A MAN and a Lion were once journeying together and came at length to high words as to which was the braver and stronger creature of the two. As the dispute waxed warmer they happened to pass, on the roadside, the statue of a man strangling a lion. “See there,” said the Man. “What more proof can you have of our undeniable superiority than that?”
“That,” said the Lion, “is a man’s version of the story; let us be the sculptors, and for one lion under the feet of a man, you shall have twenty men under the paws of lions.”
THE LIONESS
A GREAT stir was once made as to which of the Beasts could boast of the largest family. They came in turn to the Lioness. “And how many,” was asked, “do you have at a birth?”
“One,” she replied; “but that one is a Lion!”
Quality is before quantity.
THE BOY WHO STOLE APPLES
AN Old Man once found a rude Boy in his Apple Tree and sternly ordered him to come down. The young rogue answered that he would not.
“Then I will fetch you down,” said the Old Man. So he threw twigs and bundles of grass up at him, but this only made the young scapegrace laugh.
“Very well,” said the Old Man. “If neither words nor grass will bring you down, I will try what virtue there is in stones.” With that he pelted the Boy heartily with stones, which soon brought him down from the tree to beg the Old Man’s pardon.
THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS
A CERTAIN man had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid him a Golden Egg each day of the year. For a while the man rejoiced in his daily gain, but becoming impatient with so slow an income, he killed the Goose, to get all at once the gold which he thought was inside her. When he had laid her open, he found that she was exactly like all other geese.
Wanting more, he lost all.
THE OLD MAN AND DEATH
AN Old Laborer, bent with age and toil, was gathering brush in a forest. Growing tired and hopeless, he threw down his bundle and cried out: “I can bear this no longer! If only Death would come and relieve me!”
As he spoke Death came and asked him what it was that he wanted. “Pray, good sir,” replied the Man, “do me but the favor to lift this bundle of sticks to my back.”
A FATHER AND HIS TWO DAUGHTERS
A MAN who had two Daughters married one to a Gardener, the other to a Potter. Going to visit at the Gardener’s, he asked his Daughter how it fared with her. “Excellently well,” said she; “we have all that we want if only we may have a heavy rain to water our plants.”
Going on to the Potter’s, he asked his other Daughter how matters went with her. “There is nothing that we want but that this fine weather and hot sun may continue, so that our tiles will bake well.”
“Alas,” said the Father, “if you wish for fine weather, and your sister for rain, which shall I myself pray for?”
THE SICK LION AND THE FOX
A LION who was too old and feeble to hunt for prey saw that he must get it, if at all, by cunning. He crept into a corner of his den and feigned sickness. All the animals that came by went in to take a look at him, and, as they came, he sprang upon them and ate them up. Now, when this had happened to a good many, the Fox, who had guessed the trick, came by. From a safe distance he called to the Lion, asking how he did. The Lion said he was very sick and asked the Fox to come in and see him. “So I would, gladly,” replied the Fox, “but I notice that all the footprints point into the den, and there are none pointing out.”
THE MOUNTAIN IN LABOR
IN DAYS of old, a mighty rumbling was heard in a Mountain. It was said to be in Labor, and multitudes of people flocked together, from near and from far, to see what the great Mountain would produce. After long expectation and wise conjecturing from the bystanders, out popped—a mouse.
A magnificent promise, but a paltry performance.
JUPITER AND THE CAMEL
THE Camel, in days of yore, besought Jupiter to grant him horns, because it was a great grief to him to see other animals furnished with what he had not. Jupiter not only refused him horns but cropped his ears short for his foolish importunity.
By asking for what we do not need, we may lose what we already have.
THE MOON AND HER MOTHER
THE Moon once asked her Mother to make her a little coat that would fit her well. “How,” replied the Mother, “can I make a cloak to fit you, when now you are a New Moon, and then a Full Moon, and then again neither the one nor the other?”
THE HORSE AND THE STAG
A HORSE once had the whole range of a meadow to himself; but when a Stag came and threatened to damage the pasture, the Horse asked a Man to assist him in ridding him of the Stag. “I will,” said the Man, “if you will let me put a bit in your mouth and get upon your back so as to go and find weapons.” The Horse consented, and the Man accordingly mounted. But instead of being revenged on the Stag, the Horse has been from that time the slave of Man.
Revenge is dearly punished at the price of liberty.
THE COUNCIL HELD BY THE RATS
THE RAIN CLOUD
A GREAT Cloud passed rapidly over a country which was parched by heat, but did not let fall a single drop to refresh it. Presently it poured copious streams of rain into the sea and, when it had done so, began to boast of its generosity in the hearing of the neighboring Mountain.
But the Mountain replied: “What good have you done by such generosity? and how can any one help being pained at the sight of it? If you had poured your showers over the land, you might have saved a whole district from famine. But as to the sea, my friend, it has plenty of water already, without additions from you.”
THE ELEPHANT IN FAVOR
ONCE upon a time the Elephant stood high in the good graces of the Lion. The forest immediately began to talk of the matter, and, as usual, many guesses were made as to the means by which the Elephant had gained such favor.
“It is no beauty,” say the beasts to each other, “and it is not amusing; and what habits it has! what manners!”
“If it had possessed such a bushy tail as mine, I should not have wondered,” says the Fox.
“Or, sister,” says the Bear, “if it had gotten into favor on account of its claws, no one would have found the matter at all extraordinary; but it has no claws at all, as we all know well.”
“Isn’t it its tusks that have gotten it into favor?” thus the Ox broke in upon their conversation. “Haven’t they, perhaps, been mistaken for horns?”
Then said the Ass, shaking its ears, “Is it possible that you don’t know how it has succeeded in making itself liked, and in becoming distinguished. Why, I have guessed the reason. If it hadn’t been remarkable for its long ears, it would never in the world have gotten into favor.”
THE CUCKOO AND THE EAGLE
THE Eagle promoted the Cuckoo to the rank of a Nightingale, and at once, proud of its new position, the Cuckoo seated itself upon an aspen and began to exercise its musical talents.
After a time it looked around. All the other birds were flying away, some laughing and others abusing it. The Cuckoo grew angry, and hastened to the Eagle with a complaint against the birds.
“Have pity on me!” it begged. “I have been appointed Nightingale to these woods, and yet the birds dare laugh at my singing.”
“My friend,” answered the Eagle, “I am a king, but I am not a god. It is impossible for me to remedy the cause of your complaint. I can order a Cuckoo to be styled a Nightingale, but to make a Nightingale out of a Cuckoo—that I cannot do.”
THE FOX IN THE ICE
VERY early one winter morning, during a hard frost, a Fox was drinking at a hole in the ice not far from the haunts of men.
Meanwhile, whether by accident or from negligence does not matter, the end of its tail got wet and froze to the ice.
No great harm was done; the Fox could easily remedy it. It had only to give a tolerably hard pull and leave about a score of hairs behind; then it could run home quickly before any one came.
But how could it make up its mind to spoil its tail? Such a bushy tail as it was—so ample, so golden! No; better wait a little. Surely men are sleeping still. It is even possible that a thaw may set in meanwhile. In that case it will be able to withdraw its tail easily from the ice hole.
So it waits; it goes on waiting, but its tail only freezes all the more. The Fox looks round; the day is already beginning to dawn. People are stirring; voices are to be heard. Our poor Fox begins to move wildly about, now this way and now that. But still it cannot free itself from the hole.
Luckily, a Wolf comes running that way.
“Dear friend! father!” cries the Fox; “do save me; I am all but lost!”
So the Wolf stopped and set to work to rescue the Fox. Its method was a simple one—it bit the tail clean off.
So our foolish friend went home tailless, but rejoicing that its skin was still on its back.
THE INQUISITIVE MAN
“GOOD day, dear friend; where do you come from?”
“From the Museum, where I have spent three hours. I saw everything they have there, and examined it carefully. So much have I seen to astonish me that, if you will believe me, I am neither strong nor clever enough to give you the description of it. Upon my word, it is a palace of wonders.
“How rich is Nature in inventions! What birds and beasts have I not seen there! What flies, butterflies, cockroaches, and curious beetles—some like emeralds, others like corals! And what tiny cochineal insects! Why, really, some of them are smaller than a pin’s head.”
“But did you see the elephant? What did you think of it? I’ll be bound you felt as if you were at a mountain.”
“The elephant? Are you quite sure it is there?”
“Quite sure.”
“Well, brother, you mustn’t be too hard on me; but to tell the truth, I didn’t remark the elephant.”
THE SQUIRREL IN SERVICE
A SQUIRREL once served a Lion—I know not where or in what capacity. But this much is certain—the Squirrel found favor in the Lion’s eyes, and to satisfy the Lion is certainly no light affair.
In return for this he was promised a whole wagonload of nuts.
Promised—yes; but meanwhile time continues to fly by. The Squirrel often suffers hunger and, while grinning in his masters presence, has eyes full of tears.
When he looks around in the forest, his former comrades show themselves here and there, high up among the trees. He looks at them till his eyes begin to blink, but they keep on cracking nuts.
The Squirrel takes a look at them—he can do no more. At one time he is called away; at another, even dragged off in the Lion’s service.
But see! At last the Squirrel has grown old and become tiresome to the Lion. It is time for him to retire. They have granted the Squirrel his discharge, and they have actually given him the full load of nuts—excellent nuts, such as the world has never seen before; all picked fruit, one as good as another, a perfect marvel. Only one thing is unlucky—the Squirrel has long ago lost all his teeth.
THE WOLF AND THE CAT
A WOLF ran out of the forest into a village—not to pay a visit, but to save its life; for it trembled for its skin.
The huntsman and a pack of hounds were after it.
It would fain have rushed in through the first gateway, but there was this unfortunate circumstance in the way—all the gateways were closed.
The Wolf saw a Cat on a partition fence and said pleadingly: “Vaska, my friend, tell me quickly, which of the moujiks here is the kindest, so that I may hide myself from my evil foes. Listen to the cry of the dogs and the terrible sound of the horns. All that noise is actually made in chase of me.”
“Go quickly and ask Stefan,” said Vaska, the Cat; “he is a very kind man.”
“Quite true; only I have torn the skin off one of his sheep.”
“Well, then, try Demian.”
“I’m afraid he’s angry with me, too; I carried off one of his kids.”
“Run over there, then; Trofim lives there.”
“Trofim! I should be afraid of even meeting him. Ever since the spring he has been threatening me about a lamb.”
“Dear me, that’s bad! But perhaps Klim will protect you.”
“Oh, Vaska, I have killed one of his calves!”
“What do I hear, friend? You’ve quarreled with all the village,” said Vaska to the Wolf. “What sort of protection can you hope for here? No, no; our peasants are not so destitute of sense as to be willing to save you to their own hurt. And, really, you have only yourself to blame. What you have sown, that you must now reap.”
APPENDIX
NOTE. Since the purpose of the fable is not merely to entertain but especially to point some general truth or to draw a helpful lesson, no two versions of the same fable are exactly alike. In editions of Æsop intended for young children, it has been the custom to elaborate the slender story in such a way as to arouse thoroughly the child’s interest before the moral is drawn. Hence the modern popular versions often contain conversations and descriptive details not to be found in the accounts which are truest to the Greek versions. This popular elaborated form of the fable, however, needs no apology so long as the editor is true to the spirit of the original. In the preceding fables, the spirit, if not the letter of the most trustworthy account available, has been carefully adhered to, but the editor has had always in mind the youthful readers and has neglected no opportunity to make the text fit their limited experience and understanding. But to both teacher and pupil the current short forms of some of the longer fables will have interest. In this Appendix, therefore, have been collected the short forms of the first fables which appear in the text. Much pleasure and profit can be had from a comparison of the two renderings, and such a comparison will open the way to a discussion of the difficulties in handing down literature orally and in preserving it in correct form.
THE WOLF AND THE LAMB
A WOLF and a Lamb came to a running brook to quench their thirst. The Wolf stood high up the stream and the Lamb a little distance below. Having made up his mind to seize the Lamb, the Wolf bethought himself how he might justify his act of violence. Running down to her, he roared, “How dare you muddle the water so that I cannot drink it?”
The Lamb, affrighted by the charge, humbly replied that she could not see how that could be, since the water ran down from him to her and not from her to him. “Be that as it may,” retorted the Wolf. “You are a rascal, all the same, and I have heard that you said bad things of me last year behind my back.”
“Nay,” said the Lamb, “that could not have been, for a year ago I was not born.”
“Well, if it was not you it was your father, and that is all the same,” replied the Wolf, and he fell upon the Lamb and tore her to pieces.
THE FOX AND THE LION
THE first time the Fox saw the Lion, he was ready to die of fear. The second time he took courage and could even bear to look upon him. The third time he had the impudence to come up to him, to salute him, and to enter into familiar conversation with him.
THE DOG AND HIS SHADOW
A DOG had stolen a piece of meat out of a butcher’s shop and was crossing a river on his way home, when he saw his own shadow reflected in the stream below. Thinking it was another dog with another piece of meat, he resolved to secure it. He snapped at his supposed treasure, but in doing so dropped the piece he was carrying and so lost all.
THE CRAB AND HIS MOTHER
SAID an old Crab to a young one, “Why do you walk so crooked, child? Walk straight!” “Mother,” said the young Crab, “show me the way, will you? When I see you taking a straight course, I will try and follow.”
Example is better than precept.
THE FOX AND THE GRAPES
A FOX came at vintage time to a place where ripe grapes were hanging in tempting clusters over the branch of a tree. “I will get them,” said the Fox. He made many a spring and jump, but failing each time to secure the prize, he at length walked away, muttering, “Well, what does it matter? The grapes are sour.”
THE WOLF AND THE CRANE
A WOLF had a bone in his throat and ran up and down in the greatest agony, begging every animal he met to relieve him, hinting at the same time that there would be a substantial reward. A Crane, moved by his entreaties, ventured her long neck down the Wolf’s throat and drew forth the bone. When she had done it, she modestly asked for the promised reward. To which the Wolf, grinning and showing his teeth, replied, “Ungrateful creature, is it not enough that you have had your head in a Wolf’s mouth and brought it out safe?”
THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPERS
A COLONY of Ants were busily employed in the care and preservation of their food, which they exposed to the air in heaps around their country habitation.
A Grasshopper, who had chanced to out-live the summer and was ready to die from cold and hunger, approached with great humility and begged that they would relieve his necessity with one grain of wheat or rye. One of the Ants asked him how he had disposed of his time in the summer, that he had not taken pains and laid in a stock as they had done.
“Alas! gentlemen,” said he, “I passed away the time merrily and pleasantly in drinking, singing, and dancing, and never once thought of winter.”
“If that be the case,” replied the Ant, “all I have to say is that they who drink, sing, and dance in summer must starve in winter.”
THE FROGS WHO ASKED FOR A KING
THE commonwealth of Frogs, a discontented race, weary of liberty and fond of change, petitioned Jupiter to grant them a King.
The good-natured deity, in order to grant their request with as little mischief to them as possible, threw them down a Log. The splash sent them into the greatest terror and amazement, and at first they regarded their new monarch with great reverence and kept at a respectful distance. But by degrees, perceiving his amiable and peaceable disposition, they gradually ventured to approach him with more familiarity, till at length they conceived for him the utmost contempt.
Dissatisfied with this state of things, they renewed their request to Jupiter and entreated him to bestow upon them another King.
In his wrath the Thunderer sent them a Crane, who no sooner took possession of his new dominion than he began to devour his subjects, one after another.
They were now far more dissatisfied than before. Applying to Jupiter a third time, they were dismissed with the reproof that the evil of which they complained they had imprudently brought upon themselves; and that now they had no other remedy but to submit to it with patience.
THE DONKEY IN THE LION’S SKIN
A DONKEY, having put on the skin of a Lion, which he found drying by the roadside, roamed about the forest and amused himself by frightening all the animals that he met. At length, meeting 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 if I had not heard you bray.”
THE MICE IN COUNCIL
THE Mice, being sadly distressed on account of their common enemy the Cat, called a council to devise means of ridding themselves of the annoyance. Many plans were proposed and rejected, till at last it was suggested by a young Mouse that a bell should be hung round the Cat’s neck, that having notice of her coming, they might escape to their holes.
The proposal was hailed with applause and agreed to unanimously. Whereupon an old Mouse, who had sat in silence, got up and said, “That is well, but who will bell the Cat?” The Mice looked one at another, but no one answered.
The old Mouse said, “It is easy to advise; what is wanted is some one to act.”
THE KID AND THE WOLF
A KID, coming alone from its pasture, was pursued by a Wolf. With great presence of mind the kid turned and said: “I know, Friend Wolf, that you mean to kill me; but as my life is to be short, let it be a merry one. Do you pipe and let me have one more dance before I die.” While the Wolf was piping and the Kid was dancing, some Dogs, hearing the music, ran to the place to see what was going on; and the Wolf was glad to take himself off as fast as his legs would carry him.
THE HAWK AND THE NIGHTINGALE
THE Nightingale, sitting aloft upon an oak, was seen by a Hawk, who swooped down and seized her. The Nightingale earnestly prayed the Hawk to let her go, saying that she was not big enough to satisfy the hunger of a Hawk, who ought to find plenty of larger birds. “Do you happen to see many large birds flying about?” the Hawk asked. “I should be foolish, indeed, to let you go for the sake of larger birds that are not in sight. A morsel is better than nothing.”
THE CROW AND THE PITCHER
A CROW who was nearly perishing with thirst spied a pitcher with a little water in it. Reaching down, he found the water so low that, stooping and straining as he might, he was unable to reach it with his beak. Thereupon he tried to overturn and break the Pitcher. This he was not strong enough to do. At last, seeing some small pebbles, he brought a great many and dropped them one by one, and so raised the water to the brim and quenched his thirst.
THE ANT AND THE DOVE
GOING to a fountain to quench his thirst, an Ant tumbled in and was ready to drown. But a Dove happened to be perching on a neighboring tree and saw the Ant’s danger. Plucking a leaf, the Dove dropped it down into the water, so that the Ant mounting upon it was blown safely to the shore. A Fowler, shortly after, spread his net to entrap the unwary Dove. This the Ant perceived, and bit the Fowler’s heel. Distracted by the pain, the Fowler dropped his net with a quick start, and the Dove, aroused to a sense of danger, flew away.
One good turn deserves another.
THE OX AND THE FROG
AN Ox, grazing in a swampy meadow, chanced to set his foot among a number of young Frogs and trampled nearly all of them to death. One that escaped ran off to his mother with the dreadful news. “It was a beast—such a big four-footed beast—that did it.”
“Big?” asked the old Frog, and she puffed herself out, “as big as this?”
“A great deal bigger,” said the little one.
“Well, was it so big?” and she swelled herself out yet more.
“Indeed, Mother, but it was; and if you were to burst yourself you would never reach half its size.” Vexed that her child should disparage her powers, the Mother Frog made one more trial and burst herself indeed.
THE BAT AND THE WEASELS
A BAT, falling to the ground, was caught by a Weasel, whom he entreated not to take his life. The Weasel protested that it was against nature for a weasel to let a bird go. Whereupon the Bat insisted that he was not a bird, and to prove it, called attention to his mouselike head and ears, which so confused the Weasel that he let the Bat go.
Some time afterward, on another flight, the Bat fell again to the ground, and another Weasel caught him. On perceiving that the Weasel thought he was a mouse, the Bat contended that he had wings and therefore was not a mouse, and was again allowed to go free.
THE FOX AND THE GOAT
A FOX who had fallen into a deep well was casting about to find how he should get out again. At length a Goat came to the place, and seeing Reynard, asked whether the water was good, and if there was plenty.
Hiding the real danger in his case, the Fox replied: “The best in the world, and so much of it that it cannot be exhausted. Come down and see.” Whereupon the Goat jumped down without more ado. Upon this the crafty Fox jumped upon her horns and nimbly leaped out, remarking to the deluded Goat, “If you had brains to match your beard, you would have looked before you leaped.”
THE WOMAN AND HER HEN
A THRIFTY Woman kept a Hen that could be depended on to lay an egg every morning. The watchful Woman thought within herself, “If I were to double my Hen’s allowance of barley, she would lay twice a day.” So she tried her plan, and the Hen became so fat and sleek that she left off laying at all.
Thrift sometimes overreaches, and figures are not always facts.
THE DOG IN THE MANGER
A DOG once made his bed in a manger and lay there snarling and growling at whoever came by. The Oxen coming for their provender said: “What a miserable cur! neither to eat the grain himself nor to let any one else eat it!”
THE MOUSE, THE FROG, AND THE HAWK
A MOUSE in an evil day made the acquaintance of a Frog, and together they set off on their travels. On pretense of affection and of keeping his companion safe from harm, the Frog tied the Mouse’s forefoot to his own hind leg, and thus they proceeded. It worked well enough till they came to some water, and the Frog, bidding the Mouse to have good courage, plunged in and began to swim across. They were barely halfway when the Frog took a sudden plunge to the bottom, dragging the unfortunate Mouse after him. But the struggling of the Mouse made so great a commotion in the water that it attracted the attention of a Hawk, who, pouncing down and bearing away the Mouse, carried the Frog also.
Alliances that are ill-matched generally end in disaster; and the one who compasses the destruction of his neighbor is often caught in his own snare.