Fable listing
to the fables 51-100
Index
The Eagle and the Fox
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.
The Eagle, the Jackdaw and the
Shepherd
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.«
The Eagle and the Beetle
As he was being chased by an Eagle, the hare ran to the dung Beetle,
begging the Beetle to save him. The Beetle implored the Eagle to Respect
the hare's asylum, solemnly compelling him by the sacred name of Zeus
and pleading with the Eagle not to disregard him simply because of his
small size. But the Eagle brushed the Beetle aside with a flick of his
Wing and grabbed the hare, tearing him to pieces and devouring him.
The beetle was enraged and flew off together with the Eagle to find the
Nest in which the Eagle kept his Eggs. After the Eagle was gone, the
Beetle smashed all the Eggs. When the Eagle came back, he was dreadfully
upset and looked for the Creature who had smashed the Eggs, intending to
tear him to pieces. When it was time for the Eagle to Nest again, he put
his Eggs in an even higher Place, but the Beetle flew all the way up to
the Nest, smashed the Eggs, and went away.
The Eagle grieved for his little ones and said that this must be the
result of some angry plot of Zeus to exterminate the Eagle race. When
thenext Season came,
the Eagle did not feel secure keeping the Eggs in
his Nest and instead went up to Olympus and placed the Eggs in Zeus's
Lap. The Eagle said to Zeus, »Twice my Eggs have been destroyed; this
Time, I am leaving them here under your protection.«
Whenthe Beetle found out what the Eagle had done, he stuffed himself
with dung and went straight up to Zeus and flew right into his Face. At
the sight of this filthy Creature, Zeus was startled and leaped to his
feet, forgetting that he held the Eagle's Eggs inside his Lap. As a
result, the Eggs were broken once again.
Zeus then learned of the wrong that had been done to the Beetle, and
when the Eagle returned, Zeus said to him, »It is only right that you
have lost your little ones,
since you mistreated the beetle!« The Beetle
said, »The Eagle treated me badly,
but he also acted very impiously
towards you, O Zeus! The Eagle did not fear to violate your sacred name,
and he killed the one who had taken refuge with me.
I will not cease
until I have punished the Eagle completely!«
Zeus did not want the race of Eagles to be wiped out, so he urged the
Beetle to relent. When his efforts to persuade the Beetle failed, Zeus
changed the breeding Season of the Eagles, so that it would take place
at a Time when the Beetles were not found above Ground.
The Hawk and the Nightingale
A Nightingale, sitting aloft upon an oak and singing according to his
wont, was seen by a Hawk who, being in need of food, swooped down and
seized him. The Nightingale, about to lose his life, earnestly begged
the Hawk to let him go, saying that he was not big enough to satisfy the
hunger of a Hawk who, if he wanted food, ought to pursue the larger
birds. The Hawk, interrupting him, said: »I should indeed have lost my
senses if I should let go food ready in my hand, for the sake of
pursuing birds which are not yet even within sight.«
The Athenian Debtor
In Athens, there was a man who had taken out a loan and was now being
asked by the creditor to pay back the money. At first he asked the
creditor to give him an extension, since he said he couldn't manage to
find the cash. But he could not get the creditor to agree, so he brought
the only pig that he had, a sow, and put it up for sale as the creditor
was looking on. A buyer approached and asked if the sow was a good
breeder. The man replied that she was indeed; in fact, her litters were
miraculous:
for the Mysteries she gave birth only to female piglets,
while for the Panathenaea Festival she gave birth only to males. When
the buyer was dumbfounded by this story, the creditor added, »That's
nothing! For the Festival of Dionysus, she gives birth to baby goats.«
The Goatherd and the wild Goats
A Goatherd, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some
Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own
for the night. The next day it snowed very hard, so that he could not
take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep
them in the fold. He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep
them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly in the hope of
enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own. When the thaw
set in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away
as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for
their ingratitude in leaving him, when during
the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd. One of
them, turning about, said to him: »That is the very reason why we are so
cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have
had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in
the same manner prefer them to ourselves.«
The Cat and the Birds
A Cat, hearing that the Birds in a certain aviary were ailing dressed
himself up as a physician, and, taking his cane and a bag of instruments
becoming his profession, went to call on them. He knocked at the door
and inquired of the inmates how they
all did, saying that if they were
ill, he would be happy to prescribe for them and cure them. They
replied, '»We are all very well, and shall continue so, if you will only
be good enough to go away, and leave us as we are.«
Aesop at the Shipyard
Aesop the storyteller had nothing in particular to do, so he strolled
into the workshop of some shipbuilders. The workers began to taunt
Aesop, provoking him to speak,
so Aesop replied with this old story.
»Once upon a time,« said Aesop, »there was only Chaos and Water. God
then wanted to make a new element emerge, Gaia, the Earth. So he ordered
the Earth to swallow the sea in three gulps. Earth did as she was
ordered: the first gulp caused the mountains to appear, and the second
gulp caused the plains to be revealed. And if she decides to take a
third gulp,« said Aesop, »that will be the end of all you shipbuilders
and your entire profession!«
The Fox and the Goat
A Fox one day fell into a deep well and could find no means of escape. A
Goat, overcome with thirst, came to the same well, and seeing the Fox,
inquired if the water was good. Concealing his sad plight under a merry
guise, the Fox indulged in a lavish praise of the water, saying it was
excellent beyond measure, and encouraging him to descend. The Goat,
mindful only of his thirst, thoughtlessly jumped down, but just as he
drank, the Fox informed him of the difficulty they were both in and
suggested
a scheme for their common escape. »If,« said he, »you will
place your forefeet upon the wall and bend your head, I will run up your
back and escape, and will help you out afterwards.« The Goat readily assented and the Fox leaped upon his back. Steadying
himself with the Goat's horns, he safely reached the mouth of the well
and made off as fast as he could. When the Goat upbraided him for
breaking his promise, he turned around and cried out, »You foolish old
fellow! If you had as many brains in your head as you have hairs in your
beard, you would never have gone down before you had inspected the way
up, nor have exposed yourself to dangers from which you had no means of
escape.«
The Fox and the Lion
When a Fox who had never yet seen a Lion, fell in with him by chance for
the first time in the forest, he was so frightened that he nearly died
with fear. On meeting him for the second time, he was still much
alarmed, but not to the same extent as at first. On seeing him the third
time, he so increased in boldness that he went up to him and commenced
afamiliar conversation with him.
The Fisherman Piping
A Fisherman skilled in music took his flute and his nets to the
seashore. Standing on
a projecting rock, he played several tunes in the
hope that the fish, attracted by hismelody, would of their own accord
dance into his net, which he had placed below. At last, having long
waited in vain, he laid aside his flute, and casting his net into the
sea, made an excellent haul of fish. When he saw them leaping about in
the net upon the rock he said: »O you most perverse creatures, when I
piped you would not dance, but now that I have ceased you do so
merrily.«
The Fox and the Leopard
The Fox and the Leopard disputed which was the more beautiful of the
two.
The Leopard exhibited one by one the various spots which decorated
his skin. But the Fox, interrupting him, said, »And how much more
beautiful than you am I, who am decorated, not in body, but in mind.«
The Fishermen
Some Fishermen were out trawling their nets. Perceiving them to be very
heavy,
they danced about for joy and supposed that they had taken a
large catch.
When they had dragged the nets to the shore they found but
few fish: the nets were full of sand and stones, and the men were beyond
measure cast down so much at the disappointment which had befallen them,
but because they had formed such very different expectations. One of
their company, an old man, said, »Let us cease lamenting, my mates, for,
as it seems to me, sorrow is always the twin sister of joy; and it was
only to be looked for that we, who just now were over-rejoiced, should
next have something to make us sad.«
The Ape boasting to the Fox about
his Ancestry
A Fox and a monkey were travelling along the same road. They passed
through
a cemetery, and the monkey said to the fox, »All these dead
people were the freedmen of my ancestors.« The Fox then said to the
monkey, »This is an opportune moment for you to tell such lies: not a
single one of the people entombed in this place can rise up and
refute what you say!«
The Fox and the Grapes
A famished Fox saw some clusters of ripe black grapes hanging from a
trellised vine. She resorted to all her tricks to get at them, but
wearied herself in vain, for she could not reach them. At last she
turned away, hiding her disappointment and saying:
»The Grapes are sour,
and not ripe as I thought.«
The Cat and the Cock
A Cat caught a Cock, and pondered how he might find a reasonable excuse
for eating him. He accused him of being a nuisance to men by crowing in
the nighttime and not permitting them to sleep. The Cock defended
himself by saying that he did this for the benefit of men, that they
might rise in time for their labors. The Cat replied, »Although you
abound in specious apologies, I shall not remain supperless«; and he
made a meal of him.
The Fox who had lost his Tail
A Fox caught in a trap escaped, but in so doing lost his tail.
Thereafter, feeling his life a burden. From the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed, he schemed
to convince all the other Foxes that being tailless was much more
attractive, thus making up for his own deprivation. He assembled a good
many Foxes and publicly advised them to cut off their tails, saying that
they would not only look much better without them, but that they would
get rid of the weight of the brush, which was a very great
inconvenience. One of them interrupting him said, »If you had not
yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus counsel us.«
The Fisherman and the little Fish
A Fisherman who lived on the produce of his nets, one day caught a
single small Fish as the result of his day's labor. The Fish, panting
convulsively, thus entreated for his life: »O Sir, what good can I be to
you, and how little am I worth? I am not yet come to my full size. Pray
spare my life, and put me back into the sea. I shall soon become
a large
fish fit for the tables of the rich, and then you can catch me again,
and make a handsome profit of me.« The Fisherman replied, »I should
indeed be a very simple fellow if, for the chance of a greater uncertain
profit, I were to forego my present certain gain.«
The Fox and the Bramble
A Fox was mounting a hedge when he lost his footing and caught hold of a
Bramble to save himself. Having pricked and grievously tom the soles of
his feet, he accused the Bramble because, when he had fled to her for
assistance, she had used him worse than the hedge itself. The Bramble,
interrupting him, said, »But you really must have been out of your
senses to fasten yourself on me, who am myself always accustomed to
fasten upon others.«
The Fox and the Crocodile
The fox and the crocodile were disputing about their pedigrees. The
crocodile was proudly enumerating the eminent qualities of his
ancestors, and when he said that they had been the highest ranking
athletic officials, the fox remarked, »My dear Sir, even if you had not
mentioned it, the mere condition of your skin is evidence enough that
you have suffered long years of athletic sports out of doors in the
sun!«
The Fishermen and the Tuna
Some Fishermen had gone out fishing, and when they had struggled for a
long time but had not managed to catch anything, they became very
downcast and prepared to turn back. All of a sudden a tuna who was being
chased by some bigger fish leaped into their boat. The men seized the
tuna and went home rejoicing.
The Fox and the Woodcutter
A Fox, running before the hounds, came across a Woodcutter felling an
oak and begged him to show him a safe hiding-place. The Woodcutter
advised him to take shelter in his own hut, so the Fox crept in and hid
himself in a corner. The huntsman soon came up with his hounds and
inquired of the Woodcutter if he had seen the Fox. He declared that he
had not seen him, and yet pointed, all the time he was speaking, to the
hut where the Fox lay hidden. The huntsman took no notice of the signs,
but believing his word, hastened forward in the chase. As soon as they
were well away, the Fox departed without taking any notice of the
Woodcutter: whereon he called to him and reproached him, saying, »You
ungrateful fellow, you owe your life
to me, and yet you leave me without
a word of thanks.« The Fox replied, »Indeed,
I should have thanked you
fervently if your deeds had been as good as your words,
and if your
hands had not been traitors to your speech.«
The Gamecocks and the Partridge
A Man had two Gamecocks in his poultry-yard. One day by chance he found
a tame Partridge for sale. He purchased it and brought it home to be
reared with his Gamecocks. When the Partridge was put into the
poultry-yard, they struck at it and followed it about, so that the
Partridge became grievously troubled and supposed that he was thus
evilly treated because he was a stranger. Not long afterwards he saw the
Cocks fighting together and not separating before one had well beaten
the other.
He then said to himself, »I shall no longer distress myself
at being struck at by these Gamecocks, when I see that they cannot even
refrain from quarreling with each other.«
The Swollen Fox
A very hungry Fox, seeing some bread and meat left by shepherds in the
hollow of an oak, crept into the hole and made a hearty meal. When he
finished, he was so full that he was not able to get out, and began to
groan and lament his fate. Another Fox passing by heard his cries, and
coming up, inquired the cause of his complaining.
On learning what had
happened, he said to him, »Ah, you will have to remain there,
my friend,
until you become such as you were when you crept in, and then you will
easily get out.«
The Halcyon
The Halcyon is a bird who is fond of deserted places and who always
lives on the sea They say that she makes her nest on the rocky cliffs of
the coast in order to protect herself from human hunters. So when a
certain halcyon was about to lay her eggs,
she went to a promontory and
found a rock jutting out towards the sea and decided to make her nest
there. But when she went to look for food, it happened that the sea
swelled under the blustering wind and reached as high as the halcyon's
home and flooded the nest, killing her chicks. When the halcyon returned
and saw what had happened, she said, »What a fool I was to have
protected myself against a plot hatched on the land by taking refuge
here on the sea, when it is the sea that has utterly betrayed me!«
A Fisherman
A Fisherman was fishing in a river. He stretched out his nets and
covered the river's stream from one side to the other. He then tied a
stone to a piece of rope and struck the water with it so that the fish
would flee and fall unwittingly into the net. Someone who lived in that
neighbourhood saw what the man was doing and began to complain, because
by agitating the water in this way he deprived them of clear water to
drink. The fisherman answered, »But if I do not disturb the river, I
will have no choice but to die of hunger!«
The Fox and the Mask
A Fox entered the house of an actor and, rummaging through all his
properties,
came upon a Mask, an admirable imitation of a human head. He
placed his paws on it and said, »What a beautiful head! Yet it is of no
value, as it entirely lacks brains.«
The Cheater
A poor man had fallen sick, so he prayed to the gods and vowed »If I
recover my health, I will sacrifice a hundred oxen in your honour.« The
gods wanted to test whether the man was telling the truth, so they
granted his prayer and the man recovered from his sickness. When the man
was well again, he did not have any oxen that he could sacrifice, so he
made a hundred oxen out of dough and burned them on the altar, saying,
»O supernatural beings, behold, I have fulfilled my vow.« The gods
wanted to pay him back for having tricked them, so they stood at the
head of his bed in a dream and said, »Go to the beach, such a place, and
you will find there a hundred
talents of gold.« The man woke up, filled with joy, and went running
down to the designated
place to look for the gold. When he got there, he fell into the hands of
pirates and was taken captive. The man pleaded with the pirates and
said, »Just let me go and
I will give you a thousand talents of gold!«
The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller
A Charcoal-Burner carried on his trade in his own house. One day he met
a friend,
a Fuller, and entreated him to come and live with him, saying
that they should be far better neighbors and that their housekeeping
expenses would be lessened. The Fuller replied: »The arrangement is
impossible as far as I am concerned, for whatever
I should whiten, you
would immediately blacken again with your charcoal.«
The Shipwrecked Man
A wealthy Athenian was making a sea voyage with some companions. A
terrible storm blew up and the ship capsized. All the other passengers
started to swim, but the Athenian kept praying to Athena, making all
kinds of promises if only she would save him. Then one of the other
shipwrecked passengers swam past him and said, »While you pray to
Athena, start moving your arms!«
The Man and his two Sweethearts
A middle-aged Man, whose hair had begun to turn gray, courted two women
at the same time. One of them was young, and the other well advanced in
years. The elder woman, ashamed to be courted by a man younger than
herself, made a point, whenever her admirer visited her, to pull out
some portion of his black hairs.
The younger, on the contrary, not
wishing to become the wife of an old man,
was equally zealous in
removing every gray hair she could find. Thus it came to pass that
between them both he very soon found that he had not a hair left on his
head.
The Manslayer
A Man committed a murder, and was pursued by the relations of the man
whom he murdered. On his reaching the river Nile he saw a Lion on its
bank and being fearfully afraid, climbed up a tree. He found a serpent
in the upper branches of the tree, and again being greatly alarmed, he
threw himself into the river, where a crocodile caught him and ate him.
Thus the earth, the air, and the water alike refused shelter to a
murderer.
The Boasting Traveler
A Man who had traveled in foreign lands boasted very much, on returning
to his own country, of the many wonderful and heroic feats he had
performed in the different places he had visited. Among other things, he
said that when he was at Rhodes he had leaped to such a distance that no
man of his day could leap anywhere near him as to that, there were in
Rhodes many persons who saw him do it and whom he could call as
witnesses. One of the bystanders interrupted him, saying: »Now, my good
man,
if this be all true there is no need of witnesses. Suppose this to
be Rhodes, and leap for us.«
Impossible Promises
A poor man had taken ill and was in very bad shape. When the doctors had
given up hope, since he didn't have anything he could pay with, the man
called upon the gods and vowed »O you great and radiant divinities, if
you restore my health, I will bring a hundred oxen to you as a
sacrifice.« His wife then asked him, »Where are you going to get a
hundred oxen from, if you get well?« The man said to her, »And do you
suppose I am going to ever get out of this bed so that the gods will be
able to demand payment?«
The Man and the Satyr
A Man and a Satyr once drank together in token of a bond of alliance
being formed between them. One very cold wintry day, as they talked, the
Man put his fingers to his mouth and blew on them. When the Satyr asked
the reason for this, he told him that he did it to warm his hands
because they were so cold. Later on in the day they sat down to eat, and
the food prepared was quite scalding. The Man raised one of the dishes a
little towards his mouth and blew in it. When the Satyr again inquired
the reason, he said that he did it to cool the meat, which was too hot.
»I can no longer consider you as a friend,« said the Satyr, »a fellow
who with the same breath blows hot and cold.«
The Man and the Oracle
A wicked Man had gone to visit Apollo in Delphi, wanting to test the
god. He took
a sparrow in one hand, concealing it with his cloak, and
then stood by the oracle and inquired of the god, »Apollo, the thing
that I am carrying in my hand: is it living, or is it dead?« The man
planned to show the sparrow alive if the god said 'dead,' and if the god
said 'living,' he would strangle the sparrow immediately and present the
dead bird. But the god recognized the man's evil purpose, and said,
»Listen, do whatever you want: it is entirely up to you whether you will
show me something living or dead!«
The Blind Man and the Whelp
A Blind Man was accustomed to distinguishing different animals by
touching them with his hands. The whelp of a Wolf was brought him, with
a request that he would feel it, and say what it was. He felt it, and
being in doubt, said: »I do not quite know whether it is the cub of a
Fox, or the whelp of a Wolf, but this I know full well. It would not be
safe to admit him to the sheepfold.«
The Ploughman and the Wolf
A Plowman loosed his oxen from the yoke and led them away to be watered.
Meanwhile, a hungry wolf, who was looking for something to eat,
discovered the plow and started to lick the yoke straps where the oxen
had been tied. The unsuspecting wolf slowly but surely slipped his neck
beneath the yoke, until he was not able to pull it back out. He then
started dragging the plow along the furrow. When the plowman came back
and saw what had happened, he said, »O you wicked creature, if only you
would give up your life of theft and crime in order to devote yourself
entirely to farming!«
The Swallow and the other Birds
Some Birds who had flocked together saw a man sowing flax seed but they
thought nothing of it. The swallow, however, understood what this meant.
She called an assembly of the birds and explained that this was an
altogether dangerous situation, but the other birds just laughed at her.
When the flax seed sprouted, the swallow warned the birds again, »This
is something dangerous; let's go and pull it up. If it is allowed to
grow, people will make it into nets and we will not able to escape the
traps that they devise.« The birds mocked the swallow's words and
scorned her advice.
So the swallow went to the people and began to make
her nest only under the roofs of their houses. Meanwhile, the other
birds refused to heed the swallow's warnings,
so now they are constantly being trapped in nets and snares.
The Astronomer
An Astronomer used to go out at night to observe the stars. One evening,
as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the
sky,
he fell accidentally into a deep well. While he lamented and
bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor
ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: »Hark ye, old
fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in heaven,
do you not
manage to see what is on earth?«
The Fox, the Lamb and the Dog
A Fox entered a flock of sheep, seized one of the suckling lambs and
pretended to kiss it. A dog asked the fox what she was doing. »I'm
hugging and playing with the lamb,« said the fox. The dog replied,
»Well, you better let go of that lamb, or I'll play the dogs' game with
you!«
The Farmer and his Sons
A Father, being on the point of death, wished to be sure that his sons
would give the same attention to his farm as he himself had given it. He
called them to his bedside and said, »My sons, there is a great treasure
hid in one of my vineyards.« The sons, after his death, took their
spades and mattocks and carefully dug over every portion of their land.
They found no treasure, but the vines repaid their labor by an
extraordinary and superabundant crop.
The two Frogs
To Frogs dwelt in the same pool. When the pool dried up under the
summer's heat, they left it and set out together for another home. As
they went along they chanced to pass a deep well, amply supplied with
water, and when they saw it, one of the Frogs said to the other, »Let us
descend and make our abode in this well: it will furnish us with shelter
and food.« The other replied with greater caution, »But suppose the
water should fail us. How can we get out again from so great a depth?«
The Frogs asking for a King
The Frogs, grieved at having no established Ruler, sent ambassadors to
Jupiter entreating for a King. Perceiving their simplicity, he cast down
a huge log into the lake. The Frogs were terrified at the splash
occasioned by its fall and hid themselves in the depths of the pool. But
as soon as they realized that the huge log was motionless, they swam
again to the top of the water, dismissed their fears, climbed up, and
began squatting on it in contempt. After some time they began to think
themselves ill-treated in the appointment of so inert a Ruler, and sent
a second deputation to Jupiter to pray that he would set over them
another sovereign. He then gave them an Eel to govern them. When the
Frogs discovered his easy good nature, they sent yet a third time to Jupiter to beg him to choose for them still another King. Jupiter,
displeased with all their complaints, sent a Heron, who preyed upon the Frogs day by day till
there were none left to croak upon the lake.
The Oxen and the Axle-Trees
A heavy Wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team of Oxen.
The Axle-Trees groaned and creaked terribly; whereupon the Oxen, turning
round, thus addressed the wheels: »Hullo there! Why do you make so much
noise? We bear all the labor, and we, not you, ought to cry out.«
The North Wind and the Sun
The North Wind and the Sun disputed as to which was the most powerful,
and agreed that he should be declared the victor who could first strip a
wayfaring man of his clothes. The North Wind first tried his power and
blew with all his might, but the keener his blasts, the closer the
Traveler wrapped his cloak around him, until at last, resigning all hope
of victory, the Wind called upon the Sun to see what he could do. The
Sun suddenly shone out with all his warmth. The Traveler no sooner felt
his genial rays than he took off one garment after another, and at last,
fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in
his path. Persuasion is better than Force.
The Boy with the Stomach-Ache
A crowd of country folk had sacrificed a bull to the goddess Demeter,
scattering leaves over the wide threshing-floor, while the tables were
covered with platters
of meat and jars brimming with wine. There was a
boy who ate greedily and stuffed himself full with beef tripe. On the
way home, he was seized by a stomach ache. Collapsing into his mother's
tender embrace, he vomited, and said, »Woe is me,
I'm going to die!
Mother, all my guts are falling out!« The mother replied, »Be brave and
throw it all up; don't hold anything back. Those are not your own guts
you are vomiting: they are the bull's!«
The Nightingale and the Bat
A Nightingale was hanging in a cage in a window. A bat flew up and
asked the nightingale why she sang at night but was silent during the
day. The nightingale said that she had her reasons: it was while she had
been singing once during the day that she had been captured. This had
taught her
a lesson, and she had vowed that she would sing only at night. The
bat remarked, »But there is no need for that now,
when it won't do you
any good: you should have been on your guard before you were captured!«
The Herdsman and the lost Bull
A Herdsman tending his flock in a forest lost a Bull-calf from the fold.
After a long and fruitless search, he made a vow that, if he could only
discover the thief who had stolen the Calf, he would offer a lamb in
sacrifice to Hermes, Pan, and the Guardian Deities ofthe forest. Not
long afterwards, as he ascended a small hillock, he saw at its foot a
Lion feeding on the Calf. Terrified at the sight, he lifted his eyes and
his hands to heaven, and said: »Just now I vowed to offer a lamb to the
Guardian Deities of the forest if I could only find out who had robbed
me; but now that I have discovered ththief, I would willingly add a
full-grown Bull to the Calf I have lost, if I may only secure my own
escape from him in safety.«
The Cat and Venus
A Cat fell in love with a handsome young man, and entreated Venus to
change her into the form of a woman. Venus consented to her request and
transformed her into
a beautiful damsel, so that the youth saw her and
loved her, and took her home as hi bride. While the two were reclining
in their chamber, Venus wishing to discover if the Cat in her change of
shape had also altered her habits of life, let down a mouse in the
middle of the room. The Cat, quite forgetting her present condition,
started up from the couch and pursued the mouse, wishing to eat it.
Venus was much disappointed and again caused her to return to her former
shape.
