Discussion Aesop's fables

[hierophant]

The Buffoon and the countryman

At a country fair there was a Buffoon who made all the people laugh by imitating the cries of various animals. He finished off by squeaking so like a pig that the spectators thought that he had a porker concealed about him. But a Countryman who stood by said: “Call that a pig’s squeak! Nothing like it. You give me till tomorrow and I will show you what it’s like.” The audience laughed, but next day, sure enough, the Countryman appeared on the stage, and putting his head down squealed so hideously that the spectators hissed and threw stones at him to make him stop. “You fools!” he cried. “See what you have been hissing,” and held up a little pig whose ear he had been pinching to make him utter the squeals.

People often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.







The Ant and the Chrysalis

An Ant nimbly running about in the sunshine in search of food came
across a Chrysalis that was very near its time of change. The
Chrysalis moved its tail, and thus attracted the attention of the Ant,
who then saw for the first time that it was alive. "Poor, pitiable
animal!" cried the Ant disdainfully. "What a sad fate is yours!
While I can run hither and thither, at my pleasure, and, if I wish,
ascend the tallest tree, you lie imprisoned here in your shell, with
power only to move a joint or two of your scaly tail." The Chrysalis
heard all this, but did not try to make any reply. A few days after,
when the Ant passed that way again, nothing but the shell remained.
Wondering what had become of its contents, he felt himself suddenly
shaded and fanned by the gorgeous wings of a beautiful Butterfly.
"Behold in me," said the Butterfly, "your much-pitied friend! Boast
now of your powers to run and climb as long as you can get me to
listen." So saying, the Butterfly rose in the air, and, borne along
and aloft on the summer breeze, was soon lost to the sight of the
Ant forever.


"Appearances are deceptive."







The Ass and the Old Shepherd


A SHEPHERD, watching his Ass feeding in a meadow, was alarmed all
of a sudden by the cries of the enemy. He appealed to the Ass to
fly with him, lest they should both be captured, but the animal
lazily replied, "Why should I, pray? Do you think it likely the
conqueror will place on me two sets of panniers?' "No," rejoined
the Shepherd. "Then," said the Ass, "as long as I carry the
panniers, what matters it to me whom I serve?'


In a change of government the poor change nothing
beyond the name of their master.






The Dancing Monkeys


A PRINCE had some Monkeys trained to dance. Being naturally
great mimics of men's actions, they showed themselves most apt
pupils, and when arrayed in their rich clothes and masks, they
danced as well as any of the courtiers. The spectacle was often
repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier,
bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and
threw them upon the stage. The Monkeys at the sight of the nuts
forgot their dancing and became (as indeed they were) Monkeys
instead of actors. Pulling off their masks and tearing their
robes, they fought with one another for the nuts. The dancing
spectacle thus came to an end amidst the laughter and ridicule of
the audience.


-"Not everything you see is what it appears to be."-





The Doe and the Lion


A DOE hard pressed by hunters sought refuge in a cave belonging
to a Lion. The Lion concealed himself on seeing her approach,
but when she was safe within the cave, sprang upon her and tore
her to pieces. "Woe is me," exclaimed the Doe, "who have escaped
from man, only to throw myself into the mouth of a wild beast?'


In avoiding one evil, care must be taken not to fall into
another.

The Dog and the Oyster A DOG, used to eating eggs, saw an Oyster and, opening his mouth to its widest extent, swallowed it down with the utmost relish, supposing it to be an egg. Soon afterwards suffering great pain in his stomach, he said, "I deserve all this torment, for my folly in thinking that everything round must be an egg." They who act without sufficient thought, will often fall into unsuspected danger.

 

[hierophant]

The Dogs and the Fox


SOME DOGS, finding the skin of a lion, began to tear it in pieces
with their teeth. A Fox, seeing them, said, "If this lion were
alive, you would soon find out that his claws were stronger than
your teeth."


It is easy to kick a man that is down.







The Dove and the Ant


An Ant, going to a river to drink, fell in, and was carried along in
the stream. A Dove pitied her condition, and threw into the river a
small bough, by means of which the Ant gained the shore. The Ant
afterward, seeing a man with a fowling-piece aiming at the Dove, stung
him in the foot sharply, and made him miss his aim, and so saved the
Dove's life.


"Little friends may prove great friends."






​

The Eagle and the Arrow An Eagle was soaring through the air when suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt itself wounded to death. Slowly it fluttered down to the earth, with its life-blood pouring out of it. Looking down upon the Arrow with which it had been pierced, it found that the shaft of the Arrow had been feathered with one of its own plumes. "Alas!" it cried, as it died, "We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction."​

 

[hierophant]

The Bundle of Sticks


An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him
to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to
bring in a faggot of sticks, and said to his eldest son: "Break
it." The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts was
unable to break the Bundle. The other sons also tried, but none
of them was successful. "Untie the faggots," said the father,
"and each of you take a stick." When they had done so, he called
out to them: "Now, break," and each stick was easily broken. "You
see my meaning," said their father.


Union gives strength.



The Boys and the Frogs


SOME BOYS, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the
water and began to pelt them with stones. They killed several of
them, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water,
cried out: "Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is death to
us."


-"One man's pleasure may be another's pain."-​