The Complete Fables

by Aesop

  193

  The Seagull and the Kite

  A gull ruptured his gullet swallowing a fish and lay dead on the beach. A kite spotted him and said:

  ‘You only got what you deserved, since, being born a bird, you looked for your living in the sea.’

  Thus, those who abandon their real trade to take up one alien to them are deservedly unfortunate.

  194

  The Lioness and the Vixen

  A vixen criticized a lioness for only ever bearing one child.

  ‘Only one,’ she said, ‘but a lion.’

  Do not judge merit by quantity, but by worth.

  195

  The Royalty of the Lion

  A lion who became king didn’t get angry and was neither cruel nor violent, but gentle and just, like a man might be.

  During his reign, the Lion King called a general assembly of all the birds and beasts for the purpose of sanctioning legal arrangements to bind the wolf and the lamb to live together in perfect peace and harmony, as well as the panther and the chamois, the tiger and the deer, and the dog and the hare.

  At the great assembly a hare was heard to say:

  ‘How I have longed to see this day! The weak can take their place at the side of the strong without fear!’

  When justice reigns in the state and all judgements are fair, the meek may also live in tranquillity.

  196

  The Ageing Lion and the Fox

  A lion who was getting old and could no longer obtain his food by force decided that he must resort to trickery instead. So he retired to a cave and lay down pretending to be ill. Thus, whenever any animals came to his cave to visit him, he ate them all as they appeared.

  When many animals had disappeared, a fox figured out what was happening. He went to see the lion but stood at a safe distance outside the cave and asked him how he was.

  ‘Oh, not very well,’ said the lion. ‘But why don’t you come in?’

  But the fox said:

  ‘I would come inside if I hadn’t seen that a lot of footprints are pointing inwards towards your cave but none are pointing out.’

  Wise men note the indications of dangers and thus avoid them.

  197

  The Shut-in Lion and the Ploughman

  A lion entered a ploughman’s animal shed. The ploughman, wishing to capture him, shut the door behind him. When he found that he was trapped, the lion killed all the sheep and ate them, and then attacked all the cattle. The ploughman became so alarmed for his own safety that he opened the door and the lion escaped as quickly as he could.

  After the lion had disappeared, the ploughman’s wife finding him wailing, came up to him and said:

  ‘Well, it serves you right. How could you want to shut up the lion, a beast who ought to make you tremble even at a distance?’

  People who incite the powerful must bear the consequences of their own folly.

  198

  The Amorous Lion and the Ploughman

  A lion once fell in love with the daughter of a ploughman and asked for her hand in marriage. Not being able either to make up his mind to give his daughter to a ferocious beast or to refuse him because he feared him so much, the ploughman thought up the following idea. As the lion continued to press him, he told him that he deemed him worthy to be the husband of his daughter, but decided that he could give her to him on one condition, that he would pull out his teeth and cut his claws, for it was those that frightened the young girl.

  The lion willingly resigned himself to this double sacrifice because he loved her. But, no sooner had he done this than the ploughman had nothing but contempt for him and, when he presented himself, drove him from his door with many blows.

  This fable shows that those who too readily trust others, once deprived of their natural advantages, are easy prey to those who had previously feared them.

  199

  The Lion, the Fox and the Stag

  The lion had fallen ill and was resting in a cave. He said to the fox, who was his friend and with whom he did a bit of business from time to time:

  ‘If you want me to live and be fierce again, go and beguile with honeyed words the big stag who lives in the forest, bring him to me so that I can get my paws on him. For I long to sink my teeth into his entrails and to eat his heart.’

  The fox took himself off into the country and found the stag, who was leaping about in the forest. He approached the stag with a fond air, saluted him respectfully and said:

  ‘I come to announce good news. You know that our king, the lion, is my neighbour. He is now very ill and on the point of death. He is demanding to know which animal will reign after him. The wild boar is lacking in all intelligence, the bear is awkward, the panther is irascible, the tiger is boastful. Only the stag is dignified enough to reign. For he is the tallest and longest-lived and, besides, his horn is deadly to snakes. But why go on any more? He has decided that you should become king. But now that I have brought you this good news, what may I have for being the bearer of it? Speak, for I am in the most terrible hurry, as I am afraid His Majesty will call me back. He cannot do without my counsel.

  ‘If you would wish to listen to the words of an old fox, I would advise you to come with me and wait nearby for His Majesty’s death.’

  Thus spoke the fox. The stag’s heart swelled with vanity at these words and he went to the cave without suspecting what would happen. Then the lion leaped at him headlong. However, he merely managed to tear the stag’s ears with his claws. The stag saved himself and fled with all haste to the woods.

  The fox clapped his hands in dismay at the loss of all his labour and the lion began to moan and make great roars, for he was overcome with hunger as well as with sorrow. He begged the fox to devise another way to beguile the stag.

  The fox replied:

  ‘It is an arduous and difficult task that you ask of me. Nevertheless, I will serve you once more.’

  And then, like a hound he followed the scent of the stag towards the forest, plotting deceit as he ran. He stopped to ask some shepherds if they had seen a bleeding stag. They pointed towards his resting-place in the wood. The fox came upon the stag resting to get his second wind and presented himself shamelessly to him. The stag, full of anger and with his fur all splattered with blood, cursed him:

  ‘You scoundrel, you will never get me to go to the lion’s den again. If you so much as come near me once more you will pay with your life. Go and fox others who don’t know you. Go and choose other beasts to make into kings and get them all excited about it!’

  The fox replied:

  ‘Are you so cowardly and faint-hearted? Is this distrust the reward that you give us, your good friends? The lion, in taking hold of your ear, was going to give you counsel and instruct you on the matter of your regal duties, in the manner of someone about to die. But you, you cannot even take a scratch from the paw of a sick lion! At the moment His Majesty is angrier than you are and wants to elevate the wolf to the kingship.’

  And the fox continued:

  ‘Alas! My poor wretched master! But come, do not be afraid. Be as meek as a lamb. For, I swear by all the leaves of the trees and by all the springs that you have absolutely no cause to fear the lion. As for me, my only wish is to serve you.’

  In thus deceiving the unfortunate stag, the fox induced him once more to go to the cave of the lion. When the stag entered the lion’s cave, the lion had him for supper. He swallowed all the bones, all the marrow and the entrails. The fox stood there watching him. The stag’s heart fell to the ground. The fox snatched it and ate it to compensate himself for all his efforts. But the lion, having looked around for every morsel, could not find the heart, and asked where it was.

  The fox, keeping his distance, said:

  ‘The truth is, the stag had no heart. Don’t even bother to look for it. For how could an animal be said to have a heart who has gone twice into a lion’s den and encountered the paws of a lion?’

  Thus, love of honour confuses Reason a
nd closes the eyes to imminent danger.

  200

  The Lion, the Bear and the Fox

  A lion and a bear, having found the carcass of a faun, were battling over who should have it. They mauled each other so badly that they lost consciousness and lay half-dead. A fox, who happened to pass by and saw them lying there, unable to move, with the faun between them, ran into their midst, grabbed the carcass and escaped with it.

  The lion and the bear, unable to get up because of the bad state they were in, murmured to each other:

  ‘What fools we are! We’ve gone to all this trouble just for a fox!’

  This fable shows that people have good reason to be annoyed when they see the results of their hard work carried off by chance.

  201

  The Lion and the Frog

  A lion, hearing a frog croak, roared back, thinking that such a sound must come from some large creature. He waited for a while, then saw the creature emerge from a pond, went up to it and crushed it with his foot, saying:

  ‘So much noise from one so small!’

  This fable applies to people who are all noise and have no substance to them.

  202

  The Lion and the Dolphin

  A lion was roaming along the seashore when he saw a dolphin raise its head up out of the waves. The lion proposed an alliance of friendship between them.

  ‘You and I are most suited to be friends and allies,’ he said. ‘For I’m the king of all the beasts on the land and you are the ruler of all the creatures of the sea.’

  The dolphin willingly agreed.

  Then, the lion, who had for a long time been at war with a wild bull, called out for the dolphin to come and help him. The dolphin tried to leave the water but failed to do so. The lion accused him of betraying him.

  But the dolphin replied:

  ‘Don’t blame me. Blame Mother Nature [physis]. For although she has made me aquatic, she has not allowed me to walk on the land.’

  This shows that we too, when we contract alliances, ought to do so with people who can really come to our aid in times of danger.

  203

  The Lion and the Wild Boar

  In summer, when the heat brings on thirst, a lion and a wild boar went to drink at a little spring. They argued about who should drink first, and the quarrel escalated into a life-and-death struggle.

  But, stopping for a moment to catch their breath in the midst of their combat, they noticed some vultures waiting nearby to devour whichever one fell first. So, putting aside their hostility, they said:

  ‘It would be better to become friends than serve as food for vultures and ravens.’

  It is better to put an end to quarrels and rivalries, for otherwise all parties will suffer.

  204

  The Lion and the Hare

  A lion, having come across a sleeping hare, was about to eat it. But, just at that moment, he caught sight of a deer. So he left the hare and gave chase to the deer. The hare, awoken by the noise, took flight.

  The lion, having followed the deer for some distance without being able to catch up, went back for the hare. But he found that it had gone.

  ‘It serves me right,’ he said. ‘I forfeited the meal I had right at hand for the hope of a better catch.’

  Thus, at times men, instead of being content with moderate profits, pursue fantastic prospects and, in so doing, foolishly let go of what they have in their hands.

  205

  The Lion, the Wolf and the Fox

  A very old lion lay ill in his cave. All of the animals came to pay their respects to their king except for the fox. The wolf, sensing an opportunity, accused the fox in front of the lion:

  ‘The fox has no respect for you or your rule. That’s why he hasn’t even come to visit you.’

  Just as the wolf was saying this, the fox arrived, and he overheard these words. Then the lion roared in rage at him, but the fox managed to say in his own defence:

  ‘And who, of all those who have gathered here, has rendered Your Majesty as much service as I have done? For I have travelled far and wide asking physicians for a remedy for your illness, and I have found one.’

  The lion demanded to know at once what cure he had found, and the fox said:

  ‘It is necessary for you to flay a wolf alive, and then take his skin and wrap it around you while it is still warm.’

  The wolf was ordered to be taken away immediately and flayed alive. As he was carried off, the fox turned to him with a smile and said:

  ‘You should have spoken well of me to His Majesty rather than ill.’

  This fable shows that if you speak ill of someone, you yourself will fall into a trap.

  206

  The Lion and the Mouse Who Returned a Kindness

  Once, a lion was asleep and a mouse ran all along his body. The lion woke up with a start, seized the mouse and was about to eat him, when the mouse begged him to spare his life, promising that he would repay the favour.

  The lion was so amused at this that he let the little fellow go.

  Not very long afterwards, the mouse was able to return the favour. For, as a matter of fact, some hunters caught the lion and tied him to a tree with a rope. The mouse heard him groaning, ran up and gnawed through the rope until the lion was free.

  ‘You see?’ squeaked the mouse. ‘Not long ago you mocked me when I said I would return your favour. But now you can see that even mice are grateful!’

  This fable shows how, through the changes of fortune, the strong can come to depend on the weak.

  NOTE: A version of this fable occurs in the Indian fable collection, the Pañcatantra, in the ‘Winning of Friends’ section (169), only there it is a large number of mice who gnawed the ropes tying the king-elephant in a trap and set him free. The probability is that the Indian version is an adaptation of the Greek fable done after the time of Alexander the Great; see footnotes to Fables 71 and 267.

  207

  The Lion and the Wild Ass

  A lion and a wild ass entered into an agreement to hunt wild beasts together. The lion was to use his great strength, while the ass would make use of his greater speed. When they had taken a certain number of animals, the lion divided up the spoils into three portions.

  ‘I’ll take the first share because I am the king,’ he said.

  ‘The second share will be mine because I have been your partner in the chase,’ he said.

  ‘As for the third share,’ he said to the wild ass, ‘this share will be a great source of harm to you, believe me, if you do not yield it up to me. And, by the way, get lost!’

  It is suitable always to calculate your own strength, and not to enter into an alliance with people stronger than yourself.

  NOTE: This and the next two fables all ignore the obvious fact that the ass is not a carnivore and hence would not be interested in eating the animals caught. This leads to the supposition that the wild ass is a substitute for another animal, a carnivore which could run faster than a lion, in the original versions. See discussion in the Introduction.

  208

  The Lion and the Ass Hunting Together

  The lion and the ass, having a pact between them, were out together hunting. Arriving at a cave where there were wild goats, the lion posted himself at the entrance to lie in wait for them to leave, while the ass went inside and started leaping about and braying in their midst to make them flee.

  When the lion had taken the largest of the wild goats, the ass came out and asked him if he hadn’t bravely fought and pushed the goats outside.

  The lion replied: ‘I can assure you that even I would have been scared to death, if I hadn’t known that you were an ass.’

  Thus, people who boast in front of those who know them deservedly lend themselves to mockery.

  209

  The Lion, the Ass and the Fox

  The lion, the ass and the fox, having made an agreement together, went off hunting for game. When they had taken plenty of game, the lion asked the ass to divi
de the spoils between them. The ass divided the food into three equal parts and invited the lion to choose his portion. The lion became enraged, pounced on the ass and devoured him.

  Then the lion asked the fox to divide the spoils. The fox took all that they had accumulated and gathered it into one large heap, retaining only the tiniest possible morsel for himself. He then invited the lion to choose.

  The lion then said:

  ‘Well, my good fellow, who taught you to divide so well? You are excellent at it.’

  The fox replied:

  ‘I learned this technique from the ass’s misfortune.’

  This fable shows that we learn from the misfortunes of others.

  210

  The Lion, Prometheus and the Elephant

  The lion was always complaining to Prometheus. Without doubt, Prometheus had made him large and handsome, he had armed him with a mouth full of teeth, equipped him with claws and made him stronger than all the other animals. ‘But, Prometheus,’ said the lion, ‘I am absolutely terrified of cockerels!’

  Prometheus said:

  ‘How can you accuse me so readily? I’ve given you all the qualities which I have myself. Your courage never fails you. Except in this one instance.’

  ‘Oh, I know, I know,’ the lion groaned. ‘I feel such a fool. I’m such a hopeless coward. Oh, I wish I could just die, I’m so ashamed!’