The fox and the hedgehog ; The crow and the raven ; The witch ; The old man and death ; The miser ; The foxes and the river ; The horse and

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section eighteen of Aesop's Fables and new translation written by
Azop translated by V. S. Vernon Jones. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
This section has been read by Rosslyn Carlyle. The Fox

(00:26):
and the Hedgehog a fox in swimming across a rapid
river was swept away by the current and carried a
long way down stream in spite of his struggles, until
at last, bruised and exhausted, he managed to scramble on
to dry ground from a back water. As he lay there,

(00:48):
unable to move, a swarm of horseflies settled on him
and sucked his blood undisturbed, for he was too weak
even to shake them off. A hedgehog saw him and
asked if he should brush away the flies that were
tormenting the fox, but the fox replied, oh, please, no,

(01:09):
not on any account, for these flies have sucked their
fill and are taking very little from me now. But
if you drive them off, another swarm of hungry ones
will come and suck all the blood I have left
and leave me without a drop in my veins. The

(01:30):
crow and the raven. A crow became very jealous of
a raven, because the latter was regarded by men as
a bird of women, which foretold the future, and was
accordingly held in great respect by them. She was very
anxious to get the same sort of reputation herself, and

(01:51):
one day, seeing some travelers approaching, she flew onto a
branch of a tree at the roadside and god as
loud as she could. The travelers were in some dismay
at the sound, for they feared it might be a
bad omen, until one of them, spying the crow, said
to his companions, it's all right, my friends. We can

(02:14):
go on without fear, for it's only a crow, and
that means nothing. The moral of this story is that
those who pretend to be something they are not only
make themselves look ridiculous. The Witch a witch professed to
be able to avert the anger of the gods by

(02:37):
means of charms, of which she alone possessed the secret,
and she drove a brisk trade and made a fat
livelihood out of it. But certain persons accused her of
black magic and carried her before the judges and demanded
that she should be put to death for dealings with
the devil. She was found guilty and condemned to day,

(03:00):
and one of the judges said to her, as she
was leaving the dock, you say you can avert the
anger of the gods. How comes it then, that you
have failed to disarm the enmity of men. The old
man and Death an old man cut himself a bundle

(03:21):
of faggots in a wood and started to carry them home.
He had a long way to go, and was tired
out before he had got much more than halfway. Casting
his burden on the ground, he called upon Death to
come and release him from his life of toil. The
words were scarcely out of his mouth when, much to
his dismay, Death stood before him and professed his readiness

(03:46):
to serve him. He was almost frightened out of his wits,
but he had enough presence of mind to stammer out,
good sir, if you'd be so kind, pray help me
up with my burden again. The Miser A miser sold

(04:12):
everything he had and melted down his horde of gold
into a single lump, which he buried secretly in a field.
Every day he went to look at it and would
sometimes spend long hours gloating over his treasure. One of
his men noticed his frequent visits to the spot, and
one day watched him and discovered his secret. Waiting his opportunity,

(04:38):
he went one night and dug up the gold and
stole it. Next day, the miser visited the place as usual, and,
finding his treasure gone, fell to tearing his hair and
groaning over his loss. In this condition, he was seen
by one of his neighbors, who asked him what his
trouble was. The miser told his neighbor of his misfortune,

(05:01):
but the other replied, don't take it so much to heart,
my friend. Put a brick into the hole and take
a look at that every day. You won't be any
worse off than before, for even when you had your goald,
it was of no earthly use to you. The foxes
and the River. A number of foxes assembled on the

(05:23):
bank of a river and wanted to drink, but the
current was so strong and the water looked so deep
and dangerous, that they didn't dare to do so, but
stood near the edge, encouraging one another not to be afraid.
At last, one of them to shame the rest and
show how brave he was, said, I am not a

(05:45):
bit frightened. See, I'll step right into the water. He
had no sooner done so than the current swept him
off his feet. When the others saw him being carried downstream,
they cried, don't go and leave us. Come back and
show us where we too can drink with safety. But

(06:05):
he replied, I am afraid I can't yet. I want
to go to the sea side, and this cern will
take me there nicely. When I come back, i'll show
you with pleasure. The horse and the stag. There was
once a horse who used to graze in a meadow

(06:25):
which he had all to himself. But one day a
stag came into the meadow and said he had as
good a right to feed there as the horse, and
moreover he choose all the best places for himself. The horse,
wishing to be revenged upon his unwelcome visitor, went to
a man and asked if he would be able to

(06:46):
help him to turn out the stag. Yes, said the man,
I will by all means, but I can only do
so if you let me put a bridle in your
mouth and mount on your back. The horse agreed to this,
and the two together very soon turned the stag out
of the pasture. But when that was done, the horse

(07:08):
found to his dismay that in the man he had
got himself a master for good. The Fox and the bramble.
In making his way through a hedge, a fox missed
his footing and caught it a bramble to save himself
from falling. Naturally, he got badly scratched, and in disgust

(07:31):
he cried to the bramble, it was your help I wanted,
and see how you have treated me. I'd sooner have
fallen out right. The bramble, interrupting him, replied, you must
have lost your wits, my friend, to catch at me?
Who and myself always catching at others. The fox and

(07:53):
the snake. A snake, in crossing a river, was carried
away by the current, managed to wriggle onto a bundle
of thorns which was floating by, and was thus carried
at a great rate down stream. A fox got sight
of it from the bank as it went whirling along,
and called out, gad the passenger fits the ship. The lion,

(08:22):
The fox and the stag. A lion lay sick in
his den, unable to provide himself with food, so he
said to his friend, the fox, who came to ask
how he did. My good friend, I wish you would
go to yonder Wood and beguile the big stag who
lives there to come to my den. I have a

(08:44):
fancy to make my dinner of a stag's hardened brains.
The fox went to the wood and found the stag
and said to him, my dear sir, you're in luck.
You know the lion, our king, well, he's at the
point of death and has appointed you his successor to

(09:05):
rule over the beasts. I hope you won't forget that
I was the first to bring you the good news,
and now I must be going back to him. And
if you take my advice, you'll come too and be
with him at the last. The stag was highly flattered
and followed the fox to the lion's den, suspecting nothing.

(09:28):
No sooner hid he got inside, though, than the lion
sprang upon him. But the lion misjudged his spring, and
the stag got away with only his ears torn and
returned as fast as he could to the shelter of
the wood. The fox was much mortified, and the lion,
too was dreadfully disappointed, for he was getting very hungry

(09:52):
in spite of his illness, so he begged the fox
to have another try at coaxing the stag to his den.
Will be almost impossible this time, said the fox, but
I'll try and off he went to the wood a
second time and found the stag resting and trying to
recover from his fright. As soon as he saw the fox,

(10:14):
he cried, you scoundrel, what do you mean by trying
to lure me to my death like that? Take yourself off,
or I'll do you to death with my horns. But
the fox was entirely shameless. What a coward you wear,
said he. Surely you didn't think the lion meant any harm.

(10:36):
Why he was only going to whisper some royal secrets
into your ear when you went off like a scared rabbit.
You have rather disgusted him, and I'm not sure he
won't make the wolf king instead unless you come back
at once and show you've got some spirit. I promise
you he won't hurt you, and I will be your
faithful servant. The stag was foolish enough to be persuaded

(11:00):
to return, and this time the line made no mistake,
but overpowered him and feasted right royally upon his carcass
The fox, meanwhile, watched his chance, and when the lion
wasn't looking, filched away the brains to reward himself for
his trouble. Presently, the line began searching for them, of course,

(11:22):
without success, and the fox, who was watching him, said,
I don't think it's much use you're looking for the brains.
A creature who twice walked into lions den can't have
got any. The man who lost his spade a man

(11:43):
was engaged in digging over his vineyard, and one day,
on coming to work, he found his spade missing. Thinking
it may have been stolen by one of his laborers,
he questioned them closely, but they one and all denied
any knowledge of it. He was not convinced by their denials,

(12:04):
and insisted that they should all go to the town
and take out in a temple that they were not
guilty of the theft. This was because he had no
great opinion of the simple country deities, but thought that
the thief would not pass undetected by the shrewder gods
of the town. When they got inside the gates, the

(12:25):
first thing they heard was the town crier proclaiming a
reward for information about a thief who had stolen something
from the city temple. Well, said the man to himself,
it strikes me I had better go back home again.
If these town gods can't detect the thieves who steal
from their own temples, it's scarcely likely they can tell

(12:46):
me you stole my spade. The partridge and the fowler.
A fowler cut a partridge in his nets and was
just about to wring its neck when it made a
piteous appeal to him to spare its life and said,
do not kill me, but let me live, and I

(13:09):
will repay you for your kindness by decoying other partridges
into your necks. No, said the fowler, I will not
spare you. I was going to kill you anyhow, and
after that treacherous speech, you thoroughly deserved your fate. The

(13:30):
runaway slave a slave, being discontented with his lot, ran
away from his master. He was soon found missing by
the latter, who lost no time in mounting his horse
and setting out in pursuit of the fugitive. Presently, he
caught up with him and the slave in the hope
of avoiding capture, slipped into a slaver's treadmill and hid

(13:54):
himself there. Ah, said his master, that's the very place
for you, you, my man. The Hunter and the Woodsman.
A hunter was searching in the forest for the tracks
of a lion and catching sight presently of a woodsman

(14:15):
engaged in filling a tree. He went up to him
and asked him if he had noticed a lion's footprints
anywhere about, or if he knew where the den was.
The woodsman answered, if you will come with me, I
will show you the lion himself. The hunter turned pale
with fear and his teeth shattered as he replied, oh,

(14:36):
I'm not looking for the lion, thanks, but only for
his trax. The Serpent and the Eagle. An eagle swooped
down upon a serpent and seized it in his talons,
with the intention of carrying it off and devouring it.
But the serpent was too quick for him and had

(14:58):
its coils round him in a moment, and then there
ensued a life and death struggle between the two. A
countryman who was a witness of the encounter came to
the assistance of the eagle and succeeded in freeing him
from the serpent and enabling him to escape. In revenge,
the serpent spat some of his poison into the man's

(15:19):
drinking horn. Heated with his exertions, the man was about
to slake his thirst with a draft from the horn
when the eagle knocked it out of his hand and
spilled its contents upon the ground. The moral of this
story is that one good turn deserves another. End of
section eighteen.