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- Herausgeber: Book House Publishing
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
This book, newly updated, contains the largest collection of Aesop’s fables available in English (the complete corpus of 357 fables).
Aesop was probably a prisoner of war, sold into slavery in the early sixth century BCE, who represented his masters in court and negotiations and relied on animal stories to put across his key points. Such fables vividly reveal the strange superstitions of ordinary ancient Greeks, how they treated their pets, how they spoilt their sons and even what they kept in their larders. As these stories became well-known, 'Aesopic' one-liners were widely quoted at drinking-parties, and the collection eventually came to include more satirical tales of alien creatures - apes, camels, lions and elephants - which presumably originate in Libya and Egypt.
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Aesop
THE COMPLETE FABLES
2016 © Book House Publishing
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Table of Contents
A Short History of the Aesopic Fable
1. The Wolf and the Lamb
2. The Bat and the Weasels
3. The Ass and the Grasshopper
4. The Lion and the Mouse
5. The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller
6. The Father and His Sons
7. The Boy Hunting Locusts
8. The Cock and the Pearl
9. The Kingdom of the Lion
10. The Wolf and the Crane
11. The Fisherman Piping
12. Hercules and the Wagoner
13. The Ants and the Grasshopper
14. The Traveler and His Dog
15. The Dog and the Shadow
16. The Mole and His Mother
17. The Herdsman and the Lost Bull
18. The Hare and the Tortoise
19. The Pomegranate, Apple-Tree, and Bramble
20. The Farmer and the Stork
21. The Farmer and the Snake
22. The Fawn and His Mother
23. The Bear and the Fox
24. The Swallow and the Crow
25. The Mountain in Labor
26. The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion
27. The Tortoise and the Eagle
28. The Flies and the Honey-Pot
29. The Man and the Lion
30. The Farmer and the Cranes
31. The Dog in the Manger
32. The Fox and the Goat
33. The Bear and the Two Travelers
34. The Oxen and the Axle-Trees
35. The Thirsty Pigeon
36. The Raven and the Swan
37. The Goat and the Goatherd
38. The Miser
39. The Sick Lion
40. The Horse and the Groom
41. The Ass and the Lapdog
42. The Lioness
43. The Boasting Traveler
44. The Cat and the Cock
45. The Piglet, the Sheep, and the Goat
46. The Boy and the Filberts
47. The Lion in Love
48. The Laborer and the Snake
49. The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
50. The Ass and the Mule
51. The Frogs Asking for a King
52. The Boys and the Frogs
53. The Sick Stag
54. The Salt Merchant and His Ass
55. The Oxen and the Butchers
56. The Lion, the Mouse, and the Fox
57. The Vain Jackdaw
58. The Goatherd and the Wild Goats
59. The Mischievous Dog
60. The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail
61. The Boy and the Nettles
62. The Man and His Two Sweethearts
63. The Astronomer
64. The Wolves and the Sheep
65. The Old Woman and the Physician
66. The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle
67. The Charger and the Miller
68. The Fox and the Monkey
69. The Horse and His Rider
70. The Belly and the Members
71. The Vine and the Goat
72. Jupiter and the Monkey
73. The Widow and Her Little Maidens
74. The Shepherd’s Boy and the Wolf
75. The Cat and the Birds
76. The Kid and the Wolf
77. The Ox and the Frog
78. The Shepherd and the Wolf
79. The Father and His Two Daughters
80. The Farmer and His Sons
81. The Crab and Its Mother
82. The Heifer and the Ox
83. The Swallow, the Serpent, and the Court of Justice
84. The Thief and His Mother
85. The Old Man and Death
86. The Fir-Tree and the Bramble
87. The Mouse, the Frog, and the Hawk
88. The Man Bitten by a Dog
89. The Two Pots
90. The Wolf and the Sheep
91. The Aethiop
92. The Fisherman and His Nets
93. The Huntsman and the Fisherman
94. The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar
95. The Fox and the Crow
96. The Two Dogs
97. The Stag in the Ox-Stall
98. The Hawk, the Kite, and the Pigeons
99. The Widow and the Sheep
100. The Wild Ass and the Lion
101. The Eagle and the Arrow
102. The Sick Kite
103. The Lion and the Dolphin
104. The Lion and the Boar
105. The One-Eyed Doe
106. The Shepherd and the Sea
107. The Ass, the Cock, and the Lion
108. The Mice and the Weasels
109. The Mice in Council
110. The Wolf and the Housedog
111. The Rivers and the Sea
112. The Playful Ass
113. The Three Tradesmen
114. The Master and His Dogs
115. The Wolf and the Shepherds
116. The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat
117. The Ass Carrying the Image
118. The Two Travelers and the Axe
119. The Old Lion
120. The Old Hound
121. The Bee and Jupiter
122. The Milk-Woman and Her Pail
123. The Seaside Travelers
124. The Brazier and His Dog
125. The Ass and His Shadow
126. The Ass and His Masters
127. The Oak and the Reeds
128. The Fisherman and the Little Fish
129. The Hunter and the Woodman
130. The Wild Boar and the Fox
131. The Lion in a Farmyard
132. Mercury and the Sculptor
133. The Swan and the Goose
134. The Swollen Fox
135. The Fox and the Woodcutter
136. The Birdcatcher, the Partridge, and the Cock
137. The Monkey and the Fishermen
138. The Flea and the Wrestler
139. The Frogs and the Well
140. The Cat and the Mice
141. The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox
142. The Doe and the Lion
143. The Farmer and the Fox
144. The Seagull and the Kite
145. The Philosopher, the Ants, and Mercury
146. The Mouse and the Bull
147. The Lion and the Hare
148. The Peasant and the Eagle
149. The Image of Mercury and the Carpenter
150. The Bull and the Goat
151. The Dancing Monkeys
152. The Fox and the Leopard
153. The Monkeys and Their Mother
154. The Oaks and Jupiter
155. The Hare and the Hound
156. The Traveler and Fortune
157. The Bald Knight
158. The Shepherd and the Dog
159. The Lamp
160. The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass
161. The Bull, the Lioness, and the Wild-Boar Hunter
162. The Oak and the Woodcutters
163. The Hen and the Golden Eggs
164. The Ass and the Frogs
165. The Crow and the Raven
166. The Trees and the Axe
167. The Crab and the Fox
168. The Woman and Her Hen
169. The Ass and the Old Shepherd
170. The Kites and the Swans
171. The Wolves and the Sheepdogs
172. The Hares and the Foxes
173. The Bowman and Lion
174. The Camel
175. The Wasp and the Snake
176. The Dog and the Hare
177. The Bull and the Calf
178. The Stag, the Wolf, and the Sheep
179. The Peacock and the Crane
180. The Fox and the Hedgehog
181. The Eagle, the Cat, and the Wild Sow
182. The Thief and the Innkeeper
183. The Mule
184. The Hart and the Vine
185. The Serpent and the Eagle
186. The Crow and the Pitcher
187. The Two Frogs
188. The Wolf and the Fox
189. The Walnut-Tree
190. The Gnat and the Lion
191. The Monkey and the Dolphin
192. The Jackdaw and the Doves
193. The Horse and the Stag
194. The Kid and the Wolf
195. The Prophet
196. The Fox and the Monkey
197. The Thief and the Housedog
198. The Man, the Horse, the Ox, and the Dog
199. The Apes and the Two Travelers
200. The Wolf and the Shepherd
201. The Hares and the Lions
202. The Lark and Her Young Ones
203. The Fox and the Lion
204. The Weasel and the Mice
205. The Boy Bathing
206. The Ass and the Wolf
207. The Seller of Images
208. The Fox and the Grapes
209. The Man and His Wife
210. The Peacock and Juno
211. The Hawk and the Nightingale
212. The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog
213. The Wolf and the Goat
214. The Lion and the Bull
215. The Goat and the Ass
216. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
217. The Wolf, the Fox, and the Ape
218. The Fly and the Draught-Mule
219. The Fishermen
220. The Lion and the Three Bulls
221. The Fowler and the Viper
222. The Horse and the Ass
223. The Fox and the Mask
224. The Geese and the Cranes
225. The Blind Man and the Whelp
226. The Dogs and the Fox
227. The Cobbler Turned Doctor
228. The Wolf and the Horse
229. The Brother and the Sister
230. The Wasps, the Partridges, and the Farmer
231. The Crow and Mercury
232. The North Wind and the Sun
233. The Two Men Who Were Enemies
234. The Gamecocks and the Partridge
235. The Quack Frog
236. The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox
237. The Dog’s House
238. The Wolf and the Lion
239. The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat
240. The Spendthrift and the Swallow
241. The Fox and the Lion
242. The Owl and the Birds
243. The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner
244. The Ass in the Lion’s Skin
245. The Sparrow and the Hare
246. The Flea and the Ox
247. The Goods and the Ills
248. The Dove and the Crow
249. Mercury and the Workmen
250. The Eagle and the Jackdaw
251. The Fox and the Stork
252. Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva, and Momus
253. The Eagle and the Fox
254. The Man and the Satyr
255. The Ass and His Purchaser
256. The Two Bags
257. The Stag at the Pool
258. The Jackdaw and the Fox
259. The Lark Burying Her Father
260. The Gnat and the Bull
261. The Bitch and Her Whelps
262. The Dogs and the Hides
263. The Shepherd and the Sheep
264. The Grasshopper and the Owl
265. The Monkey and the Camel
266. The Peasant and the Apple-Tree
267. The Two Soldiers and the Robber
268. The Trees Under the Protection of the Gods
269. The Mother and the Wolf
270. The Ass and the Horse
271. Truth and the Traveler
272. The Manslayer
273. The Lion’s Share
274. The Lion and the Eagle
275. The Hen and the Swallow
276. The Buffoon and the Countryman
277. The Crow and the Serpent
278. The Hunter and the Horseman
279. The King’s Son and the Painted Lion
280. The Cat and Venus
281. The She-Goats and Their Beards
282. The Camel and the Arab
283. The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass
284. The Crow and the Sheep
285. The Fox and the Bramble
286. The Wolf and the Lion
287. The Dog and the Oyster
288. The Ant and the Dove
289. The Partridge and the Fowler
290. The Flea and the Man
291. The Thieves and the Cock
292. The Dog and the Cook
293. The Travelers and the Plane-Tree
294. The Hares and the Frogs
295. The Lion, Jupiter, and the Elephant
296. The Lamb and the Wolf
297. The Rich Man and the Tanner
298. The Shipwrecked Man and the Sea
299. The Mules and the Robbers
300. The Viper and the File
301. The Lion and the Shepherd
302. The Camel and Jupiter
303. The Panther and the Shepherds
304. The Ass and the Charger
305. The Eagle and His Captor
306. The Bald Man and the Fly
307. The Olive-Tree and the Fig-Tree
308. The Eagle and the Kite
309. The Ass and His Driver
310. The Thrush and the Fowler
311. The Rose and the Amaranth
312. The Frogs’ Complaint Against the Sun
313. The Man and the Serpent
314. Prometheus and the Making of Man
315. Androcles
316. The Serpent and the File
317. The Fox and the Cat
318. The Man and the Wooden God
319. The Four Oxen and the Lion
320. Avaricious and Envious
321. The Laborer and the Nightingale
322. The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey
323. The Hare With Many Friends
324. The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts
325. The Ass’s Brains
326. The Ant and the Chrysalis
327. The Cage Bird and the Bat
328. Hercules and Pallas
329. The Lost Wig
330. The Silkworm and Spider
331. The Vixen and the Lioness
332. The Rogue and the Oracle
333. The Dog and the Sow
334. The Old Woman and the Doctor
335. The Moon and Her Mother
336. The Slave and the Lion
337. The Boy and the Snails
338. The Blacksmith and His Dog
339. The Blackamoor
340. The Tunny-Fish and the Dolphin
341. The Archer and the Lion
342. The Debtor and His Sow
343. The Pack-Ass and the Wild Ass
344. The Pack-Ass, the Wild Ass, and the Lion
345. The Ant
346. The Farmer, His Boy, and the Rooks
347. The Athenian and the Theban
348. The Bee-Keeper
349. The Bat, the Bramble, and the Seagull
350. The Eagle and the Beetle
351. The Weasel and the Man
352. The Ploughman, the Ass, and the Ox
353. Demades and His Fable
354. The Swan
355. The Parrot and the Cat
356. The Impostor
357. The Butcher and His Customers
A Short History of the Aesopic Fable
Most nations develop the Beast-Tale as part of their folk-lore, some go further and apply it to satiric purposes, and a few nations afford isolated examples of the shaping of the Beast-Tale to teach some moral truth by means of the Fable properly so called. But only two peoples independently made this a general practice. Both in Greece and in India we find in the earliest literature such casual and frequent mention of Fables as seems to imply a body of Folk-Fables current among the people. And in both countries special circumstances raised the Fable from folklore into literature. In Greece, during the epoch of the Tyrants, when free speech was dangerous, the Fable was largely used for political purposes. The inventor of this application or the most prominent user of it was one Aesop, a slave at Samos whose name has ever since been connected with the Fable. All that we know about him is contained in a few lines of Herodotus that he flourished 550 B.C.; was killed in accordance with a Delphian oracle; and that wergild was claimed for him by the grandson of his master, Iadmon. When free speech was established in the Greek democracies, the custom of using Fables in harangues was continued and encouraged by the rhetoricians, while the mirth-producing qualities of the Fable caused it to be regarded as fit subject of after-dinner conversation along with other jests of a broader kind (“Milesian,” “Sybaritic”). This habit of regarding the Fable as a form of the Jest intensified the tendency to connect it with a well-known name as in the case of our Joe Miller. About 300 B.C. Demetrius Phalereus, whilom tyrant of Athens and founder of the Alexandria Library, collected together all the Fables he could find under the title of Assemblies of Aesopic Tales (Logwn Aiswpeiwn sunagwgai). This collection, running probably to some 200 Fables, after being interpolated and edited by the Alexandrine grammarians, was turned into neat Latin iambics by Phaedrus, a Greek freedman of Augustus in the early years of the Christian era. As the modern Aesop is mainly derived from Phaedrus, the answer to the question “Who wrote Aesop? “ is simple: “Demetrius of Phaleron.”
In India the great ethical reformer, Sakyamuni, the Buddha, initiated (or adopted from the Brahmins) the habit of using the Beast-Tale for moral purposes, or, in other words, transformed it into the Fable proper. A collection of these seems to have existed previously and independently, in which the Fables were associated with the name of a mythical sage, Kasyapa. These were appropriated by the early Buddhists by the simple expedient of making Kasyapa the immediately preceding incarnation of the Buddha. A number of his itihasas or Tales were included in the sacred Buddhistic work containing the Jatakas or previous-births of the Buddha, in some of which the Bodisat (or future Buddha) appears as one of the Dramatis Personae of the Fables; the Crane, e.g., in our Wolf and Crane being one of the incarnations of the Buddha. So, too, the Lamb of our Wolf and Lamb was once Buddha; it was therefore easy for him — so the Buddhists thought — to remember and tell these Fables as incidents of his former careers. It is obvious that the whole idea of a Fable as an anecdote about a man masquerading in the form of a beast could most easily arise and gain currency where the theory of transmigration was vividly credited.
The Fables of Kasyapa, or rather the moral verses (gathas) which served as a memoria technica to them, were probably carried over to Ceylon in 241 B.C. along with the Jatakas. About 300 years later (say 50 A.D.) some 300 of these were brought by a Cingalese embassy to Alexandria, where they were translated under the title of” Libyan Fables” (Logoi Lubikoi), which had been earlier applied to similar stories that had percolated to Hellas from India; they were attributed to “Kybises.” This collection seems to have introduced the habit of summing up the teaching of a Fable in the Moral, corresponding to the gatha of the Jatakas. About the end of the first century A.D. the Libyan Fables of “Kybises” became known to the Rabbinic school at Jabne, founded by R. Jochanan ben Saccai, and a number of the Fables translated into Aramaic which are still extant in the Talmud and Midrash.
In the Roman world the two collections of Demetrius and “Kybises” were brought together by Nicostratus, a rhetor attached to the court of Marcus Aurelius. In the earlier part of the next century (C. 230 A.D.) this corpus of the ancient fable, Aesopic and Libyan, amounting in all to some 300 members, was done into Greek verse with Latin accentuation (choliambics) by Valerius Babrius, tutor to the young son of Alexander Severus. Still later, towards the end of the fourth century, forty-two of these, mainly of the Libyan section, were translated into Latin verse by one Avian, with whom the ancient history of the Fable ends.
In the Middle Ages it was naturally the Latin Phaedrus that represented the Aesopic Fable to the learned world, but Phaedrus in a fuller form than has descended to us in verse. A selection of some eighty fables was turned into indifferent prose in the ninth century, probably at the Schools of Charles the Great. This was attributed to a fictitious Romulus. Another prose collection by Ademar of Chabannes was made before 1030, and still preserves some of the lines of the lost Fables of Phaedrus. The Fables became especially popular among the Normans. A number of them occur on the Bayeux Tapestry, and in the twelfth century England, the head of the Angevin empire became the home of the Fable, all the important adaptations and versions of Aesop being made in this country. One of these done into Latin verse by Walter the Englishman became the standard Aesop of medieval Christendom. The same history applies in large measure to the Fables of Avian, which were done into prose, transferred back into Latin verse, and sent forth through Europe from England.
Meanwhile Babrius had been suffering the same fate as Phaedrus. His scazons were turned into poor Greek prose, and selections of them pass to this day as the original Fables of Aesop. Some fifty of these were selected, and with the addition of a dozen Oriental fables, were attributed to an imaginary Persian sage, Syntipas; this collection was translated into Syriac, and thence into Arabic, where they passed under the name of the legendary Loqman (probably a doublet of Balaam). A still larger collection of the Greek prose versions got into Arabic, where it was enriched by some 6o fables from the Arabic Bidpai and other sources, but still passed under the name of Aesop. This collection, containing 164 fables, was brought to England after the Third Crusade of Richard I., and translated into Latin by an Englishman named Alfred, with the aid of an Oxford Jew named Berachyah ha-Nakdan (“Benedictus le Puncteur” in the English Records), who, on his own account,translated a number of the fables into Hebrew rhymed prose, under the Talmudic title Mishle Shu’alim (Fox Fables). Part of Alfred’s Aesop was translated into English alliterative verse, and this again was translated about 1200 into French by Marie de France, who attributed the new fables to King Alfred. After her no important addition was made to the medieval Aesop.
With the invention of printing the European book of Aesop was compiled about 1480 by Heinrich Stainhowel, who put together the Romulus with selections from Avian, some of the Greek prose versions of Babrius from Ranuzio’s translation, and a few from Alfred’s Aesop. To these he added the legendary life of Aesop and a selection of somewhat loose tales from Petrus Alphonsi and Poggio Bracciolini, corresponding to the Milesian and Sybaritic tales which were associated with the Fable in antiquity. Stainhowel translated all this into German, and within twenty years his collection had been turned into French, English (by Caxton, in 1484), Italian, Dutch, and Spanish. Additions were made to it by Brandt and Waldis in Germany, by L’Estrange in England, and by La Fontaine in France; these were chiefly from the larger Greek collections published after Stainhowel’s day, and, in the case of La Fontaine, from Bidpai and other Oriental sources. But these additions have rarely taken bold, and the Aesop of modern Europe is in large measure Stainhowel’s, even to the present day. The first three quarters of the present collection are Stainhowel mainly in Stainhowel’s order. Selections from it passed into spelling and reading books, and made the Fables part of modern European folk-lore.
We may conclude this history of Aesop with a similar account of the progress of Aesopic investigation. First came collection; the Greek Aesop was brought together by Neveletus in 1610, the Latin by Nilant in 1709. The main truth about the former was laid down by the master-hand of Bentley during a skirmish in the Battle of the Books; the equally great critic Lessing began to unravel the many knotty points connected with the medieval Latin Aesop. His investigations have been carried on and completed by three Frenchmen in the present century, Robert, Du Meril, and Hervieux; while three Germans, Crusius, Benfey, and Mall, have thrown much needed light on Babrius, on the Oriental Aesop, and on Marie de France. Lastly, I have myself brought together these various lines of inquiry, and by adding a few threads of my own, have been able to weave them all for the first time into a consistent pattern.
So much for the past of the Fable. Has it a future as a mode of literary expression? Scarcely; its method is at once too simple and too roundabout. Too roundabout; for the truths we have to tell we prefer to speak out directly and not by way of allegory. And the truths the Fable has to teach are too simple to correspond to the facts of our complex civilisation; its rude graffiti of human nature cannot reproduce the subtle gradations of modern life. But as we all pass through in our lives the various stages of ancestral culture, there comes a time when these rough sketches of life have their appeal to us as they had for our forefathers: The allegory gives us a pleasing and not too strenuous stimulation of the intellectual powers; the lesson is not too complicated for childlike minds. Indeed, in their grotesque grace, in their quaint humour, in their trust in the simpler virtues, in their insight into the cruder vices, in their innocence of the fact of sex, Aesop’s Fables are as little children. They are as little children, and for that reason they will for ever find a home in the heaven of little children’s souls.
Joseph Jacobs
1. The Wolf and the Lamb
A 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.
2. The Bat and the Weasels
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.
3. The Ass and the Grasshopper
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.
4. The Lion and the Mouse
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 strong 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.”
5. The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller
A Charcoal-burner carried on his trade in his own house. One day he met a friend, a Fuller, and 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.
6. The Father and His Sons
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.”
7. The Boy Hunting Locusts
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!”
8. The Cock and the Pearl
A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he espied something shining amid the straw. “Ho! ho!” quoth he, “that’s for me,” and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard? “You may be a treasure,” quoth Master Cock, “to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls.”
Precious things are for those that can prize them.
9. The Kingdom of the Lion
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.
10. The Wolf and the Crane
A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could not swallow it. He soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran up and down groaning and groaning and seeking for something to relieve the pain. He tried to induce every one he met to remove the bone. “I would give anything,” said he, “if you would take it out.” At last the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lie on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then the Crane put its long neck down the Wolf’s throat, and with its beak loosened the bone, till at last it got it out.
“Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?” said the Crane.
The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: “Be content. You have put your head inside a Wolf’s mouth and taken it out again in safety; that ought to be reward enough for you.”
Gratitude and greed go not together.
11. The Fisherman Piping
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.”
12. Hercules and the Wagoner
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.
13. The Ants and the Grasshopper
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.”
14. The Traveler and His Dog
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.
15. The Dog and the Shadow
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.
16. The Mole and His Mother
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.
17. The Herdsman and the Lost Bull
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.”
18. The Hare and the Tortoise
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.
19. The Pomegranate, Apple-Tree, and Bramble
The Pomegranate and Apple-Tree disputed as to which was the most beautiful. When their strife was at its height, a Bramble from the 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.”
20. The Farmer and the Stork
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.
21. The Farmer and the Snake
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.
22. The Fawn and His Mother
A young Fawn once said to his Mother, “You are larger than a dog, and swifter, and more used to 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.
23. The Bear and the Fox
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.”
24. The Swallow and the Crow
The Swallow and the Crow had a contention about their plumage. The Crow put an end to the dispute by saying, “Your feathers are all very well in the spring, but mine protect me against the winter.”
Fair weather friends are not worth much.
25. The Mountain in Labor
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.
26. The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion
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.
27. The Tortoise and the Eagle
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.
28. The Flies and the Honey-Pot
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.
29. The Man and the Lion
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.
30. The Farmer and the Cranes
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.
31. The Dog in the Manger
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.”
32. The Fox and the Goat
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 [...]
