Aesop’s Fables, part 3 Aesop’s Fables, part 3 of «Three hundred Aesop’s fables» by Aesop: the whole text, 125 sentences and 2580 words. Every sentence has its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself.
1 The Laborer and the Snake 2 A SNAKE, having made his hole close to the porch of a cottage, inflicted a mortal bite on the Cottager’s infant son. 3 Grieving over his loss, the Father resolved to kill the Snake. 4 The next day, when it came out of its hole for food, he took up his axe, but by swinging too hastily, missed its head and cut off only the end of its tail. 5 After some time the Cottager, afraid that the Snake would bite him also, endeavored to make peace, and placed some bread and salt in the hole. 6 The Snake, slightly hissing, said: “There can henceforth be no peace between us; for whenever I see you I shall remember the loss of my tail, and whenever you see me you will be thinking of the death of your son.” 7 No one truly forgets injuries in the presence of him who caused the injury. 8 The Lion, the Mouse, and the Fox 9 A LION, fatigued by the heat of a summer’s day, fell fast asleep in his den. 10 A Mouse ran over his mane and ears and woke him from his slumbers. 11 He rose up and shook himself in great wrath, and searched every corner of his den to find the Mouse. 12 A Fox seeing him said: “A fine Lion you are, to be frightened of a Mouse.” 13 “’Tis not the Mouse I fear,” said the Lion; “I resent his familiarity and ill-breeding.” 14 Little liberties are great offenses. 15 The Horse and Groom 16 A GROOM used to spend whole days in currycombing and rubbing down his Horse, but at the same time stole his oats and sold them for his own profit. 17 “Alas!” said the Horse, “if you really wish me to be in good condition, you should groom me less, and feed me more.” 18 The Ass and the Mule 19 A MULETEER set forth on a journey, driving before him an Ass and a Mule, both well laden. 20 The Ass, as long as he traveled along the plain, carried his load with ease, but when he began to ascend the steep path of the mountain, felt his load to be more than he could bear. 21 He entreated his companion to relieve him of a small portion, that he might carry home the rest; but the Mule paid no attention to the request. 22 The Ass shortly afterwards fell down dead under his burden. 23 Not knowing what else to do in so wild a region, the Muleteer placed upon the Mule the load carried by the Ass in addition to his own, and at the top of all placed the hide of the Ass, after he had skinned him. 24 The Mule, groaning beneath his heavy burden, said to himself: “I am treated according to my deserts. 25 If I had only been willing to assist the Ass a little in his need, I should not now be bearing, together with his burden, himself as well.” 26 The Ass and the Lapdog 27 A MAN had an Ass, and a Maltese Lapdog, a very great beauty. 28 The Ass was left in a stable and had plenty of oats and hay to eat, just as any other Ass would. 29 The Lapdog knew many tricks and was a great favourite with his master, who often fondled him and seldom went out to dine without bringing him home some tidbit to eat. 30 The Ass, on the contrary, had much work to do in grinding the corn-mill and in carrying wood from the forest or burdens from the farm. 31 He often lamented his own hard fate and contrasted it with the luxury and idleness of the Lapdog, till at last one day he broke his cords and halter, and galloped into his master’s house, kicking up his heels without measure, and frisking and fawning as well as he could. 32 He next tried to jump about his master as he had seen the Lapdog do, but he broke the table and smashed all the dishes upon it to atoms. 33 He then attempted to lick his master, and jumped upon his back. 34 The servants, hearing the strange hubbub and perceiving the danger of their master, quickly relieved him, and drove out the Ass to his stable with kicks and clubs and cuffs. 35 The Ass, as he returned to his stall beaten nearly to death, thus lamented: “I have brought it all on myself! 36 Why could I not have been contented to labor with my companions, and not wish to be idle all the day like that useless little Lapdog!” 37 The Oxen and the Butchers 38 THE OXEN once upon a time sought to destroy the Butchers, who practiced a trade destructive to their race. 39 They assembled on a certain day to carry out their purpose, and sharpened their horns for the contest. 40 But one of them who was exceedingly old (for many a field had he plowed) thus spoke: “These Butchers, it is true, slaughter us, but they do so with skillful hands, and with no unnecessary pain. 41 If we get rid of them, we shall fall into the hands of unskillful operators, and thus suffer a double death: for you may be assured, that though all the Butchers should perish, yet will men never want beef.” 42 Do not be in a hurry to change one evil for another. 43 The Shepherd’s Boy and the Wolf 44 A SHEPHERD-BOY, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, “Wolf! 45 Wolf!” and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at them for their pains. 46 The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. 47 The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: “Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep;” but no one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. 48 The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock. 49 There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth. 50 The Boys and the Frogs 51 SOME BOYS, playing near a pond, saw a number of Frogs in the water and began to pelt them with stones. 52 They killed several of them, when one of the Frogs, lifting his head out of the water, cried out: “Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is death to us.” 53 The Salt Merchant and His Ass 54 A PEDDLER drove his Ass to the seashore to buy salt. 55 His road home lay across a stream into which his Ass, making a false step, fell by accident and rose up again with his load considerably lighter, as the water melted the sack. 56 The Peddler retraced his steps and refilled his panniers with a larger quantity of salt than before. 57 When he came again to the stream, the Ass fell down on purpose in the same spot, and, regaining his feet with the weight of his load much diminished, brayed triumphantly as if he had obtained what he desired. 58 The Peddler saw through his trick and drove him for the third time to the coast, where he bought a cargo of sponges instead of salt. 59 The Ass, again playing the fool, fell down on purpose when he reached the stream, but the sponges became swollen with water, greatly increasing his load. 60 And thus his trick recoiled on him, for he now carried on his back a double burden. 61 The Mischievous Dog 62 A DOG used to run up quietly to the heels of everyone he met, and to bite them without notice. 63 His master suspended a bell about his neck so that the Dog might give notice of his presence wherever he went. 64 Thinking it a mark of distinction, the Dog grew proud of his bell and went tinkling it all over the marketplace. 65 One day an old hound said to him: “Why do you make such an exhibition of yourself? 66 That bell that you carry is not, believe me, any order of merit, but on the contrary a mark of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill mannered dog.” 67 Notoriety is often mistaken for fame. 68 The Goatherd and the Wild Goats 69 A GOATHERD, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own for the night. 70 The next day it snowed very hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep them in the fold. 71 He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly in the hope of enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own. 72 When the thaw set in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. 73 The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd. 74 One of them, turning about, said to him: “That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves.” 75 Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones. 76 The Man and His Two Sweethearts 77 A MIDDLE-AGED MAN, whose hair had begun to turn gray, courted two women at the same time. 78 One of them was young, and the other well advanced in years. 79 The elder woman, ashamed to be courted by a man younger than herself, made a point, whenever her admirer visited her, to pull out some portion of his black hairs. 80 The younger, on the contrary, not wishing to become the wife of an old man, was equally zealous in removing every gray hair she could find. 81 Thus it came to pass that between them both he very soon found that he had not a hair left on his head. 82 Those who seek to please everybody please nobody. 83 The Sick Stag 84 A SICK STAG lay down in a quiet corner of its pasture-ground. 85 His companions came in great numbers to inquire after his health, and each one helped himself to a share of the food which had been placed for his use; so that he died, not from his sickness, but from the failure of the means of living. 86 Evil companions bring more hurt than profit. 87 The Boy and the Nettles 88 A BOY was stung by a Nettle. 89 He ran home and told his Mother, saying, “Although it hurts me very much, I only touched it gently.” 90 “That was just why it stung you,” said his Mother. 91 “The next time you touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will be soft as silk to your hand, and not in the least hurt you.” 92 Whatever you do, do with all your might. 93 The Astronomer 94 AN ASTRONOMER used to go out at night to observe the stars. 95 One evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well. 96 While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: “Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?” 97 The Wolves and the Sheep 98 “WHY SHOULD there always be this fear and slaughter between us?” said the Wolves to the Sheep. 99 “Those evil-disposed Dogs have much to answer for. 100 They always bark whenever we approach you and attack us before we have done any harm. ← previous Aesop’s Fables, part 2next → Aesop’s Fables, part 4↑ back to Three hundred Aesop’s fables This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/5/