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Aesop's Fables Episode 6 · Aesop's Fables

• 0:00
  The bear and the two travelers. Two men were traveling together when a bear
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  suddenly met them on their path. One of them climbed up quickly into a
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  tree and concealed himself in the branches. The other, seeing that he must
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  be attacked, fell flat on the ground, And when the bear came up
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  and felt him with his snout and smelt him all over, he held his
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  breath and feigned the appearance of death as much as he could. The bear
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  soon left him, for it is said he will not touch a dead body.
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  When he was quite gone, the other traveler descended from the tree,
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  and, accosting his friend, jocularly inquired what it was the bear had whispered
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  in his ear. His friend replied, he gave me this advice. Never
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  travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger. Misfortune tests
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  the sincerity of friends. The sick kite, a kite sick unto death,
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  said to his mother, Oh, mother, do not mourn, but at
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  once invoked the gods that my life may be prolonged. She replied, alas,
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  my son, which of the gods do you think will pity you?
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  Is there one whom you have not outraged by filching from their very altars a
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  part of the sacrifice which had been offered up to them. We must make
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  friends in prosperity, if we would have their help in adversity. The Wolf
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  and the crane. A wolf, having a bone stuck in his throat,
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  hired a crane for a large sum to put her head into his throat and
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  draw out the bone. When the crane had extracted the bone and demanded the
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  promised payment, the wolf, grinning and grinding his teeth, exclaimed, why
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  you have surely already a sufficient recompense in having been permitted to draw out your
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  head in safety from the mouth and jaws of a wolf. In serving the
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  wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful if you escape injury for your
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  pains. The cat and the cock. A cat caught a cock and took
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  counsel with himself how he might find a reasonable excuse for eating him. He
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  accused him of being a nuisance to men by crowing in the night time and
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  not permitting them to sleep. The cock defended himself by saying that he did
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  this for the benefit of men, that they might rise betimes for their labors.
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  The cat replied, although you abound in specious apologies. I shall not
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  remain supperless, and he made a meal of him. It does no good
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  to deny those who make false accusations knowingly. The wolf and the horse.
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  A wolf coming out of a field of oats, met with the horse,
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  and thus addressed him. I would advise you to go into that field.
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  It is full of capital oats, which I have left untouched for you,
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  as you are a friend, the very sound of whose teeth it would be
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  a pleasure to me to hear. The horse replied, if oats had been
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  the food for wolves, you would never have indulged your ears at the cost
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  of your belly. Men of evil reputation, when they perform a good deed,
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  fail to get credit for it. The two soldiers and the robber.
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  Two soldiers traveling together were set upon by a robber. The one fled away,
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  the other stood his ground and defended himself with his stout right hand.
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  The robber being slain, the timid companion runs up and draws his sword,
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  and then, throwing back his traveling cloak, says, I'll be at him,
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  and I'll take care he shall learn whom he has attacked on this He
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  who had fought with the robber made answer, I only wish that you had
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  helped me just now, even if it had only been with those words,
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  for I should have been the more encouraged, believing them to be true.
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  But now put up your sword in its sheath, and hold your equally useless
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  tongue till you can deceive others who do not know you. I indeed,
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  who have experienced with what speed you ran away, know right well that no
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  dependence can be placed on your valor. When a coward is once found out,
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  his pretensions of valor are useless. The monkey and the cat a monkey
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  and a cat lived in the same family, and it was hard to tell
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  which was the greatest thief. One day, as they were roaming about together,
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  they spied some chestnuts roasting in the ashes. Come, said the cunning
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  monkey, we shall not go without our dinner to day. Your claws are
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  better than mine for the purpose. You pulled them out of the hot ashes,
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  and you shall have half pussy pulled them out one by one, burning
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  her claws very much in doing so. When she had stolen them all,
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  she found that the monkey had eaten every one. A thief cannot be trusted
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  even by another thief. The two frogs. Two frogs dwelt in the same
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  pool, the pool being dried up under the summer's heat, they left it
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  and set out together for another home. As they went along, they chanced
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  to pass a deep well, amply supplied with water. On seeing which one
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  of the frogs said to the other, let us descend and make our abode
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  in this well. The other replied, with greater caution. But suppose the
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  water should fail us, how can we get out again from so great a
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  depth? Do nothing without a regard to the consequences. The vine and the
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  goat. A vine was luxuriant in the time of vintage, with leaves and
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  grapes. A goat passing by, nibbled its young tendrils and its leaves.
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  The vine said, why do you thus injure me and crop my leaves?
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  Is there no young grass left? But I shall not have to wait long
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  for my just revenge. For if you now crop my leaves and cut me
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  down to my root, I shall provide the wine to pour over you when
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  you were led as a victim to the sacrifice, retribution is certain. The
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  mouse and the boasting rat. A mouse lived in a granary, which became,
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  after a while the frequent resort of a cat. The mouse was in
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  great fear and did not know what to do. In her strait, she
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  bethought herself of a rat who lived not far away, and who had said
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  in her hearing a hundred times that he was not afraid of any cat living.
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  She resolved to visit the bold rat and ask him to drive the cat
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  away. She found the rat in his hold, and, relating her story,
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  besought his help. Pooh, said the rat, you should be bold
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  as I am. Go straight about your affairs, and do not mind the
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  cat. I will soon follow you and drive him away. He thought,
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  now he must do something to make good his boast, so he collected all
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  the rats in the neighborhood resolved to frighten the cat by numbers. But when
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  they all came to the granary, they found that the cat had already caught
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  the foolish mouse, and a single growl from him sent them all scampering to
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  their hole. Do not rely on a boaster, the dogs and the fox.
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  Some dogs, finding the skin of a lion, began to tear it
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  in pieces with their teeth. A fox, seeing them, said, if
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  this lion were alive, you would soon find out that his claws were stronger
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  than your teeth. It is easy to kick a man that is down.
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  The thief and the house dog. A thief came in the night to break
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  into a house. He brought with him several slices of meat that he might
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  pacify the house dog, so that he should not alarm his master by barking.
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  As the thief through the pieces of meat, the dog said, if
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  you think to stop my mouth, to relax my vigilance, or even to
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  gain my regard by these gifts, you are greatly mistaken. This sudden kindness
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  at your hands will only make me more watchful, lest under these unexpected favors
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  to myself you have some private ends to accomplish for your own benefit and for
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  my master's injury. Besides, this is not the time that I am usually
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  fed, which makes me all the more suspicious of your intentions. He who
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  offers bribes needs watching, for his intentions are not honest. The sick Stag
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  a six stag lay down in a quiet corner of his pasture ground. His
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  companions came in great numbers to inquire after his health, and each one helped
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  himself to a share of the food which had been placed for his use,
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  so that he died not from his sickness, but from the failure of the
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  means of living. Evil companions bring more hurt than profit. The Fowler and
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  the Ring of a Fowler took his gun and went into the woods a shooting.
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  He spied a ring dove among the branches of an oak, and intended
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  to kill it. He clapped the piece to his shoulder and took his aim
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  accordingly. But just as he was going to pull the trigger, an adderb
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  which he had trod upon under the grass, stung him so painfully in the
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  leg that he was forced to quit his design and threw his gun down in
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  a passion. The poison immediately infected his blood, and his whole body began
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  to mortify, which, when he perceived he could not help, owning it
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  to be just fate, said, he has brought destruction upon me while I
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  was contriving the death of another. Men often fall into the trap which they
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  prepare for others. The Kid and the Wolf. A kid returning without protection
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  from the pasture, was pursued by a wolf round and said to the wolf,
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  I know, friend, wolf, that I must be your prey.
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  But before I die, I would ask of you one favor that you will
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  play me a tune to which I can dance. The wolf complied, and
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  while he was piping and the kid was dancing, the hounds, hearing the
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  sound, came up and gave chase to the wolf. The wolf, turning
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  to the kid, said, it is just what I deserve, for I,
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  who am only a butcher, should not have turned piper to please you.
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  Everyone should keep his own colors. The blind man and the whelp.
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  A blind man was accustomed to distinguishing different animals by touching them with his hands.
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  The whelp of a wolf was brought him with a request that he would
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  feel it and say what it was. He felt it, and, being
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  in doubt, said, I do not quite know whether it is the cub
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  of a fox saw the whelp of a wolf. But this sygno full well
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  that it would not be safe to admit him to the sheepfold. Evil tendencies
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  are shown early in life. The geese and the cranes. The geese and
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  the cranes fed in the same meadow. A bird capture came to ensnare them
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  in his nets. The cranes, being light of wing, fled away at
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  his approach, while the geese, being slower of flight and heavier in their
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  bodies, were captured. Those who were caught are not always the most guilty.
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  The north wind and the sun. The north wind and the Sun disputed
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  which was the more powerful, and agreed that he should be declared the victor
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  who could first strip a wayfaring man of his clothes. The north wind first
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  tried his power and blew with all his might, but the keener became his
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  blasts closer, the traveler wrapped his cloak around him, till at last,
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  resigning all hope of victory, he called upon the sun to see what he
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  could do. The Sun suddenly shone out with all his warmth. The traveler
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  no sooner felt his genial rays than he took off one garment after another,
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  and at last, fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream
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  that lay in his path. Persuasion is better than force. End of Section five.