Aesop's Fables (Penguin Classics) - Aesop [33]
Advice without practical help leads nowhere.
CLXXVI
The Sick Hawk
A hawk, who had been very ill for a long time, said to his mother, “Don’t cry, Mother. Do me a favor and pray to the gods so that I may recover from this dreadful disease and pain.”
“Alas, child!” the mother said. “Which one of the gods do you think will pity you? Is there one whom you haven’t outraged by robbing the sacrifices placed at their altars?”
A deathbed repentance will not suffice to make amends to the errors of a lifetime.
CLXXVII
The Monkey and the Fishermen
A monkey was sitting high up in a tree when he saw some fishermen laying their nets in a river. No sooner did the men set their nets and retreat a short distance to eat something than the monkey came down from the tree, thinking that he would try his hand at the same sport. But in attempting to lay the nets, he got so entangled in them that he almost choked to death and was forced to cry out, “This serves me right! What business did I have meddling with such tackle like this when I don’t know the first thing about fishing?”
CLXXVIII
Venus and the Cat
There was once a cat who fell in love with a young man and prayed to Venus to change her into a girl, hoping to win his affections. The goddess felt compassion for the cat and transformed her into a fair damsel. As a result, the young man fell in love with the beautiful young woman and eventually took her home as his bride. When they were sitting in their room, Venus wanted to know whether she had changed the cat’s nature by changing her shape, and so she set a mouse down before her. Forgetting her human condition, the damsel jumped from her seat and pounced on the mouse as if she would have eaten it on the spot. Disturbed by such a horrendous act, the goddess immediately turned her back into a cat again.
Try as one may, it is impossible to deny one’s nature.
CLXXIX
The Three Tradesmen
Once there was a city expecting to be attacked, and accordingly, a meeting was called to discuss the best means to defend it. A bricklayer claimed that brick was the best way to fortify the city. A carpenter suggested that timber was better. Finally a currier stood up and said, “Sirs, when all is said and done, there is nothing in the world like leather.”
Every man for his trade.
CLXXX
The Ass’s Shadow
One hot summer’s day, a traveler hired an ass to carry him from Athens to Megara. At noon the sun’s heat was so scorching that he dismounted and wanted to relax under the ass’s shadow. But the driver of the ass claimed that he had equal rights to the spot and wanted to sit there, too.
“What!” cried the traveler. “Didn’t I hire the ass for the entire journey?”
“Yes,” answered the driver, “you hired the ass but not the ass’s shadow.”
While they were arguing and fighting for the place, the ass took to his heels and ran away.
In quarreling about the shadow of things we often lose the substance.
CLXXXI
The Eagle and the Beetle
Pursued by an eagle, a hare took refuge in the nest of a beetle, whom he begged to save him. The beetle felt compassion for the hare and pleaded with the eagle not to kill the poor creature. In the name of mighty Jupiter, the beetle requested that the eagle respect his intercession and the laws of hospitality even though he was nothing but a tiny insect. However, the eagle became furious and gave the beetle a flap with his wing. In cold blood he seized the hare with his enormous talons and devoured him right on the spot.
When the eagle flew away, the beetle followed him to find out where his nest was. Then he crawled in and rolled the eagle’s eggs out, one by one, breaking them in the process. Grieved and enraged to think that anyone would do such an audacious thing, the eagle built his next nest in a higher place. But there, too, the beetle managed to get to it and destroyed the eggs as he had done before.
The eagle was