Aesop's Fables Episode 7

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The laborer and the snake. Asnake, having made his hole close to
the porch of a cottage, inflicteda severe bite on the cottager's infant son,
of which he died, to thegreat grief of his parents. The
father resolved to kill the snake,and the next day, on its coming
out of his hole for food,took up his axe, but making too

(00:23):
much haste to hit him as hewriggled away, missed his head and cut
off only the end of his tail. After some time, the cottager,
afraid lest the snake should bite him, also endeavored to make peace, and
placed some bread and salt in hishole. The snake said, there can
henceforth be no peace between us,for whenever I see you, I shall

(00:47):
remember the loss of my tale,and whenever you see me, you will
be thinking of the death of yourson. It is hard to forget injuries
in the presence of him who causedthe injury. The Bull and the Calf.
A bull was striving with all hismight to squeeze himself through a narrow

(01:08):
passage which led to his stall.A young calf came up and offered to
go before and show him the wayby which he could manage to pass save
yourself the trouble, said the bull. I knew that way long before you
were born. Do not presume toteach your elders. The goat and the

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ass a man once kept a goatand an ass. The goat, in
being the ass, on account ofhis greater abundance of food, said,
how shamefully you are treated, atone time grinding in the mill, and
at another carrying heavy burdens. Andhe further advised him that he should pretend

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to be epileptic and fall into adeep ditch, and so obtain rest.
The ass gave credence to his words, and, falling into a ditch,
was very much bruised. His master, sending for a leech, asked his
advice. He bade him pour uponthe wounds the blood of a goat.
They at once killed the goat,and so healed the ass. In injuring

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others, we are apt to receivea greater injury. The boasting traveler,
a man who had traveled in foreignlands, boasted very much on returning to
his own country of the many wonderfuland heroic things he had done in the
different places he had visited. Amongother things, he said that when he

(02:42):
was at roads, he had leapedto such a distance that no man of
his day could leap anywhere near him. And as to that, there were
in roads many persons who saw himdo it, and whom he could call
as witnesses. One of the bystanders, interrupting him, said, now,
my good man, if this beall true, there is no need of

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witnesses. Suppose this to be roads, And now for your leap, cure
a boaster by putting his words tothe test. The ass, the cock,
and the lion. An ass anda cock were together when a lion,
desperate from hunger, approached. Hewas about to spring upon the ass,

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when the cock, to the soundof whose voice the lion, it
is said, has a singular aversion, crowed loudly, and a lion fled
away. The ass, observing histrepidation at the mere crowing of a cock,
summoned courage to attack him, andgalloped after him for that purpose.
He had run no long distance whenthe lion, turning about, seized him

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and tore him two pieces. Falseconfidence often leads into danger. The stag
and the fawn. A stag grownold and mischievous, was, according to
custom, stamping with his foot,making offers with his head, and bellowing

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so terribly that the whole herd quakedfor fear of him. When one of
the little fawns coming up, Idressed him. Thus, pray, what
is the reason that you, whoare so formidable at all other times,
if you do but hear the cryof the hounds, are ready to fly
out of your skin for fear.What you observe is true, replied the

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stag. Though I know not howto account for it. I am indeed
vigorous and able, and often resolvethat nothing shall ever dismay my courage.
But alas I no sooner hear thevoice of a hound, but my spirits
fail me, and I cannot helpmaking off as fast as my legs can

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carry me. The greatest braggards arethe greatest cowards. The partridge and the
fowler. A fowler caught a partridgeand was about to kill him. The
partridge earnestly besought him to spare hislife, saying, pray, Master,
permit me to live, and Iwill entice many partridges to you and recompense

(05:21):
for your mercy to me. Thefowler replied, I shall now with the
less scruble, take your life becauseyou are willing to save it at the
cost of betraying your friends and relations. And without more ado, he twisted
his neck and put him in hisbag with his other game. Those who

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would sacrifice their friends to save themselvesfrom harm are not entitled to mercy.
The farmer and the stark. Afarmer placed his nets on his newly sowned
plowlands and caught a quantity of craneswhich came to pick up his seed.
With them, he trapped a starkalso. The stark, having his leg

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fractured by the net, earnestly,besought the farmer to spare his life.
Pray save me, master, hesaid, and let me go free.
This once, my broken limb shouldexcite your pity. Besides, I am
no crane. I am a stark, a bird of excellent character. And
see how I love and slave frommy father and mother. Look to it

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by feathers, they are not theleast like to those of a crane.
The farmer laughed aloud and said,it may be all as you say.
I only know this. I havetaken you with these robbers, the cranes,
and you must die in their companybirds of a feather flock together the

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ass and his driver. An ass, being driven along the high road,
suddenly started off and bolted to thebrink of a deep precipice. When he
was in the act of throwing himselfover, his owner seized him by the
tail, endeavoring to pull him back. The ass persisted in his effort.

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The man let him go and said, conquer, but conquer to your cost.
The perverse generally come to harm.The hare and the hound. A
hound, having started a hare fromhis form, after a long run,
gave up the chase. A goatherd, seeing him stop, mocked him,

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saying, the little one is thebest runner of the two. The hound
replied, you do not see thedifference between us. I was only running
for a dinner, but he forhis life. Incentive spurs effort. The

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kites and the swans, the heightsof old time had equally with the swans
the privilege of song. But havingheard the neigh of the horse, they
were so enchanted with the sound thatthey tried to imitate it, and in
trying to neigh, they forgot howto sing. The desire for our imaginary

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benefits often involves the loss of presentblessings. The dog in the manger.
A dog lay in a manger,and by his growling and snapping prevented the
oxen from eating the hay which hadbeen placed for them. What a selfish
dog, said one of them tohis companions. He cannot eat the hay

(08:41):
himself, and yet he refuses toallow those to eat who can. We
should not deprive others of blessings becausewe cannot enjoy them ourselves. The Crow
and the serpent. A crow ingreat want of food, saw a serpent
and a sunny nook, and,flying down, greedily seized him. The

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serpent, turning about, bit thecrow with a mortal wound. The crow,
in the agony of death, exclaimed, Oh, unhappy me, who
were found in that which I deemeda most happy windfall, the source of
my certain destruction. What seemed tobe blessings are not always so. The

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Cat and the fox. As thecat and the fox were talking politics together,
Reynard said, let things turn outever so bad. He did not
care, for he had a thousandtricks for them yet before they should hurt
him. But pray, says he, missus Puss, suppose there should be

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an invasion. What course do youdesign to take? Nay, says the
cat. I have but one shiftfor it, and if that won't do,
I am undone. I am sorryfor you, replied eyes Reynard with
all my heart, and would gladlyhelp you. But indeed, neighbor,
as times go, it is notgood to trust. We must even be

(10:09):
everyone for himself. As the sayingis. These words were scarcely out of
his mouth when they were alarmed witha pack of hounds that came upon them
in full cry. The cat,by the help of her single shift,
ran up a tree and sat securelyamong the top ranches. From whence she
beheld Reynard, who had not beenable to get out of sight, overtaken

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with his thousand tricks, and tornin as many pieces by the dogs which
has surrounded him. A little commonsense is often of more value than much
cunning. The Eagle and the Arrow. An eagle sat on a lofty rock
watching the movements of a hare,whom he sought to make his prey.

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An archer, who saw him froma place of concealment, took an accurate
aim and wounded him mortally. Theeagle took one look at the arrow that
had entered his heart, and sawin that single glance that its feathers had
been furnished by himself. It isa double grief to me, he exclaimed,

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that I should perish by an arrowfeathered from my own wings. The
misfortunes arising from a man's own misconductare the hardest to bear. The dog
invited to supper. A gentleman,having prepared a great feast, invited a
friend to supper, and the gentleman'sdog, meeting the friend's dog, come,

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said he, by, good fellow, and sup with us tonight.
The dog was delighted with the invitation, and as he stood by and saw
the preparations for the feast, saidto himself, capital fair, indeed,
this is in true good luck.I shall revel in dainties, and I
will take good care to lay inan apple stock tonight, for I may

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have nothing to eat tomorrow. Ashe said this to himself, he wagged
his tail and gave a sly lookat his friend who had incited him.
But his tail, wagging to andfro, caught the cook's eye, who,
seeing a stranger straightway, seized himby the legs and threw him out
the window to the street below.When he reached the ground, he set

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off yelping down the street, uponwhich the neighbor's dogs ran up to him
and asked him how he liked hissupper in faith, said he with a
sorry smile. I hardly know,for we drank so deeply that I can't
even tell you which way I gotout. Those who enter by the backstairs
must not complain if they are thrownout by the window. The frogs asking

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for a king, The frogs grievedat no established ruler, sent ambassadors to
Jupiter in treating for a king.He, perceiving their simplicity, cast down
a huge log into the lake.The frogs, terrified at a splash occasioned
by its fall, hid themselves inthe depth of the pool. But no

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sooner did they see that the hugelog continued motionless than they swam again to
the top of the water, dismissedtheir fears, and came so to despise
it as to climb up into squatupon it. After some time they began
to think themselves ill treated in theappointment of so inert a ruler, and

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sent a second deputation to Jupiter topray that he would set over them another
sovereign. He then gave them aneel to govern them. When the frogs
discovered his easy good nature, theyyet a third time sent to Jupiter to
beg that he would once more choosefor them. Another king, writer,

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displeased that their complaints, sent aheron, who preyed upon the frogs day
by day till there were none leftto complain. When you seek to change
your condition, be sure that youcan better it. The prophet. A
wizard sitting in the marketplace, toldthe fortunes of the passers by. A

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person ran up in great haste andannounced to him that the doors of his
house had been broken open, andthat all his goods were being stolen.
He sighed heavily and hastened away asfast as he could run. A neighbor
saw him running and said, oh, you follow those You say you can
foretell the fortunes of others. Howis it you did not foresee your own?

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The dog and his master's dinner.A dog had been taught to take
his master's dinner to him every day. As he smelled the good things in
the basket, he was sorely temptedto taste them. But he resisted the
temptation and continued day after day tocarry the basket faithfully. One day,

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all the dogs in the neighborhood followedhim with longing eyes and greedy jaws,
and tried to steal the dinner fromthe basket. At first, the faithful
dog tried to run away from them, but they pressed him so close that
at last he stopped to argue withthem. This was what the thieves desired,

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and they soon ridiculed him to thatextent that he said, very well,
I will divide with you, andhe seized the best piece of chicken
in the basket and left the restfor the others to enjoy. He who
stops to parley with temptation will bevery likely to yield. Thefoon and the

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countryman, a rich nobleman once openedthe theater to the public without charge,
and gave notice that he would handsomelyreward anyone who would produce a new amusement.
A buffoon, well known for hisjokes, said that he had a
kind of entertainment that had never beenproduced in a theater. This report,

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being spread about, created a greatstir in the place, and the theater
was crowded to see the new entertainment. The buffoon appeared and imitated the squeaking
of a little pig so admirably withhis voice that the audience declared that he
had a porker under his cloak,and demanded that it should be shaken out.

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When that was done, and yetnothing was found, they cheered the
actor with the loudest applause. Acountryman in the crowd proclaimed that he would
do the same thing on the nextday. On the morrow, a still
larger crowd of umbled in the theater. Both of the performers appeared on the
stage. The buffoon grunted and squeaked, and obtained, as on the preceding

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day, the applause and cheers ofthe spectators. Next, the countryman commenced,
and, pretending that he concealed alittle pig beneath his clothes, which
in truth he did, contrived tolay hold of and to pull his ear
when he began to squeak. Thecrowd, however, cried out that the
buffoon had given a far more exactimitation. On this, the rustic produced

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the pig and showed them the greatnessof their mistake. Critics are not always
to be depended upon end of Sectionsix