The Beloved Aesop's Fables. Aesop

THE OLD LION

       THE FOX AND THE PHEASANTS

       TWO TRAVELERS AND A BEAR

       THE PORCUPINE AND THE SNAKES

       THE FOX AND THE MONKEY

       THE MOTHER AND THE WOLF

       THE FLIES AND THE HONEY

       THE EAGLE AND THE KITE

       THE STAG, THE SHEEP, AND THE WOLF

       THE ANIMALS AND THE PLAGUE

       THE SHEPHERD AND THE LION

       THE DOG AND HIS REFLECTION

       THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE

       THE BEES AND WASPS, AND THE HORNET

       THE LARK AND HER YOUNG ONES

       THE CAT AND THE OLD RAT

       THE FOX AND THE CROW

       THE ASS AND ITS SHADOW

       THE MILLER, HIS SON, AND THE ASS

       THE ANT AND THE DOVE

       THE MAN AND THE SATYR

       THE WOLF, THE KID, AND THE GOAT

       THE SWALLOW AND THE CROW

       JUPITER AND THE MONKEY

       THE LION, THE ASS, AND THE FOX

       THE LION'S SHARE

       THE MOLE AND HIS MOTHER

       THE NORTH WIND AND THE SUN

       THE HARE AND HIS EARS

       THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP

       THE COCK AND THE FOX

       THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN

       THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH

       THE FIGHTING COCKS AND THE EAGLE

      THE WOLF AND THE KID

       Table of Contents

      There was once a little Kid whose growing horns made him think he was a grown-up Billy Goat and able to take care of himself. So one evening when the flock started home from the pasture and his mother called, the Kid paid no heed and kept right on nibbling the tender grass. A little later when he lifted his head, the flock was gone.

      He was all alone. The sun was sinking. Long shadows came creeping over the ground. A chilly little wind came creeping with them making scary noises in the grass. The Kid shivered as he thought of the terrible Wolf. Then he started wildly over the field, bleating for his mother. But not half-way, near a clump of trees, there was the Wolf!

      The Kid knew there was little hope for him.

      "Please, Mr. Wolf," he said trembling, "I know you are going to eat me. But first please pipe me a tune, for I want to dance and be merry as long as I can."

      The Wolf liked the idea of a little music before eating, so he struck up a merry tune and the Kid leaped and frisked gaily.

      Meanwhile, the flock was moving slowly homeward. In the still evening air the Wolf's piping carried far. The Shepherd Dogs pricked up their ears. They recognized the song the Wolf sings before a feast, and in a moment they were racing back to the pasture. The Wolf's song ended suddenly, and as he ran, with the Dogs at his heels, he called himself a fool for turning piper to please a Kid, when he should have stuck to his butcher's trade.

      Do not let anything turn you from your purpose.

      THE TORTOISE AND THE DUCKS

       Table of Contents

      The Tortoise, you know, carries his house on his back. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot leave home. They say that Jupiter punished him so, because he was such a lazy stay-at-home that he would not go to Jupiter's wedding, even when especially invited.

      After many years, Tortoise began to wish he had gone to that wedding. When he saw how gaily the birds flew about and how the Hare and the Chipmunk and all the other animals ran nimbly by, always eager to see everything there was to be seen, the Tortoise felt very sad and discontented. He wanted to see the world too, and there he was with a house on his back and little short legs that could hardly drag him along.

      One day he met a pair of Ducks and told them all his trouble.

      "We can help you to see the world," said the Ducks. "Take hold of this stick with your teeth and we will carry you far up in the air where you can see the whole countryside. But keep quiet or you will be sorry."

      The Tortoise was very glad indeed. He seized the stick firmly with his teeth, the two Ducks took hold of it one at each end, and away they sailed up toward the clouds.

      Just then a Crow flew by. He was very much astonished at the strange sight and cried:

      "This