<--/ubbcodetab--><--ubbcodetab-->    <--/ubbcodetab-->Aesop's Fables 

<--ubbcodetab-->    <--/ubbcodetab--><--ubbcodetab-->    <--/ubbcodetab--><--ubbcodetab-->    <--/ubbcodetab-->Translated by George Fyler Townsend

The Wolf and the Lamb



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.





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.





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.





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 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."





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.





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."





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!"





The Cock and the Jewel



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 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,