Aesop's Fables (Penguin Classics) - Aesop [35]
CLXXXVII
The Wolf and the Shepherds
A wolf looked into a hut and saw some shepherds enjoying a joint of mutton in great comfort.
“If they had caught me enjoying such a supper,” he remarked, “there’d certainly be hell to pay.”
Men often tend to condemn others for the very things that they themselves practice.
CLXXXIII
The Ass in the Lion’s Skin
After putting on a lion’s skin, an ass roamed about and amused himself by frightening all the foolish animals he encountered. Upon meeting a fox, he tried to scare him as well, but once Reynard heard his voice, he said, “I would’ve been frightened, too, but your braying gave you away.”
Those who assume a character not suited to them generally betray themselves by overacting.
CLXXXVIX
The Swallow in Chancery
A swallow built her nest under the eaves of a court of justice, and before her young ones could fly, a serpent slid out of his hole and ate them all up. When the poor bird returned to her nest and found it empty, she began to wail in a most pitiful way. However, a neighbor sought to comfort her by remarking that she was not the first bird who had lost her young.
“True,” she replied, “but it is not only my little ones whom I mourn, but the fact that I was wronged in the very place to which the injured fly for justice.”
CXC
The Raven and the Swan
A raven was jealous of a swan’s white feathers, and he thought that her beauty was due to the water in which she lived. Therefore, he deserted the altars, where he used to find his livelihood, and flew to the ponds and streams. After arriving, he plumed himself and washed his coat, but it was all in vain. His feathers remained as black as ever, and he himself perished because he could not find his customary food.
Change of scene cannot bring about a change of nature.
CXCI
The Wild Boar and the Fox
A wild boar was whetting his tusks against a tree when a fox came by and asked him why he was doing this. “I see no reason,” he remarked. “There are no hunters nor hounds in sight. In fact, at the moment I can’t see any danger at all.”
“True,” responded the boar, “but when that danger does arise, I’ll have other things on my mind than sharpening my weapons.”
It is too late to whet the sword when the trumpet sounds to draw it.
CXCII
The Stag at the Pool
One summer’s day a stag came to a pool to quench his thirst, and as he stood drinking, he saw his form reflected in the mirror. “How beautiful and strong my horns are!” he remarked. “But how weak and unseemly these feet of mine are!”
While he was examining and criticizing the features that nature had given him, the hunters and hounds drew near. The feet, with which he had found so much fault, soon carried him out of reach of his pursuers, but the horns, which were his pride and joy, became entangled in a thicket and kept him from escaping so that the hunters caught up with him and took his life.
We tend to underestimate the small things about ourselves that are often our most valuable attributes.
CXCIII
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Thinking that it would be easier to earn a living if he disguised himself, a wolf put on a sheep’s skin. Soon afterward he managed to slip into a flock of sheep and graze among them so that even the shepherd was fooled by his disguise. When night came and the fold was closed, the wolf was locked in with the sheep. But the shepherd needed something for his supper, and as he went to fetch one of the sheep, he mistook the wolf for one of them and killed him on the spot.
CXCIV
The Boasting Traveler
A man who had traveled widely in foreign countries returned home and was always bragging and boasting about the great feats he had performed in different places. Among other things he said that, when he was in Rhodes, he had made such an extraordinary leap that no man could come close to it, and he had witnesses there to prove it.
“Possibly,” said one of his listeners, “but if this is true, there is no need of witnesses. Just suppose this is Rhodes and try