Aesop’s Fables, part 3 · page 21 2101If you would only dismiss them from your heels, there might soon be treaties of peace and reconciliation between us.”102The Sheep, poor silly creatures, were easily beguiled and dismissed the Dogs, whereupon the Wolves destroyed the unguarded flock at their own pleasure.103The Cat and the Birds104A CAT, hearing that the Birds in a certain aviary were ailing dressed himself up as a physician, and, taking his cane and a bag of instruments becoming his profession, went to call on them.105He knocked at the door and inquired of the inmates how they all did, saying that if they were ill, he would be happy to prescribe for them and cure them.106They replied, “We are all very well, and shall continue so, if you will only be good enough to go away, and leave us as we are.”107The Vain Jackdaw108JUPITER DETERMINED, it is said, to create a sovereign over the birds, and made proclamation that on a certain day they should all present themselves before him, when he would himself choose the most beautiful among them to be king.109The Jackdaw, knowing his own ugliness, searched through the woods and fields, and collected the feathers which had fallen from the wings of his companions, and stuck them in all parts of his body, hoping thereby to make himself the most beautiful of all.110When the appointed day arrived, and the birds had assembled before Jupiter, the Jackdaw also made his appearance in his many feathered finery.111But when Jupiter proposed to make him king because of the beauty of his plumage, the birds indignantly protested, and each plucked from him his own feathers, leaving the Jackdaw nothing but a Jackdaw.112The Kid and the Wolf113A KID standing on the roof of a house, out of harm’s way, saw a Wolf passing by and immediately began to taunt and revile him.114The Wolf, looking up, said, “Sirrah!115I hear thee: yet it is not thou who mockest me, but the roof on which thou art standing.”116Time and place often give the advantage to the weak over the strong.117The Old Woman and the Physician118AN OLD WOMAN having lost the use of her eyes, called in a Physician to heal them, and made this bargain with him in the presence of witnesses: that if he should cure her blindness, he should receive from her a sum of money; but if her infirmity remained, she should give him nothing.119This agreement being made, the Physician, time after time, applied his salve to her eyes, and on every visit took something away, stealing all her property little by little.120And when he had got all she had, he healed her and demanded the promised payment.121The Old Woman, when she recovered her sight and saw none of her goods in her house, would give him nothing.122The Physician insisted on his claim, and, as she still refused, summoned her before the Judge.123The Old Woman, standing up in the Court, argued: “This man here speaks the truth in what he says; for I did promise to give him a sum of money if I should recover my sight: but if I continued blind, I was to give him nothing.124Now he declares that I am healed.125I on the contrary affirm that I am still blind; for when I lost the use of my eyes, I saw in my house various chattels and valuable goods: but now, though he swears I am cured of my blindness, I am not able to see a single thing in it.”1 2← previousAesop’s Fables, part 2next →Aesop’s Fables, part 4↑ back to Three hundred Aesop’s fablesThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg21/5/page/2/