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Aesop's Fables Episode 12 · Aesop's Fables

• 0:00
  The peacock and the magpie. The birds once met together to choose a king,
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  and among others. The peacock was a candidate. Spreading his showy tale
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  and stalking up and down with affected grandeur. He caught the eyes of the
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  silly multitude by his brilliant appearance, and was elected with acclamation. The magpie
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  then stepped forth into the midst of the assembly, and thus addressed the new
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  king. May it please your majesty elect to permit a humbler admirer to propose
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  a question. As our king, we put our lives and fortunes in your
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  hands. If therefore the eagle, the vulture, and the kite should make
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  a descent upon us, what means would you take for our defense? This
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  pithy question opened the eyes of the birds to the weakness of their choice,
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  and they canceled the election. The two Goats. Two goats started at the
• 1:03
  same moment from opposite ends to cross a rude bridge that was only wide enough
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  for one to cross at a time. Meeting in the middle of the bridge,
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  neither would give way to the other. They locked horns and fought for
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  the right of way until they both fell into the torrent below, and were
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  drowned. The dove and the ant. An ant went to the bank of
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  a river to quench its thirst, and, being carried away by the rush
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  of the stream, was on the point of being drowned. A dove sitting
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  on a tree overhanging the water, plucked the leaf and let it fall into
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  the stream close to her. The ant, climbing on it, floated in
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  safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards, a bird catcher came close and stood
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  under the tree and laid his lime twigs for the dove, which sat in
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  the branches. The air, perceiving his design, stung him in the foot.
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  He suddenly threw down the twigs, and thereupon made the dove take wing.
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  The grateful heart will always find opportunities to show its gratitude. The eagle
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  and the beetle. The eagle and the beetle were at enmity together, and
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  they destroyed one another's nests. The eagle gave the first provocation is seizing upon
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  and in eating the young ones of the beetle. The beetle got by stealth
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  at the eagle's eggs and rolled them out of the nest and follow the eagle
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  even into the presence of Jupiter on the eagle making his complaint, Jupiter ordered
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  him to make his nest in his lap. And while Jupiter had the eggs
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  in his lap, the beetle came flying about him, and Jupiter, rising
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  up unawares to drive him away from his head, threw down the eggs and
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  broke them. The week often revenge themselves on those who use them ill,
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  even though they be the more powerful. The mule, a mule frolicsome from
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  want of work and from overmuch corn, galloped about in a very extravagant manner,
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  and said to himself, my father surely was a high mettled racer,
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  and I am his own child in speed and spirit. On the next day,
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  being driven a long journey and feeling very weary, he exclaimed, in
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  a disconsolate tone, I must have made a mistake. My father, after
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  all, could have been only an ass The cat, the weasel, and
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  the rabbit. While a rabbit was absent from his hole one day, a
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  weasel took possession of it. On the rabbit's return, seeing the weasels know
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  sticking out, he said, you must leave this hole immediately. There is
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  only room for one, and it has always belonged to me, and my
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  father's before me. The more reason that you should give it up now,
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  said the weasel, and leave its possession to me. As they could not
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  settle the dispute, they agreed to leave the question of ownership to a wise
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  old cat, to whom they went without more. Ado, I am deaf,
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  said the cat, put your noses close to my ears. No sooner
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  had they done so than she clapped a paw upon each of them and killed
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  them both. These strong are apt to settle all questions by the rule of
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  might. The rat and the frog. A rat, in an evil day
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  made acquaintance with a frog, and they set off on their travels together.
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  The frog, on pretense of great affection and of keeping his companion out of
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  harm's way, tied the rat's foot to his own hind leg, and thus
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  they proceeded for some distance by land. Presently they came to some water,
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  and the frog, bidding the rat have good courage, began to swim across.
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  They had, scarcely, however, arrived midway when the frog took a
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  sudden plunge to the bottom, dragging the unfortunate rat after him. But the
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  struggling and floundering of the rat made so great a commotion in the water that
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  it attracted the attention of a kite, who, pouncing down and bearing off
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  the rat, carried away the frog at the same time in his train.
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  Inconsiderate and ill matched alliances generally end in ruin, and the man who compasses
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  the destruction of his neighbor is often caught in his own snare. The widow
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  and the sheep. There was a certain widow who had an only sheep,
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  and, wishing to make the most of his wool, she sheared him so
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  closely that she cut his skin as well as his fleece. The sheep,
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  smarting under this treatment, cried out, why do you torture me? Thus?
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  What will my blood add to the weight of the wool? If you
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  want my flesh name, send for the butcher, who will put me out
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  of my misery at once. But if you want my fleece, send for
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  the shearer who will clip my wool without drawing my blood. Economy may be
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  carried too far. The man bitten by a dog. A man who had
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  been bitten by a dog was going about, asking who could cure him.
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  One that met him said, sir, if you would be cured. Take
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  a bit of bread and dip it into the blood of the wound, and
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  give it to the dog that bit you. The man smiled and said,
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  if I were to follow your advice, I would be bitten by all the
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  dogs in the city. He who proclaims himself ready to buy up his enemies
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  will never want a supply of them. The Horse and the Wolf. A
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  wolf saw a horse grazing in a field. Putting on a grave air,
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  he approached him and said, sir, you must be very ill. I
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  have some skill as a physician, and if you will tell me where your
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  ailment is, I shall be glad to be of service. Said the horse.
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  If you will examine my foot, you will find what ails me.
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  But as the wily wolf approached him with a kick, he sent him flying
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  into the air. The goatherd and the Goats. It was a stormy day
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  and the snow was falling fast when a goatherd drove his goats, all white
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  with snow, into a desert cave for shelter. There he found that a
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  herd of wild goats, more numerous and larger than his own, had already
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  taken possession. So, thinking to secure them all. He left his own
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  goats to take care of themselves, and through the branches which he had brought
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  for them, to the wild goats to browse on. But when the weather
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  cleared up, he found his own goats had perished from hunger, while the
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  wild goats were off and away to the hills and woods. So the goatherd
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  returned a laughing stock to his neighbors, having failed to gain the wild goats
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  and having lost his own. Those who neglect their old friends for the sake
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  of new ones are rightly served if they lose both. The goose with the
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  golden eggs. A certain man had the good fortune to possess a goose that
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  laid a golden egg every day. But dissatisfied with so slow an income,
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  and thinking to seize the whole treasure at once, he killed the goose,
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  and cutting her open, found her just what any other goose would be much
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  once more, and loses all. The old woman and the wine jar.
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  An old woman found an empty jar which had lately been full of prime old
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  wine, and which still retained the fragrance smell of its former contents. She
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  greedily placed it several times to her nose, and drawing it backwards and forwards,
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  said, oh, most delicious, How nice must the wine itself have
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  been, when it leaves behind in every vessel which contained it, so sweet
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  a perfume. The memory of a good deed lives the ass carrying soul.
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  A certain huckster who kept an ass, hearing that salt was to be had
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  cheap at the sea side, drove his ass thither to buy some. Having
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  loaded the beast as much as he could bear, he was driving him home
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  when, as they were passing a slippery ledge of rock, the ass fell
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  into the stream below, and the salt being melted, the ass was relieved
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  of his burden, and, having gained the bank with ease, pursued his
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  journey onward, light in body and in spirit. The huckster soon afterwards set
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  off for the seashore for some more salt, and loaded the ass, if
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  possible, yet more heavily than before. On their return, as they crossed
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  the stream into which he had formerly fallen, the ass fell down on purpose,
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  and by dissolving the salt was again released from his load. The master,
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  provoked at the loss, and thinking how he might cure him this trick,
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  on his next attorney to the coast freighted the beast with a load of
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  sponges. When they arrived at the same stream as before, the ass was
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  at his old tricks again and rolled himself into the water. But he found
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  to his cost as he proceeded homeward that instead of lightening his burden, he
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  had more than doubled its weight. The same measures will not suit all circumstances.
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  The gnat and the bull. A gnat that had been buzzing about the
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  head of a bull at length, settling himself down upon his horn, begged
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  his pardon for in commoding him. But if says he my weight at all
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  inconveniences you pray, say so, and I will be off in a moment.
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  Oh, never trouble your head about, that says the bull, For
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  tis all one to me, whether you go or stay. And to say
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  the truth, I did not know you were there. The smaller the mind,
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  the greater the conceit. The lion and the gnat. As a gnat
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  was buzzing around a lion, the lion said to him, how dare you
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  approach me near? Be off, or I will kill you with the least
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  stroke of my paw. The gnat, knowing the advantage of his small size
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  and his alertness, immediately challenged the boaster to combat, and, alighting first
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  upon his nose and then upon his tail, made the lion so furious that
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  he injured himself grievously with his paws. As the gnat flew away, he
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  boasted of his own prowess in thus defeating the king of beasts without the slightest
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  injury to himself. But in his carelessness, he flew directly into a spider's
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  web, and the spider instantly seized and killed him. The lion, the
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  ass, and the fox hunting. The lion, the ass, and the
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  fox formed a party to go out hunting. They took a large booty,
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  and when the sport was ended, bethought themselves of having a hearty meal.
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  The lion bade the ass allot to spoil, so dividing it into three equal
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  parts. The ass begged his friends to make their choice, at which the
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  lion, in great indignation, fell upon the ass and tore him to pieces.
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  He then bade the fox make a division, who, gathering the hole
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  into one great heap, reserved but the smallest might for himself. Ah friend
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  says the lion, who taught you to make so equitable a division. I
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  wanted no other lesson, replied the fox, than the ass's fate better be
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  wise by misfortunes of others than by your own. The dog whose ears were
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  cropped A dog complained of the cruelty of her master in cutting off her ears,
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  and was so ashamed of her appearance that she resolved to stay in her
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  kennel with her family. A friendly hunting dog said to her, if you
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  had been peaceful and not always fighting, you would have saved your ears and
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  your good looks. If you will fight, it is a kindness to crop
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  your ears, that they may not give your enemy the advantage. The wind
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  and the sun A dispute once arose between the wind and the sun, which
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  was the stronger of the two, and they agreed to settle the point upon
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  this issue that whichever of the two soonest made a traveler take off his cloak
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  should be accounted. The more powerful the wind began and blew with all his
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  might and mane a blast cold and fierce as a Thracian's storm. But the
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  stronger he blew, the closer the traveler wrapped his cloak around him, and
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  the tighter he grasped it with his hands, then broke out the sun with
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  his welcome beams. He dispersed the vapor and the cold. The traveler felt
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  the genial warmth, and as the sun shone brighter and brighter, he sat
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  down, quite overcome with the heat, and taking off his cloak, cast
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  it on the ground. Thus the sun was declared the conqueror. And it
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  has ever been deemed that persuasion is better than force, and that the sunshine
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  of a kind and gentle manner will sooner lay open a poor man's heart than
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  all the threatenings and force of blustering authority. The wild boar and the Fox.
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  A wild boar was wetting his tusks against a tree, when a fox
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  coming by asked why he did so, For said he, I see no
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  reason for it. There is neither hunter nor hound in sight, nor any
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  other danger that I can see at hand. True, replied the boar.
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  But when that danger does arise, I shall have something else to do than
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  to sharpen my weapons. It is too late to wet the sword when the
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  trumpet sounds to draw it. End of Section eleven.