Aesop's Fables (16 page)

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wolf hung about near a flock of sheep for a long time, but made no attempt to molest them. The shepherd at first kept . a sharp eye on him, for he naturally thought he meant mischief. But as time went by, and the wolf showed no inclination to meddle with the flock, he began to look upon him more as a protector than as an enemy; and when one day some errand took him to the city, he felt no uneasiness at leaving the wolf with the sheep. But as soon as his back was turned, the wolf attacked them and killed the greater number. When the shepherd returned and saw the havoc he had wrought, he cried, “It serves me right for trusting my flock to a wolf.”

A
farmer set some traps in a field which he had lately sown with corn, in order to catch the cranes which came to pick up the seed. When he returned to look at his traps he found several cranes caught, and among them a stork, which begged to be let go, and said, “You ought not to kill me. I am not a crane, but a stork, as you can easily see by my feathers, and I am the most honest and harmless of birds.” But the farmer replied, “It’s nothing to me what you are. I find you among these cranes who ruin my crops, and, like them, you shall suffer.”

 

If you choose bad companions, no one will believe that you are anything but bad yourself.

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horse who had been used to carry his rider into battle felt himself growing old and chose to work in a mill instead. He now no longer found himself stepping out proudly to the beating of the drums, but was compelled to slave away all day grinding the corn. Bewailing his hard lot, he said one day to the miller, “Ah me! I was once a splendid war horse gaily caparisoned, and attended by a groom whose sole duty was to see to my wants. How different is my present condition! I wish I had never given up the battlefield for the mill.” The miller replied with asperity, “It’s no use your regretting the past. Fortune has many ups and downs. You must just take them as they come.”

A
n owl who lived in a hollow tree was in the habit of feeding by night and sleeping by day, but her slumbers were greatly disturbed by the chirping of a grasshopper who had taken up his abode in the branches. She begged him repeatedly to have some consideration for her comfort, but the grasshopper, if anything, only chirped the louder. At last the owl could stand it no longer, but determined to rid herself of the pest by means of a trick. Addressing herself to the grasshopper, she said in her pleasantest manner, “As I cannot sleep for your song, which, believe me, is as sweet as the notes of Apollo’s lyre, I have a mind to taste some nectar, which Minerva gave me the other day. Won’t you come in and join me?” The grasshopper was flattered by the praise of his song, and his mouth, too, watered at the mention of the delicious drink, so he said he would be delighted. No sooner had he got inside the hollow where the owl was sitting than she pounced upon him and ate him up.

O
ne fine day in winter some ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain. Presently up came a grasshopper and begged them to spare her a few grains, “For,” she said, “I’m simply starving.” The ants stopped work for a moment, though this was against their principles. “May we ask,” said they, “what you were doing with yourself all last summer? Why didn’t you collect a store of food for the winter ?” “The fact is,” replied the grasshopper, “I was so busy singing that I hadn’t the time.” “If you spent the summer singing,” replied the ants, “you can’t do better than spend the winter dancing.” And they chuckled and went on with their work.

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ne winter a farmer found a viper frozen and numb with cold, and out of pity picked it up and placed it in his bosom. The viper was no sooner revived by the warmth than it turned upon its benefactor and inflicted a fatal bite upon him; and as the poor man lay dying, he cried, “I have only got what I deserved, for taking compassion on so villainous a creature.”

 

Kindness is thrown away upon the evil.

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wo frogs were neighbors. One lived in a marsh, where there was plenty of water, which frogs love; the other in a lane some distance away, where all the water to be had was that which lay in the ruts after rain. The marsh frog warned his friend and pressed him to come and live with him in the marsh, for he would find his quarters there far more comfortable and—what was still more important—more safe. But the other refused, saying that he could not bring himself to move from a place to which he had become accustomed. A few days afterwards a heavy wagon came down the lane, and he was crushed to death under the wheels.

A
very unskillful cobbler, finding himself unable to make a living at his trade, gave up mending boots and took to doctoring instead. He gave out that he had the secret of a universal antidote against all poisons, and acquired no small reputation, thanks to his talent for puffing himself. One day, however, he fell very ill; and the king of the country bethought him that he would test the value of his remedy. Calling, therefore, for a cup, he poured out a dose of the antidote, and, under pretense of mixing poison with it, added a little water, and commanded him to drink it. Terrified by the fear of being poisoned, the cobbler confessed that he knew nothing about medicine, and that his antidote was worthless. Then the king summoned his subjects and addressed them as follows : “What folly could be greater than yours? Here is this cobbler to whom no one will send his boots to be mended, and yet you have not hesitated to entrust him with your lives!”

A
n ass and a cock were in a cattle pen together. Presently a lion, who had been starving for days, came along and was just about to fall upon the ass and make a meal of him when the cock, rising to his full height and flapping his wings vigorously, uttered a tremendous crow. Now if there is one thing that frightens a lion, it is the crowing of a cock; and this one had no sooner heard the noise than he fled. The ass was mightily elated at this, and thought that if the lion couldn’t face a cock, he would be still less likely to stand up to an ass; so he ran out and pursued him. But when the two had got well out of sight and hearing of the cock, the lion suddenly turned upon the ass and ate him up.

 

False confidence often leads to disaster.

T
he members of the body once rebelled against the belly. “You,” they said to the belly, “live in luxury and sloth, and never do a stroke of work; while we not only have to do all the hard work there is to be done, but are actually your slaves and have to minister to all your wants. Now, we will do so no longer, and you can shift for yourself for the future.” They were as good as their word, and left the belly to starve. The result was just what might have been expected. The whole body soon began to fail, and the members and all shared in the general collapse. And then they saw too late how foolish they had been.

A
fly settled on the head of a bald man and bit him. In his eagerness to kill it he hit himself a smart slap. But the fly escaped, and said to him in derision, “You tried to kill me for just one little bite. What will you do to yourself now for the heavy smack you have just given yourself?” “Oh, for that blow I bear no grudge,” he replied, “for I never intended myself any harm; but as for you, you contemptible insect, who live by sucking human blood, I’d have borne a good deal more than that for the satisfaction of dashing the life out of you!”

A
n ass was feeding in a meadow, and, catching sight of his enemy the wolf in the distance, pretended to be very lame and hobbled painfully along. When the wolf came up he asked the ass how he came to be so lame, and the ass replied that in going through a hedge he had trodden on a thorn, and he begged the wolf to pull it out with his teeth, “In case,” he said, “when you eat me, it should stick in your throat and hurt you very much.” The wolf said he would, and told the ass to lift up his foot, and gave his whole mind to getting out the thorn. But the ass suddenly let out with his heels and fetched the wolf a fearful kick in the mouth, breaking his teeth; and then he galloped off at full speed. As soon as he could speak the wolf growled to himself, “It serves me right. My father taught me to kill, and I ought to have stuck to that trade instead of attempting to cure.”

A
t a gathering of all the beasts the monkey gave an exhibition of dancing, and entertained the company vastly. There was great applause at the finish, which excited the envy of the camel and made him desire to win the favor of the assembly by the same means. So he got up from his place and began dancing, but he cut such a ridiculous figure as he plunged about, and made such a grotesque exhibition of his ungainly person, that the beasts all fell upon him with ridicule and drove him away.

A
sick man received a visit from his doctor, who asked him how he was. “Fairly well, doctor,” said he, “but I find I sweat a great deal.” “Ah,” said the doctor, “that’s a good sign.” On his next visit he asked the same question, and his patient replied, “I’m much as usual, but I’ve taken to having shivering fits, which leave me cold all over.” “Ah,” said the doctor, “that’s a good sign too.” When he came the third time and inquired as before about his patient’s health, the sick man said that he felt very feverish. “A very good sign,” said the doctor; “you are doing very nicely indeed.” Afterwards a friend came to see the invalid, and on asking him how he did, received this reply: “My dear friend, I’m dying of good signs.”