This sort of fable shows how to recognize those people who extol themselves for empty deeds and those whose noble qualities are marked by solid accomplishments.
NOTE: There is a line at the beginning of this fable which most editors treat as spurious. It reads: ‘This fable tells us not to engage in useless activities.’ For another fable about the industrious ant, see Fable 126.
Fable 199 (Phaedrus App. 31 = Perry 556)
The Wasp and the Butterfly
A butterfly noticed a wasp flying by and exclaimed, ‘What an unfair turn of events this is! In our previous lifetimes, when we inhabited the bodies from whose mortal remains we received our souls, I was the one who spoke eloquently in times of peace and fought bravely in war, and I was first among my fellows in all of the arts! Yet look at me now, an utter frivolity, crumbling into ashes as I flutter here and there. You, on the other hand, were formerly a mule, a beast of burden, yet now you stab and wound anyone you want with your sting.’ The wasp then uttered words that are worth repeating: ‘It does not matter what we used to be: the important thing is what we are now!’
NOTE: This fable derives from the ancient belief that wasps would spring from the carcass of a dead mule or horse (e.g. Aelian, Characteristics of Animals 1.28), while a spirit or ‘psyche’ would take shape in the form of a butterfly (Aristotle, History of Animals 551a).
DEBATES AMONG THE PLANTS
Fable 200 (Babrius 64 = Perry 304)
The Fir Tree and the Bramble Bush
The fir tree and the bramble bush were quarrelling with one another. The fir tree sang her own praises at length. ‘I am beautiful and attractively tall. I grow straight up, a neighbour to the clouds. I supply the hall’s roof and the ship’s keel. How can you compare yourself, you mere thorn, to such a tree as myself?’ The bramble bush then said to the tree, ‘Just remember the axes which are always chopping away at you! Then even you can understand that it is better to be a bramble bush.’
A famous man has more glory than lesser people, but he is also exposed to greater dangers.
Fable 201 (Chambry 324* = Perry 213)
The Trees and the Bramble Bush
The pomegranate and the apple tree were debating about their beauty. They had both gone on at great length arguing back and forth when a bramble bush in a nearby hedge heard them and said, ‘Dear friends, let us put a stop to our quarrel.’
The fable shows that when there is a dispute among sophisticated people, then riff-raff also try to act important.
NOTE: For a similar story about a crab who gets involved in a dispute between dolphins and whales, see Fable 220. Other versions of this fable include the olive tree amongst the disputants (for an elaborate debate between the laurel and the olive, see Callimachus, Iamb. 4 = Perry 439).
Fable 202 (Aphthonius 36 = Perry 70)
The Oak Tree and the Reed
A story about a reed and an oak, urging us not to rely on strength.
A reed got into an argument with an oak tree. The oak tree marvelled at her own strength, boasting that she could stand her own in a battle against the winds. Meanwhile, she condemned the reed for being weak, since he was naturally inclined to yield to every breeze. The wind then began to blow very fiercely. The oak tree was torn up by her roots and toppled over, while the reed was left bent but unharmed.
Those who adapt to the times will emerge unscathed.
Fable 203 (Syntipas 31 = Perry 413)
The Olive Tree and the Fig Tree
When a fig tree lost all her leaves during the winter, a nearby olive tree made fun of her nakedness. ‘In both winter and summer,’ the olive tree said, ‘I am beautifully adorned with leaves, ever green with new life, whereas your beauty lasts only as long as the summer.’ While the olive tree was boasting, a thunderbolt suddenly fell from the sky and burned her to cinders, while the fig tree stood there safe and sound.
The fable shows that people who boast of their wealth or their fortune can meet with unexpected disaster.
NOTE: In Aphthonius 22, it is a snowstorm that destroys the olive tree: the snow gets caught in its leaves and breaks off the branches.
Fable 204 (Chambry 323 = Perry 369)
The Rose and the Amaranth
An amaranth plant, whose flower never fades, had sprung up next to a rosebush. The amaranth said, ‘What a delightful flower you are! You are desired by the gods and mortals alike. I congratulate you on your beauty and your fragrance.’ The rose said, ‘O amaranth, everlasting flower, I live for only a brief time and even if no one plucks me, I die, while you are able to blossom and bloom with eternal youth!’
This fable shows that it is better to last for a long time while being contented with little than to live sumptuously for a short time and then suffer a reversal of fortune, perhaps even death.
NOTE: The Greek word ‘amaranth’ means ‘undying’. It is not clear to what plant the Greek word might have referred; it could even have been a poetic invention. In modern times, the name amaranth has been given to a genus of plants commonly known as African spinach or Indian spinach.
Fable 205 (Phaedrus 3.17 = Perry 508)
The Gods and Their Trees
Once upon a time, the gods selected the trees which they wished to adopt as their own. Jupiter chose the oak tree, while Venus preferred the myrtle tree, Apollo the laurel, and Cybebe the pine, while Hercules chose the lofty poplar. Minerva was surprised and asked them why they had chosen trees which bore no fruit. Jupiter explained, ‘We do not want to appear to bestow these honours on the trees as if in exchange for their fruit.’ ‘For Heaven’s sake,’ said Minerva, ‘you can say whatever you want, but the olive tree appeals to me precisely because of the fruit that it yields!’ Then the father of gods and begetter of mortals said, ‘O my daughter, you are rightly called the goddess of wisdom by one and all: public acclaim is sheer foolishness, unless we are able to produce something that is useful.’
This fable warns us not to do anything that doesn’t have some purpose.
NOTE: Venus is the Roman equivalent of Aphrodite, the goddess of love; Minerva is the Roman equivalent of Athena, goddess of wisdom; Hercules is the Roman equivalent of Heracles. For Cybebe, the ‘Great Mother’ goddess, see Fable 6 and its note.
FABLES ABOUT BOASTING
Fable 206 (Babrius 62 = Perry 315)
The Boastful Mule
A mule once happened to be eating the food of idleness in his manger. Feeling his oats, so to speak, he burst into a run, whinnying and shaking his head to and fro. ‘My mother is a horse,’ he shouted, ‘and I am no worse at racing than she is!’ But suddenly he drew to a halt and hung his head in shame, remembering that his father was only a donkey.
NOTE: In Plutarch, Banquet of the Seven Sages 4, Aesop tells this same story about a ‘Lydian mule’ who began boasting when he saw his reflection in the water.
Fable 207 (Avianus 41 = Perry 368)
The Clay Pot and the Rain
Driven by the winds and a heavy build-up of clouds, a great thunderstorm erupted in a downpour of winter rain. The gale let loose its flood, drowning the land with water and drenching the work of a potter that had been placed out in the fields (exposure to warm air begins the process of fixing the softness of the clay, preparing it to be properly baked when it is set in the fire). The storm cloud asked the fragile pot by what name she was called. Heedless of what was going on around her, the pot replied, ‘My name is Amphora, and my gently sloping sides were designed by the potter’s skilful hand, aided by his swiftly spinning wheel.’ The cloud replied, ‘So far you have managed to retain that form of yours, but a deluge of rain is about to come down and wash you away.’ At that very moment the flood waters violently shattered the pot and she cracked and split into pieces, plunging headlong into the watery stream. Unhappy creature: she claimed to have a lofty name and dared to address the thunderclouds who were able to launch such arrows of rain!
This illustrative fable will serve to warn poor people not to lament their fate when it res
ts in the hands of the high and the mighty.
NOTE: In Caxton (7.26), it is not the river but the wind which shatters the pot. When the pot calls herself an ‘amphora’, she is claiming to be a quite superior vessel (Horace, Ars Poetica 21–2, contrasts the noble amphora with a lowly pot or pitcher).
Fable 208 (Chambry 320 = Perry 368)
The Cowhide and the River
The river saw that a cowhide was being swept along by his current, so he said to her, ‘What is your name?’ The cowhide answered, ‘They call me “Tough”;.’ Splashing the hide with his waves, the river said, ‘You had better get yourself another name, since I am going to soften you up!’
This fable shows that life’s disasters can often bring boastful and presumptuous people back down to earth.
Fable 209 (Chambry 51* = Perry 33)
The Boastful Athlete
There was a man who had been away on a journey and had then come back home. He strutted about town, talking loudly and at great length about the brave deeds he had accomplished in the various lands he had visited. In Rhodes, the man said, he had jumped such a long jump that no man alive could equal it, and he claimed that there were witnesses who could back up his story. A bystander then remarked, ‘All right! If you’re telling the truth, here is your Rhodes: go on and jump!’
The fable shows that talking is a waste of time when you can simply provide a demonstration.
NOTE: This fable enjoyed popularity as a Latin proverb: ‘Here’s your Rhodes, jump!’ (Erasmus, Adages 3.3.28).
Fable 210 (Phaedrus App. 13 = Perry 541)
Aesop and the Athlete
Aesop, that wise man from Phrygia, once saw a winning athlete who was making extravagant boasts, so he asked whether the man’s opponent had been more powerfully built. The athlete replied, ‘Watch what you’re saying! I was much stronger than he was.’ ‘You fool!’ said Aesop. ‘What kind of prize do you deserve if you were the stronger athlete and simply triumphed over an inferior opponent? You might have earned my grudging admiration if your opponent had in fact been superior to you in strength, so that you had to defeat him by means of your exceptional athletic prowess.’
Fable 211 (Babrius 114 = Perry 349)
The Boastful Lamp
There was a lamp drunk on his own oil who boasted one evening to everyone present that he was brighter than the Morning Star and that his splendour shone more conspicuously than anything else in the world. A sudden puff of wind blew in the lamp’s direction, and its breath extinguished his light. A man lit the lamp once again and said to him, ‘Shine, lamp, and be silent! The splendour of the stars is not ever extinguished.’
Fable 212 (Babrius 104 = Perry 332)
The Dog and His Bell
There was a dog who used to sneak up and bite people. His master forged a bell for the dog and tied it onto him so that everyone would know when he was coming. The dog then paraded about the marketplace, shaking his bell back and forth. An old dog said to him, ‘You wretched creature! Why are you so proud of yourself? This is not a decoration for bravery or good behaviour. You are shamefully beating the drum of your own evil deeds!’
NOTE: It is typically an older, wiser animal who gives the other animals advice that can save them from disaster (see Fable 31 for a wise old ram, Fable 248 for a wise old hare, etc.). This notion was itself proverbial: ‘The old deer will recognize the snare from a distance’ (Ovid, Art of Love 1.766).
Fable 213 (Chambry 350* = Perry 377)
The Crow and the Boastful Swallow
The swallow boasted to the crow, ‘I am a fair young maiden and the daughter of the King of Athens!’ The swallow then proceeded to tell the story of Tereus and how she had been raped by him and how he had cut out her tongue. The crow said to her, ‘If you talk so much with your tongue cut out, what would you do if it had been left intact!’
NOTE: This fable alludes to the famous mythological tale of Procne and Philomela, the daughters of Pandion, king of Athens (see Fable 505). When Procne’s husband, Tereus, raped her sister, Philomela, he then cut out her tongue so that she would not be able to denounce him. One version of the legend says that Philomela was then turned into a swallow, while Procne became a nightingale and Tereus became a hoopoe.
Fable 214 (Babrius 135 = Perry 244)
The Weasel and the Partridge
A man bought a partridge and let him run loose in the house, since he liked the bird very much. The partridge immediately started squawking his usual song, sauntering through every room in the house until he finally perched himself on the steps. Meanwhile, the tricky weasel rushed upon the partridge, asking, ‘Who are you? Where have you come from?’ The partridge replied, ‘The master bought me just today; I am a partridge.’ The weasel said, ‘Well, I have lived here a long time! My mother, the mouser-slayer, gave birth to me in this very house. Yet I keep quiet and sleep beside the hearth. What gives you the right to speak so freely and cackle so loudly if you have only just now become a member of the household?’
NOTE: In the Greek prose version of this fable (Chambry 355), the bird is a parrot, and retorts to the weasel that the master prefers his voice to hers.
Fable 215 (Babrius 37 = Perry 300)
The Bull and the Bullock
There was a bullock who had been turned loose in the fields without ever having borne the burden of the yoke. When he saw a hardworking bull who was pulling a plough, the bullock said to him, ‘You poor thing! What a lot of hard work you have to endure!’ The bull made no reply and continued pulling the plough. Later on, when the people were about to make a sacrifice to the gods, the old bull was unyoked and led out to pasture, while the young bullock who had never done any work was dragged away by a rope that they had tied to his horns. Seeing that the young bullock was doomed to pour his blood out upon the altar, the old bull then said to him, ‘This is the reason why you were not required to do any work. Although you are young, you are setting out on this journey ahead of your elders: you are going to be sacrificed, and your neck is going to chafe not under the yoke, but under the axe!’
NOTE: In the version found in Avianus 36, there is an especially pessimistic epimythium: ‘This is the fate of mankind: death comes quickly to those who are happy, while death is denied every day to the wretched.’
FABLES ABOUT
SELF-IMPORTANT CREATURES
Fable 216 (Phaedrus 1.29 = Perry 484)
The Donkey and the Wild Boar
When a foolish person just wants to get a laugh, he often teases someone in a way that is actually quite insulting, thus getting himself into serious trouble indeed.
A donkey happened to run into a wild boar and greeted him, ‘Good day, brother.’ The boar was indignant and, spurning the donkey’s salutation, he demanded to know how the donkey could make such an outrageous claim. The donkey extended his prick and said, ‘Even if you deny that you have anything in common with me, this certainly seems to have a great deal in common with your snout.’ Although he wanted to launch an attack that would be worthy of his breeding, the boar checked his rage and said, ‘I could easily avenge myself, but I don’t want to sully myself with the blood of this worthless coward!’
NOTE: Caxton (1.11) tells the fable of a donkey and a lion, not a boar. In the medieval Latin tradition, the donkey’s pene, ‘prick’, is confused with his pede, ‘foot’ (e.g. Ademar 12, ‘the donkey stuck out his foot and showed him his hoof’).
Fable 217 (Phaedrus 1.11 = Perry 151)
The Donkey and the Lion Go Hunting
By boasting about his prowess, the coward is able to fool strangers but he remains a laughing-stock to all who know him.
A lion chose a donkey as his hunting companion and hid him in the bushes, ordering the donkey to frighten the wild animals with his unfamiliar voice while the lion ambushed them as they fled. Following the lion’s instructions, our long-eared friend immediately began to bray with all his might. The animals were startled by this strange and amazing sound and they ran in terror toward their familia
r hiding-places, thus falling victim to the lion’s violent attack. When the lion was exhausted by the slaughter, he summoned the donkey and told him to be quiet. The insolent creature then said to the lion, ‘And what did you think of my vocalizing efforts?’ ‘Truly remarkable’, said the lion. ‘In fact, if I didn’t know already that you were a donkey born and bred, I also would have fled in fear.’
NOTE: For a similar dialogue between the fox and the donkey, see Fable 322.
Fable 218 (Babrius 55 = Perry 292)
The Donkey and the Ox
A man had just one ox, so he yoked the ox together with a donkey and started to plough. It was a humiliating arrangement, but unavoidable. When the work was finished and the man was about to unyoke them, the donkey asked the ox, ‘Who do you think is going to carry the old man’s tools on his back?’ The ox said to the donkey, ‘The same one who always carries them!’
Fable 219 (Phaedrus 5.9 = Perry 531)
The Bull and the Calf
A bull was struggling to squeeze his horns through a narrow entryway, scarcely able to get inside his stable. A young calf then took it upon himself to tell the bull which way he should turn his head. ‘Hush,’ said the bull, ‘I’ve known how to do this since before you were born!’
Aesop's Fables Page 16
