angrily, he caught him
and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: "If
you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." The
Lion laughed and let him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was
caught by some hunters, who bound him by st ropes to the ground. The Mouse,
recognizing his roar, came gnawed the rope with his teeth, and set him free,
exclaim "You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you,
expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor; I now you know that
it is possible for even a Mouse to con benefits on a Lion."
A CHARCOAL-BURNER
carried on his trade in his own house. One day he met a friend, a Fuller, and
entreated 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 like.
A FATHER had a family
of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to
heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical
illustration 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 hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break
it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it.
He next opened the faggot, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again
put them into his sons' hands, upon which they broke them easily. He then
addressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite
to assist each other, you will be as this faggot, uninjured by all the attempts
of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as
easily as these sticks."
A BOY was hunting for
locusts. He had caught a goodly number, when he saw a Scorpion, and mistaking
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, and
all your locusts too!"
A COCK, scratching for
food for himself and his hens, found a precious stone and exclaimed: "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 would rather
have one barleycorn than all the jewels in the world."
THE BEASTS of the field
and forest had a Lion as their king. He was neither wrathful, cruel, nor
tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could be. During his reign he made a
royal proclamation for a general assembly of all the birds and beasts, and drew
up conditions for a universal league, in which the Wolf and the Lamb, the
Panther and the Kid, the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, should live
together in perfect peace and amity. The Hare said, "Oh, how I have longed
to see this day, in which the weak shall take their place with impunity by the
side of the strong." And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life.
A WOLF who had a bone
stuck in his throat hired a Crane, for a large sum, to put her head into his
mouth and draw out the bone. When the Crane had extracted the bone and demanded
the promised payment, the Wolf, grinning and grinding his teeth, exclaimed:
"Why, you have surely already had a sufficient recompense, in having been
permitted to draw out your head in safety from the mouth and jaws of a
wolf." In serving the wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful if you
escape injury for your pains.
A FISHERMAN skilled in
music took his flute and his nets to the seashore. 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 in vain, he laid aside his flute, and
casting his net into the sea, made an excellent haul of fish. When he saw them
leaping about in the net upon the rock he said: "O you most perverse creatures,
when I piped you would not dance, but now that I have ceased you do so
merrily."
A CARTER was driving a
wagon along a country lane, when the wheels sank down deep into a rut. The
rustic driver, stupefied and aghast, stood looking at the wagon, and did
nothing but utter loud cries to Hercules to come and help him. Hercules, it is
said, appeared and thus addressed him: "Put your 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 yourself, or depend upon it you will henceforth
pray in vain." Self-help is the best help.
THE ANTS were spending
a fine winter's day drying grain collected in the summertime. A Grasshopper,
perishing with famine, passed by and earnestly 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
singing." They then said in derision: "If you were foolish enough to
sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter."
A TRAVELER about to set
out on a journey saw his Dog stand at the door stretching himself. He asked him
sharply: "Why do you stand there gaping? Everything is ready but you, so
come with me instantly." The Dog, wagging his tail, replied: "O,
master! I am quite ready; it is you for whom I am waiting." The loiterer
often blames delay on his more active friend.
A DOG, crossing a
bridge over a stream with a piece 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 immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other
Dog to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped
at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept
it away.
A MOLE, a creature
blind from birth, once said to his Mother: "I am sure than I can see,
Mother!" In the desire to prove to him his mistake, his Mother placed
before him a few grains of frankincense, and asked, "What is it?' The
young 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.
A HERDSMAN tending his
flock in a forest lost a Bull-calf from the fold. After a long and fruitless
search, he made a vow that, if he could only discover the thief 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 ascended a small hillock, he
saw at its foot a Lion feeding on the Calf. Terrified at the sight, he lifted
his eyes and his hands to heaven, and said: "Just now I vowed to offer a
lamb to the Guardian Deities of the forest if I could only find out who had
robbed me; but now 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."
A HARE one day
ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing:
"Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The
Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the
proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the
goal. On the day appointed for the race the two 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, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep.
At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had
reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. Slow but steady
wins the race.
THE POMEGRANATE and
Apple-Tree disputed as to which was the most beautiful. When their strife was
at its height, a Bramble from the neighboring hedge lifted up its voice, and
said in a boastful tone: "Pray, my dear friends, in my presence at least
cease from such vain disputings."
A FARMER placed nets on
his newly-sown plowlands and caught a number of Cranes, which came to pick up
his seed. With them he trapped a Stork that had fractured his leg in the net
and was earnestly beseeching the Farmer to spare his life. "Pray save me,
Master," he said, "and let me go free this once. My broken limb
should excite your pity. Besides, I am no Crane, I am a Stork, a bird of
excellent character; and see how I love and slave for my father and mother.
Look too, at my feathers-- they are not the least like those of a Crane."
The Farmer laughed aloud and said, "It may be all as you say, I only know
this: I have taken you with these robbers, the Cranes, and you must die in
their company." Birds of a feather flock together.
ONE WINTER a Farmer
found a Snake stiff and frozen with cold. He had compassion on it, and taking
it up, placed it in his bosom. The Snake was quickly revived by the warmth, and
resuming its natural instincts, bit its benefactor, inflicting on him a mortal
wound. "Oh," cried the Farmer with his last breath, "I am
rightly served for pitying a scoundrel." The greatest kindness will not
bind the ungrateful.
A YOUNG FAWN once said
to his Mother, "You are larger than a dog, and swifter, and more used to
running, and you have your horns as a defense; why, then, O Mother! do the
hounds frighten you so?" She smiled, and said: "I know full well, my
son, that all you say is true. I have the advantages you mention, but when I
hear even the bark of a single dog I feel ready to faint, and fly away as fast
as I can." No arguments will give courage to the coward.
A BEAR boasted very
much of his philanthropy, saying 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 his dead body. A Fox hearing these words said with a smile to the Bear,
"Oh! that you would eat the dead and not the living."
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 against the winter." Fair weather friends are not worth much.
A MOUNTAIN was once
greatly agitated. Loud groans and noises were heard, and crowds of people came
from all parts to see what was the matter. While they were assembled in anxious
expectation of some terrible calamity, out came a Mouse. Don't make much ado about
nothing.
THE ASS and the Fox,
having entered into partnership 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 imminent danger, approached the Lion and promised to contrive for
him the capture of the Ass if the Lion would pledge his word not to harm the
Fox. Then, upon assuring the Ass that he would not be injured, the Fox led him
to a deep pit and arranged that he should fall into it. The Lion, seeing that
the Ass was secured, immediately clutched the Fox, and attacked the Ass at his
leisure.
A TORTOISE, lazily
basking in the sun, complained to the sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one
would teach her to fly. An Eagle, hovering near, heard her lamentation and
demanded what reward she would give him if he would take her aloft and float
her 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 taking her up in his talons he carried her almost to the clouds suddenly he
let her go, and she fell on a lofty mountain, dashing her shell to pieces. The
Tortoise exclaimed in the moment 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.
A NUMBER of Flies were
attracted to a jar of honey which had been overturned in a housekeeper's room,
and placing their feet in it, ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so
smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release
themselves, and were suffocated. Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed,
"O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we
have destroyed ourselves." Pleasure bought with pains, hurts.
A MAN and a Lion
traveled together through the forest. They soon began to boast of their
respective superiority to each other in strength and prowess. As they were
disputing, they passed a statue carved in stone, which represented "a Lion
strangled by a Man." The traveler pointed to it and said: "See there!
How strong we are, and how we prevail over even the king of beasts." The
Lion replied: "This statue was made by one of you men. If we Lions knew
how to erect statues, you would see the Man placed under the paw of the
Lion." One story is good, till another is told.
SOME CRANES made their
feeding grounds on some plowlands newly sown with wheat. For a long time the
Farmer, brandishing an empty sling, chased them away by the terror he inspired;
but when the birds found that the sling was only swung in the air, they ceased
to take any notice of it and would not move. The Farmer, on seeing this,
charged his sling with stones, and killed a great number. The remaining birds
at once forsook his fields, crying to each other, "It is time for us to be
off to Liliput: for this man is no longer content to scare us, but begins to
show us in earnest what he can do." If words suffice not, blows must
follow.
A DOG lay in a manger,
and by his growling and snapping prevented the oxen from eating the hay which
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 allow
those to eat who can."
A FOX one day fell into
a deep well and could find no means of escape. A Goat, overcome with thirst,
came to the same well, and seeing the Fox, inquired if the water was good.
Concealing his sad plight under a merry guise, the Fox indulged in a lavish
praise of the water, saying it was excellent beyond measure, and encouraging
him to descend. The Goat, mindful only of his thirst, thoughtlessly jumped
down, but just as he drank, the Fox informed him of the difficulty they were
both in and suggested a scheme for their common escape. "If," said
he, "you will place your forefeet upon the wall and bend your head, I will
run up your back and escape, and will help you out afterwards." The Goat
readily assented and the Fox leaped upon his back. Steadying himself with the
Goat's horns, he safely reached the mouth of the well and made off as fast as
he could. When the Goat upbraided him for breaking his promise, he turned
around and cried out, "You foolish old fellow! If you had as many brains
in your head as you have hairs in your beard, you would never have gone down
before you had inspected the way up, nor have exposed yourself to dangers from
which you had no means of escape." Look before you leap.
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, and when the Bear came up
and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all 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 quite gone, the other
Traveler descended from the tree, and jocularly inquired of his friend what it
was the Bear had whispered in his ear. "He gave me this advice," his
companion replied. "Never travel with a friend who deserts you at the
approach of danger." Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.
A HEAVY WAGON was being
dragged along a country lane by a team of Oxen. The Axle-trees groaned and
creaked terribly; whereupon the Oxen, turning round, thus addressed the wheels:
"Hullo there! why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labor, and
we, not you, ought to cry out." Those who suffer most cry out the least.
A PIGEON, oppressed by
excessive thirst, saw a goblet of water painted on a signboard. Not supposing
it to be only a picture, she flew towards it with a loud whir and unwittingly
dashed against the signboard, jarring herself terribly. Having broken her wings
by the blow, she fell to the ground, and was caught by one of the bystanders.
Zeal should not outrun discretion.
A RAVEN saw a Swan and
desired to secure for himself the same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the
Swan's splendid white color arose from his washing in the water in which he
swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his living,
and took up residence in the lakes and pools. But cleansing his feathers as
often as he would, he could not change their color, while through want of food
he perished. Change of habit cannot alter Nature.
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 attention to the summons. At last the Goatherd
threw a stone, and breaking its horn, begged the Goat not to tell his master.
The Goat replied, "Why, you silly fellow, the horn will speak though I be
silent." Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hid.
A MISER sold all that
he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by
the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen observed
his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon
discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging 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 lamentations. A neighbor, seeing
him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, "Pray do not grieve
so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold
is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold
was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it."
A LION, unable from old
age and infirmities to provide himself with food by force, resolved to do so by
artifice. He returned to his den, and lying down there, pretended to be sick,
taking care that his sickness should be publicly known. The beasts expressed
their sorrow, and came one by one to his den, where the Lion devoured them.
After many of the beasts had thus disappeared, the Fox discovered the trick and
presenting himself to the Lion, stood on the outside of the cave, at a
respectful distance, and asked him how he was. "I am very middling,"
replied the Lion, "but why do you stand without? Pray enter within to talk
with me." "No, thank you," said the Fox. "I notice that
there are many prints of feet entering your cave, but I see no trace of any
returning." He is wise who is warned by the misfortunes of others.
A GROOM used to spend
whole days in currycombing 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 to be in good condition, you should groom me
less, and feed me more."
A MAN had an Ass, and a
Maltese Lapdog, a very great beauty. The Ass was left in a stable and had
plenty of oats and hay to eat, just as any other Ass would. The Lapdog knew
many tricks and was a great favorite with his master, who often fondled him and
seldom went out to dine without bringing him home some tidbit to eat. The Ass,
on the contrary, had much work to do in grinding the corn-mill and in carrying
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 Lapdog, till at last
one day he broke his cords and halter, and galloped into his master's house,
kicking up his heels without measure, and frisking and fawning as well as he
could. He next tried to jump about his master as he had seen the Lapdog do, but
he broke the 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 strange hubbub and perceiving the danger of their master, quickly relieved
him, and drove out the Ass to his stable with kicks and clubs and cuffs. The
Ass, as he returned to his stall beaten nearly to death, thus lamented: "I
have brought it all on myself! Why could I not have been contented to labor
with my companions, and not wish to be idle all the day like that useless
little Lapdog!"
A CONTROVERSY prevailed
among the beasts of the field as to which of the animals deserved the most
credit for producing the greatest number of whelps 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 one is altogether a thoroughbred Lion." The value is in the
worth, not in the number.
A MAN who had traveled
in foreign lands boasted very much, on returning to his own country, of the
many wonderful and heroic feats he had performed in the different places he had
visited. Among other things, he said that when he was at Rhodes he had leaped
to such a distance that no man of his day could leap anywhere near him 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 interrupted him, saying: "Now, my
good man, if this be all true there is no need of witnesses. Suppose this to be
Rhodes, and leap for us."
A CAT caught a Cock,
and pondered how he might find a reasonable excuse for eating him. He accused
him of being a nuisance to men by crowing in the nighttime and not permitting
them to sleep. The Cock defended himself by saying that he did this for the benefit
of men, that they might rise in time for their labors. The Cat replied,
"Although you abound in specious apologies, I shall not remain
supperless"; and he made a meal of him.
A YOUNG PIG was shut up
in a fold-yard with a Goat and a Sheep. On one occasion when the shepherd laid
hold of him, he grunted and squeaked and resisted violently. The Sheep and the
Goat complained of his distressing cries, saying, "He often handles us,
and we do not cry out." To this the Pig replied, "Your handling and
mine are very different things. He catches you only for your wool, or your
milk, but he lays hold on me for my very life."
A BOY put his hand into
a pitcher full of filberts. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but
when he tried 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 disappointment. A bystander
said to him, "Be satisfied with half the quantity, and you will readily
draw out your hand." Do not attempt too much at once.
A LION demanded the
daughter of a woodcutter in marriage. The Father, unwilling to grant, and yet
afraid to refuse his request, hit upon this expedient to rid himself of his
importunities. He expressed his willingness to accept the Lion as the suitor of
his daughter on one condition: that he should allow him to extract his teeth,
and cut off his claws, as his daughter was fearfully afraid of both. The Lion
cheerfully assented to the proposal. But when the toothless, clawless Lion
returned to repeat his request, the Woodman, no longer afraid, set upon him
with his club, and drove him away into the forest.
A SNAKE, having made
his hole close to the porch of a cottage, inflicted a mortal bite on the
Cottager's infant son. Grieving over his loss, the Father resolved to kill the
Snake. The next day, when it came out of its hole for food, he took up his axe,
but by swinging too hastily, missed its head and cut off only the end of its
tail. After some time the Cottager, afraid that the Snake would bite him also,
endeavored to make peace, and placed some bread and salt in the hole. The Snake,
slightly hissing, 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 one truly forgets
injuries in the presence of him who caused the injury.
ONCE UPON A TIME a Wolf
resolved to disguise his appearance in order to secure food more easily.
Encased in the skin of a sheep, he pastured with the flock deceiving the
shepherd by his costume. In the evening he was shut up by the shepherd in the
fold; the gate was closed, and the entrance made thoroughly secure. But the
shepherd, returning to the fold during the night to obtain meat for the next
day, mistakenly caught up the Wolf instead of a sheep, and killed him
instantly. Harm seek. harm find.
A MULETEER set forth on
a journey, driving before him an Ass and a Mule, both well laden. The Ass, as
long as he traveled along the plain, carried his load with ease, but when he began
to ascend the steep path of the mountain, felt his load to be more than he
could bear. He entreated his companion 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. Not knowing what
else to do in so wild a region, the Muleteer placed upon the Mule the load
carried by the Ass in addition to his own, and at the top of all placed the
hide of the Ass, after he had skinned him. The Mule, groaning beneath his heavy
burden, said to himself: "I am treated according to my deserts. If I had
only been willing to assist the Ass a little in his need, I should not now be
bearing, together with his burden, himself as well."
THE FROGS, grieved at
having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to Jupiter entreating for a King.
Perceiving their simplicity, he cast down a huge log into the lake. The Frogs
were terrified at the splash occasioned by its fall and hid themselves in the
depths of the pool. But as soon as they realized that the huge log was
motionless, they swam again to the top of the water, dismissed their fears,
climbed up, and began squatting on it in contempt. 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 sent yet a third time to Jupiter to beg him to
choose for them still another King. Jupiter, displeased with all their
complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till there were
none left to croak upon the lake.
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 one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the
water, cried out: "Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is death to
us."
A SICK STAG lay down in
a quiet corner of its pasture-ground. His companions came in great numbers to
inquire after his health, and each one helped himself to a share of the food
which had been placed for his use; so that he died, not from his sickness, but
from the failure of the means of living. Evil companions bring more hurt than
profit.
A PEDDLER drove his Ass
to the seashore to buy salt. His road home lay across a stream into which his
Ass, making a false step, fell by accident and rose up again with his load
considerably lighter, as the water melted the sack. The Peddler retraced his
steps and refilled his panniers with a larger quantity 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 Peddler saw
through his trick and drove him for the third time to the coast, where he
bought a cargo of sponges instead of salt. The Ass, again playing the fool,
fell down on purpose when he reached the stream, but the sponges became swollen
with water, greatly increasing his load. And thus his trick recoiled on him,
for he now carried on his back a double burden.
THE OXEN once upon a
time sought to destroy the Butchers, who practiced a trade destructive to their
race. They assembled on a certain day to carry out their purpose, and sharpened
their horns for the contest. But one of them who was exceedingly old (for many
a field had he plowed) thus spoke: "These Butchers, it is true, slaughter
us, but they do so with skillful hands, and with no unnecessary pain. If we get
rid of them, we shall fall into the hands of unskillful operators, and thus
suffer a double death: for you may be assured, that though all the Butchers
should perish, yet will men never want beef." Do not be in a hurry to
change one evil for another.
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 and 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 frightened of a Mouse." "'Tis
not the Mouse I fear," said the Lion; "I resent his familiarity and
ill-breeding." Little liberties are great offenses.
JUPITER DETERMINED, it
is said, to create a sovereign over the birds, and made proclamation that on a
certain day they should all present themselves before him, when he would
himself choose the most beautiful among them to be king. The Jackdaw, knowing
his own ugliness, searched through the woods and fields, and collected the feathers
which had fallen from the wings of his companions, and stuck them in all parts
of his body, hoping thereby to make himself the most beautiful of all. When the
appointed day arrived, and the birds had assembled before Jupiter, the Jackdaw
also made his appearance in his many feathered finery. But when Jupiter
proposed to make him king because of the beauty of his plumage, the birds
indignantly protested, and each plucked from him his own feathers, leaving the
Jackdaw nothing but a Jackdaw.
A GOATHERD, driving his
flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them,
and shut them up together with his own for the night. The next day it snowed
very hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding 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 strangers more abundantly in the hope of
enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own. When the thaw set
in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as
they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in
leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his
own herd. One of them, turning 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, it is plain also that if others came after us, you
would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves." Old friends cannot
with impunity be sacrificed for new ones.
A DOG used to run up
quietly to the heels of everyone he met, and to bite them without notice. His
master suspended a bell about his neck so that the Dog might give notice of his
presence wherever he went. Thinking it a mark of distinction, the Dog grew
proud of his bell and went tinkling it all over the marketplace. One day 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 to all men to avoid you as an ill mannered
dog." Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.
A FOX caught in a trap
escaped, but in so doing lost his tail. Thereafter, feeling his life a burden
from the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed, he schemed to convince all
the other Foxes that being tailless was much more attractive, thus making up
for his own deprivation. He assembled a good many Foxes and publicly advised
them to cut off their tails, saying that they would not only look much better
without them, but that they would get rid of the weight of the brush, which was
a very great inconvenience. One of them interrupting him said, "If you had
not yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus counsel us."
A BOY was stung by a
Nettle. He ran home and told his Mother, saying, "Although it hurts me
very much, I only touched it gently." "That was just why it stung
you," said his Mother. "The next time you touch a Nettle, grasp it
boldly, and it will be soft as silk to your hand, and not in the least hurt
you." Whatever you do, do with all your might.
A MIDDLE-AGED MAN,
whose hair had begun to turn gray, courted two women at the same time. One of
them was young, and the other well advanced in years. The elder woman, ashamed
to be courted by a man younger than herself, made a point, whenever her admirer
visited her, to pull out some portion of his black hairs. The younger, on the
contrary, not wishing to become the wife of an old man, was equally zealous in
removing every gray 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.
AN ASTRONOMER used to
go out at night to observe the stars. One evening, as he wandered through the
suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a
deep well. While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried
loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened
said: "Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in
heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?'
"WHY SHOULD there
always be this fear and slaughter between us?" said the Wolves to the
Sheep. "Those evil-disposed Dogs have much to answer for. They always bark
whenever we approach 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 reconciliation between us." The Sheep, poor silly creatures, were
easily beguiled and dismissed the Dogs, whereupon the Wolves destroyed the
unguarded flock at their own pleasure.
AN 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 if he should cure her
blindness, he should receive from her a sum of money; but if her infirmity
remained, she should give him nothing. This agreement being made, the
Physician, time after time, applied his salve to her eyes, and on every visit
took something away, stealing all her property little by little. And when he
had got all she had, he healed her and demanded the promised payment. The Old
Woman, when she recovered her sight and saw none of her goods in her house,
would give him nothing. The Physician insisted on his claim, and. as she still
refused, summoned her before the Judge. The Old Woman, standing up in the
Court, argued: "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 if I
continued blind, I was to give him nothing. Now he declares that I am healed. I
on the contrary affirm that I am still blind; for when I lost the use of my
eyes, I saw in my house various chattels and valuable goods: but now, though he
swears I am cured of my blindness, I am not able to see a single thing in
it."
TWO GAME COCKS were
fiercely fighting for the mastery of the farmyard. One at last put the other to
flight. The vanquished Cock skulked away and hid himself in a quiet corner,
while 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 carried him off in his talons. The vanquished Cock immediately came out
of his corner, and ruled henceforth with undisputed mastery. Pride goes before
destruction.
A CHARGER, feeling the
infirmities of age, was sent to work in a mill instead of going out to battle.
But when he was compelled to grind instead of serving in the wars, he bewailed
his change of fortune and called to mind his former state, saying, "Ah!
Miller, I had indeed to go campaigning before, but I was barbed from counter to
tail, and a man went along to groom me; and now I cannot understand what ailed
me to prefer the mill before the battle." "Forbear," said the Miller
to him, "harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals
to sustain the ups and downs of fortune."
A MONKEY once danced in
an assembly of the Beasts, and so pleased them all by his performance that they
elected him their King. A Fox, envying 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 e had kept it for him as
treasure trove of his kingdom, and counseled him to lay hold of it. The Monkey
approached carelessly and was caught in the trap; and on his accusing the Fox
of purposely leading him into the snare, she replied, "O Monkey, and are
you, with such a mind as yours, going to be King over the Beasts?"
A HORSE SOLDIER took
the utmost pains with his charger. As long as the war lasted, he looked upon
him as his fellow-helper in all emergencies and fed him carefully with hay and
corn. But when the war was over, he only allowed him chaff to eat and made him
carry heavy loads of wood, subjecting him to much slavish drudgery and
ill-treatment. War was again proclaimed, however, and when the trumpet summoned
him to his standard, the Soldier put on his charger its military trappings, and
mounted, being clad in his heavy coat of mail. The Horse fell down straightway
under the weight, no longer equal to the burden, and said to his master,
"You must now go to the war on foot, for you have transformed me from a
Horse into an Ass; and how can you expect that I can again turn in a moment
from an Ass to a Horse?'
THE MEMBERS of the Body
rebelled against the Belly, and said, "Why should we be perpetually
engaged in administering to your wants, while you do nothing but take your rest,
and enjoy yourself in luxury and self-indulgence?' The Members carried out
their resolve and refused their assistance to the Belly. The whole Body quickly
became debilitated, and the hands, feet, mouth, and eyes, when too late,
repented of their folly.
A VINE was luxuriant in
the time of vintage with leaves 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 without a cause, and crop my leaves? Is there no young grass
left? But I shall not have to wait long for my just revenge; for if you now
should crop my leaves, and cut me down to my root, I shall provide the wine to
pour over you when you are led as a victim to the sacrifice."
JUPITER ISSUED a
proclamation to all the beasts of the forest and promised a royal reward to the
one whose offspring should be deemed the handsomest. The Monkey came with the
rest and presented, with all a mother's tenderness, a flat-nosed, hairless, ill-featured
young Monkey as a candidate for the promised 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 my son, 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."
A WIDOW who was fond of
cleaning had two little maidens to wait on her. She was in the habit of waking
them early in the morning, at cockcrow. The maidens, aggravated by such
excessive labor, resolved to kill the cock who roused their mistress so early.
When they had done this, they found that they had only prepared for themselves
greater troubles, for their mistress, no longer hearing the hour from the cock,
woke them up to their work in the middle of the night.
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 his neighbors came
to help him, laughed at them for their pains. The Wolf, however, did truly come
at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror:
"Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep"; but no
one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having
no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock. There
is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.
A CAT, hearing that the
Birds in a certain aviary were ailing dressed himself up as a physician, and,
taking his cane and a bag of instruments becoming his profession, went to call
on them. He knocked at the door and inquired of the inmates how they all did,
saying that if they were ill, he would be happy to prescribe for them and cure
them. They replied, "We are all very well, and shall continue so, if you
will only be good enough to go away, and leave us as we are."
A KID standing on the
roof of a house, out of harm's way, saw a Wolf passing by and immediately began
to taunt and revile him. The Wolf, looking up, said, "Sirrah! I hear thee:
yet it is not thou who mockest me, but the roof on which thou art
standing." Time and place often give the advantage to the weak over the strong.
AN OX drinking at a
pool trod on a brood of young frogs and crushed one of them to death. The
Mother coming up, and missing one of her sons, inquired of his brothers what
had become of him. "He is dead, dear Mother; for just now a very huge
beast with four great feet came to the pool and crushed him to death with his
cloven heel." The Frog, puffing herself out, inquired, "if the beast
was as big as that in size." "Cease, Mother, to puff yourself
out," said her son, "and do not be angry; for you would, I assure
you, sooner burst than successfully imitate the hugeness of that monster."
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, having shown himself an apt pupil,
said to the Shepherd, "Since you have taught me to steal, you must keep a
sharp lookout, or you will lose some of your own flock."
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 gardener, and inquired how
she was and how all things went with her. She said, "All things are
prospering 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
went to the daughter who had married the tilemaker, and likewise 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 shine hot and bright, so that
the bricks 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 join my
wishes?'
A FATHER, being on the
point of death, wished to be sure that his sons would give the same attention
to his farm as he himself had given it. He called them to his bedside and said,
"My sons, there is a great treasure hid in one of my vineyards." The
sons, after his death, took their spades and mattocks and carefully dug over
every portion of their land. They found no treasure, but the vines repaid their
labor by an extraordinary and superabundant crop.
A CRAB said to her son,
"Why do you walk so one-sided, my child? It is far more becoming to go
straight forward." The young Crab replied: "Quite true, dear Mother;
and if you will show me the straight way, I will promise to walk in it."
The Mother tried in vain, and submitted without remonstrance to the reproof of
her child. Example is more powerful than precept.
A HEIFER saw an Ox hard
at work harnessed to a plow, and tormented him with reflections on his unhappy
fate in being compelled to labor. Shortly afterwards, at the harvest festival,
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 occasion. The Ox saw what
was being done, and said with a smile to the Heifer: "For this you were
allowed to live in idleness, because you were presently to be sacrificed."
A SWALLOW, returning
from abroad and especially 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 unfledged
nestlings. The Swallow, finding her nest empty, lamented greatly and exclaimed:
"Woe to me a stranger! that in this place where all others' rights are
protected, I alone should suffer wrong."
A BOY stole a
lesson-book from one of his schoolfellows and took it home to his Mother. She
not only abstained from beating him, but encouraged him. He next time stole a
cloak and brought it to her, and she again commended him. The Youth, advanced
to adulthood, proceeded to steal things of still greater value. At last he was
caught in the very act, and having his hands bound behind him, was led away to
the place of public execution. His Mother followed in the crowd and violently
beat her breast in sorrow, whereupon the young man said, "I wish to say
something to my Mother in her ear." She came close to him, and he quickly
seized her ear with his teeth and bit it off. The Mother upbraided him as an
unnatural child, whereon he replied, "Ah! if you had beaten me when I
first stole and brought to you that lesson-book, I should not have come to
this, nor have been thus led to a disgraceful death."
AN OLD MAN was employed
in cutting wood in the forest, and, in carrying the faggots to the city for
sale one day, became very wearied with his long journey. He sat down by the
wayside, and throwing down his load, besought "Death" to come.
"Death" immediately appeared in answer to his summons and asked for
what reason he had called him. The Old Man hurriedly replied, "That,
lifting up the load, you may place it again upon my shoulders."
A FIR-TREE said boastingly
to the Bramble, "You are useful for nothing at all; while I am everywhere
used for roofs and houses." The Bramble answered: 'You poor creature, if
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 Bramble, not a
Fir-Tree." Better poverty without care, than riches with.
A MOUSE who always
lived on the land, by an unlucky chance formed an intimate acquaintance with a
Frog, who lived for the most part in the water. The Frog, one day intent on
mischief, bound 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 this, he gradually led him towards the
pool in which he lived, until reaching the very brink, he suddenly jumped in,
dragging the Mouse with him. The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and swam
croaking about, as if he had done a good deed. The unhappy Mouse was soon
suffocated by the water, and his dead body floated about on the surface, tied
to the foot of the Frog. A Hawk observed it, and, pouncing upon it with his
talons, carried it 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.
A MAN who had been
bitten by a Dog went about in quest of someone who might heal him. A friend,
meeting 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 wound, 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 beg
every Dog in the town to bite me." Benefits bestowed upon the
evil-disposed increase their means of injuring you.
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, "Pray keep at a distance and do not
come near me, for if 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.
A WOLF, sorely wounded
and bitten by dogs, lay sick 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 flowing 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 provide the meat also." Hypocritical speeches are
easily seen through.
THE PURCHASER of a
black servant was persuaded that the color of his skin arose from dirt
contracted through the neglect of his former masters. On bringing him home he
resorted to every means of cleaning, and subjected the man to incessant
scrubbings. The servant caught a severe cold, but he never changed his color or
complexion. What's bred in the bone will stick to the flesh.
A FISHERMAN, engaged in
his calling, made a very successful cast and captured a great haul of fish. He
managed by a skillful handling of his net to retain all the large fish and to
draw them to the shore; but he could not prevent the smaller fish from falling
back through the meshes of the net into the sea.
A HUNTSMAN, returning
with his dogs from the field, fell in by chance with a Fisherman who was
bringing home a basket well laden with fish. The Huntsman wished to have the
fish, and their owner experienced an equal longing for the contents of the
game-bag. They quickly agreed to exchange 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. Finally a neighbor said to them, "If you go on in
this way, you will soon destroy by frequent use the pleasure of your exchange,
and each will again wish to retain the fruits of his own sport." Abstain
and enjoy.
AN OLD WOMAN found an
empty jar which had lately been full of prime old wine and which still retained
the fragrant smell of its former contents. She greedily placed it several times
to her nose, and drawing it backwards and forwards said, "O most
delicious! How nice must the Wine itself have been, when it leaves behind in
the very vessel which contained it so sweet a perfume!" The memory of a
good deed lives.
A CROW having stolen a
bit of meat, perched in a tree and held it in her beak. A Fox, seeing this,
longed to possess the meat himself, and by a wily stratagem succeeded.
"How handsome is the Crow," he exclaimed, in the beauty of her shape
and in the fairness of her complexion! Oh, if her voice were only equal to her
beauty, she would deservedly be considered the Queen of Birds!" This he
said deceitfully; but the Crow, anxious to refute the reflection 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."
A MAN had two dogs: a
Hound, trained to assist him in his sports, and a Housedog, taught to watch the
house. When he returned home after a good day's sport, he always gave the
Housedog 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 Housedog replied, "Do not blame me, my friend, but
find fault with the master, who has not taught me to labor, but to depend for
subsistence on the labor of others." Children are not to be blamed for the
faults of their parents.
A STAG, roundly chased
by the hounds and blinded by fear to the danger he was running into, took shelter
in a farmyard and hid himself in a shed among the oxen. An Ox gave him this
kindly warning: "O unhappy creature! why should you thus, of your own
accord, incur destruction and trust yourself in the house of your enemy?' The
Stag replied: "Only allow me, friend, to stay where I am, and I will
undertake to find some favorable opportunity of effecting my escape." At
the approach of the evening the herdsman came to feed his cattle, but did not
see the Stag; and even the farm-bailiff with several laborers passed through
the shed and failed to notice him. The Stag, congratulating himself on his
safety, began to express his sincere thanks to the Oxen who had kindly helped
him in the hour of need. One 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 hundred eyes, and until he has come and gone,
your life is still in peril." At that moment the master himself entered,
and having had to complain that his oxen had not been properly fed, he went up
to their racks and cried out: "Why is there such a scarcity of fodder?
There is not half enough straw for them to lie 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
summoning his laborers, he ordered that the Stag should be seized and killed.
THE PIGEONS, terrified
by the appearance of a Kite, called upon the Hawk to defend them. He at once
consented. When they had admitted him into the cote, they found that he made
more havoc and slew a larger number of them in one day than the Kite could
pounce upon in a whole year. Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.
A CERTAIN poor widow
had one solitary Sheep. At shearing time, wishing to take his fleece and to
avoid expense, she sheared him herself, but used the shears so unskillfully
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 kill me in an
instant; but if you want my fleece and wool, there is the shearer, who will shear
and not hurt me." The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.
A WILD ASS and a Lion
entered into an alliance so that they might capture the beasts of the forest
with greater ease. The Lion agreed to assist the Wild Ass with his strength,
while the Wild Ass gave the Lion the benefit of his greater speed. When they had
taken as many beasts as their necessities required, the Lion undertook to
distribute the prey, and for this purpose divided it into three shares. "I
will take the first share," he said, "because I am King: and the
second share, as a partner with you in the chase: and the third share (believe
me) will be a source of great evil to you, unless you willingly resign it to
me, and set off as fast as you can." Might makes right.
AN EAGLE sat on a lofty
rock, watching the movements of a Hare whom he sought to make his prey. An
archer, who saw the Eagle from a place of concealment, took an accurate aim and
wounded him mortally. The Eagle gave one look at the arrow that had entered his
heart and saw in that single glance that its feathers had been furnished by
himself. "It is a double grief to me," he exclaimed, "that I
should perish by an arrow feathered from my own wings."
A KITE, sick unto
death, said to his mother: "O Mother! do not mourn, but at once invoke the
gods that my life may be prolonged." She replied, "Alas! my son,
which of the gods do you think will pity you? Is there one whom you have not
outraged by filching from their 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.
A LION roaming by the
seashore saw a Dolphin lift up its head out of the waves, and suggested that
they contract an alliance, saying that of all the animals they ought to be the
best friends, since the one was the king of beasts on the earth, and the other
was the sovereign ruler of all the inhabitants of the ocean. The Dolphin gladly
consented to this request. Not long afterwards the Lion had a combat with a
wild bull, and called on the Dolphin to help him. The Dolphin, though quite
willing to give him assistance, was unable to do so, as he could not by any
means reach the land. The Lion abused him as a traitor. The Dolphin replied,
"Nay, my friend, blame not me, but Nature, which, while giving me the
sovereignty of the sea, has quite denied me the power of living upon the
land."
ON A SUMMER DAY, when
the great heat induced a general thirst among the beasts, a Lion and a Boar
came at the same moment to a small well to drink. They fiercely disputed which
of them should drink first, and were soon engaged in the agonies of a mortal
combat. When they stopped suddenly to catch their breath for a fiercer renewal
of the fight, they saw some Vultures waiting in the distance to feast on the
one that should fall first. They at once made up their quarrel, saying,
"It is better for us to make friends, than to become the food of Crows or
Vultures."
A DOE blind in one eye
was accustomed to graze as near 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 earliest tidings of the approach of hunter or
hound, and her injured eye towards the sea, from whence she entertained no
anticipation of danger. Some boatmen sailing by saw her, and taking a
successful aim, mortally wounded her. Yielding up her last breath, she gasped
forth this lament: "O wretched creature that I am! to take such precaution
against the land, and after all to find this seashore, to which I had come for
safety, so much more perilous."
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 view to commerce. He sold all his flock,
invested it in a cargo of dates, and set sail. But a very great tempest came
on, and the ship being in danger of sinking, he threw all his merchandise
overboard, and barely escaped with his life in the empty ship. Not long
afterwards when someone passed by and observed the unruffled calm of the Sea,
he interrupted him and said, "It is again in want of dates, and therefore
looks quiet."
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 Cock (to the sound of whose
voice the Lion, it is said, has a singular aversion) crowed loudly, and the
Lion fled away as fast as he could. The Ass, observing his trepidation at the
mere crowing of a Cock summoned courage to attack him, and galloped after him
for that purpose. He had run no long distance, when the Lion, turning about,
seized him and tore him to pieces. False confidence often leads into danger.
THE WEASELS and the
Mice waged a perpetual war with each other, in which much blood was shed. The
Weasels were always the victors. The Mice thought that the cause of their
frequent defeats was that they had no leaders set apart from the general army
to command them, and that they were exposed to dangers from lack of discipline.
They therefore chose as leaders Mice that were most renowned for their family
descent, strength, and counsel, as well as those most noted for their courage
in the fight, so that they might be better marshaled in battle array and formed
into troops, regiments, and battalions. When all this was done, and the army
disciplined, and the herald Mouse had duly proclaimed war by challenging the
Weasels, the newly chosen generals bound their heads with straws, that they
might be more conspicuous to all their troops. Scarcely had the battle begun,
when a great rout overwhelmed the Mice, who scampered off as fast as they could
to their holes. The generals, not 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 MICE summoned a
council to decide how they might best devise means of warning themselves of the
approach of their great enemy the Cat. Among the many plans suggested, the one
that found most favor was the proposal to tie a bell to the neck of the Cat, so
that the Mice, being warned by the sound of the tinkling, might run away and
hide themselves in their holes at his approach. But when the Mice further
debated who among them should thus "bell the Cat," there was no one
found to do it.
A WOLF, meeting a big
well-fed Mastiff with a wooden collar about his neck asked him who it was that
fed him so well and yet compelled him to drag that heavy log about wherever he
went. "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 joined
together to complain to the Sea, saying, "Why is it that when we flow into
your tides so potable and sweet, you work in us such a change, and make us
salty and unfit to drink?" The Sea, perceiving that they intended to throw
the blame on him, said, "Pray cease to flow into me, and then you will not
be made briny."
AN ASS climbed up to
the roof of a building, and frisking about there, broke in the tiling. The
owner went up after him and quickly drove him down, beating him severely with a
thick wooden cudgel. The Ass said, "Why, I saw the Monkey do this very
thing yesterday, and you all laughed heartily, as if it afforded you very great
amusement."
A GREAT CITY was
besieged, and its inhabitants were called together to consider the best means
of protecting it from the enemy. A Bricklayer earnestly recommended bricks as
affording the best material for an effective resistance. A Carpenter, with
equal enthusiasm, proposed timber as a preferable method of defense. Upon which
a Currier stood up and said, "Sirs, I differ from you altogether: there is
no material for resistance equal to a covering of hides; and nothing so good as
leather." Every man for himself.
A CERTAIN MAN, detained
by a storm in his country house, first of all killed his sheep, and then his
goats, for the maintenance of his household. The storm still continuing, he was
obliged to slaughter his yoke oxen for food. On seeing this, his Dogs took
counsel together, and said, "It is time for us to be off, for if the
master spare not his oxen, who work for his gain, how can we expect him to spare
us?' He is not to be trusted as a friend who mistreats his own family.
A WOLF, passing by, saw
some Shepherds in a hut eating a haunch of mutton for their dinner. Approaching
them, he said, "What a clamor you would raise if I were to do as you are
doing!"
THE DOLPHINS and Whales
waged a fierce war 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 if they would accept him as an umpire. One of the Dolphins replied,
"We would far rather be destroyed in our battle with each other than admit
any interference from you in our affairs."
AN ASS once carried
through the streets of a city a famous wooden Image, to be placed in one of its
Temples. As he passed along, the crowd made lowly prostration before the Image.
The Ass, thinking that they bowed their heads in token of respect for himself,
bristled up with pride, gave himself airs, and refused to move another step.
The driver, seeing him thus stop, laid his whip lustily about his shoulders and
said, "O you perverse dull-head! it is not yet come to this, that men pay
worship to an Ass." They are not wise who give to themselves the credit
due to others.
TWO MEN were journeying
together. One 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 pursuing them, and he who had picked up
the axe said, "We are undone." "Nay," replied the other,
"keep to your first mode of speech, my friend; what you thought right
then, think right now. Say 'I,' not 'We' are undone." He who shares the
danger ought to share the prize.
A LION, worn out with
years and powerless from disease, lay on the ground at the point of death. A
Boar rushed upon him, and avenged with a stroke of his tusks a long-remembered
injury. Shortly afterwards the Bull with his horns gored him as if he were an
enemy. When the Ass saw that the huge beast could be assailed with impunity, he
let drive at his forehead with his heels. The expiring Lion said, "I have
reluctantly brooked the insults of the brave, but to be compelled to endure
such treatment from thee, a disgrace to Nature, is indeed to die a double
death."
A HOUND, who in the
days of his youth and strength had never yielded to any beast of the forest,
encountered in his old age a boar in the chase. He seized him boldly by the
ear, but could not retain his hold because 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 Hound looked up and said, "It was not my
fault. master: my spirit was as good as ever, but I could not help my
infirmities. I rather deserve to be praised for what I have been, than to be
blamed for what I am."
A BEE from Mount
Hymettus, the queen of the hive, ascended to Olympus to present Jupiter some
honey fresh from her combs. Jupiter, delighted with the offering of honey,
promised to give whatever she should ask. She therefore besought him, saying,
"Give me, I pray thee, a sting, that if any mortal shall approach to take
my honey, I may kill him." Jupiter was much displeased, for he loved the
race of man, but could not refuse the request because of his promise. He thus
answered the Bee: "You shall have your request, but it will be at the
peril of your own life. For if you use your sting, it shall remain in the wound
you make, and then you will die from the loss of it." Evil wishes, like
chickens, come home to roost.
A FARMER'S daughter was
carrying her Pail of milk from the field to the farmhouse, when she fell
a-musing. "The money for which this milk will be sold, will buy at least
three hundred eggs. The eggs, allowing for all mishaps, will produce two
hundred and fifty chickens. The chickens will become ready for the market when
poultry will fetch the highest price, so that by the end of the year I shall have
money enough from my share to buy a new gown. In this dress I will go to the
Christmas parties, where all the young fellows will propose to me, but I will
toss my 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 ground,
and all her imaginary schemes perished in a moment.
SOME TRAVELERS,
journeying along the seashore, climbed to the summit of a tall cliff, and
looking over the sea, saw in the distance what they thought was a large ship.
They waited in the hope of seeing it enter the harbor, but as the object on
which they looked was driven nearer to shore by the wind, they found that it
could at the most be a small boat, and not a ship. When however it reached the
beach, they discovered that it was only a large faggot of sticks, and one of
them said to his companions, "We have waited for no purpose, for after all
there is nothing to see but a load of wood." Our mere anticipations of
life outrun its realities.
A BRAZIER had a little
Dog, which was a great favorite with his master, and his constant companion.
While he hammered away at his metals the Dog slept; but when, on the other
hand, he went to dinner 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, pretending to
be angry and shaking his stick at him, said, "You wretched little
sluggard! what shall I do to you? While I am hammering on the anvil, you sleep
on the mat; and when I begin to eat after my toil, you wake up and wag your
tail for food. Do you not know that labor is the source of every blessing, and
that none but those who work are entitled to eat?'
A TRAVELER hired an Ass
to convey him to a distant 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 the Shadow. The owner
maintained that he had let the Ass only, and not his Shadow. The Traveler
asserted that he had, with the hire of the Ass, hired his Shadow also. The
quarrel proceeded from words to blows, and while the men fought, the Ass
galloped off. In quarreling about the shadow we often lose the substance.
AN ASS, belonging to an
herb-seller who gave him too little food and too much work made a petition to
Jupiter to be released from his present service and provided with another
master. Jupiter, after warning him that he would repent his request, caused him
to be sold to a tile-maker. Shortly afterwards, finding that he had heavier
loads to carry and harder work in the brick-field, he petitioned for another
change of master. Jupiter, telling him that it would be the last time that he
could grant his request, ordained that he be sold to a tanner. The Ass found
that he had fallen into worse hands, and noting his master's occupation, said,
groaning: "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 owner, who will even after I am dead tan my
hide, and make me useful to him."
A VERY LARGE OAK was
uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream. It fell among some Reeds,
which it thus addressed: "I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are
not entirely crushed by these strong winds." They replied, "You fight
and contend with the wind, and consequently you are destroyed; while we on the
contrary bend before the least breath of air, and therefore remain unbroken,
and escape." Stoop to conquer.
A FISHERMAN who lived
on the produce of his nets, one day caught a single small Fish as the result of
his day's labor. The Fish, panting convulsively, thus entreated for his life:
"O Sir, what good can I be to you, and how little am I worth? I am not yet
come to my full size. Pray spare my life, and put me back into the sea. I shall
soon become a large fish fit for the tables of the rich, and then you can catch
me again, and make a handsome profit of me." The Fisherman replied,
"I should indeed be a very simple fellow if, for the chance of a greater
uncertain profit, I were to forego my present certain gain."
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 knew where his lair
was. "I will," said the man, "at once show you the Lion
himself." The Hunter, turning very pale and chattering with his teeth from
fear, replied, "No, thank you. I did not ask that; it is his track only I am
in search of, not the Lion himself." The hero is brave in deeds as well as
words.
A WILD BOAR stood under
a tree and rubbed his tusks 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."
A LION entered a
farmyard. The Farmer, wishing to catch him, shut the gate. When the Lion found
that he could not escape, he flew upon the sheep and killed them, and then
attacked the oxen. The Farmer, beginning to be alarmed for his own safety,
opened the gate and released the Lion. On his departure the Farmer grievously
lamented the destruction of his sheep and oxen, but his wife, who had been a
spectator to all that took place, said, "On my word, you are rightly
served, for how could you for a moment think of shutting up a Lion along with
you in your farmyard when you know that you shake in your shoes if you only
hear his roar at a distance?'
MERCURY ONCE DETERMINED
to learn in what esteem he was held among mortals. For this purpose he assumed
the character of a man and visited in this disguise a Sculptor's studio having
looked at various statues, he demanded the price of two figures of Jupiter and
Juno. When the sum at which they were valued was named, he pointed to a figure
of himself, saying to the Sculptor, "You will certainly want much more for
this, as it is the statue of the Messenger of the Gods, and author of all your
gain." The Sculptor replied, "Well, if you will buy these, I'll fling
you that into the bargain."
A CERTAIN rich man
bought in the market a Goose and a Swan. He fed the one for his table and kept
the other for the sake of its song. When the time came for killing the Goose,
the cook went to get him at night, when it was dark, and he was not able to
distinguish one bird from the other. By mistake he caught the Swan instead of
the Goose. The Swan, threatened with death, burst forth into song and thus made
himself known by his voice, and preserved his life by his melody.
A VERY HUNGRY FOX,
seeing some bread and meat left by shepherds in the hollow of an oak, crept
into the hole and made a hearty meal. When he finished, he was so full that he
was not able to get out, and began to groan and lament his fate. Another Fox
passing by heard his cries, and coming up, inquired the cause of his
complaining. On learning what had happened, he said to him, "Ah, you will
have to remain there, my friend, until you become such as you were when you
crept in, and then you will easily get out."
A FOX, running before
the hounds, came across a Woodcutter felling an oak and begged him to show him
a safe hiding-place. The Woodcutter advised him to take shelter in his own hut,
so the Fox crept in and hid himself in a corner. The huntsman soon came up with
his hounds and inquired of the Woodcutter if he 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 hidden. 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 any notice of the Woodcutter: whereon he
called to him and reproached him, saying, "You ungrateful fellow, you owe
your life to me, and yet you leave me without a word of thanks." The Fox
replied, "Indeed, I should have thanked you fervently if your deeds had
been as good as your words, and if your hands had not been traitors to your
speech."
A BIRDCATCHER 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 nothing, and he had to kill a pied
Partridge, which he had tamed for a decoy. The bird entreated earnestly for his
life: "What would you do without me when next you spread your nets? Who
would chirp you to sleep, or call for you the covey of answering birds?' The
Birdcatcher spared his life, and determined to pick out a fine young Cock just
attaining to his comb. But the Cock expostulated in piteous tones from his
perch: "If you kill me, who will announce to you the appearance of the
dawn? Who will wake you to your daily tasks or tell you when it is time to
visit the bird-trap in the morning?' He replied, "What you say is true.
You are a capital bird at telling the time of day. But my friend and I must
have our dinners." Necessity knows no law.
A MONKEY perched upon a
lofty tree saw some Fishermen casting their nets into a river, and narrowly
watched their proceedings. The Fishermen after a while gave up fishing, and on
going home to dinner left their nets upon the bank. The Monkey, who is the most
imitative of animals, descended from the treetop and endeavored to do as they
had done. Having handled the net, he threw it into the river, but became
tangled in the meshes and drowned. With his last breath he said to himself,
"I am rightly served; for what business had I who had never handled a net
to try and catch fish?'
A FLEA settled upon the
bare foot of a Wrestler and bit him, causing the man to call loudly upon
Hercules for help. When the Flea a second time hopped upon his foot, he groaned
and said, "O Hercules! if you will not help me against a Flea, how can I
hope for your assistance against greater antagonists?'
TWO FROGS dwelt in the
same pool. When the pool 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 supplied with water, and when they saw it, one of the Frogs said to
the other, "Let us descend and make our abode in this well: it will
furnish us with shelter and food." The other replied with greater caution,
"But suppose the water should fail us. How can we get out again from so
great a depth?' Do nothing without a regard to the consequences.
A CERTAIN HOUSE was
overrun with Mice. A Cat, discovering this, made her way into it and began to
catch and eat them one by one. Fearing for their lives, the Mice kept
themselves close in their holes. The Cat was no longer able to get at them and
perceived that she must tempt them forth by some device. For this purpose she
jumped upon a peg, and suspending herself from it, pretended to be dead. One of
the Mice, peeping stealthily out, saw her and said, "Ah, my good madam,
even though you should turn into a meal-bag, we will not come near you."
A LION and a Bear
seized a Kid at the same moment, and fought fiercely for its possession. When
they had fearfully lacerated each other and were faint from the long combat,
they lay down exhausted with fatigue. A Fox, who had gone round them at a
distance several times, saw them both stretched on the ground with the Kid
lying untouched in the middle. He ran in between them, and seizing the Kid
scampered off as fast as he could. The Lion and the Bear saw him, but not being
able to get up, said, "Woe be to us, that we should have fought and
belabored ourselves only to serve the turn of a Fox." It sometimes happens
that one man has all the toil, and another all the profit.
A DOE hard pressed by
hunters sought refuge in a cave belonging to a Lion. The Lion concealed himself
on seeing her approach, but when she was safe within the cave, sprang upon her
and tore her to pieces. "Woe is me," exclaimed the Doe, "who
have escaped from man, only to throw myself into the mouth of a wild beast?' In
avoiding one evil, care must be taken not to fall into another.
A FARMER, who bore a
grudge against a Fox for robbing his poultry yard, caught him at last, and
being determined to take an ample revenge, tied some rope well soaked in 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 grieving
sorely.
A SEAGULL having bolted
down too large a fish, burst its deep gullet-bag and lay down on the shore to
die. A Kite saw him and 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 mind his own business.
A PHILOSOPHER witnessed
from the shore the shipwreck of a vessel, of which the crew and passengers were
all drowned. He inveighed against the injustice of Providence, which would for
the sake of one criminal perchance sailing in the ship allow so many innocent
persons to perish. As he was indulging in these reflections, he found himself
surrounded by a whole army of Ants, near whose nest he was standing. One of
them climbed up and stung him, and he immediately trampled them all to death
with his 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?'
A BULL was bitten by a
Mouse and, angered by the wound, tried to capture him. But the Mouse reached
his hole in safety. Though the Bull dug into the walls with his horns, he tired
before he could rout out the Mouse, and crouching down, went to sleep outside
the hole. The Mouse peeped out, crept furtively up his flank, and again biting
him, retreated to his hole. The Bull rising up, and not knowing what to do, was
sadly perplexed. At which the Mouse said, "The great do not always
prevail. There are times when the small and lowly are the strongest to do
mischief."
A LION came across a
Hare, who was fast asleep. He was just in the act of seizing her, when a fine
young Hart trotted by, and he left the Hare to follow him. The Hare, scared by
the noise, awoke and scudded away. The Lion was unable after a long chase to catch
the Hart, and returned to feed upon the Hare. On finding that the Hare also had
run off, he said, "I am rightly served, for having let go of the food that
I had in my hand for the chance of obtaining more."
A PEASANT found an
Eagle captured in a trap, and much admiring the bird, set him free. The Eagle
did not prove ungrateful to his deliverer, for seeing the Peasant sitting under
a wall which was not safe, he flew toward him and with his talons snatched a
bundle from his head. When the Peasant rose in pursuit, the Eagle let the
bundle fall again. Taking it up, the man returned to the same place, to find
that the wall under which he had been sitting had fallen to pieces; and he
marveled at the service rendered him by the Eagle.
A VERY POOR MAN, a
Carpenter by trade, had a wooden image of Mercury, before which he made
offerings day by day, and begged the idol to make him rich, but in spite of his
entreaties he became poorer and poorer. At last, being very angry, he took his
image down from its pedestal and dashed it against the wall. When its head was
knocked off, out came a stream of gold, which the Carpenter quickly picked up
and said, "Well, I think thou art altogether contradictory and
unreasonable; for when I paid you honor, I reaped no benefits: but now that I
maltreat you I am loaded with an abundance of riches."
A BULL, escaping from a
Lion, hid in a cave which some shepherds had recently occupied. As soon as he
entered, a He-Goat left in the cave 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 go away 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 advantage of a friend in distress.
A PRINCE had some
Monkeys trained to dance. Being naturally great mimics of men's actions, they
showed themselves most apt pupils, and when arrayed in their rich clothes and
masks, they danced as well as any of the courtiers. The spectacle was often
repeated with great applause, till on one occasion 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 their dancing and became (as indeed
they were) Monkeys instead of actors. Pulling off their masks and tearing their
robes, they fought with one another for the nuts. The dancing spectacle thus
came to an end amidst the laughter and ridicule of the audience.
THE FOX and the Leopard
disputed which was the more beautiful of the two. The Leopard exhibited one by
one the various spots which decorated his skin. But the Fox, interrupting him,
said, "And how much more beautiful than you am I, who am decorated, not in
body, but in mind."
THE MONKEY, it is said,
has two young ones at each birth. The Mother fondles one and nurtures it with
the greatest affection and care, but hates and neglects the other. It happened
once that the young one which was caressed and loved was smothered by the too
great affection of the Mother, while the despised 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 presented a
complaint to Jupiter, saying, "We bear for no purpose the burden of life,
as of all the trees that grow we are the most continually in peril of the
axe." Jupiter made answer: "You have only to thank yourselves for the
misfortunes to which you are exposed: for if you did not make such excellent
pillars and posts, and prove yourselves so serviceable to the carpenters and
the farmers, the axe would not so frequently be laid to your roots."
A HOUND started a Hare
from his lair, but after a long run, gave up the chase. A goat-herd seeing him
stop, mocked him, saying "The little one is the best runner of the
two." The Hound replied, "You do not see the difference between us: I
was only running for a dinner, but he for his life."
A TRAVELER wearied from
a long journey lay down, overcome with fatigue, on the very brink of a deep
well. Just as he was about to fall into the water, Dame Fortune, it is said,
appeared to him and waking him from his slumber thus addressed him: "Good
Sir, pray wake up: for if you fall 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, however much by their own folly they have really
brought them on themselves." Everyone is more or less master of his own
fate.
A BALD KNIGHT, who wore
a wig, went out to hunt. A sudden puff of wind blew off his hat and wig, at
which a loud laugh rang forth from his companions. He pulled up his horse, and
with great glee joined in the joke by saying, "What a marvel it is that
hairs which are not mine should fly from me, when they have forsaken even the
man on whose head they grew."
A SHEPHERD penning his
sheep in the fold for the night was about to shut up a wolf with them, when his
Dog perceiving the wolf said, "Master, how can you expect the sheep to be
safe if you admit a wolf into the fold?'
A LAMP, soaked with too
much oil and flaring brightly, boasted that it gave more light than the sun.
Then a sudden puff of wind arose, and the Lamp was immediately extinguished.
Its owner lit it again, and said: "Boast no more, but henceforth be
content to give thy light in silence. Know that not even the stars need to be
relit"
THE LION, the Fox and
the Ass entered into an agreement to assist each other 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 first 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 large heap and
left to himself the smallest possible morsel. The Lion said, "Who has
taught you, my very excellent fellow, the art of division? You are perfect to a
fraction." He replied, "I learned it from the Ass, by witnessing his
fate." Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others.
A BULL finding a lion's
cub asleep gored him to death with his horns. The Lioness came up, and bitterly
lamented the death of her whelp. A wild-boar Hunter, seeing her distress, stood
at a distance and said to her, "Think how many men there are who have
reason to lament the loss of their children, whose deaths have been caused by
you."
THE WOODCUTTER cut down
a Mountain Oak and split it in pieces, making wedges of its own branches for
dividing the trunk. The Oak said with a sigh, "I do not care about the
blows of the axe aimed at my roots, but I do grieve at being torn in pieces by
these wedges made from my own branches." Misfortunes springing from ourselves
are the hardest to bear.
A COTTAGER and his wife
had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day. They supposed that the Hen must
contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and in order to get the gold they
killed it. Having done so, they found to their surprise that the Hen differed
in no respect from their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become
rich all at once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were assured
day by day.
AN ASS, carrying a load
of wood, passed through a pond. As he was crossing through the water he lost
his footing, stumbled and fell, and not being able to rise on account of his
load, groaned heavily. Some Frogs frequenting the pool heard his lamentation,
and said, "What would you do if you had to live here always as we do, when
you make such a fuss about a mere fall into the water?" Men often bear
little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes.
A CROW was jealous of
the Raven, because he was considered a bird of good omen and always attracted
the attention of men, who noted by his flight the good or evil course of future
events. Seeing some travelers approaching, the Crow flew up into a tree, and
perching herself on one of the branches, cawed as loudly as she could. The
travelers turned towards the sound and wondered what it foreboded, when one of
them said to his companion, "Let us proceed on our journey, my friend, for
it is only the caw of a crow, and her cry, you know, is no omen." Those
who assume a character which does not belong to them, only make themselves
ridiculous.
A MAN came into a
forest and asked 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 a new handle to his axe from it, 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 destruction of his companions, said to a neighboring 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."
A CRAB, forsaking the
seashore, chose a neighboring green meadow as its feeding ground. A Fox came
across him, and being very hungry ate him up. Just as he was on the point of
being eaten, the Crab said, "I well deserve my fate, for what business had
I on the land, when by my nature and habits I am only adapted for the sea?'
Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness.
A WOMAN possessed a Hen
that gave her an egg every day. She often pondered how she might obtain two
eggs daily instead of one, 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.
A SHEPHERD, watching
his Ass feeding in a meadow, was alarmed all of a sudden by the cries of the
enemy. He appealed to the Ass to fly with him, lest they should both be
captured, but the animal lazily replied, "Why should I, pray? Do you think
it likely the conqueror will place on me two sets of panniers?' "No,"
rejoined the Shepherd. "Then," said the Ass, "as long as I carry
the panniers, what matters it to me whom I serve?' In a change of government
the poor change nothing beyond the name of their master.
THE KITES of olden
times, as well as the Swans, had the privilege of song. But having heard the
neigh of the horse, they were so enchanted with the sound, that they tried to
imitate it; and, in trying to neigh, they forgot how to sing. The desire for
imaginary benefits often involves the loss of present blessings.
THE WOLVES thus
addressed the Sheepdogs: "Why should you, who are like us in so many
things, not be entirely of one mind with us, and live with us as brothers
should? We differ from you in one point only. We live in freedom, but you bow
down to and slave for men, who in return for your services flog you with whips
and put collars on your necks. They make you also guard their sheep, and while
they eat the mutton throw only the bones to you. If you will be persuaded by
us, you will give us the sheep, and we will enjoy them in common, till we all
are surfeited." The Dogs listened favorably to these proposals, and,
entering the den of the Wolves, they were set upon and torn to pieces.
THE HARES waged war
with the Eagles, and called upon the Foxes to help them. They replied, "We
would willingly have helped you, if we had not known who you were, and with
whom you were fighting." Count the cost before you commit yourselves.
A VERY SKILLFUL BOWMAN
went to the mountains in search of game, but all the beasts of the forest fled
at his approach. The Lion alone challenged him to combat. The Bowman
immediately shot out an arrow and said to the Lion: "I send thee my messenger,
that from him thou mayest learn what I myself shall be when I assail
thee." The wounded Lion rushed away in great fear, and when a Fox who had
seen it all happen told him to be of good courage and not to back off at the
first attack he replied: "You counsel me in vain; for if he sends so
fearful a messenger, how shall I abide the attack of the man himself?' Be on
guard against men who can strike from a distance.
WHEN MAN first saw the
Camel, he was so frightened at his vast size that he ran away. After a time,
perceiving the meekness and gentleness of the beast's temper, he summoned
courage enough to approach him. Soon afterwards, observing that he was an
animal altogether deficient in spirit, he assumed such boldness as to put a
bridle in his mouth, and to let a child drive him. Use serves to overcome
dread.
A WASP seated himself
upon the head of a Snake and, striking him unceasingly with his stings, wounded
him to death. The Snake, being in great torment and not knowing how to rid
himself of his enemy, saw a wagon heavily laden with wood, and went and
purposely placed his head under the wheels, saying, "At least my enemy and
I shall perish together."
A HOUND having started
a Hare on the hillside pursued her for some distance, at one time biting her
with his teeth as if he would take her life, and at another fawning upon her,
as if in play with another dog. The Hare said to him, "I wish you would
act sincerely by me, and show yourself in your true colors. If you are a
friend, why do you bite me so hard? If an enemy, why do you fawn on me?' No one
can be a friend if you know not whether to trust or distrust him.
A BULL was striving
with all his might to squeeze himself through a narrow passage which led to his
stall. A young Calf came up, and offered to go before and show him the way by
which he could manage to pass. "Save yourself the trouble," said the
Bull; "I knew that way long before you were born."
A STAG asked a Sheep to
lend him a measure of wheat, and said that the Wolf would be his surety. The
Sheep, fearing some fraud was intended, excused herself, saying, "The Wolf
is accustomed to seize what he wants and to run off; and you, too, can quickly
outstrip me in your rapid flight. How then shall I be able to find you, when
the day of payment comes?' Two blacks do not make one white.
A PEACOCK spreading its
gorgeous tail mocked a Crane that passed by, ridiculing the ashen hue of its
plumage and saying, "I am robed, like a king, in gold and purple and all
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, like
a cock, among the birds of the dunghill." Fine feathers don't make fine
birds.
A FOX swimming across a
rapid river was carried by the force of the current into a very deep ravine,
where he lay for a long time very much bruised, sick, and unable to move. A
swarm of hungry blood-sucking flies settled upon him. A Hedgehog, passing by,
saw his anguish and inquired if he should drive away the flies that were
tormenting him. "By no means," replied the Fox; "pray do not
molest them." "How is this?' said the Hedgehog; "do you not want
to be rid of them?' "No," returned the Fox, "for these flies
which you see are full of blood, and sting me but little, and if you rid me of
these which are already satiated, others more hungry will come in their place,
and will drink up all the blood I have left."
AN EAGLE made her nest
at the top of a lofty oak; a Cat, having found a convenient hole, moved into
the middle of the trunk; and a Wild Sow, with her young, took shelter in a
hollow at its foot. The Cat cunningly resolved to destroy this chance-made colony.
To carry out her design, she climbed to the nest of the Eagle, and said,
"Destruction is preparing for you, and for me too, unfortunately. The Wild
Sow, whom you see daily digging up the earth, wishes to uproot the oak, so she
may on its fall seize our families as food for her young." Having thus
frightened the Eagle out of her senses, she crept down to the cave of the Sow,
and said, "Your children are in great danger; for as soon as you go out
with your litter to find food, the Eagle is prepared to pounce upon one of your
little pigs." Having instilled 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 lookout all through the day. Meanwhile, the
Eagle, full of fear of the Sow, sat still on the branches, and the Sow,
terrified by the Eagle, did not dare to go out from her cave. And thus they
both, along with their families, perished from hunger, and afforded ample
provision for the Cat and her kittens.
A THIEF hired a room in
a tavern and stayed a while in the hope of stealing something which should
enable him to pay his reckoning. When he had waited some days in vain, he saw
the Innkeeper dressed in a new and handsome coat and sitting before his door.
The Thief sat down beside him and talked with him. As the conversation began to
flag, the Thief yawned terribly and at the same time howled like a wolf. The Innkeeper
said, "Why do you howl so fearfully?' "I will tell you," said
the Thief, "but first let me ask you to hold my clothes, or I shall tear
them to pieces. I know not, sir, when I got this habit of yawning, nor whether
these attacks of howling 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
second fit of yawning and again howled like a wolf, as he had at first. The
Innkeeper. hearing 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 and entreated him to stop, saying, "Pray 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 yawned the third time and set up a terrible howl. The
Innkeeper, frightened lest he should be attacked, left his new coat in the
Thief's hand and ran as fast as he could into the inn for safety. The Thief
made off with the coat and did not return again to the inn. Every tale is not
to be believed.
A MULE, frolicsome from
lack of work and from too much 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 driven
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."
A HART, hard pressed in
the chase, hid himself beneath the large leaves of a Vine. The huntsmen, in
their haste, overshot the place of his concealment. Supposing all danger to
have passed, the Hart began to nibble the tendrils of the Vine. One of the huntsmen,
attracted by the rustling of the leaves, looked back, and seeing the Hart, shot
an arrow from his bow and struck it. The Hart, at the point of death, groaned:
"I am rightly served, for I should not have maltreated the Vine that saved
me."
A SERPENT and an Eagle
were struggling with each other in deadly conflict. The Serpent had the
advantage, and was about to strangle the bird. A countryman saw them, and
running up, loosed the coil of the Serpent and let the Eagle go free. The
Serpent, irritated at the escape of his prey, injected his poison into the
drinking horn of the countryman. The rustic, ignorant of his danger, was about
to drink, when the Eagle struck his hand with his wing, and, seizing the
drinking horn in his talons, carried it aloft.
A CROW perishing with
thirst saw a pitcher, and hoping to find water, flew to it with delight. When
he reached it, he discovered to his grief that it contained so little water
that he could not possibly get at it. He tried everything he could think of to
reach the water, but all his efforts were in vain. At last he collected as many
stones as he could carry and dropped them one by one with his beak into the
pitcher, until he brought the water within his reach and thus saved his life.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
TWO FROGS were
neighbors. One inhabited a deep pond, far removed from public view; the other
lived in a gully containing little water, and traversed by a country road. The
Frog that lived in the pond warned his friend to change his residence and
entreated him to come and live with him, saying that he would enjoy greater
safety from danger and more abundant food. The other refused, saying that he
felt it so very hard to leave 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 its wheels. A willful man will have his way to his own hurt.
AT ONE TIME a very
large and strong Wolf was born among the wolves, who exceeded all his
fellow-wolves in strength, size, and swiftness, so that they unanimously
decided to call him "Lion." The Wolf, with a lack of sense
proportioned to his enormous size, thought that they gave him this name in
earnest, and, leaving his own race, consorted exclusively with the lions. An
old sly Fox, seeing this, said, "May I never make myself so ridiculous as
you do in your pride and self-conceit; for even though you have the size of a
lion among wolves, in a herd of lions you are definitely a wolf."
A WALNUT TREE standing
by the roadside bore an abundant crop of fruit. For the sake of the nuts, the
passers-by broke its branches with stones and sticks. The Walnut-Tree piteously
exclaimed, "O wretched me! that those whom I cheer with my fruit should
repay me with these painful requitals!"
A GNAT came and said to
a Lion, "I do not in 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 an a woman in her quarrels. I repeat that I am altogether
more powerful than you; and if you doubt it, let us fight and see who will
conquer." The Gnat, having sounded his horn, fastened himself upon the
Lion and stung him on the nostrils and the parts of the face devoid of hair.
While trying to crush him, the Lion tore himself with his claws, until he
punished himself severely. The Gnat thus prevailed over the Lion, and, 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, saying, "Woe is me! that I, who can wage war
successfully with the hugest beasts, should perish myself from this spider, the
most inconsiderable of insects!"
A SAILOR, bound on a
long voyage, took with him a Monkey to amuse him while on shipboard. As he
sailed off the coast of Greece, a violent tempest arose in which the ship was
wrecked and he, his Monkey, and all the crew were obliged to swim for their
lives. A Dolphin saw the Monkey contending with the waves, and supposing him to
be a man (whom he is always said to befriend), came and placed himself under
him, to convey him on his back in safety to the shore. When the Dolphin arrived
with his burden in sight of land not far from Athens, he asked the Monkey if he
were an Athenian. The latter replied that he was, and that he was descended
from one of the most noble families in that city. The Dolphin then inquired if
he knew the Piraeus (the famous harbor of Athens). Supposing that a man was
meant, the Monkey answered that he knew him very well and that he was an
intimate friend. The Dolphin, indignant at these falsehoods, dipped the Monkey
under the water and drowned him.
A JACKDAW, seeing some
Doves in a cote abundantly provided with food, painted himself white and joined
them in order to share their plentiful maintenance. The Doves, as long as he
was silent, supposed him to be one of themselves and admitted him to their
cote. But when one day he forgot himself and began to chatter, they discovered
his true character and drove him forth, pecking him with their beaks. Failing
to obtain food among the Doves, he returned to the Jackdaws. They too, not
recognizing him on account of his color. expelled him from living with them. So
desiring two ends, he obtained neither.
AT ONE TIME the Horse
had the plain entirely to himself. Then a Stag intruded into his domain and
shared his pasture. The Horse, desiring to revenge himself on the stranger,
asked a man if he were willing to help him in punishing the Stag. The man
replied that if the Horse would receive a bit in his mouth and agree to carry
him, he would contrive effective weapons against the Stag. The Horse consented
and allowed the man to mount him. From that hour he found that instead of
obtaining revenge on the Stag, he had enslaved himself to the service of man.
A KID, returning
without protection from the pasture, was pursued by a Wolf. Seeing he could not
escape, he turned round, and said: "I know, friend Wolf, that I must be
your prey, but before I die I would ask of you one favor you will play me a
tune to which I may dance." The Wolf complied, and while he was piping and
the Kid was dancing, some hounds hearing the sound ran up and began chasing the
Wolf. Turning to the Kid, he said, "It is just what I deserve; for I, who
am only a butcher, should not have turned piper to please you."
A WIZARD, sitting in
the marketplace, was telling the fortunes of the passers-by when a person ran
up in great haste, and announced to him that the doors of his house had been
broken open and that all his goods were being stolen. He sighed heavily and
hastened away as fast as he could run. A neighbor saw him running and said,
"Oh! you fellow there! you say you can foretell the fortunes of others; how
is it you did not foresee your own?'
A FOX and a Monkey were
traveling together on the same road. As they journeyed, they passed through a
cemetery full of monuments. "All these monuments which you see," said
the Monkey, "are erected in honor of my ancestors, who were in their day
freedmen and citizens of great renown." The Fox replied, "You have
chosen a most appropriate subject for your falsehoods, as I am sure none of
your ancestors will be able to contradict you." A false tale often betrays
itself.
A THIEF came in the
night to break into a house. He brought with him several slices of meat in
order to pacify the Housedog, so that he would not alarm his master by barking.
As the Thief threw him the pieces of meat, the Dog said, "If you think to
stop my mouth, you will be greatly mistaken. This sudden kindness at your hands
will only make me more watchful, lest under these unexpected favors to myself,
you have some private ends to accomplish for your own benefit, and for my
master's injury."
A HORSE, Ox, and Dog,
driven to great straits by the cold, sought shelter and protection from Man. He
received them kindly, lighted a fire, and warmed them. He let the Horse make
free with his oats, gave the Ox an abundance of hay, and fed the Dog with meat
from his own table. Grateful for these favors, the animals determined to repay
him to the best of their ability. For this purpose, they divided the term of
his life between them, and each endowed one portion of it with the qualities
which chiefly characterized himself. The Horse chose his earliest years and
gave them his own attributes: hence every man is in his youth impetuous,
headstrong, and obstinate in maintaining his own opinion. The Ox took under his
patronage the next term of life, and therefore man in his middle age is fond of
work, devoted to labor, and resolute to amass wealth and to husband his
resources. The end of life was reserved for the Dog, wherefore the old man is
often snappish, irritable, hard to please, and selfish, tolerant only of his
own household, but averse to strangers and to all who do not administer to his
comfort or to his necessities.
TWO MEN, one who always
spoke the truth and the other who told nothing but lies, were traveling
together and by chance came to the land of Apes. One of the Apes, who had
raised himself to be king, commanded them to be seized and brought before him,
that he might know what was said of him among men. He ordered at the same time
that all the Apes be arranged in a long row on his right hand and on his left,
and that a throne be placed for him, as was the custom among men. After these
preparations he signified that the two men should be brought before him, and
greeted them with this salutation: "What sort of a king do I seem to you
to be, O strangers?' The Lying Traveler 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 yourself, fit
at least to be ambassadors and leaders of armies." The Ape and all his
court, gratified with the lie, commanded that a handsome present be given to
the flatterer. On this the truthful Traveler thought to himself, "If so
great a reward be given for a lie, with what gift may not I be rewarded, if,
according to my custom, I tell 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 excellent Ape, and all these thy companions
after thy example are excellent Apes too." The King of the Apes, enraged
at hearing these truths, gave him over to the teeth and claws of his
companions.
A WOLF followed a flock
of sheep for a long time and did not 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 his movements. But when the Wolf, day after day, kept in
the company of the sheep and did not make the slightest effort to seize them,
the Shepherd began to look upon him as a guardian of his flock rather than as a
plotter of evil against it; and when occasion called him one day into the city,
he left the sheep entirely in his charge. The Wolf, now that he had the
opportunity, fell upon the sheep, and destroyed the greater part of the flock.
When the Shepherd returned to find his flock destroyed, he exclaimed: "I
have been rightly served; why did I trust my sheep to a Wolf?'
THE HARES harangued the
assembly, and argued that all should be equal. The Lions made this reply:
"Your words, O Hares! are good; but they lack both claws and teeth such as
we have."
A LARK had made her
nest in the early spring on the young green wheat. The brood had almost grown
to their full strength and attained the use of their wings and the full plumage
of their feathers, when the owner of the field, looking over his ripe crop,
said, "The time has come when I must ask all my neighbors to help me with
my harvest." One of the young Larks heard his speech and related it to his
mother, inquiring of her to what place they should move for safety. "There
is no occasion to move yet, my son," she replied; "the man who only
sends to his friends to help him with his harvest is not really in
earnest." The owner of the field came again a few days later and saw the
wheat shedding the grain from excess of ripeness. He said, "I will come
myself tomorrow with my laborers, and with as many reapers as I can hire, and
will get in the harvest." The Lark on hearing these words said to her
brood, "It is time now to be off, my little ones, for the man is in
earnest this time; he no longer trusts his friends, but will reap the field
himself." Self-help is the best help.
WHEN A FOX who had
never yet seen a Lion, fell in with him by chance for the first time in the
forest, he was so frightened that he nearly died with fear. On meeting him for
the second time, he was still much alarmed, but not to the same extent as at
first. On seeing him the third time, he so increased in boldness that he went
up to him and commenced a familiar conversation with him. Acquaintance softens
prejudices.
A WEASEL, inactive from
age and infirmities, was not able to catch mice as he once did. He therefore
rolled himself in flour and lay down in a dark corner. A Mouse, supposing him
to be food, leaped upon him, and was instantly caught and squeezed to death.
Another perished in a similar manner, and then a third, and still others after
them. A very old Mouse, who had escaped many a trap and snare, observed from a
safe distance the trick of his crafty foe and said, "Ah! you that lie
there, may you prosper just in the same proportion as you are what you pretend
to be!"
A BOY bathing in a
river was in danger of being drowned. He called out to a passing traveler for
help, but instead of holding out a helping hand, the man stood by
unconcernedly, and scolded the boy for his imprudence. "Oh, sir!"
cried the youth, "pray help me now and scold me afterwards." Counsel
without help is useless.
AN ASS feeding in a
meadow saw a Wolf approaching to seize him, and immediately pretended to be
lame. The Wolf, coming up, inquired the cause of his lameness. The Ass replied
that passing through a hedge he had trod with his foot upon a sharp thorn. He
requested that the Wolf pull it out, lest when he ate him it should injure his
throat. The Wolf consented and lifted up the foot, and was giving his whole
mind to the discovery of the thorn, when the Ass, with his heels, kicked his
teeth into his mouth and galloped away. The Wolf, being thus fearfully mauled,
said, "I am rightly served, for why did I attempt the art of healing, when
my father only taught me the trade of a butcher?'
A CERTAIN MAN made a
wooden image of Mercury and offered it for sale. When no one appeared willing
to buy it, in order to attract purchasers, he cried out that he had the statue
to sell of a benefactor who bestowed wealth and helped to heap up riches. One
of the bystanders said to him, "My good fellow, why do you sell him, being
such a one as you describe, when you may yourself enjoy the good things he has
to give?' "Why," he replied, "I am in need of immediate help,
and he is wont to give his good gifts very slowly."
A FAMISHED FOX saw some
clusters of ripe black grapes hanging from a trellised vine. She resorted to
all her tricks to get at them, but wearied herself in vain, for she could not
reach them. At last she turned away, hiding her disappointment and saying: "The
Grapes are sour, and not ripe as I thought."
A MAN had a Wife who
made herself hated by all the members of his household. Wishing to find out if
she had the same effect on the persons in her father's house, he made some
excuse to send her home on a visit to her father. After a short time she
returned, and when he inquired how she had got on and how the servants had
treated her, she replied, "The herdsmen and shepherds cast on me looks of
aversion." He said, "O Wife, if you were disliked by those who go out
early in the morning with their flocks and return late in the evening, what
must have been felt towards you by those with whom you passed the whole
day!" Straws show how the wind blows.
THE PEACOCK made
complaint to Juno that, while the nightingale pleased every ear with his song,
he himself no sooner opened his mouth than he became a laughingstock to all who
heard him. The Goddess, to console him, said, "But you far excel in beauty
and in size. The splendor of the emerald shines in your neck and you unfold a
tail gorgeous with painted plumage." "But for what purpose have
I," said the bird, "this dumb beauty so long as I am surpassed in
song?' "The lot of each," replied Juno, "has been assigned by
the will of the Fates--to thee, beauty; to the eagle, strength; to the
nightingale, song; to the raven, favorable, and to the crow, unfavorable
auguries. These are all contented with the endowments allotted to them."
A NIGHTINGALE, sitting
aloft upon an oak and singing according to his wont, was seen by a Hawk who,
being in need of food, swooped down and seized him. The Nightingale, about to
lose his life, earnestly begged the Hawk to let him go, saying that he was not
big enough to satisfy the hunger of a Hawk who, if he wanted food, ought to
pursue the larger birds. The Hawk, interrupting him, said: "I should
indeed have lost my senses if I should let go food ready in my hand, for the
sake of pursuing birds which are not yet even within sight."
A DOG and a Cock being
great friends, agreed to travel together. At nightfall they took shelter in a
thick wood. The Cock flying up, perched himself on the branches of a tree,
while the Dog found a bed beneath in the hollow trunk. When the morning dawned,
the Cock, as usual, crowed very loudly several times. A Fox heard the sound,
and wishing to make a breakfast on him, came and stood under the branches,
saying how earnestly he desired to make the acquaintance of the owner of so
magnificent a voice. The Cock, suspecting his civilities, said: "Sir, I
wish you would do me the favor of going around to the hollow trunk below me,
and waking my porter, so that he may open the door and let you in." When
the Fox approached the tree, the Dog sprang out and caught him, and tore him to
pieces.
A WOLF saw a Goat
feeding at the summit of a steep precipice, where he had no chance of reaching
her. He called to her and earnestly begged her to come lower down, lest she
fall by some mishap; and he added that the meadows lay where he was standing,
and that the herbage was most tender. She replied, "No, my friend, it is
not for the pasture that you invite me, but for yourself, who are in want of
food."
A LION, greatly
desiring to capture a Bull, and yet afraid to attack him on account of his
great size, resorted to a trick to ensure his destruction. He approached the
Bull 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 reclining to eat, he might attack him to advantage, and make his meal on
him. The Bull, on approaching the Lion's den, saw the huge spits and giant
caldrons, and no sign whatever of the sheep, and, without saying a word,
quietly took his departure. The Lion inquired why he went off so abruptly
without a word of salutation to his host, who had not given him any cause for
offense. "I have reasons enough," said the Bull. "I see no
indication whatever of your having slaughtered a sheep, while I do see very
plainly every preparation for your dining on a bull."
A MAN once kept a Goat
and an Ass. The Goat, envying the Ass on account of his greater abundance of
food, said, "How shamefully you are treated: at one time grinding in the
mill, and at another carrying heavy burdens"; and he further advised him
to pretend to be epileptic and fall into a ditch and so obtain rest. The Ass listened
to his words, and falling into a ditch, was very much bruised. His master,
sending for a leech, asked his advice. He bade him pour upon the wounds the
lungs of a Goat. They at once killed the Goat, and so healed the Ass.
A COUNTRY MOUSE invited
a Town Mouse, an intimate friend, to pay him a visit and partake of his country
fare. As they were on the bare plowlands, eating there wheat-stocks and roots
pulled up from the hedgerow, the Town Mouse said to his friend, "You live
here the life of the ants, while in my house is the horn of plenty. I am
surrounded by every luxury, and if you will come with me, as I wish you would,
you shall have an ample share of my dainties." The Country Mouse was
easily persuaded, and returned to town with his friend. On his arrival, the
Town Mouse placed before him bread, barley, beans, dried figs, honey, raisins,
and, last of all, brought a dainty piece of cheese from a basket. The Country
Mouse, being much delighted at the sight of such good cheer, expressed his
satisfaction in warm terms and lamented his own hard fate. Just as they were
beginning to eat, someone opened the door, and they both ran off squeaking, as
fast as they could, to a hole so narrow that two could only find room in it by squeezing.
They had scarcely begun their repast again when someone else entered to take
something out of a cupboard, whereupon the two Mice, more frightened than
before, ran away and hid themselves. At last the Country Mouse, almost
famished, said to his friend: "Although you have prepared for me so dainty
a feast, I must leave you to enjoy it by yourself. It is surrounded by too many
dangers to please me. I prefer my bare plowlands and roots from the hedgerow,
where I can live in safety, and without fear."
A WOLF accused a Fox of
theft, but the Fox entirely denied the charge. An Ape undertook to adjudge the
matter between them. When each had fully stated his case the Ape announced this
sentence: "I do not think you, Wolf, ever lost what you claim; and I do
believe you, Fox, to have stolen what you so stoutly deny." The dishonest,
if they act honestly, get no credit.
A FLY sat on the
axle-tree of a chariot, and addressing 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 replied, "I do not heed your threats; I only
care for him who sits above you, and who quickens my pace with his whip, or
holds me back with the reins. Away, therefore, with your insolence, for I know
well when to go fast, and when to go slow."
SOME FISHERMEN were out
trawling their nets. Perceiving them to be very heavy, they danced about for
joy and supposed that they had taken a large catch. When they had dragged the
nets to the shore they found but few fish: the nets were full of sand and
stones, and the men were beyond measure cast downso much at the disappointment
which had befallen them, but because they had formed such very different
expectations. One of their company, an old man, said, "Let us cease
lamenting, my mates, for, as it seems to me, sorrow is always the twin sister
of joy; and it was only to be looked for that we, who just now were
over-rejoiced, should next have something to make us sad."
THREE BULLS for a long
time pastured together. A Lion lay in ambush in the hope of making them his
prey, but was afraid to attack them while they kept together. Having at last by
guileful speeches succeeded in separating them, he attacked them without fear
as they fed alone, and feasted on them one by one at his own leisure. Union is
strength.
A FOWLER, taking his
bird-lime and his twigs, went out to catch birds. Seeing a thrush sitting upon
a tree, he wished to take it, and fitting his twigs to a proper length, watched
intently, having his whole thoughts directed towards the sky. While thus
looking upwards, he unknowingly trod upon a Viper asleep just before his feet.
The Viper, turning about, stung him, and falling into a swoon, the man said to
himself, "Woe is me! that while I purposed to hunt another, I am myself
fallen unawares into the snares of death."
A HORSE, proud of his
fine trappings, met an Ass on the highway. The Ass, being heavily laden, moved
slowly out of the way. "Hardly," said the Horse, "can I resist
kicking you with my heels." The Ass held his peace, and made only a silent
appeal to the justice of the gods. Not long afterwards the Horse, having become
broken-winded, was sent by his owner to the farm. The Ass, seeing him drawing a
dungcart, thus derided him: "Where, O boaster, are now all thy gay
trappings, thou who are thyself reduced to the condition you so lately treated
with contempt?'
A FOX entered the house
of an actor and, rummaging through all his properties, came upon a Mask, an
admirable imitation of a human head. He placed his paws on it and said,
"What a beautiful head! Yet it is of no value, as it entirely lacks
brains."
THE GEESE and the
Cranes were feeding in the same meadow, when a birdcatcher came to ensnare 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.
A BLIND MAN was
accustomed to distinguishing different animals by touching them with his hands.
The whelp of a Wolf was brought him, with a request that he would feel it, and
say what it was. He felt it, and being in doubt, said: "I do not quite
know whether it is the cub of a Fox, or the whelp of a Wolf, but this I know
full well. It would not be safe to admit him to the sheepfold." Evil
tendencies are shown in early life.
SOME DOGS, finding the
skin of a lion, began to tear it in pieces with their teeth. A Fox, seeing
them, said, "If this lion were alive, you would soon find out that his
claws were stronger than your teeth." It is easy to kick a man that is
down.
A COBBLER unable to
make a living by his trade and made desperate by poverty, began to practice
medicine in a town in which he was not known. He sold a drug, pretending that
it was an antidote to all poisons, and obtained a great name for himself by
long-winded puffs and advertisements. When the Cobbler happened to fall sick
himself of a serious illness, the Governor of the town determined to test his
skill. For this purpose he called for a cup, and while filling it with water,
pretended to mix poison with the Cobbler's antidote, commanding him to drink it
on the promise of a reward. The Cobbler, under the fear of death, confessed
that he had no knowledge of medicine, and was only made famous by the stupid
clamors of the crowd. The Governor then called a public assembly and addressed
the citizens: "Of what folly have you been guilty? You have not hesitated
to entrust your heads to a man, whom no one could employ to make even the shoes
for their feet."
A WOLF coming out of a
field of oats met a Horse and thus addressed him: "I would advise you to
go into that field. It is full of fine oats, which I have left untouched for you,
as you are a friend whom I would love to hear enjoying good eating." The
Horse replied, "If oats had been the food of wolves, you would never have
indulged your ears at the cost of your belly." Men of evil reputation,
when they perform a good deed, fail to get credit for it.
A FATHER had one son
and one daughter, the former remarkable for his good looks, the latter for her
extraordinary ugliness. While they were playing one day as children, they
happened by chance to look together into a mirror that was placed on their
mother's chair. The boy congratulated himself on his good looks; the girl grew
angry, and could not bear the self-praises of her Brother, interpreting all he
said (and how could she do otherwise?) into reflection on herself. She ran off
to her father. to be avenged 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 on each,
said, "I wish you both would look into the mirror every day: you, my son,
that you may not spoil your beauty by evil conduct; and you, my daughter, that
you may make up for your lack of beauty by your virtues."
THE WASPS and the
Partridges, overcome with thirst, came to a Farmer and besought him to give
them some water to drink. They promised amply to repay him the favor which they
asked. The Partridges declared that they would dig around his vines and make
them produce finer grapes. The Wasps said that they would keep guard and drive
off thieves with their stings. But the Farmer interrupted them, saying: "I
have already two oxen, who, without making any promises, do all these things.
It is surely better for me to give the water to them than to you."
A CROW caught in a
snare prayed to Apollo to release him, making a vow to offer some frankincense
at his shrine. But when rescued from his danger, he forgot his promise. Shortly
afterwards, again caught in a snare, he passed by Apollo and made the same promise
to offer frankincense to Mercury. Mercury soon appeared and said to him,
"O thou most base fellow? how can I believe thee, who hast disowned and
wronged thy former patron?'
THE NORTH WIND and the
Sun disputed as to which was the most powerful, and agreed that he should be
declared the victor who could first strip a wayfaring man of his clothes. The
North Wind first tried his power and blew with all his might, but the keener
his blasts, the closer the Traveler wrapped his cloak around him, until at
last, resigning all hope of victory, the Wind called upon the Sun to see what
he could do. The Sun suddenly shone out with all his warmth. The Traveler no
sooner felt his genial rays than he took off one garment after another, and at
last, fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in
his path. Persuasion is better than Force.
TWO MEN, deadly enemies
to each other, were sailing in the same vessel. Determined to keep as far apart
as possible, the one seated himself in the stem, and the other in the prow of
the ship. A violent storm arose, and with the vessel in great danger of
sinking, 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, the Man said, "Death would not be grievous to me, if I could only
see my Enemy die before me."
A MAN had two Gamecocks
in his poultry-yard. One day by chance he found a tame Partridge for sale. He
purchased it and brought it home to be reared with his Gamecocks. When the
Partridge was put into the poultry-yard, they struck at it and followed it
about, so that the Partridge became grievously troubled and supposed that he
was thus evilly treated because he was a stranger. Not long afterwards he saw
the Cocks fighting together and not separating before one had well beaten the
other. He then said to himself, "I shall no longer distress myself at
being struck at by these Gamecocks, when I see that they cannot even refrain
from quarreling with each other."
A FROG once upon a time
came forth from his home in the marsh and proclaimed to all the beasts that he
was a learned physician, skilled in the use of drugs and able to heal all
diseases. A Fox asked him, "How can you pretend to prescribe for others,
when you are unable to heal your own lame gait and wrinkled skin?'
A LION, growing old,
lay sick in his cave. All the beasts came to visit their king, except the Fox.
The Wolf therefore, thinking that he had a capital opportunity, accused the Fox
to the Lion of not paying any respect to him who had the rule over them all and
of not coming to visit him. At that very moment the Fox came in and heard these
last words of the Wolf. The Lion roaring out in a rage against him, the Fox
sought an opportunity to defend himself and said, "And who of all those
who have come to you have benefited you so much as I, who have traveled from place
to place in every direction, and have sought and learnt from the physicians the
means of healing you?' The Lion commanded him immediately to tell him the cure,
when he replied, "You must flay a wolf alive and wrap his skin yet warm
around you." The Wolf was at once taken and flayed; whereon the Fox,
turning to him, said with a smile, "You should have moved your master not
to ill, but to good, will."
IN THE WINTERTIME, a
Dog curled up in as small a space as possible on account of the cold,
determined to make himself a house. However when the summer returned again, he
lay asleep stretched at his full length and appeared to himself to be of a
great size. Now he considered that it would be neither an easy nor a necessary
work to make himself such a house as would accommodate him.
ROAMING BY the
mountainside at sundown, a Wolf saw his own shadow become greatly extended and
magnified, and he said to himself, "Why should I, being of such an immense
size and extending nearly an acre in length, be afraid of the Lion? Ought I not
to be acknowledged as King of all the collected beasts?' While he was indulging
in these proud thoughts, a Lion fell upon him and killed him. He exclaimed with
a too late repentance, "Wretched me! this overestimation of myself is the
cause of my destruction."
THE BIRDS waged war
with the Beasts, and each were by turns the conquerors. A Bat, fearing the
uncertain issues of the fight, always fought on the side which he felt was the
strongest. When peace was proclaimed, his deceitful conduct was apparent to
both combatants. Therefore being condemned by each for his treachery, he was
driven forth from the light of day, and henceforth concealed himself in dark
hiding-places, flying always alone and at night.
A YOUNG MAN, a great
spendthrift, had run through all his patrimony and had but one good cloak left.
One day he happened to see a Swallow, which had appeared before its season,
skimming along a pool and twittering gaily. He supposed that summer had come, and
went and sold his cloak. Not many days later, winter set in again with renewed
frost and cold. When he found the unfortunate Swallow lifeless on the ground,
he said, "Unhappy bird! what have you done? By thus appearing before the
springtime you have not only killed yourself, but you have wrought my
destruction also."
A FOX saw a Lion
confined in a cage, and standing near him, bitterly reviled him. The Lion said
to the Fox, "It is not thou who revilest me; but this mischance which has
befallen me."
AN OWL, in her wisdom,
counseled the Birds that when the acorn first began to sprout, to pull it all
up out of the ground and not allow it to grow. She said acorns would produce
mistletoe, from which an irremediable poison, the bird- lime, would be
extracted and 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 that this man, being on foot, would contrive darts armed with
feathers which would fly faster than the wings of the Birds themselves. The
Birds gave no credence to these warning words, but considered the Owl to be
beside herself and said that she was mad. But afterwards, finding 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 look to her as knowing all
things, while she no longer gives them advice, but in solitude laments their
past folly.
A TRUMPETER, bravely
leading on the soldiers, was captured by the enemy. He cried out to his
captors, "Pray spare me, and do not take my life without cause or without
inquiry. 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 you do not
fight yourself, your trumpet stirs all the others to battle."
AN ASS, having put on
the Lion's skin, roamed about in the forest and amused himself by frightening
all the foolish animals he met in his wanderings. At last coming upon a Fox, he
tried to frighten him also, but the Fox no sooner heard the sound of his voice
than he exclaimed, "I might possibly have been frightened myself, if I had
not heard your bray."
A HARE pounced upon by
an eagle sobbed very much and uttered cries like a child. A Sparrow upbraided
her and said, "Where now is thy remarkable swiftness of foot? Why were
your feet so slow?" While the Sparrow was thus speaking, a hawk suddenly
seized him and killed him. The Hare was comforted in her death, and expiring
said, "Ah! you who so lately, when you supposed yourself safe, exulted
over my calamity, have now reason to deplore a similar misfortune."
A FLEA thus questioned
an Ox: "What ails you, that being so huge and strong, you submit to the
wrongs you receive from men and slave for them day by day, while I, being so
small a creature, mercilessly feed on their flesh and drink their blood without
stint?' The Ox replied: "I do not wish to be ungrateful, for I am loved
and well cared for by men, and they often pat my head and shoulders."
"Woe's me!" said the flea; "this very patting which you like,
whenever it happens to me, brings with it my inevitable destruction."
ALL the Goods were once
driven out by the Ills from that common share which they each had in the
affairs of mankind; for the Ills by reason of their numbers had prevailed to
possess the earth. The Goods wafted themselves to heaven and asked for a
righteous vengeance on their persecutors. They entreated Jupiter that they
might no longer be associated with the Ills, as they had nothing in common and
could not live together, but were engaged in unceasing warfare; and that an
indissoluble law might be laid down for their future protection. Jupiter
granted their request and decreed that henceforth the Ills should visit the
earth in company with each other, but that the Goods should one by one enter
the habitations of men. Hence it arises that Ills abound, for they come not one
by one, but in troops, and by no means singly: while the Goods proceed from Jupiter,
and are given, not alike to all, but singly, and separately; and one by one to
those who are able to discern them.
A DOVE shut up in a
cage was boasting of the large number of young ones which she had hatched. A
Crow hearing her, said: "My good friend, cease from this unseasonable
boasting. The larger the number of your family, the greater your cause of
sorrow, in seeing them shut up in this prison-house."
A WORKMAN, felling wood
by the side of a river, let his axe drop - by accident into a deep pool. Being
thus deprived of the means of his livelihood, he sat down on the bank and
lamented his hard fate. Mercury appeared and demanded the cause of his tears. After
he told him his misfortune, Mercury plunged into the stream, and, bringing 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, returned with
a silver axe in his hand, and again asked the Workman if it were his. When the
Workman said it was not, he dived into the pool for the third time and brought
up the axe that had been lost. The Workman claimed it and expressed his joy at
its recovery. Mercury, pleased with his honesty, gave him the golden and silver
axes in addition to his own. The Workman, on his return to his house, related
to his companions all that had happened. One of them at once resolved to try
and secure the same good fortune for himself. He ran to the river and threw his
axe on purpose into 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 learned the
cause of his grief, plunged into the stream and brought up a golden axe, inquiring
if he had lost it. The Workman seized it greedily, and declared that truly it
was the very same axe that he had lost. Mercury, displeased at his knavery, not
only took away the golden axe, but refused to recover for him the axe he had
thrown into the pool.
AN EAGLE, flying down
from his perch on a lofty rock, seized upon a lamb and carried him aloft in his
talons. A Jackdaw, who witnessed the capture of the lamb, was stirred with envy
and determined to emulate the strength and flight of the Eagle. He flew around
with a great whir of his wings and settled upon a large ram, with the intention
of carrying him off, but his claws became entangled in the ram's fleece and he
was not able to release himself, although he fluttered with his feathers as
much as he could. The shepherd, seeing what had happened, ran up and caught
him. He at once clipped the Jackdaw's wings, and taking him home at night, gave
him to his children. On their saying, "Father, what kind of bird is it?'
he replied, "To my certain knowledge he is a Daw; but he would like you to
think an Eagle."
A FOX invited a Crane
to supper and provided nothing for his entertainment but some soup made of
pulse, which was poured out into a broad flat stone dish. The soup fell out of
the long bill of the Crane at every mouthful, and his vexation at not being
able to eat afforded the Fox much amusement. The Crane, in his turn, asked the
Fox to sup with him, and set before her a flagon with a long narrow mouth, so
that he could easily insert his neck and enjoy its contents at his leisure. The
Fox, unable even to taste it, met with a fitting requital, after the fashion of
her own hospitality.
ACCORDING to an ancient
legend, the first man was made by Jupiter, the first bull by Neptune, and the
first house by Minerva. On the completion of their labors, a dispute arose as
to which had made the most perfect work. They agreed to appoint Momus as judge,
and to abide by his decision. Momus, however, being very envious of the
handicraft of each, found fault with all. He first blamed the work of Neptune
because he had not made the horns of the bull below his eyes, so he might
better see where to strike. He then condemned the work of Jupiter, because he
had not placed the heart of man on the outside, that everyone might read the
thoughts of the evil disposed and take precautions against the intended
mischief. And, lastly, he inveighed against Minerva because she had not
contrived iron wheels in the foundation of her house, so its inhabitants might
more easily remove if a neighbor proved unpleasant. Jupiter, indignant at such
inveterate faultfinding, drove him from his office of judge, and expelled him
from the mansions of Olympus.
AN EAGLE and a Fox
formed an intimate friendship and decided to live near each other. The Eagle
built her nest in the branches of a tall tree, while the Fox crept into the
underwood and there produced her young. Not long after they had agreed upon
this plan, the Eagle, being in want of provision for her young ones, swooped
down while the Fox was out, seized upon one of the little cubs, and feasted
herself and her brood. The Fox on her return, discovered what had happened, but
was less grieved for the death of her young than for her inability to avenge
them. A just retribution, however, quickly fell upon the Eagle. While hovering
near an altar, on which some villagers were sacrificing a goat, she suddenly
seized a piece of the flesh, and carried it, along with a burning cinder, to
her nest. A strong breeze soon fanned the spark into a flame, and the eaglets,
as yet unfledged and helpless, were roasted in their nest and dropped down dead
at the bottom of the tree. There, in the sight of the Eagle, the Fox gobbled
them up.
A MAN and a Satyr once
drank together in token of a bond of alliance being formed between them. One
very cold wintry day, as they talked, the Man put his fingers to his mouth and
blew on them. When the Satyr asked the reason for this, he told him that he did
it to warm his hands because they were so cold. Later on in the day they sat
down to eat, and the food prepared was quite scalding. The Man raised one of
the dishes a little towards his mouth and blew in it. When the Satyr again
inquired the reason, he said that he did it to cool the meat, which was too
hot. "I can no longer consider you as a friend," said the Satyr,
"a fellow who with the same breath blows hot and cold."
A MAN wished to
purchase an Ass, and agreed with its owner that he should try out the animal
before he bought him. He took the Ass home and put him in the straw-yard with
his other Asses, upon which the new animal left all the others and at once joined
the one that was most idle and the greatest eater of them all. Seeing this, the
man put a halter on him and led him back to his owner. On being asked how, in
so short a time, he could have made a trial of him, he answered, "I do not
need a trial; I know that he will be just the same as the one he chose for his
companion." A man is known by the company he keeps.
EVERY MAN, according to
an ancient legend, is born into the world with two bags suspended from his neck
all bag in front full of his neighbors' faults, and a large bag behind filled
with his own faults. Hence it is that men are quick to see the faults of
others, and yet are often blind to their own failings.
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 contemplating
himself, a Lion appeared at the pool and crouched to spring upon him. The Stag
immediately took to flight, and exerting his utmost speed, as long as the plain
was smooth and open kept himself easily at a safe distance from the Lion. But
entering a wood he became entangled by his horns, and the Lion quickly came up
to him and caught him. When too late, he thus reproached himself: "Woe is
me! How I have deceived myself! These feet which would have saved me I
despised, and I gloried in these antlers which have proved my
destruction." What is most truly valuable is often underrated.
A HALF-FAMISHED JACKDAW
seated himself on a fig-tree, which had produced some fruit entirely out of
season, and waited in the hope that the figs would ripen. A Fox seeing him
sitting so long and learning the reason of his doing so, said to him, "You
are indeed, sir, sadly deceiving yourself; you are indulging a hope strong
enough to cheat you, but which will never reward you with enjoyment."
THE LARK (according to
an ancient legend) was created before the earth itself, and when her father
died, as there was no earth, she could find no place of burial for him. She let
him lie uninterred for five days, and on the sixth day, not knowing what else
to do, she buried him in her own head. Hence she obtained her crest, which is
popularly said to be her father's grave-hillock. Youth's first duty is
reverence to parents.
A GNAT settled on the
horn of a Bull, and sat there a long time. Just as he was about to fly off, he
made a buzzing noise, and inquired of the Bull if he would like him to go. The
Bull replied, "I did not know you had come, and I shall not miss you when
you go away." Some men are of more consequence in their own eyes than in
the eyes of their neighbors.
A BITCH, ready to
whelp, earnestly begged a shepherd for a place where she might litter. When her
request was granted, she besought permission to rear her puppies in the same
spot. The shepherd again consented. But at last the Bitch, protected by the
bodyguard of her Whelps, who had now grown up and were able to defend
themselves, asserted her exclusive right to the place and would not permit the
shepherd to approach.
SOME DOGS famished with
hunger saw a number of cowhides steeping in a river. Not being able to reach
them, they agreed to drink up the river, but it happened that they burst
themselves with drinking long before they reached the hides. Attempt not impossibilities.
A SHEPHERD driving his
Sheep to a wood, saw an oak of unusual size full of acorns, and spreading his
cloak under the branches, he climbed up into the tree and shook them down. The
Sheep eating the acorns inadvertently frayed and tore the cloak. When the
Shepherd came down and saw what was done, he said, "O you most ungrateful
creatures! You provide wool to make garments for all other men, but you destroy
the clothes of him who feeds you."
AN 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 stop chirping. The Grasshopper
refused to desist, and chirped louder and louder the more the Owl entreated.
When she saw that she could get no redress and that her words were despised,
the Owl attacked the chatterer by a stratagem. "Since I cannot
sleep," she said, "on account of your song which, believe me, is
sweet as the lyre of Apollo, I shall indulge myself in drinking some nectar
which Pallas lately gave me. If you do not dislike it, come to me and we will
drink it together." The Grasshopper, who was thirsty, and pleased with the
praise of her voice, eagerly flew up. The Owl came forth from her hollow, seized
her, and put her to death.
THE BEASTS of the
forest gave a splendid entertainment 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 desiring to divert
to himself the favor of the guests, proposed to stand up in his turn and dance
for their amusement. He moved about in so utterly ridiculous a manner that the
Beasts, in a fit of indignation, set upon him with clubs and drove him out of
the assembly. It is absurd to ape our betters.
A PEASANT had in his
garden an Apple-Tree which bore no fruit but only served as a harbor for the
sparrows and grasshoppers. He resolved to cut it down, and taking 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 lighten his labors. He paid no attention to
their request, but gave the tree a second and a third blow with his axe. When
he reached the hollow of the tree, he found a hive full of honey. Having tasted
the honeycomb, he threw down his axe, and looking on the tree as sacred, took
great care of it. Self-interest alone moves some men.
TWO SOLDIERS traveling
together were set upon by a Robber. The one fled away; the other stood his
ground and defended himself with his stout right hand. The Robber being slain,
the timid companion ran up and drew his sword, and then, throwing back his
traveling cloak said, "I'll at him, and I'll take care he shall learn whom
he has attacked." On this, he who had fought with the Robber made answer,
"I only wish that you had helped me just now, even if it had been only
with those words, for I should have been the more encouraged, believing them to
be true; but now put up your sword in its sheath and hold your equally useless
tongue, till you can deceive others who do not know you. I, indeed, who have
experienced with what speed you run away, know right well that no dependence
can be placed on your valor."
THE GODS, according to
an ancient legend, made choice of certain trees to be under their special
protection. Jupiter chose the oak, Venus the myrtle, Apollo the laurel, Cybele
the pine, and Hercules the poplar. Minerva, wondering why they had preferred trees
not yielding fruit, inquired the reason for their choice. Jupiter replied,
"It is lest we should seem to covet the honor for the fruit." But
said Minerva, "Let anyone say what he will 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 it is
vain."
A FAMISHED WOLF was
prowling about in the morning in search of food. As he passed the door of a
cottage built 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 sat all day waiting at the door. In the evening he heard the same
woman fondling her child and saying: "You are quiet now, and if the Wolf
should come, we will kill him." The Wolf, hearing these words, went home,
gasping with cold and hunger. When he reached his den, Mistress Wolf inquired
of him why he returned wearied and supperless, so contrary to his wont. He
replied: "Why, forsooth! I gave credence to the words of a woman!"
AN ASS besought a Horse
to spare him a small portion of his feed. "Yes," said the Horse;
"if any remains out of what I am now eating I will give it you for the
sake of my own superior dignity, and if you will come when I reach my own stall
in the evening, I will give you a little sack full of barley." The Ass
replied, "Thank you. But I can't think that you, who refuse me a little
matter now. will by and by confer on me a greater benefit."
A WAYFARING MAN,
traveling in the desert, met a woman standing alone and terribly dejected. He
inquired of her, "Who art thou?" "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 times, falsehood was with few, but is now with all men."
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 bank and being fearfully afraid,
climbed up a tree. He found a serpent in the upper branches of the tree, and
again being greatly alarmed, he threw himself into the river, where a crocodile
caught him and ate him. Thus the earth, the air, and the water alike refused
shelter to a murderer.
A FOX entered into
partnership with a Lion on the pretense of becoming his servant. Each undertook
his proper duty in accordance with his own nature and powers. The Fox discovered
and pointed out the prey; the Lion sprang on it and seized it. The Fox soon
became jealous of the Lion carrying off the Lion's share, and said that he
would no longer find out the prey, but would capture it on his own account. The
next day he attempted to snatch a lamb from the fold, but he himself fell prey
to the huntsmen and hounds.
AN EAGLE stayed his
flight and entreated a Lion to make an alliance with him to their mutual
advantage. The Lion replied, "I have no objection, but you must excuse me
for requiring you to find surety for your good faith, for how can I trust
anyone as a friend who is able to fly away from his bargain whenever he
pleases?' Try before you trust.
A HEN finding the eggs
of a viper and carefully keeping them warm, nourished them into life. A
Swallow, observing what she had done, said, "You silly creature! why have
you hatched these vipers which, when they shall have grown, will inflict injury
on all, beginning with yourself?'
A RICH NOBLEMAN once
opened the theaters without charge to the people, and gave a public notice that
he would handsomely reward any person who invented a new amusement for the
occasion. Various public performers contended for the prize. Among them came a
Buffoon well known among the populace for his jokes, and said that he had a
kind of entertainment which had never been brought out on any stage before.
This report being spread about made a great stir, and the theater was crowded
in every part. The Buffoon appeared alone upon the platform, without any
apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of expectation caused an intense
silence. He suddenly bent his head towards his bosom and imitated the squeaking
of a little pig so admirably with his voice that the audience declared he had a
porker under his cloak, and demanded that it should be shaken out. When that
was done and nothing was found, they cheered the actor, and loaded him with the
loudest applause. A Countryman in the crowd, observing all that has passed,
said, "So help me, Hercules, he shall not beat me at that trick!" and
at once proclaimed that he would do the same thing on the next day, though in a
much more natural way. On the morrow a still larger crowd assembled in the
theater, but now partiality for their favorite actor very generally prevailed,
and the audience came rather to ridicule the Countryman than to see the
spectacle. Both of the performers appeared on the stage. The Buffoon grunted
and squeaked away first, and obtained, as on the preceding day, the applause
and 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 by the audience ) contrived to take hold of and to pull his ear
causing the pig to squeak. The Crowd, however, cried out with one consent that
the Buffoon had given a far more exact imitation, and clamored for the
Countryman to be kicked out of the theater. On this the rustic produced the
little pig from his cloak and showed by the most positive proof the greatness
of their mistake. "Look here," he said, "this shows what sort of
judges you are."
A CROW in great want of
food saw a Serpent asleep in a sunny nook, and flying down, greedily seized
him. The Serpent, turning about, bit the Crow with a mortal wound. In the agony
of death, the bird exclaimed: "O unhappy me! who have found in that which
I deemed a happy windfall the source of my destruction."
A CERTAIN HUNTER,
having snared a hare, placed it upon his shoulders and set out homewards. On
his way he met a man on horseback who begged the hare of him, under the pretense
of purchasing it. However, when the Horseman got the hare, he rode off as fast
as he could. The Hunter ran after him, as if he was sure of overtaking him, but
the Horseman increased more and more the distance between them. The Hunter,
sorely against his will, called out to him and said, "Get along with you!
for I will now make you a present of the hare."
A KING, whose only son
was fond of martial exercises, had a dream in which he was warned that his son
would be killed by a lion. Afraid the dream should prove true, he built for his
son a pleasant palace and adorned its walls for his amusement with all kinds of
life-sized animals, among which was the picture of a lion. When the young
Prince saw this, his grief at being thus confined burst out afresh, and,
standing near the lion, he said: "O you most detestable of animals!
through a lying dream of my father's, which he saw in his sleep, I am shut up
on your account in this palace as if I had been a girl: what shall I now do to
you?' With these words he stretched out his hands toward a thorn-tree, meaning
to cut a stick from its branches so that he might beat the lion. But one of the
tree's prickles pierced his finger and caused great pain and inflammation, so
that the young Prince fell down in a fainting fit. A violent fever suddenly set
in, from which he died not many days later. We had better bear our troubles
bravely than try to escape them.
A CAT fell in love with
a handsome young man, and entreated Venus to change her into the form of a
woman. Venus consented to her request and transformed her into a beautiful
damsel, so that the youth saw her and loved her, and took her home as his
bride. While the two were reclining in their chamber, Venus wishing to discover
if the Cat in her change of shape had also altered her habits of life, let down
a mouse in the middle of the room. The Cat, quite forgetting her present
condition, started up from the couch and pursued the mouse, wishing to eat it.
Venus was much disappointed and again caused her to return to her former shape.
Nature exceeds nurture.
THE SHE-GOATS having
obtained a beard by request to Jupiter, the He-Goats were sorely displeased and
made complaint that the females equaled them in dignity. "Allow
them," said Jupiter, "to enjoy an empty honor and to assume the badge
of your nobler sex, so long as they are not your equals in strength or
courage." It matters little if those who are inferior to us in merit should
be like us in outside appearances.
AN ARAB CAMEL-DRIVER,
after completing the loading of his Camel, asked him which he would like best,
to go up hill or down. The poor beast replied, not without a touch of reason:
"Why do you ask me? Is it that the level way through the desert is
closed?"
A MILLER and his son
were driving 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 fellows, 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. Presently they came up to a group of old men in
earnest debate. "There," said one of them, "it proves what I was
a-saying. What respect is shown to old age in these days? Do you see that idle
lad riding while his old father has to 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 manner they had not proceeded 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. "Pray, honest friend," said a citizen, "is
that Ass your own?' "Yes," replied the old man. "O, 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."
"Anything to please you," said the old man; "we can but
try." So, alighting with his son, they tied the legs of the Ass together
and with the help of a pole endeavored to carry him on their shoulders over a
bridge near the entrance to the town. This entertaining sight brought the
people in crowds to laugh at it, till the Ass, not liking the noise nor the
strange handling that he was subject to, broke the cords that bound him and,
tumbling off the pole, fell into the river. Upon this, the old man, vexed and
ashamed, made the best of his way home again, convinced that by endeavoring to
please everybody he had pleased nobody, and lost his Ass in the bargain.
A TROUBLESOME CROW
seated herself on the back of a Sheep. The Sheep, much against his will,
carried her backward and forward for a long time, and at last said, "If
you had treated a dog in this way, you would have had your deserts from his
sharp teeth." To this the Crow replied, "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 old age."
A FOX was mounting a
hedge when he lost his footing and caught hold of a Bramble to save himself.
Having pricked and grievously tom the soles of his feet, he accused the Bramble
because, when he had fled to her for assistance, 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."
A WOLF, having stolen a
lamb from a fold, was carrying him off to his lair. A Lion met him in the path,
and seizing the lamb, took it from him. Standing at a safe distance, the Wolf
exclaimed, "You have unrighteously taken that which was mine from
me!" To which the Lion jeeringly replied, "It was righteously yours,
eh? The gift of a friend?'
A DOG, used to eating
eggs, saw an Oyster and, opening his mouth to its widest extent, 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 thinking that everything round must be an egg." They who
act without sufficient thought, will often fall into unsuspected danger.
AN ANT went to the bank
of a river to quench its thirst, and being carried away by the rush of the
stream, was on the point of drowning. A Dove sitting on a tree overhanging the
water plucked a leaf and let it fall into the stream close to her. The Ant
climbed onto it and floated in safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards a
birdcatcher came and stood under the tree, and laid his lime-twigs for the
Dove, which sat in the branches. The Ant, perceiving his design, stung him in
the foot. In pain the birdcatcher threw down the twigs, and the noise made the
Dove take wing.
A FOWLER caught a
Partridge and was about to kill it. The Partridge earnestly begged him to spare
his life, saying, "Pray, master, permit me to live and I will entice many
Partridges to you in recompense for your mercy to me." The Fowler replied,
"I shall now with less scruple take your life, because you are willing to save
it at the cost of betraying your friends and relations."
A MAN, very much
annoyed with a Flea, caught him at last, and said, "Who are you who dare
to feed on my limbs, and to cost me so much trouble in catching you?' The Flea
replied, "O my dear sir, pray spare my life, and destroy me not, for I
cannot possibly do you much harm." The Man, laughing, replied, "Now
you shall certainly die by mine own hands, for no evil, whether it be small or
large, ought to be tolerated."
SOME THIEVES broke into
a house and found nothing but a Cock, whom they stole, and got off as fast as
they could. Upon arriving at home they prepared to kill the Cock, who thus
pleaded for his life: "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 kill you," they replied; "for when you wake your
neighbors, you entirely put an end to our business." The safeguards of
virtue are hateful to those with evil intentions.
A RICH MAN gave a great
feast, to which he invited many friends and acquaintances. His Dog availed
himself of the occasion to invite a stranger Dog, a friend of his, saying,
"My master gives a feast, and there is always much food remaining; come
and sup with me tonight." The Dog thus invited went at the hour appointed,
and seeing the preparations for so grand an entertainment, said in the joy of
his heart, "How glad I am that I came! I do not often get such a chance as
this. I will take care and eat enough to last me both today and tomorrow."
While he was congratulating himself and wagging his tail to convey his pleasure
to his friend, the Cook saw him moving about among his dishes and, seizing him
by his fore and hind paws, bundled him without ceremony out of the window. He
fell with force upon the ground and limped away, howling dreadfully. His
yelling soon attracted other street dogs, who came up to him and inquired how
he had enjoyed his supper. He replied, "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."
TWO TRAVELERS, worn out
by the heat of the summer's sun, laid themselves down at noon under the
widespreading branches of a Plane-Tree. As they rested under its shade, one of
the Travelers said to the other, "What a singularly useless tree is the
Plane! It bears no fruit, and is not of the least service to man." The
Plane-Tree, interrupting him, said, "You ungrateful fellows! Do you, while
receiving benefits from me and resting under my shade, dare to describe me as
useless, and unprofitable?' Some men underrate their best blessings.
THE HARES, oppressed by
their own exceeding timidity and weary of the perpetual alarm to which they
were exposed, with one accord determined 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 large numbers 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 the Frogs,
one of the Hares cried out to his companions: "Stay, my friends, do not do
as you intended; for you now see that there are creatures who are still more
timid than ourselves."
THE LION wearied
Jupiter with his frequent complaints. "It is true, O Jupiter!" he
said, "that I am gigantic in strength, handsome in shape, and powerful 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 being such as I am, 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 myself, and your courage never fails you
except in this one instance." On hearing this the Lion groaned and
lamented very much and, reproaching himself with his cowardice, wished that he
might die. As these thoughts passed through his mind, he met an Elephant and
came close 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 replied, "Do you see that
little buzzing insect? If it enters my ear, my fate is sealed. I should die
presently." The Lion said, "Well, since so huge a beast is afraid of
a tiny gnat, I will no more complain, nor wish myself dead. I find myself, even
as I am, better off than the Elephant."
A WOLF pursued a Lamb,
which fled for refuge to a certain Temple. The Wolf called out to him and said,
"The Priest will slay you in sacrifice, if he should catch you." On
which the Lamb replied, "It would be better for me to be sacrificed in the
Temple than to be eaten by you."
A RICH MAN lived near a
Tanner, and not being able to bear the unpleasant smell of the tan-yard, he
pressed his neighbor to go away. The Tanner put off his departure from time to
time, saying that he would leave soon. But as he still continued to stay, as time
went on, the rich man became accustomed to the smell, and feeling no manner of
inconvenience, made no further complaints.
A SHIPWRECKED MAN,
having been cast upon a certain shore, slept after his buffetings with the deep.
After a while he awoke, and looking upon the Sea, loaded it with reproaches. He
argued that it enticed men with the calmness of its looks, but when it had
induced them to plow its waters, it grew rough and destroyed them. The Sea,
assuming the form of a woman, replied to him: "Blame not me, my good sir,
but the winds, for I am by my own nature as calm and firm even as this earth;
but the winds suddenly falling on me create these waves, and lash me into
fury."
TWO MULES well-laden
with packs were trudging along. One carried panniers filled with money, the
other sacks weighted with grain. The Mule carrying the treasure walked with
head erect, as if conscious of the value of his burden, and tossed up and down
the clear-toned bells fastened to his neck. His companion followed with quiet
and easy step. All of a sudden Robbers rushed upon them from their
hiding-places, and in the scuffle with their owners, wounded with a sword the
Mule carrying the treasure, which they greedily seized while taking no notice
of the grain. The Mule which had been robbed and wounded bewailed his
misfortunes. The other replied, "I am indeed glad that I was thought so
little of, for I have lost nothing, nor am I hurt with any wound."
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 replied, "You must indeed be a simple-minded fellow if
you expect to get anything from me, who am accustomed to take from everyone,
and never to give anything in return."
A LION, roaming through
a forest, trod upon a thorn. Soon afterward he came up to a Shepherd and fawned
upon him, wagging his tail as if to say, "I am a suppliant, and seek your
aid." The Shepherd boldly examined the beast, discovered the thorn, and
placing his paw upon his lap, pulled it out; thus relieved of his pain, the
Lion returned into the forest. Some time after, the Shepherd, being imprisoned
on a false accusation, was condemned "to be cast to the Lions" as the
punishment for his imputed crime. But when the Lion was released from his cage,
he recognized the Shepherd as the man who healed him, and instead of attacking
him, approached and placed his foot upon his lap. The King, as soon as he heard
the tale, ordered the Lion to be set free again in the forest, and the Shepherd
to be pardoned and restored to his friends.
THE CAMEL, when he saw
the Bull adorned with horns, 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 size and
strength of body, and desired yet more, not only refused to give him horns, but
even deprived him of a portion of his ears.
A PANTHER, by some
mischance, fell into a pit. The Shepherds discovered him, and some threw sticks
at him and pelted him with stones, while others, moved with compassion towards
one about to die even though no one should hurt him, threw in some food to
prolong his life. At night they returned home, not dreaming of any danger, but
supposing that on the morrow they would find him dead. The Panther, however,
when he had recruited his feeble strength, freed himself with a sudden bound
from the pit, and hastened to his den with rapid steps. After a few days he
came forth and slaughtered the cattle, and, killing the Shepherds who had
attacked him, raged with angry fury. Then they who had spared his life, fearing
for their safety, surrendered to him their flocks and begged only for their
lives. To them the Panther made this reply: "I remember alike those who
sought my life with stones, and those who gave me food. Lay aside, therefore,
your fears. I return as an enemy only to those who injured me."
AN ASS congratulated a
Horse on being so ungrudgingly and carefully provided for, while he himself had
scarcely enough to eat and not even that without hard work. But when war broke
out, a heavily armed soldier mounted the Horse, and riding him to the charge,
rushed into the very midst of the enemy. The Horse was wounded and fell dead on
the battlefield. Then the Ass, seeing all these things, changed his mind, and
commiserated the Horse.
AN EAGLE was once
captured by a man, who immediately clipped his wings and put him into his
poultry-yard with the other birds, at which treatment the Eagle was weighed
down with grief. Later, another neighbor purchased him and allowed his feathers
to grow again. The Eagle took flight, and pouncing upon a hare, brought it at
once as an offering to his benefactor. A Fox, seeing this, exclaimed, "Do
not cultivate the favor of this man, but of your former owner, lest he should
again hunt for you and deprive you a second time of your wings."
A FLY bit the bare head
of a Bald Man who, endeavoring to destroy it, gave himself a heavy slap.
Escaping, the Fly said mockingly, "You who have wished to revenge, even
with death, the Prick of a tiny insect, see what you have done to yourself to
add insult to injury?' The Bald Man replied, "I can easily make peace with
myself, because I know there was no intention to hurt. But you, an ill-favored
and contemptible insect who delights in sucking human blood, I wish that I
could have killed you even if I had incurred a heavier penalty."
THE OLIVE-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 Olive full of foliage, it settled upon its branches and broke
them down with its weight, at once despoiling it of its beauty and killing the
tree. But finding the Fig-Tree denuded of leaves, the snow fell through to the
ground, and did not injure it at all.
AN EAGLE, overwhelmed
with sorrow, sat upon the branches of a tree in company with a Kite.
"Why," said the Kite, "do I see you with such a rueful look?'
"I seek," she replied, "a mate suitable for me, and am not able
to find one." "Take me," returned the Kite, "I am much
stronger than you are." "Why, are you able to secure the means of
living by your plunder?' "Well, I have often caught and carried away an
ostrich in my talons." The Eagle, persuaded by these words, accepted him
as her mate. Shortly after the nuptials, the Eagle said, "Fly off and
bring me back the ostrich you promised me." The Kite, soaring aloft into
the air, brought back the shabbiest possible mouse, stinking from the length of
time it had lain about the fields. "Is this," said the Eagle,
"the faithful fulfillment of your promise to me?' The Kite replied,
"That I might attain your royal hand, there is nothing that I would not
have promised, however much I knew that I must fail in the performance."
AN ASS, being driven
along a high road, suddenly started off and bolted to the brink of a deep
precipice. While he was in the act of throwing himself over, his owner seized
him by the tail, endeavoring to pull him back. When the Ass persisted in his
effort, the man let him go and said, "Conquer, but conquer to your
cost."
A THRUSH was feeding on
a myrtle-tree and did not move from it because its berries were so delicious. A
Fowler observed her staying so long in one spot, and having well bird-limed his
reeds, caught her. The Thrush, being at the point of death, exclaimed, "O
foolish creature that I am! For the sake of a little pleasant food I have
deprived myself of my life."
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 envy you your beauty and your
perfume." The Rose replied, "I indeed, dear Amaranth, flourish but
for a 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."
ONCE UPON A TIME, when
the Sun announced his intention to take a wife, the Frogs lifted up their
voices in clamor to the sky. Jupiter, disturbed by the noise of their croaking,
inquired the cause of their complaint. One of them said, "The Sun, now
while he is single, parches up the marsh, and compels us to die miserably in
our arid homes. What will be our future condition if he should beget other
suns?'
THE LIFE and History of
Aesop is involved, like that of Homer, the most famous of Greek poets, in much
obscurity. Sardis, the capital of Lydia; Samos, a Greek island; Mesembria, an
ancient colony in Thrace; and Cotiaeum, the chief city of a province of
Phrygia, contend for the distinction of being the birthplace of Aesop. Although
the honor thus claimed cannot be definitely assigned to any one of these
places, yet there are a few incidents now generally accepted by scholars as
established facts, relating to the birth, life, and death of Aesop. He is, by
an almost universal consent, allowed to have been born about the year 620 B.C.,
and to have been by birth a slave. He was owned by two masters in succession,
both inhabitants of Samos, Xanthus and Jadmon, the latter of whom gave him his
liberty as a reward for his learning and wit. One of the privileges of a
freedman in the ancient republics of Greece, was the permission to take an
active interest in public affairs; and Aesop, like the philosophers Phaedo,
Menippus, and Epictetus, in later times, raised himself from the indignity of a
servile condition to a position of high renown. In his desire alike to instruct
and to be instructed, he travelled through many countries, and among others
came to Sardis, the capital of the famous king of Lydia, the great patron, in
that day, of learning and of learned men. He met at the court of Croesus with
Solon, Thales, and other sages, and is related so to have pleased his royal
master, by the part he took in the conversations held with these philosophers,
that he applied to him an expression which has since passed into a proverb,
"The Phrygian has spoken better than all."
On the invitation of
Croesus he fixed his residence at Sardis, and was employed by that monarch in
various difficult and delicate affairs of State. In his discharge of these
commissions he visited the different petty republics of Greece. At one time he
is found in Corinth, and at another in Athens, endeavouring, by the narration
of some of his wise fables, to reconcile the inhabitants of those cities to the
administration of their respective rulers Periander and Pisistratus. One of
these ambassadorial missions, undertaken at the command of Croesus, was the
occasion of his death. Having been sent to Delphi with a large sum of gold for
distribution among the citizens, he was so provoked at their covetousness that
he refused to divide the money, and sent it back to his master. The Delphians,
enraged at this treatment, accused him of impiety, and, in spite of his sacred
character as ambassador, executed him as a public criminal. This cruel death of
Aesop was not unavenged. The citizens of Delphi were visited with a series of
calamities, until they made a public reparation of their crime; and, "The
blood of Aesop" became a well-known adage, bearing witness to the truth
that deeds of wrong would not pass unpunished. Neither did the great fabulist
lack posthumous honors; for a statue was erected to his memory at Athens, the
work of Lysippus, one of the most famous of Greek sculptors. P haedrus thus
immortalizes the event:
Aesopo ingentem statuam
posuere Attici,
Servumque collocarunt
aeterna in basi:
Patere honoris scirent
ut cuncti viam;
Nec generi tribui sed
virtuti gloriam.
These few facts are all
that can be relied on with any degree of certainty, in reference to the birth,
life, and death of Aesop. They were first brought to light, after a patient
search and diligent perusal of ancient authors, by a Frenchman, M. Claude Gaspard
Bachet de Mezeriac, who declined the honor of being tutor to Louis XIII of
France, from his desire to devote himself exclusively to literature. He
published his Life of Aesop, Anno Domini 1632. The later investigations of a
host of English and German scholars have added very little to the facts given
by M. Mezeriac. The substantial truth of his statements has been confirmed by
later criticism and inquiry. It remains to state, that prior to this
publication of M. Mezeriac, the life of Aesop was from the pen of Maximus
Planudes, a monk of Constantinople, who was sent on an embassy to Venice by the
Byzantine Emperor Andronicus the elder, and who wrote in the early part of the
fourteenth century. His life was prefixed to all the early editions of these fables,
and was republished as late as 1727 by Archdeacon Croxall as the introduction
to his edition of Aesop. This life by Planudes contains, however, so small an
amount of truth, and is so full of absurd pictures of the grotesque deformity
of Aesop, of wondrous apocryphal stories, of lying legends, and gross
anachronisms, that it is now universally condemned as false, puerile, and
unauthentic. l It is given up in the present day, by general consent, as
unworthy of the slightest credit. G.F.T.
1. A History of the Literature of Ancient Greece, by K. O. Mueller. Vol.
i, p. 191. London, Parker, 1858.
2. Select Fables of Aesop, and other Fabulists. In three books, translated by
Robert Dodsley, accompanied with a selection of notes, and an Essay on Fable.
Birmingham, 1864. P. 60.
3. Some of these fables had, no doubt, in the first instance, a primary and
private interpretation. On the first occasion of their being composed they were
intended to refer to some passing event, or to some individual acts of
wrong-doing. Thus, the fables of the "Eagle and the Fox" and of the
"Fox and Monkey' are supposed to have been written by Archilochus, to
avenge the injuries done him by Lycambes. So also the fables of the
"Swollen Fox" and of the "Frogs asking a King" were spoken
by Aesop for the immediate purpose of reconciling the inhabitants of Samos and
Athens to their respective rulers, Periander and Pisistratus; while the fable
of the "Horse and Stag" was composed to caution the inhabitants of
Himera against granting a bodyguard to Phalaris. In a similar manner, the fable
from Phaedrus, the "Marriage of the Sun," is supposed to have
reference to the contemplated union of Livia, the daughter of Drusus, with
Sejanus the favourite, and minister of Trajan. These fables, however, though
thus originating in special events, and designed at first to meet special
circumstances, are so admirably constructed as to be fraught with lessons of
general utility, and of universal application.
4. Hesiod. Opera et Dies, verse 202.
5. Aeschylus. Fragment of the Myrmidons. Aeschylus speaks of this fable as
existing before his day. See Scholiast on the Aves of Aristophanes, line 808.
6. Fragment. 38, ed. Gaisford. See also Mueller's History of the Literature of
Ancient Greece, vol. i. pp. 190-193.
7. M. Bayle has well put this in his account of Aesop. "Il n'y a point
d'apparence que les fables qui portent aujourd'hui son nom soient les memes
qu'il avait faites; elles viennent bien de lui pour la plupart, quant a la
matiere et la pensee; mais les paroles sont d'un autre." And again,
"C'est donc a Hesiode, que j'aimerais mieux attribuer la gloire de
l'invention; mais sans doute il laissa la chose tres imparfaite. Esope la
perfectionne si heureusement, qu'on l'a regarde comme le vrai pere de cette
sorte de production." M. Bayle. Dictionnaire Historique.
8. Plato in Phadone.
9.
Apologos en! misit tibi
Ab usque Rheni limite
Ausonius nomen Italum
Praeceptor Augusti tui
Aesopiam trimetriam;
Quam vertit exili stylo
Pedestre concinnans
opus
Fandi Titianus artifex.
Ausonii Epistola, xvi. 75-80.
10. Both these publications are in the British Museum, and are placed in
the library in cases under glass, for the inspection of the curious.
11. Fables may possibly have been not entirely unknown to the mediaeval scholars.
There are two celebrated works which might by some be classed amongst works of
this description. The one is the "Speculum Sapientiae," attributed to
St. Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem, but of a considerably later origin, and
existing only in Latin. It is divided into four books, and consists of long
conversations conducted by fictitious characters under the figures the beasts
of the field and forest, and aimed at the rebuke of particular classes of men,
the boastful, the proud, the luxurious, the wrathful, &c. None of the
stories are precisely those of Aesop, and none have the concinnity, terseness,
and unmistakable deduction of the lesson intended to be taught by the fable, so
conspicuous in the great Greek fabulist. The exact title of the book is this:
"Speculum Sapientiae, B. Cyrilli Episcopi: alias quadripartitus
apologeticus vocatus, in cujus quidem proverbiis omnis et totius sapientiae
speculum claret et feliciter incipit." The other is a larger work in two
volumes, published in the fourteenth century by Caesar Heisterbach, a
Cistercian monk, under the title of "Dialogus Miraculorum," reprinted
in 1851. This work consists of conversations in which many stories are
interwoven on all kinds of subjects. It has no correspondence with the pure
Aesopian fable.
12. Post-medieval Preachers, by S. Baring-Gould. Rivingtons, 1865.
13. For an account of this work see the Life of Poggio Bracciolini, by the Rev.
William Shepherd. Liverpool. 1801.
14. Professor Theodore Bergh. See Classical Museum, No. viii. July, 1849.
15. Vavassor's treatise, entitled "De Ludicra Dictione" was written
A.D. 1658, at the request of the celebrated M. Balzac (though published after
his death), for the purpose of showing that the burlesque style of writing
adopted by Scarron and D'Assouci, and at that time so popular in France, had no
sanction from the ancient classic writers. Francisci Vavassoris opera omnia.
Amsterdam. 1709.
16. The claims of Babrias also found a warm advocate in the learned Frenchman,
M. Bayle, who, in his admirable dictionary, (Dictionnaire Historique et
Critique de Pierre Bayle. Paris, 1820,) gives additional arguments in
confirmation of the opinions of his learned predecessors, Nevelet and Vavassor.
17. Scazonic, or halting, iambics; a choliambic (a lame, halting iambic)
differs from the iambic Senarius in always having a spondee or trichee for its
last foot; the fifth foot, to avoid shortness of meter, being generally an
iambic. See Fables of Babrias, translated by Rev. James Davies. Lockwood, 1860.
Preface, p. 27.
18. See Dr. Bentley's Dissertations upon the Epistles of Phalaris.
19. Dr. Bentley's Dissertations on the Epistles of Phalaris, and Fables of
Aesop examined. By the Honorable Charles Boyle.