Aesops Fables
Translated by George Fyler Townsend
The Birds, the Beasts, and the Bat
The Birds waged war with the Beasts, and each were by turns the conquerors.
A Bat, fearing the uncertain issues of the fight, always fought on the
side which he felt was the strongest. When peace was proclaimed, his deceitful
conduct was apparent to both combatants. Therefore being condemned by
each for his treachery, he was driven forth from the light of day, and
henceforth concealed himself in dark hiding-places, flying always alone
and at night.
The Spendthrift and the Swallow
A young man, a great spendthrift, had run through all his patrimony
and had but one good cloak left. One day he happened to see a Swallow,
which had appeared before its season, skimming along a pool and twittering
gaily. He supposed that summer had come, and went and sold his cloak.
Not many days later, winter set in again with renewed frost and cold.
When he found the unfortunate Swallow lifeless on the ground, he said,
“Unhappy bird! what have you done? By thus appearing before the springtime
you have not only killed yourself, but you have wrought my destruction
also.”
A Fox saw a Lion confined in a cage, and standing near him, bitterly
reviled him. The Lion said to the Fox, “It is not thou who revilest me;
but this mischance which has befallen me.”
An Owl, in her wisdom, counseled the Birds that when the acorn
first began to sprout, to pull it all up out of the ground and not allow
it to grow. She said acorns would produce mistletoe, from which an irremediable
poison, the bird- lime, would be extracted and by which they would be captured.
The Owl next advised them to pluck up the seed of the flax, which men had
sown, as it was a plant which boded no good to them. And, lastly, the Owl,
seeing an archer approach, predicted that this man, being on foot, would
contrive darts armed with feathers which would fly faster than the wings
of the Birds themselves. The Birds gave no credence to these warning words,
but considered the Owl to be beside herself and said that she was mad.
But afterwards, finding her words were true, they wondered at her knowledge
and deemed her to be the wisest of birds. Hence it is that when she appears
they look to her as knowing all things, while she no longer gives them
advice, but in solitude laments their past folly.
The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner
A Trumpeter, bravely leading on the soldiers, was captured by the
enemy. He cried out to his captors, “Pray spare me, and do not take my
life without cause or without inquiry. I have not slain a single man of
your troop. I have no arms, and carry nothing but this one brass trumpet.”
“That is the very reason for which you should be put to death,” they said;
“for, while you do not fight yourself, your trumpet stirs all the others
to battle.”
The Ass in the Lion’s Skin
An Ass, having put on the Lion’s skin, roamed about in the forest
and amused himself by frightening all the foolish animals he met in his
wanderings. At last coming upon 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 myself, if I had not heard your
bray.”
A Hare pounced upon by an eagle sobbed very much and uttered cries
like a child. A Sparrow upbraided her and said, “Where now is thy remarkable
swiftness of foot? Why were your feet so slow?” While the Sparrow was thus
speaking, a hawk suddenly seized him and killed him. The Hare was comforted
in her death, and expiring said, “Ah! you who so lately, when you supposed
yourself safe, exulted over my calamity, have now reason to deplore a similar
misfortune.”
A Flea thus questioned an Ox: “What ails you, that being so huge
and strong, you submit to the wrongs you receive from men and slave for
them day by day, while I, being so small a creature, mercilessly feed on
their flesh and drink their blood without stint?’ The Ox replied: “I
do not wish to be ungrateful, for I am loved and well cared for by men,
and they often pat my head and shoulders.” “Woe’s me!” said the flea;
“this very patting which you like, whenever it happens to me, brings with
it my inevitable destruction.”
All the Goods were once driven out by the Ills from that common
share which they each had in the affairs of mankind; for the Ills by reason
of their numbers had prevailed to possess the earth. The Goods wafted themselves
to heaven and asked for a righteous vengeance on their persecutors. They
entreated Jupiter that they might no longer be associated with the Ills,
as they had nothing in common and could not live together, but were engaged
in unceasing warfare; and that an indissoluble law might be laid down for
their future protection. Jupiter granted their request and decreed that
henceforth the Ills should visit the earth in company with each other,
but that the Goods should one by one enter the habitations of men. Hence
it arises that Ills abound, for they come not one by one, but in troops,
and by no means singly: while the Goods proceed from Jupiter, and are
given, not alike to all, but singly, and separately; and one by one to
those who are able to discern them.
A Dove shut up in a cage was boasting of the large number of young
ones which she had hatched. A Crow hearing her, said: “My good friend,
cease from this unseasonable boasting. The larger the number of your family,
the greater your cause of sorrow, in seeing them shut up in this prison-house.”
Mercury and the Workmen
A Workman, felling wood by the side of a river, let his axe drop
– by accident into a deep pool. Being thus deprived of the means of his
livelihood, he sat down on the bank and lamented his hard fate. Mercury
appeared and demanded the cause of his tears. After he told him his misfortune,
Mercury plunged into the stream, and, bringing up a golden axe, inquired
if that were the one he had lost. On his saying that it was not his, Mercury
disappeared beneath the water a second time, returned with a silver axe
in his hand, and again asked the Workman if it were his. When the Workman
said it was not, he dived into the pool for the third time and brought
up the axe that had been lost. The Workman claimed it and expressed his
joy at its recovery. Mercury, pleased with his honesty, gave him the golden
and silver axes in addition to his own. The Workman, on his return to
his house, related to his companions all that had happened. One of them
at once resolved to try and secure the same good fortune for himself.
He ran to the river and threw his axe on purpose into the pool at the
same place, and sat down on the bank to weep. Mercury appeared to him just
as he hoped he would; and having learned the cause of his grief, plunged
into the stream and brought up a golden axe, inquiring if he had lost it.
The Workman seized it greedily, and declared that truly it was the very
same axe that he had lost. Mercury, displeased at his knavery, not only
took away the golden axe, but refused to recover for him the axe he had
thrown into the pool.
The Eagle and the Jackdaw
An Eagle, flying down from his perch on a lofty rock, seized upon
a lamb and carried him aloft in his talons. A Jackdaw, who witnessed the
capture of the lamb, was stirred with envy and determined to emulate the
strength and flight of the Eagle. He flew around with a great whir of
his wings and settled upon a large ram, with the intention of carrying
him off, but his claws became entangled in the ram’s fleece and he was
not able to release himself, although he fluttered with his feathers as
much as he could. The shepherd, seeing what had happened, ran up and caught
him. He at once clipped the Jackdaw’s wings, and taking him home at night,
gave him to his children. On their saying, “Father, what kind of bird
is it?’ he replied, “To my certain knowledge he is a Daw; but he would
like you to think an Eagle.”
A Fox invited a Crane to supper and provided nothing for his entertainment
but some soup made of pulse, which was poured out into a broad flat stone
dish. The soup fell out of the long bill of the Crane at every mouthful,
and his vexation at not being able to eat afforded the Fox much amusement.
The Crane, in his turn, asked the Fox to sup with him, and set before
her a flagon with a long narrow mouth, so that he could easily insert his
neck and enjoy its contents at his leisure. The Fox, unable even to taste
it, met with a fitting requital, after the fashion of her own
hospitality.
Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva, and Momus
According to an ancient legend, the first man was made by Jupiter,
the first bull by Neptune, and the first house by Minerva. On the completion
of their labors, a dispute arose as to which had made the most perfect
work. They agreed to appoint Momus as judge, and to abide by his decision.
Momus, however, being very envious of the handicraft of each, found fault
with all. He first blamed the work of Neptune because he had not made
the horns of the bull below his eyes, so he might better see where to strike.
He then condemned the work of Jupiter, because he had not placed the heart
of man on the outside, that everyone might read the thoughts of the evil
disposed and take precautions against the intended mischief. And, lastly,
he inveighed against Minerva because she had not contrived iron wheels
in the foundation of her house, so its inhabitants might more easily remove
if a neighbor proved unpleasant. Jupiter, indignant at such inveterate
faultfinding, drove him from his office of judge, and expelled him from
the mansions of Olympus.
An Eagle and a Fox formed an intimate friendship and decided to live near each other. The Eagle built her nest in the branches of a tall tree, while the Fox crept into the underwood and there produced her young. Not long after they had agreed upon this plan, the Eagle, being in want of provision for her young ones, swooped down while the Fox was out, seized upon one of the little cubs, and feasted herself and her brood. The Fox on her return, discovered what had happened, but was less grieved for the death of her young than for her inability to avenge them. A just retribution, however, quickly fell upon the Eagle. While hovering near an altar, on which some villagers were sacrificing a goat, she suddenly seized a piece of the flesh, and carried it, along with a burning cinder, to her nest. A strong breeze soon fanned the spark into a flame, and the eaglets, as yet unfledged and helpless, were roasted in their nest and dropped down dead at the bottom of the tree. There, in the sight of the Eagle, the Fox gobbled them up.
Aesops Fables