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Aesop's Fables Episode 11 · Aesop's Fables

• 0:00
  The viper and the file. A viper entering the workshop of a smith sought
• 0:07
  from the tools the means of satisfying his hunger. He more particularly addressed himself
• 0:12
  to a file and asked of him the favor of a meal. The file
• 0:17
  replied, you must indeed be a simple minded fellow if you expect to get
• 0:23
  anything from me, who am accustomed to take from everyone and never to give
• 0:29
  anything in return. The covetous are poor givers. The oxen and the axle
• 0:37
  trees. A heavy wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team
• 0:44
  of oxen. The axle trees groaned and creaked terribly when the oxen, turning
• 0:51
  round, thus addressed the wheels, Hello, there, why do you make
• 0:56
  so much noise? We bear all the labor, and we not you ought
• 1:00
  to cry out. Those who suffer most, cry out the least. The
• 1:08
  bear and the beehives. A bear that had found his way into a garden
• 1:14
  where bees were kept, began to turn over the hives and devour the honey.
• 1:19
  The bees settled in swarms about his head and stung his eyes and nose
• 1:25
  so much that, maddened with pain, he tore the skin from his head
• 1:29
  with his own claws. The thrush and the swallow. A young thrush who
• 1:38
  lived in an orchard, once became acquainted with a swallow. A friendship sprang
• 1:42
  up between them. And the swallow, after skimming the archard and the neighboring
• 1:47
  meadow, would every now and then come and visit the thrush. The thrush,
• 1:53
  hopping from branch to branch, would welcome him with his most cheerful note.
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  Oh, mother, said he to his parents one day. Never had
• 2:00
  creatures such a friend as I have in this same swallow, nor ever any
• 2:06
  mother, replied the parent bird, such a silly son as I have in
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  this same thrush. Long before the approach of winter, your friend will have
• 2:15
  left you, and while you sit shivering on a leafless bough, he will
• 2:21
  be sporting under sunny skies hundreds of miles away. The sensible ass, an
• 2:30
  old fellow in time of war, was allowing his ass to feed in a
• 2:34
  green meadow. When he was alarmed by a sudden advance of the enemy.
• 2:38
  He tried every means in his power to urge the ass to fly. But
• 2:44
  in vain the enemy are upon us, said he, And what will the
• 2:49
  enemy do? Asked the ass? Will they put two pairs of panniers on
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  my back instead of one. No, answered the man, There is no
• 2:59
  fear of that, Why, then replied the ass, I'll not stir an
• 3:04
  inch. I am born to be a slave, and my greatest enemy is
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  he who gives me most to carry. The lion and the ass. A
• 3:15
  lion and an ass made an agreement to go out hunting together. By and
• 3:21
  by they came to a cave where wild goats abode. The lion took up
• 3:25
  his station at the mouth of the cave, and the ass, going within,
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  kicked and brayed and made a mighty fuss to frighten them out. When
• 3:35
  the lion had caught them, the ass came out and asked him if he
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  had not made a noble fight. Yes, indeed, said the lion,
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  and I assure you you would have frightened me too, if I had not
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  known you to be an ass. The fox and the ape. Upon the
• 3:55
  decease of the lion, the beasts of the forest assembled to us another king.
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  The ape played so many grimaces, gambols, and antike tricks that he
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  was elected by a large majority, and the crown was placed upon his head.
• 4:13
  The fox, envious of this distinction. Seeing soon after a trap baited
• 4:17
  with a piece of meat, approached the new king and said, with mock
• 4:21
  humility, may it please your majesty, I have found on your domain a
• 4:27
  treasure to which, if you will deign to accompany me, I will conduct
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  you. The ape thereupon set off with the fox, and, on arriving
• 4:36
  at the spot, laid his paw upon the meat. Snap went the trap
• 4:42
  and caught him by the fingers. Mad with the shame and the pain,
• 4:46
  he reproached the fox for a false thief and a traitor. Reynard laughed heartily
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  and said, with a sneer, you a king and not understand a trap?
• 5:00
  The lion and the wolf. A wolf roaming by the mountain side saw
• 5:05
  his own shadow as the sun was setting, becoming greatly extended and magnified,
• 5:12
  and he said to himself, why should I, being of such an immense
• 5:15
  size and extending nearly an acre in lithe be afraid of a lion? Ought
• 5:21
  I not to be acknowledged as king of all the collected beasts? While he
• 5:28
  was indulging in these proud thoughts, a lion fell upon him and killed him.
• 5:32
  He exclaimed, with a too late repentance wretched me. This overestimation of
• 5:39
  myself is the cause of my destruction. It is not wise to hold too
• 5:46
  exalted an opinion of oneself. The miller, his son and their ass.
• 5:55
  A miller and his son were driving their ass to affair. On the way,
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  they met a group of girls. Look there, cried one of them.
• 6:03
  Did you ever see such fools to be trudging along on foot when they
• 6:08
  might be riding. The old man, hearing this, quietly bade his son
• 6:13
  get on the ass and walked along merrily by his side. Presently they came
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  to a group of old men in earnest debate. There said one of them.
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  It proves what I was saying, what respect is shown to old age?
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  And these days do you see that idle young rogue riding while his old
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  father has to walk? Get down, you, scapegrace, and let the
• 6:39
  old man rest his weary limbs. Upon this, the father made his son
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  dismount and got up himself. In this manner, they had not proceeded far
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  when they met a company of women and children. Why you lazy old man,
• 6:54
  cried several tongues at once. How can you ride upon the beast while
• 6:59
  that poor little lad there can scarcely keep pace by the side of you.
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  The good natured miller immediately took up his son behind him. They had now
• 7:09
  almost reached the town. Pray, honest, friend, said a townsman,
• 7:14
  Is that ass your own? Yes, said the old man. Oh,
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  one would not have thought so by the way you load him. Why you
• 7:23
  two fellows are better able to carry the poor beast than he. You anything
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  to please you, said the old man. So, alighting with his son,
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  they tied the ass's legs together, and, by the help of a
• 7:36
  pole, endeavored to carry him on their shoulders over a bridge. But people
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  ran out in crowds to laugh at the sight, till the ass, not
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  liking the noise nor his situation, kicked asunder the cords, and, tumbling
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  off the pole, fell into the river. On this the old man made
• 7:55
  the best of his way home with his son, convinced that endeavoring to please
• 8:01
  everybody, he had succeeded in pleasing nobody, and lost his ass into the
• 8:07
  bargain The Travelers and the plane Tree. Two travelers, worn out by the
• 8:13
  heat of the summer's sun, laid themselves down at noon under the wide,
• 8:18
  spreading branches of a plane tree. As they rested under a shade, one
• 8:24
  of the travelers said to the other, what a singularly useless tree is the
• 8:28
  plane It bears no fruit and is not of the least service to man?
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  The plane tree, interrupting him, said, you, ungrateful fellows, do
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  you, while receiving benefits from me and resting under my shade, dare to
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  describe me as useless and unprofitable? Some men despise their best blessings because they
• 8:52
  come without cost. The Tartoise and the two Ducks a tartis, becoming tired
• 9:01
  of her humble home, resolved to visit foreign lands. But she did not
• 9:05
  know which way to go. She repaired to two ducks to show her the
• 9:11
  road, and they told her that the best way to travel was through the
• 9:15
  air. On her imploring their help, they made her grasp a stick with
• 9:18
  her mouth, and so they bore her aloft. As they flew along.
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  The gaping people beneath shouted at sight of the spectacle. The vain Tartis mistook
• 9:30
  their shouts for applause. I am surely a queen, said she, But
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  alas as she opened her mouth to speak, she lost her hold of the
• 9:39
  stick. And falling to the ground, was dashed to pieces. Those who
• 9:45
  were not able to roam should stay at home. The countryman and the snake.
• 9:52
  A villager found a snake under a hedge, almost dead with cold.
• 9:58
  He could not help having compassion for the poor creature, so he brought it
• 10:03
  home and laid it upon the hearth near the fire. But it had not
• 10:07
  lain there long before, being revived with the heat, it began to erect
• 10:11
  itself and fly at his wife and children. The countryman, hearing an outcry
• 10:16
  and perceiving what the matter was, caught up a mattock, and soon despatched
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  him upbraiding him at the same time in these words, is this vile wretch
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  the reward you make to him that saved your life? Kindness to the ungrateful,
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  and the vicious is thrown away. The madman who sold wisdom. A
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  madman once set himself up in the marketplace, and, with loud cries,
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  announced that he would sell wisdom. The people at once crowded about him,
• 10:50
  and some gave him gold for his wares, But they each got only a
• 10:54
  blow on the ear and a bunch of thread, and were well laughed at
• 10:58
  by their companions. One of them, however, took it more seriously than
• 11:03
  the others, and asked a wise sage what it meant. It means,
• 11:09
  said the sage, that if one would not be hurt by a madman,
• 11:13
  he must put a bunch of thread over his ears. So the madman was
• 11:18
  really selling wisdom. The leopard and the fox. A leopard, being no
• 11:26
  longer able by reason of old age to pursue his prey, feigned illness and
• 11:31
  gave out that he would confer great favors upon any animal that would cure him.
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  A cunning fox heard of the proclamation and lost no time in visiting the
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  leopard, first making himself look as much like a physician as he could.
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  On seeing him, the leopard declared that such a distinguished looking animal could not
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  fail to cure him. This so flattered the fox that he came near and
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  at once fell a victim to his vanity, being unable to flee because of
• 12:03
  the disguise which fettered his limbs. Flattery is a dangerous weapon in the hands
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  of an enemy. The hair afraid of his ears, the lion, being
• 12:18
  badly hurt by the horns of a goat, swore in a great rage that
• 12:22
  every animal with horns should be banished from his kingdom. A silly hair,
• 12:28
  seeing the shadows of his ears, was in great fear lest they should be
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  taken for horns, and scampered away. The peacock and the crane. A
• 12:41
  peacock, spreading its gorgeous tail, mocked a crane that passed by, ridiculing
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  the ashen hue of its plumage, and saying, I am robed like a
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  king in gold and purple and all the colors of the rainbow, while you
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  have not a bit of color on your wings. True, replied the crane.
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  But I soar to the heights of heaven and lift up my voice to
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  the stars, while you walk below like a cock among the birds of the
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  dunghill. Fine feathers don't make fine birds. The mouse and the weasel.
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  A little starveling mouse had made his way with some difficulty into a basket of
• 13:24
  corn, where, finding the entertainment so good, he stuffed and crammed himself
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  to such an extent that when he would have got out again, he found
• 13:35
  the hole too small to allow his puffed up body to pass. As he
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  sat at the hole, groaning over his fate. A weasel who was brought
• 13:45
  to the spot by his cries, thus addressed him, stop there, my
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  friend, and fast till you are thin, for you will never come out
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  till you reduce yourself to the same condition as when you entered. The Ox
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  and the Tiger, a skillful archer coming into the woods, directed his arrows
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  so successfully that he slew many wild beasts and pursued several others. This put
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  the whole savage kind into a fearful consternation, and made them fly to the
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  most retired thickets for refuge. At last, the tiger resumed courage, and,
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  bidding them not be afraid, said that he alone would engage the enemy,
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  telling them they might depend upon his valor and strength to revenge their wrongs.
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  In the midst of these threats, while he was lashing himself with his
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  tail and tearing up the ground for anger, an arrow pierced his ribs and
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  hung by its barbed point in his side. He set up a hideous and
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  loud roar, occasioned by the anguish which he felt, and endeavored to draw
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  out the painful dart with his teeth. When the fox approached him, inquiring
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  with an air surprise who it was, that they could have strength and courage
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  enough to wound so mighty and valorous a beast ah said the tiger, I
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  was mistaken in my reckoning. It was that invincible man yonder. There was
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  always some vulnerable point in the strongest armor. The fox and the turkeys.
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  A fox spied some turkeys roosting in a tree. He managed to attract their
• 15:28
  attention, and then ran about the tree, pretending to climb, walked on
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  his hind legs, and yet all sorts of tricks. Filled with fear,
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  the turkeys watched every one of his movements until they became dizzy, and one
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  by one fell from their safe perch. By too much attention to danger,
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  we may fallow victims to it. The eagle, the cat, and the
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  wild sow. An eagle had made her nest at the top of a lofty
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  oak. A cat, having found a convenient hole, lived with her kittens
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  in the middle of the trunk, and a wild sow with her young,
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  had taken up shelter in a hollow at its foot. The cat resolved to
• 16:11
  destroy by her arts this chance may colony. She climbed to the nest of
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  the eagle and said, destruction is preparing for you and me too. The
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  wild sow, whom you may see daily digging up the earth, wishes to
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  uproot the oak, that she may, on its fall, seize our families
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  as food. Then she crept down to the cave of the sow, and
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  said, your children are in great danger, for as soon as you shall
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  go out with your litter to find food, the eagle is prepared to pounce
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  upon one of your little pigs. When night came, she went forth with
• 16:49
  silent foot and obtained food for herself and her kittens, But feigning to be
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  afraid, she kept a look out all through the day. Meanwhile, the
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  eagle, full of fear of the sow, sat still on the branches,
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  and the sow, terrified by the eagle, did not dare to go out
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  from her cave. And thus they, each with their families, perished from
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  hunger. Those who stir up enmities are not to be trusted. End of
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  Section ten.