A rich man once invited a number of his friends and
acquaintances to a banquet. His dog thought it
would be a good opportunity to invite another Dog,
a friend of his; so he went to him and said, “My
master is giving a feast: there’ll be a
fine spread, so come and dine with me to-night.”
The Dog thus invited came, and when he saw the preparations
being made in the kitchen he said to himself, “My
word, I’m in luck: I’ll take care
to eat enough to-night to last me two or three days.”
At the same time he wagged his tail briskly, by way
of showing his friend how delighted he was to have
been asked. But just then the Cook caught sight
of him, and, in his annoyance at seeing a strange Dog
in the kitchen, caught him up by the hind legs and
threw him out of the window. He had a nasty fall,
and limped away as quickly as he could, howling dismally.
Presently some other dogs met him, and said, “Well,
what sort of a dinner did you get?” To which
he replied, “I had a splendid time: the
wine was so good, and I drank so much of it, that I
really don’t remember how I got out of the house!”
Be shy of favours bestowed
at the expense of others.
THE MONKEY AS KING
At a gathering of all the animals the Monkey danced
and delighted them so much that they made him their
King. The Fox, however, was very much disgusted
at the promotion of the Monkey: so having one
day found a trap with a piece of meat in it, he took
the Monkey there and said to him, “Here is a
dainty morsel I have found, sire; I did not take it
myself, because I thought it ought to be reserved for
you, our King. Will you be pleased to accept
it?” The Monkey made at once for the meat and
got caught in the trap. Then he bitterly reproached
the Fox for leading him into danger; but the Fox only
laughed and said, “O Monkey, you call yourself
King of the Beasts and haven’t more sense than
to be taken in like that!”
THE THIEVES AND THE COCK
Some Thieves broke into a house, and found nothing
worth taking except a Cock, which they seized and
carried off with them. When they were preparing
their supper, one of them caught up the Cock, and was
about to wring his neck, when he cried out for mercy
and said, “Pray do not kill me: you will
find me a most useful bird, for I rouse honest men
to their work in the morning by my crowing.”
But the Thief replied with some heat, “Yes,
I know you do, making it still harder for us to get
a livelihood. Into the pot you go!”
THE FARMER AND FORTUNE
A Farmer was ploughing one day on his farm when he
turned up a pot of golden coins with his plough.
He was overjoyed at his discovery, and from that time
forth made an offering daily at the shrine of the
Goddess of the Earth. Fortune was displeased at
this, and came to him and said, “My man, why
do you give Earth the credit for the gift which I
bestowed upon you? You never thought of thanking
me for your good luck; but should you be unlucky enough
to lose what you have gained I know very well that
I, Fortune, should then come in for all the blame.”
Copyrights
Aesop's Fables; a new translation from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
