The Complete Fables
Page 14
Some begging priests had an ass which carried their possessions from place to place. Now, one day, the ass dropped down dead from exhaustion. So they skinned it, made kettledrums [tympana] from its skin, and thus continued to make use of it. Then, later on, they met another group of begging priests who asked them where their ass was.
‘Oh, he is dead,’ they replied, ‘but he gets just as many blows as he did when he was alive.’
Thus, sometimes even when servants are freed from slavery they are not necessarily rid of the burdens of servitude.
NOTE: The tympanon was a kind of kettledrum especially used for the worship of the goddess Cybele and the god Bacchus. The begging priests of Cybele were known as the Mēnagyrtai, which is the actual title of this fable in Greek.
237
The Mice and the House-ferrets
The mice and the house-ferrets were at war. Now the mice, always seeing themselves beaten, convened a committee, because they imagined that it must be the lack of a leader which caused their setbacks. They elected some generals by raising their hands. Now, the new generals wanted to be distinguished from the ordinary soldiers, so they fashioned some horns and fastened them to their heads. The battle got under way and it happened that the army of the mice was defeated by the house-ferrets. The soldiers fled towards their holes, into which they escaped easily. But the generals, not being able to enter because of their horns getting stuck, were caught and devoured.
Thus, vainglory is often a cause of misfortune.
238
The Fly
A fly had fallen into an earthen pot [chytros] full of boiled meat. On the verge of drowning in the broth [zōmos], she said to herself:
‘I’ve eaten, I’ve drunk, I’ve had a bath. Death can come. It doesn’t matter to me.’
This fable shows that people easily surrender to death when it comes without any suffering.
239
The Flies
Some flies had found some spilled honey in a cellar and started to eat it. It was such a sweet feast that they couldn’t stop. But their feet became stuck to the spot so that they couldn’t take flight. And, as they began to suffocate, they said:
‘How wretched we are! We are dying for a moment’s pleasure.’
Gluttony is often the cause of much harm.
240
The Ant
Once upon a time, the ant used to be human – a farmer who, not content with his own yield, kept an envious eye on his neighbour’s harvest and stole it. Zeus was angered by his greed and changed him into the insect that we call an ant. But, even though his body was altered, his character was not. To this day he still traverses the fields collecting other people’s wheat and barley and storing it up for himself.
This fable shows that even a severe punishment doesn’t change people who, by nature, are bad characters.
241
The Ant and the Scarab Beetle
All summer an ant roamed the countryside gathering up grains of wheat and barley and storing them up for winter. Seeing this, a scarab beetle expressed surprise that she was working so hard at the time of year when most other animals rested from their labours and had a holiday. At the time the ant didn’t reply. But when winter had come and rain soaked the dung, the scarab beetle was hungry. She asked the ant to lend her a bit of food. Then the ant replied:
‘Oh, beetle! If you had worked when I took the trouble to, instead of mocking me, you would have plenty of food now too.’
Similarly, in times of abundance we should plan ahead lest we suffer distress when times change.
NOTE: Scarab beetles were sacred in Egypt. See also Fables 4 and 149.
242
The Ant and the Pigeon
A thirsty ant went down to a spring to drink but was caught by the flow of water coming from it and was about to be swept away. Seeing this, a pigeon broke a twig from a nearby tree and threw it into the water. The ant clambered on to it and was saved.
While this was going on, a fowler came along with his limed twigs ready to catch the pigeon. The ant saw what was happening and bit the man’s foot, so that the pain made him suddenly throw down the twigs, and the pigeon flew off.
This fable shows that one good turn deserves another.
243
The Field Mouse and the Town Mouse
A field mouse had a town mouse for a friend. The field mouse invited the town mouse to dinner in the country. When he saw that there was only barley and corn to eat, the town mouse said:
‘Do you know, my friend, that you live like an ant? I, on the other hand, have an abundance of good things. Come home with me and I will share it all with you.’
So they set off together. The house mouse showed his friend some beans and bread-flour, together with some dates, a cheese, honey and fruit. And the field mouse was filled with wonder and blessed him with all his heart, cursing his own lot. Just as they were preparing to start their meal, a man suddenly opened the door. Alarmed by the noise, the mice rushed fearfully into the crevices.
Then, as they crept out again to taste some dried figs, someone else came into the room and started looking for something. So they again rushed down the holes to hide. Then the field mouse, forgetting his hunger, sighed, and said to his friend:
‘Farewell, my friend. You can eat your fill and be glad of heart, but at the price of a thousand fears and dangers. I, poor little thing, will go on living by nibbling barley and corn without fear or suspicion of anyone.’
This fable shows that one should:
Live simply and free from passion
Instead of luxuriously in fear and dread.
NOTE: This fable, like several others, is in verse, but we have only rendered the moral in verse. Horace also did a version of this fable in Satires (II, 6, 79-117); it is a witty verse tale told to conclude Satire 6 of Book II, which hints that the story was a popular one in Rome at that time. Fontaine’s fable of ‘The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse’ derives only its title from Aesop and differs otherwise.
244
The Mouse and the Frog
A land mouse struck up an ill-fated friendship with a frog. One day, the frog, who had evil intentions, tied the paw of the mouse to his own foot. At first they leapt over the ground to eat some corn. Then they approached the edge of the pond. Then the frog dragged the mouse to the bottom, while playing about in the water making his ‘brekekekex’ noises. And the unfortunate mouse, bloated with the water, was drowned. But his body floated to the surface, attached to the foot of the frog. A kite spotted it, swooped down and seized it with his talons, and the frog, tied to the mouse, soon followed -and served also to provide a dinner for the kite.
Even death can avenge itself; for divine justice observes everything, and restores the equal proportions of her balance beam.
NOTE: The use of the word brekekekex to imitate the croaking of frogs is best known from its use in the play The Frogs by Aristophanes. A mouse drowned as a result of an ill-fated friendship with a frog also features in the epic parody, Battle of the Frogs and Mice (90), and then leads to warfare between the two species. There, in true Aesopic fashion, the drowning mouse is thus described: ‘Then, at the last, as he was dying, he uttered these words…’ The mock-epic is very funny, though some who have little sense of humour have not seen that. Although often attributed to Homer, Suda (formerly called by scholars Suidas) maintains that it was actually written by Pigres of Caria circa 480 BC. Certainly, there are connections between the mock-epic and the fable. B. E. Perry thinks that Demetrius of Phalerum made a fable from the mock-epic, but the apparent parody by the mock-epic of an Aesopic death-speech indicates that the mock-epic was actually making fun of a pre-existing fable, which thus may be an actual work of Aesop, considering the antiquity of the parody by Pigres.
245
The Castaway and the Sea
A castaway, flung on to the shore, slept from exhaustion. But it wasn’t long before he woke and, seeing the sea, reproached her for seducing men with her tran
quil air. For then, when she had them in her watery grip, she became wild and caused them to perish. The sea, having taken the form of a woman, said to him:
‘But, my friend, it’s not up to me. You should instead reproach the winds. For I am naturally as you see me now. It’s the winds who, falling on me without a moment’s warning, swell me and make me wild.’
Similarly, we ought not to be blamed for being the originators of an injustice when it has been carried out on the order of others, but rather blame should fall on those who have authority over us.
246
The Young Men and the Butcher
Two young men were buying meat from the same meat stall. While the butcher’s back was turned one of the youths grabbed some cheap bits of ears, trotters and so forth, and thrust them into the loose pocket-fold of the garment of the other. When the butcher turned round he looked for the morsels and accused the youths. But the one who had taken them swore he hadn’t got them and the one who had them swore he hadn’t taken them. Seeing through their false statements, the butcher said:
‘You can get away with a false oath to me but you certainly won’t escape the notice of the gods.’
This fable shows that, however persuasive the sophistries by which they are made, false oaths are still impious.
NOTE: There is no direct English translation for the word akrokōlion, which refers collectively to the extremities of an animal’s body such as ears, trotters and snout.
247
The Fawn and the Stag
One day, a fawn said to the stag:
‘Father, you are so much bigger and faster than the dogs and you have such splendid antlers to defend yourself. So why do you always run away from them?’
The stag replied with a laugh:
‘It’s true, my child, what you say, but one thing is certain: whenever I hear the hounds baying I make a dash for it even though I don’t know where I am fleeing.’
This fable shows that no amount of exhortation can reassure the faint-hearted.
248
The Young Wastrel and the Swallow
Having squandered his inheritance, a young wastrel possessed only his cloak. He noticed a swallow who had arrived early, so, thinking that summer had come, he took off his cloak and sold that too. But wintery weather was still to come. It grew very cold. He was out walking one day when he came across the swallow, frozen to death. He said:
‘Miserable wretch! You’ve ruined us both at once.’
This fable shows that it is always dangerous to do things at the wrong moment.
249
The Sick Man and the Doctor
A sick man, questioned about his health by the doctor, replied that he was sweating heavily.
‘That is good,’ said the doctor.
Then he asked him the next time how he was feeling, and the patient said he had been shivering so much he was badly shaken up.
‘That’s also good,’ said the doctor.
Then he called on the man a third time and asked how he was. He replied that he had had diarrhoea.
‘That’s good too,’ said the doctor, and went on his way.
Then one of the sick man’s parents came to visit him and asked how he was.
‘I’m dying of good symptoms,’ he replied.
So it is sometimes: judging things by appearances, our neighbours assume we are happy with the things which are, in fact, causing us the most grief.
250
The Bat, the Bramble and the Gull
The bat, the bramble and the gull met up with the intention of doing a bit of trading together. The bat went out and borrowed some money to fund the enterprise, the bramble contributed a lot of cloth to be sold and the gull brought a large supply of copper to sell. Then they set sail to go trading, but a violent storm arose which capsized their ship and all the cargo was lost. They were able to save nothing but themselves from the shipwreck.
Ever since that time, the gull has searched the seashore to see if any of his copper might be washed up somewhere, the bat, fearing his creditors, dare not go out by day and only feeds at night, and the bramble clutches the clothes of all those who pass by, hoping to recognize a familiar piece of material.
This fable shows that we always return to those things in which we have a stake.
251
The Bat and the House-ferrets
A bat fell to the ground and was caught by a house-ferret. Realizing that she was on the point of being killed, she begged for her life. The house-ferret said to her that she couldn’t let her go, for ferrets were supposed to be natural enemies to all birds. The bat replied that she herself was not a bird, but a mouse. She managed to extricate herself from her danger by this means.
Eventually, falling a second time, the bat was caught by another house-ferret. Again she pleaded to the ferret not to eat her. The second ferret declared that she absolutely detested all mice. But the bat positively affirmed that she was not a mouse but a bat. And so she was released again.
And that was how she saved herself from death twice by a mere change of name.
This fable shows that it is not always necessary to confine ourselves to the same tactics. But, on the contrary, if we are adaptable to circumstances we can better escape danger.
252
The Logs and the Olive
Once the logs were consulting among themselves to elect a king. They asked the olive:
‘Reign over us.’
The olive tree replied:
‘What? Give up my oily liquor which is so highly prized by god and man to go and reign over the logs?’
And so the logs asked the fig:
‘Come and reign over us.’
But the fig replied similarly:
‘What? Relinquish the sweetness of my delicious fruit to go and reign over the logs?’
So the logs urged the thornbush:
‘Come and reign over us.’
And the thorn replied:
‘If you were really to anoint me king over you, you would have to take shelter beneath me. Otherwise the flames from my brushwood [a usual tinder] would escape and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
NOTE: The word xylon means ‘firewood’ or ‘log’ but Professor Chambry mistranslated it as arbre, ‘tree’, because he missed the joke, as have all other translators known to us. This fable appears in the Bible in the Book of Judges (ix. 8), and both the King James translation and the New English Bible mention trees rather than logs; we have not consulted the Septuagint, as that is taking a footnote too far, nor can we read Hebrew.
The Greek fable appears to have been taken into the Bible, rather than the other way round. Our reasons for believing this are that the fable only really makes sense if we realize that it is about logs rather than trees, and the misunderstanding which led to people thinking it was about trees rather than logs obviously took place prior to the interpolation of the story into the Book of Judges, where the fable is put into the mouth of Jotham as a way for him to say ‘may fire come out of Abimelech’. Apart from the mistranslation of xylon as ‘tree’, the text of the Aesop fable and the text found in the Bible are extraordinarily close, indicating a borrowing not by any historical Jotham, whose speeches were remembered, but by a very literary writer of the Book of Judges who had a Greek text before him and who, like Professor Chambry, entirely missed the joke. The wry humour of the fable, so typical of the Aesopic material, is not only unlike the earnest tone so typical of the Bible, but also the humour of the fable is actually entirely overlooked by the serious-minded author of the Book of Judges.
It seems to us utterly impossible that the fable could have originated in the Bible and drifted into the Aesop collections from there, since that would mean an inconceivable injection of humour and specific meaning not present in the Bible; such processes do not happen in reverse, nor does water run uphill. What has happened is that a funny fable was misinterpreted by a Hebrew author whose Greek was a bit rusty, and borrowed for a wholly non-funny purpose of a man complaini
ng that his family have been murdered – just about the most incongruous context imaginable. Possibly the reason why the author of the Book of Judges took to the fable was that it mentioned the cedars of Lebanon, which were, of course, just as famous in Greece as they were in Israel; he must have thought that the idea of fire burning up the cedars of Lebanon was a very powerful image for fire consuming Abimelech. But, certainly, humour cannot be pumped into a humourless fable afterwards, it has got to be there to start with and become lost in transition.
What this means for dating we cannot say, not being Biblical scholars and having no idea when the Book of Judges may have been written, or indeed whether the fable may have been a later addition to the oldest manuscript, which we believe to be the Septuagint, which, as it was in Greek, might mean the fable was added at that stage by some earnest Alexandrian. In that case there is no need for the fable to be particularly ancient; it could be Hellenistic. Let us also not lose sight of the fact that the idea of the logs seeking to elect a king, in the light of all the other fables where various animals and plants seek kings, is a joke which was probably thought to be hysterically funny at the time, especially in the context of the Aesop collections; in other words, the fable may well have been composed as a satirical addition to the collection purely in a spirit of fun.
253
The Woodcutter and Hermes
A woodcutter who was chopping wood on the banks of a river had lost his axe. Not knowing what to do, he sat himself down on the bank and wept. The god Hermes, learning the cause of his distress, took pity on him. Hermes plunged into the river, brought out a golden axe and asked the woodcutter if this were the one which he had lost. The man said, no, that wasn’t the one. So Hermes dived back in again and this time he produced a silver axe. But the woodcutter said, no, that wasn’t his axe either.