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AESOP'S FABLES (84 Fables)




From The PaperLess Readers Club, Houston (713) 977-9505 (BBS
Voice/Fax (713) 977-1719



1-21                                                     22-42


      The Cock and the Pearl                  The Frog and the Ox
      The Wolf and the Lamb                   Androcles
      The Dog and the Shadow                  The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts
      The Lion's Share                             The Hart and the Hunter
      The Wolf and the Crane                  The Serpent and the File
      The Man and the Serpent                 The Man and the Wood
      The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse    The Dog and the Wolf
      The Fox and the Crow                    The Belly and the Members
      The Sick Lion                                  The Hart in the Ox-Stall
      The Ass and the Lapdog                  The Fox and the Grapes
      The Lion and the Mouse                  The Horse, Hunter, and Stag
      The Swallow and the Other Birds         The Peacock and Juno
      The Frogs Desiring a King               The Fox and the Lion
      The Mountains in Labour                 The Lion and the Statue
      The Hares and the Frogs                 The Ant and the Grasshopper
      The Wolf and the Kid                    The Tree and the Reed
      The Woodman and the Serpent             The Fox and the Cat
      The Bald Man and the Fly                The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
      The Fox and the Stork                   The Dog in the Manger
      The Fox and the Mask                    The Man and the Wooden God
      The Jay and the Peacock                 The Fisher



 The Cock and the Pearl



A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the

hens when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw.

"Ho! ho!" quoth he, "that's for me," and soon rooted it out from

beneath the straw.  What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by

some chance had been lost in the yard?  "You may be a treasure,"

quoth Master Cock, "to men that prize you, but for me I would

rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls."


Precious things are for those that can prize them.




  The Wolf and the Lamb




Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside,

when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning to

drink a little lower down.  "There's my supper," thought he, "if

only I can find some excuse to seize it."  Then he called out to

the Lamb, "How dare you muddle the water from which I am

drinking?"


"Nay, master, nay," said Lambikin; "if the water be muddy up

there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to

me."


"Well, then," said the Wolf, "why did you call me bad names

this time last year?"


"That cannot be," said the Lamb; "I am only six months old."


"I don't care," snarled the Wolf; "if it was not you it was

your father;" and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb

and

 .WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA

 .ate her all up.  But before she died she gasped out

 ."Any excuse will serve a tyrant."




  The Dog and the Shadow




It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was

carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace.  Now on his way

home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook.  As he

crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the

water beneath.  Thinking it was another dog with another piece of

meat, he made up his mind to have that also.  So he made a snap at

the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of

meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.


Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.




  The Lion's Share


The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal,

and the Wolf.  They hunted and they hunted till at last they

surprised a Stag, and soon took its life.  Then came the question

how the spoil should be divided.  "Quarter me this Stag," roared

the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and cut it into four

parts.  Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and

pronounced judgment:  The first quarter is for me in my capacity

as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share

comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth

quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will

dare to lay a paw upon it."


"Humph," grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail

between his legs; but he spoke in a low growl

 ."You may share the labours of the great,

but you will not share the spoil."




  The Wolf and the Crane



A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, when

suddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he could

not swallow it.  He soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ran

up and down groaning and groaning and seeking for something to

relieve the pain.  He tried to induce every one he met to remove

the bone.  "I would give anything," said he, "if you would take it

out."  At last the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lie

on his side and open his jaws as wide as he could.  Then the Crane

put its long neck down the Wolf's throat, and with its beak

loosened the bone, till at last it got it out.


"Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?" said the

Crane.


The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: "Be content.

You have put your head inside a Wolf's mouth and taken it out

again in safety; that ought to be reward enough for you."


Gratitude and greed go not together.



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