The Complete Fables

by Aesop

  Hermes plunged in a third time and brought him his own axe. The man said, yes, indeed, this was the very axe which he had lost.

  Then Hermes, charmed by his honesty, gave him all three.

  Returning to his friends, the woodcutter told them about his adventure. One of them took it into his head to get himself some axes as well. So he set off for the riverbank, threw his axe into the current deliberately and then sat down in tears. Then Hermes appeared to him also and, learning the cause of his tears, he dived in and brought him too a golden axe, asking if it were the one which he had lost.

  The man, all joyful, cried out: ‘Yes! It is indeed the one!’

  But the god, horrified at such effrontery, not only withheld the golden axe but didn’t return the man’s own.

  This fable shows that the gods favour honest people but are hostile to the dishonest.

  NOTE: This fable would appear to be based upon an initiatory ritual from some mystery religion, and the motif of the valuable gold or silver weapon fetched by a god from beneath the water derives from the same sources as the more familiar traditions of the ‘Lady of the Lake’, Excalibur and the Ring of the Niebelungen. As for the axe, it had particularly sacred significance in Minoan times and its sacred associations go back into the Stone Age cultures.

  254

  The Travellers and the Bear

  Two friends were travelling along the same path together when a bear suddenly appeared. One of them quickly climbed up a tree and hid himself there. The other, who was about to be caught, threw himself down on the ground and feigned death. The bear sniffed him all over with his muzzle, but the man held his breath. For it is said that a bear will not touch a corpse.

  When the bear had gone away, the man hiding in the tree came down and asked his friend what the bear had whispered in his ear.

  The other replied: ‘Not to travel in future with friends who slip away when there is danger.’

  This fable shows that when danger threatens, true friends will face it.

  NOTE: Feigning death and remaining absolutely motionless while being sniffed by a dangerous animal is a common way of surviving in such a harrowing situation; W. H. Hudson once saved his life by doing this when attacked by a bull on the open Argentine pampas, and there are many similar stories of people who have saved themselves in this way from attacks by ferocious creatures of various kinds. The fable thus preserves an accurate and timeless tradition which must have been better known in the Stone Age when the beasts were more dangerous and more plentiful. As is so typical of the Aesopic material, the situation has been turned to advantage to make a joke.

  255

  The Travellers and the Raven

  Some people, travelling on business, came across a one-eyed raven. They turned to look at it and one of them advised that they retrace their steps, it being a bad omen in his opinion. But another of the men spoke up:

  ‘How can this bird predict the future for us when he couldn’t predict his own and avoid the loss of his eye?’

  Likewise, people who are blinded by their own interests are poorly qualified to give counsel to their neighbours.

  NOTE: One should interpret this fable in the context of knowing that bird augury was a very common superstition of the time, just as popular as astrology columns in the newspapers are today; but, in the case of bird augury, it had the advantage of complete sanction by the official religion. In fact, at a later date in Rome, the orator Cicero was official Augur for the Roman State.

  256

  The Travellers and the Axe

  Two men were travelling together. One of them found an axe along the way and he said to his companion:

  ‘We’ve found an axe.’

  ‘Don’t say we have found, say you have found,’ said the other man.

  Soon afterwards they were joined by the men who had lost the axe, and the one who had it, seeing that they were about to chase him, said:

  ‘We are lost!’

  ‘Don’t say we are lost,’ replied his companion, ‘but ‘‘I am lost.’’ For since you found the axe you haven’t granted me half of your lucky find.’

  This fable shows that if you are not willing to share good luck with a friend, you should not expect him to stand by you in misfortune.

  257

  The Travellers and the Plane Tree

  One summer, in the heat of the midday sun, two weary travellers stretched out under the shady branches of a plane tree to rest. Looking up into the tree, they agreed:

  ‘Here is a tree that is sterile and useless to man.’

  The plane tree answered:

  ‘Ungrateful wretches, at the very same time that you are enjoying my benefits you accuse me of being sterile and useless.’

  Some people are like this: some are so unlucky that even though they are good to their neighbours, they can’t make them believe in their benevolence.

  258

  The Travellers and the Brushwood

  Trudging along a cliff path, some travellers came to a high point. In the distance they could see some brushwood floating on the sea. They mistook it for a warship and therefore waited, thinking it would land. Then the brushwood, pushed by the wind, came nearer and they no longer thought it was a warship but a cargo ship. Later on, when they got to the beach, they realized that it was only a clump of brushwood. And they agreed:

  ‘What fools we were to wait for something that was nothing!’

  This fable shows that some people who appear formidable because they are strangers reveal at the first test that they are nonentities.

  259

  The Traveller and Truth

  Travelling through a desert, a man came upon a solitary woman who kept her eyes lowered.

  ‘Who are you?’ he asked.

  ‘I am Truth [Alētheia],’ she replied.

  ‘And why have you left the town and come to live in the desert?’

  She replied:

  ‘Because, in days gone by, lies were only known to a few men, but now they are everywhere – with everyone you speak to.’

  Life will be evil and painful for men while lies prevail over truth.

  260

  The Traveller and Hermes

  A traveller who had a long journey to make made a vow to the god Hermes that, if he should arrive safely, he would consecrate to the god half of anything he found along the way. As it happened, he found on the journey a carrying-pouch which contained some almonds and some dates. When he saw this, he picked it up, imagining it to be full of money. He shook out the contents and ate them. Then he took the shells of the almonds and the stones of the dates and placed them on an altar, saying:

  ‘Oh, Hermes, I have kept my vow. For I have shared with you the outside and the inside of that which I have found.’

  This fable applies to the miser who, through greed, uses trickery even with the gods.

  261

  The Traveller and Chance

  A man was worn out after a long journey, so he threw himself down beside a well and went to sleep. He would certainly have fallen in, but Chance [Tychē] appeared and woke him, saying:

  ‘Hey, friend! If you had fallen down the well you wouldn’t have blamed your own foolishness – you would have blamed me.’

  Thus, plenty of people who meet with misfortune through their own fault blame it on the gods.

  262

  The Asses Appealing to Zeus

  One day, the asses tired of suffering and carrying heavy burdens and they sent some representatives to Zeus, asking him to put a limit on their workload. Wanting to show them that this was impossible, Zeus told them that they would be delivered from their misery only when they could make a river from their piss. The asses took this reply seriously and, from that day until now, whenever they see ass piss anywhere they stop in their tracks to piss too.

  This fable shows that one can do nothing to change one’s destiny.

  263

  The Ass Bought in the Market

  A man who intended to buy an ass to
ok it on trial and led it to the manger to mix with his others. But the ass, turning its back on the others, went and stood beside the laziest and fattest of the lot. As it stood there and did nothing, the man put a halter on it and led it back to its owner. The owner asked the man if he had given it a fair trial, and he replied:

  ‘I don’t need any further trial. I am certain of what he’s like because of the companion he chose from among the lot.’

  This fable shows that people judge us by the company we keep.

  NOTE: Professor Chambry gives this fable the title ‘The Man who Bought an Ass’. But the original title does not mention the man.

  264

  The Wild Ass and the Domestic Ass

  A wild ass which saw a domestic ass grazing in plenty of sunshine went up to it to compliment it on its plumpness and on the pasture which it enjoyed. But, moments later, he saw it loaded with a burden and followed by the ass-driver, who hit it with a club. So he called out to it:

  ‘Oh, I don’t congratulate you any more. For I can see that you pay a high price to enjoy your abundance.’

  Thus, there is nothing to envy in advantage which is accompanied by danger and suffering.

  265

  The Ass Carrying Salt

  An ass with a load of salt was crossing a stream. He slipped and fell into the water. Then the salt dissolved, and when he got up his load was lighter than before, so he was delighted. Another time, when he arrived at the bank of a stream with a load of sponges, he thought that if he fell into the water again when he got up the load would be lighter. So he slipped on purpose. But, of course, the sponges swelled up with the water and the ass was unable to get up again, so he drowned and perished.

  Thus it is sometimes that people don’t suspect that it is their own tricks which land them in disaster.

  266

  The Ass Carrying a Statue of a God

  An ass, who was carrying a statue of a god on its back, was being led into the town by a man. As the passers-by prostrated themselves in front of the statue, the ass imagined that it was he to whom they were making obeisance and, in his pride, he started to bray and refused to go any further. The ass-driver, guessing his thoughts, beat him with his club and said:

  ‘Poor, brainless wretch! That really would be the limit, to see an ass adored by men.’

  This fable shows that people who take an empty pride in the advantages of others become a laughing stock to those who know them.

  NOTE: There is possibly more to this fable than meets the eye. There may be an intended ironical reference to the story written by Lucius of Patra about The Gold Ass, later written up in a famous book, The Metamorphoses or Golden Ass, by Apuleius, in the second century AD, and which is every bit as humorous as the Aesop fables.

  267

  The Ass Clothed in the Skin of a Lion, and the Fox

  An ass who had clothed himself in the skin of a lion went about the countryside frightening all the animals. He encountered a fox and tried to frighten him also. But the fox, who had heard his voice before, said to him:

  ‘You would have scared me too, there’s no doubt about it, if I hadn’t heard you bray.’

  Thus, uneducated people who put on airs betray themselves by their longing to speak.

  NOTE: A version of this fable is found in the ‘Loss or Gains’ section of the Indian Pañcatantra (44), but there a donkey is clothed in a tiger’s skin by his owner so that he can browse in other people’s barley fields safely and the farmers would be too frightened to drive him off. However, the donkey brays and the enraged farmers then kill him with stones, arrows and blows with wooden staves. This is probably an adaptation of the Greek fable done after the time of Alexander the Great; see notes to Fables 71 and 206.

  268

  The Ass Pronouncing the Horse Happy

  The ass discovered that the horse had plenty to eat and was well groomed, while he himself didn’t even have enough litter, even though he was so willing to work. But there came a time of war: the horse had to carry a horseman armed from head to foot who urged him in every direction and even forced him into the midst of the enemy, where the horse was pierced with blows and slaughtered. On realizing this, the ass changed his mind and pitied the horse.

  This fable shows that you shouldn’t envy leaders or the rich, but think of the dangers to which they are exposed and resign yourself to poverty.

  269

  The Ass, the Cock and the Lion

  One day, an ass and a cockerel were feeding together when a lion attacked the ass. The cockerel let out a loud crow and the lion fled, for lions are afraid of the sound of a cock crowing.

  The ass, imagining that the lion was fleeing because of him, did not hesitate to rush after him. When he had pursued the lion for about the distance where a cock’s crow can no longer be heard, the lion turned round and devoured him. As he was dying, the ass brayed:

  ‘What an unfortunate and stupid fellow I am! Why did I, who was not born to warlike parents, set out to fight?’

  This fable shows that the enemy is often portrayed as of no consequence, but when we attack him he destroys us.

  270

  The Ass, the Fox and the Lion

  An ass and a fox made a pact to hunt together, and they sallied forth. But a lion appeared in their path. Hoping to save himself from this danger, the fox approached the lion and offered to entrap the ass on the lion’s behalf. The lion promised that, if the fox did this, he would let him go free. So the fox led the ass towards a hunting pit, into which he fell and was trapped. As soon as he saw that the ass was secured, the lion ate the fox, saving the ass for later.

  Similarly, those who betray their colleagues are often unknowingly destroyed along with their victims.

  271

  The Ass and the Frogs

  An ass carrying a load of wood was crossing a bog one day. He slipped and fell. Not able to get up again, he began to groan and wail. The frogs in the bog, who heard all this moaning, said to him:

  ‘What sort of a noise would you make if you had been living here for as long as we have? You, who have only fallen in for a moment!’

  This fable could apply to an effeminate man who becomes impatient and complains about the slightest discomforts, while the rest of us put up with far worse things the whole time.

  272

  The Ass and the Mule Carrying the Same Heavy Loads

  An ass and a mule were trudging along the road together. The ass noticed that their loads were the same and became indignant. He complained that the mule should carry more than him, for he judged him capable of carrying twice as much as himself. But, when they had gone a little further, the ass-driver noticed that the ass couldn’t go on, and so he removed a part of his load and transferred it on to the mule. When they had gone a bit further, seeing that the ass was still exhausted, he took off a bit more of his load. Finally, removing the rest of it, he put it all on to the mule’s back. Then the mule glanced over to his comrade and said to him:

  ‘Well, my friend, don’t you think it would be fair if I now got twice as much to eat?’

  So it is with us: it is not just at the start but at the finish that we should judge each other’s condition.

  273

  The Ass and the Gardener

  An ass worked for a gardener. As he worked hard and didn’t get much to eat, he begged Zeus to rescue him from the gardener and find him another master. Zeus answered his prayer and he was sold to a potter. But he again became discontented because he was loaded up even more and was made to carry clay and pottery. So he asked once more to change his master and was sold to a tanner. Thus, he fell into the hands of an even worse master. Upon seeing the sort of work his master did, he sighed to himself:

  ‘Alas! How unlucky I am! I would have been better off staying with my previous masters; for this one, from what I can see, will tan my hide.’

  This fable shows that servants should never regret their first masters until they have approved the next.

  274


  The Ass, the Raven and the Wolf

  An ass who had a sore on his back was grazing in a meadow. A raven landed, perched on the ass’s back and started pecking at the sore. The ass, believing it was the sore that caused him such pain, began to bray and buck. The ass-driver, who saw this from some distance away, burst out laughing. A wolf who was passing by saw him and said to himself:

  ‘How unfortunate we are! It’s bad enough that when we are seen we are driven off, but when one of those comes near them they just laugh at it.’

  This fable shows that mischievous people are recognized for what they are at first sight.

  275

  The Ass and the Lap-dog or The Dog and Its Master

  There was a man who owned a Maltese lap-dog and an ass. He was always playing with the dog. When he dined out, he would bring back titbits and throw them to the dog when it rushed up, wagging its tail. The ass was jealous of this and, one day, trotted up and started frisking around his master. But this resulted in the man getting a kick on the foot, and he grew very angry. So he drove the ass with a stick back to its manger, where he tied it up.