Aesop's Fables (Penguin Classics) - Aesop [4]
Look before you leap.
X
The Old Hound
An old hound had served his master extremely well in the field but had lost his strength over the years and now had many troubles. One day, while out hunting with his master, he encountered a wild boar and boldly seized the beast by the ear, but his teeth gave way, and the boar escaped. His master rushed to the scene and began giving the hound a good scolding and sound beating, but he stopped when the feeble dog looked up and said, “Spare your old servant, dear master! You know full well that neither my courage nor my will were at fault, but only my strength and my teeth, and these I have lost in your service.”
XI
The Ants and the Grasshopper
On a cold, frosty day the ants began dragging out some of the grain they had stored during the summer and began drying it. A grasshopper, half-dead with hunger, came by and asked the ants for a morsel to save his life.
“What did you do this past summer?” responded the ants.
“Oh,” said the grasshopper, “I kept myself busy by singing all day long and all night, too.”
“Well then,” remarked the ants, as they laughed and shut their storehouse, “since you kept yourself busy by singing all summer, you can do the same by dancing all winter.”
Idleness brings want.
XII
The Fawn and Her Mother
One day a fawn said to her mother, “You’re larger than a dog and swifter. You also have greater endurance and horns to defend yourself. Why is it then, Mother, that you’re so afraid of the hounds?”
She smiled and said, “I know all this full well, my child. But no sooner do I hear a dog bark than I feel faint and take off as fast as my heels can carry me.”
No argument, no matter how convincing, will give courage to a coward.
XIII
The Horse and the Groom
A dishonest groom used to steal and sell a horse’s oats and grain on a regular basis. He would, however, spend hours busily grooming and rubbing him down to make him appear in good condition. Naturally the horse resented this treatment and said, “If you really want me to look well, groom me less, and feed me more.”
XIV
The Mountain in Labor
Many years ago a mighty rumbling was heard from a mountain, which was said to be in labor. Thousands of people flocked from far and near to see what it would produce. After a long time of waiting in anxious expectation—out popped a mouse!
A magnificent and promising beginning often ends in a paltry performance.
XV
The Flies and the Honey Jar
After a jar of honey was knocked over in a kitchen, the flies were attracted by its sweet smell and began eating the honey. Indeed, they swarmed all over it and did not budge from the spot until they had devoured every drop. However, their feet had become so clogged that they could not fly away, no matter how much they tried. Stymied by their own voracious appetites, they cried out, “What foolish creatures we are! We’ve thrown away our lives just for the sake of a little pleasure.”
XVI
The Two Bags
According to ancient lore, every man is born into the world with two bags suspended from his neck—one in front and one behind, and both are full of faults. But the one in front is full of his neighbor’s faults; the one behind, full of his own. Consequently, men are blind to their own faults but never lose sight of their neighbor’s.
XVII
The Vain Crow
A crow, as vain and conceited as only a crow can be, picked up the feathers that some peacocks had shed and stuck them among his own. Then he scoffed at his old companions and joined a flock of beautiful peacocks. After introducing himself with great self-confidence, the crow was immediately recognized for the intruder he was, and the peacocks stripped him of his borrowed plumes. Moreover, they battered