Aesop's Fables (17 page)

 

T
wo travelers were walking along a bare and dusty road in the heat of a summer’s day. Coming presently to a plane tree, they joyfully turned aside to shelter from the burning rays of the sun in the deep shade of its spreading branches. As they rested, looking up into the tree, one of them remarked to his companion, “What a useless tree the plane is! It bears no fruit and is of no service to man at all.” The plane tree interrupted him with indignation. “You ungrateful creature,” it cried, “you come and take shelter under me from the scorching sun, and then, in the very act of enjoying the cool shade of my foliage, you abuse me and call me good for nothing!”

 

Many a service is met with ingratitude.

A
flea once said to an ox, “How comes it that a big strong fellow like you is content to serve mankind, and do all their hard work for them, while I, who am no bigger than you see, live on their bodies and drink my fill of their blood, and never do a stroke for it all?” To which the ox replied, “Men are very kind to me, and so I am grateful to them. They feed and house me well, and every now and then they show their fondness for me by patting me on the head and neck.” “They’d pat me, too,” said the flea, “if I let them. But I take good care they donʼt, or there would be nothing left of me.”

T
he birds were at war with the beasts, and many battles were fought with varying success on either side. The bat did not throw in his lot definitely with either party, but when things went well for the birds he was found fighting in their ranks; when, on the other hand, the beasts got the upper hand, he was to be found among the beasts. No one paid any attention to him while the war lasted. But when it was over, and peace was restored, neither the birds nor the beasts would have anything to do with so double-faced a traitor, and so he remains to this day a solitary outcast from both.

A
man of middle age, whose hair was turning grey, had two mistresses, an old woman and a young one. The elder of the . two didn’t like having a lover who looked so much younger than herself; so, whenever he came to see her, she used to pull the dark hairs out of his head to make him look old. The younger, on the other hand, didn’t like him to look so much older than herself, and took every opportunity of pulling out the grey hairs, to make him look young. Between them, they left not a hair in his head, and he became perfectly bald.

O
ne day a jackdaw saw an eagle swoop down on a lamb and carry it off in its talons. “My word,” said the jackdaw, “I’ll do that myself.” So it flew high up into the air, and then came shooting down with a great whirring of wings onto the back of a big ram. It had no sooner alighted than its claws got caught fast in the wool, and nothing it could do was of any use. There it stuck, flapping away, and only making things worse instead of better. By and by up came the shepherd. “Oho,” he said. “So that’s what you’d be doing, is it?” And he took the jackdaw, and clipped its wings and carried it home to his children. It looked so odd that they didn’t know what to make of it. “What sort of bird is it, father?” they asked. “It’s a jackdaw,” he replied, “and nothing but a jackdaw. But it wants to be taken for an eagle.”

 

If you attempt what is beyond your power, your trouble will be wasted and you court not only misfortune but ridicule.

A
wolf, who had just enjoyed a good meal and was in a playful mood, caught sight of a boy lying flat upon the ground, and, .realizing that he was trying to hide, and that it was fear of himself that made him do this, he went up to him and said, “Aha, I’ve found you, you see; but if you can say three things to me, the truth of which cannot be disputed, I will spare your life.” The boy plucked up courage and thought for a moment, and then he said, “First, it is a pity you saw me; secondly, I was a fool to let myself be seen; and thirdly, we all hate wolves because they are always making unprovoked attacks upon our flocks.” The wolf replied, “Well, what you say is true enough from your point of view; so you may go.”

A
miller, accompanied by his young son, was driving his ass to market in hopes of finding a purchaser for him. On the road they met a troop of girls, laughing and talking, who exclaimed, “Did you ever see such a pair of fools? To be trudging along the dusty road when they might be riding!”

The miller thought there was sense in what they said; so he made his son mount the ass, and himself walked at the side. Presently they met some of his old cronies, who greeted them and said, “You’ll spoil that son of yours, letting him ride while you toil along on foot! Make him walk, young lazybones! It’ll do him all the good in the world.”

The miller followed their advice, and took his son’s place on the back of the ass, while the boy trudged along behind. They had not gone far when they overtook a party of women and children, and the miller heard them say, “What a selfish old man! He himself rides in comfort, but lets his poor little boy follow as best he can on his own legs!”

So he made his son get up behind him. Further along the road they met some travelers, who asked the miller whether the ass he was riding was his own property, or a beast hired for the occasion. He replied that it was his own, and that he was taking it to market to sell. “Good heavens!” said they. “With a load like that the poor beast will be so exhausted by the time he gets there that no one will look at him. Why, you’d do better to carry him!”

“Anything to please you,” said the old man. “We can but try.” So they got off, tied the ass’s legs together with a rope and slung him on a pole, and at last reached the town, carrying him between them. This was so absurd a sight that the people ran out in crowds to laugh at it, and chaffed the father and son unmercifully, some even calling them lunatics. They had then got to a bridge over the river, where the ass, frightened by the noise and his unusual situation, kicked and struggled till he broke the ropes that bound him, and fell into the water and was drowned. Whereupon the unfortunate miller, vexed and ashamed, made the best of his way home again, convinced that in trying to please all, he had pleased none, and had lost his ass into the bargain.

A
stag, pursued by the huntsmen, concealed himself under cover of a thick vine. They lost track of him and passed by . his hiding place without being aware that he was anywhere near. Supposing all danger to be over, he presently began to browse on the leaves of the vine. The movement drew the attention of the returning huntsmen, and one of them, supposing some animal to be hidden there, shot an arrow at a venture into the foliage. The unlucky stag was pierced to the heart, and, as he expired, he said, “I deserve my fate for my treachery in feeding upon the leaves of my protector.”

 

Ingratitude sometimes brings its own punishment.

A
wolf was chasing a lamb, which took refuge in a temple. The wolf urged it to come out of the precincts, and said, “If you donʼt, the priest is sure to catch you and offer you up in sacrifice on the altar.” To which the lamb replied, “Thanks, I think I’ll stay where I am. I’d rather be sacrificed any day than be eaten up by a wolf.”

A
n archer went up into the hills to get some sport with his bow, and all the animals fled at the sight of him with the exception of the lion, who stayed behind and challenged him to fight. But he shot an arrow at the lion and hit him, and said, “There, you see what my messenger can do. Just you wait a moment and I’ll tackle you myself.” The lion, however, when he felt the sting of the arrow, ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. A fox, who had seen it all happen, said to the lion, “Come, don’t be a coward. Why don’t you stay and show fight?” But the lion replied, “You won’t get me to stay, not you. Why, when he sends a messenger like that before him, he must himself be a terrible fellow to deal with. ”

 

Give a wide berth to those who can do damage at a distance.

 

A
wolf caught sight of a goat browsing above him on the scanty herbage that grew on the top of a steep rock; and being unable to get at her, tried to induce her to come lower down. “You are risking your life up there, madam, indeed you are,” he called out. “Pray take my advice and come down here, where you will find plenty of better food.” The goat turned a knowing eye upon him. “It’s little you care whether I get good grass or bad,” said she. “What you want is to eat me.”

A
stag fell sick and lay in a clearing in the forest, too weak to move from the spot. When the news of his illness spread, a number of the other beasts came to inquire after his health, and they one and all nibbled a little of the grass that grew round the invalid till at last there was not a blade within his reach. In a few days he began to mend, but was still too feeble to get up and go in search of fodder; and thus he perished miserably of hunger owing to the thoughtlessness of his friends.

A
certain man who had an ass and a mule loaded them both up one day and set out upon a journey. So long as the road was fairly level, the ass got on very well; but by and by they came to a place among the hills where the road was very rough and steep, and the ass was at his last gasp. So he begged the mule to relieve him of a part of his load, but the mule refused. At last, from sheer weariness, the ass stumbled and fell down a steep place and was killed. The driver was in despair, but he did the best he could. He added the ass’s load to the mule’s and he also flayed the ass and put his skin on the top of the double load. The mule could only just manage the extra weight, and, as he staggered painfully along, he said to himself, “I have only got what I deserved. If I had been willing to help the ass at first, I should not now be carrying his load and his skin into the bargain.”

A
certain man had two children, a boy and a girl; and the boy was as good-looking as the girl was plain. One day, as they .were playing together in their mother’s chamber, they chanced upon a mirror and saw their own features for the first time. The boy saw what a handsome fellow he was, and began to boast to his sister about his good looks. She, on her part, was ready to cry with vexation when she was aware of her plainness, and took his remarks as an insult to herself. Running to her father, she told him of her brother’s conceit, and accused him of meddling with his mother’s things. He laughed and kissed them both, and said, “My children, learn from now onwards to make a good use of the glass. You, my boy, strive to be as good as it shows you to be handsome; and you, my girl, resolve to make up for the plainness of your features by the sweetness of your disposition.”

A
heifer went up to an ox, who was straining hard at the plow, and sympathized with him in a rather patronizing sort of way on the necessity of his having to work so hard. Not long afterwards there was a festival in the village and everyone kept holiday. But, whereas the ox was turned loose into the pasture, the heifer was seized and led off to sacrifice. “Ah,” said the ox, with a grim smile, “I see now why you were allowed to have such an idle time. It was because you were always intended for the altar.”