The same is true of human beings: fearing a lesser danger, they throw themselves into even worse disaster.
Fable 460 (Chambry 167 = Perry 128)
The Raven and the Snake
A raven who was looking for food noticed a snake stretched out asleep in the sun. The raven jumped on the snake and grabbed it, but the snake then twisted back around and bit him. As he was dying, the raven said, ‘What a fool I was! The windfall I found has turned out to be fatal!’
This fable can be applied to a man who finds a treasure that puts his life in jeopardy.
NOTE: For a very similar fable but with a different moral interpretation, see Fable 143.
Fable 461 (Babrius 61 = Perry 327)
The Hunter and the Fisherman
A hunter was coming down from the mountain after the hunt while a fisherman was walking along with a basket full of fish, and the two men crossed paths. The hunter preferred to have fish fresh from the sea, while the fisherman preferred wild game caught in the fields, so they exchanged the things that they were carrying. From then on they always traded their catch so that they could both enjoy more appetizing dinners. Eventually someone gave them this advice: ‘Be careful, because too much familiarity will eventually spoil the goodness of these things, so that each of you will long to have what was originally yours.’
Fable 462 (Phaedrus App. 4 = Perry 534)
Mercury and the Two Women
Mercury was once the guest of two women who treated him in a cheap and tawdry manner. One of these women was the mother of an infant still in his cradle, while the other woman was a prostitute. In order to return the women’s hospitality as they deserved, Mercury paused on the threshold of their door as he was leaving and said, ‘You are gazing upon a god: I am prepared to give you right now whatever it is you want.’ The mother beseeched the god to allow her to see her son with a beard as soon as possible, while the prostitute wanted the power to attract anything she touched. Mercury flew away and the women went back inside, where they found the baby with a beard, wailing and screaming. This made the prostitute laugh so hard that her nose filled with snot (as sometimes happens), but when she touched her hand to her nose, the nose followed her hand until it reached all the way down to the floor. In this way the woman who had laughed at someone else ended up being laughed at herself.
NOTE: There is a promythium appended to the fable in Perotti’s Appendix: ‘Do not ask for more than you deserve.’
Fable 463 (Chambry 85* = Perry 299)
The Man and the Tree Without Fruit
A farmer had a tree on his land that did not yield any sort of fruit whatsoever. Instead, it was a home to the sparrows and the cicadas who chirped and sang. The farmer, however, thought that the tree was useless and decided he would cut it down. He grabbed an axe and prepared to start chopping, but the cicadas and the sparrows all began to wail, shouting these words at the man, ‘Listen to us, O master of the tree: we implore you to be more generous. Please do not cut down this reverend dwelling! If indeed you are resolved to do such a thing, what benefit can you possibly hope for?’ The man felt no pity for the creatures and showed them no mercy as he struck the tree three times with the axe’s blade. But no sooner had the man made a crack in the tree when he found there a hive of bees and honey. He took a taste and immediately dropped his axe, vowing to cherish this tree even more than his fruit-bearing trees.
Fable 464 (Babrius 119 = Perry 285)
The Statue of Hermes and the Treasure
There was a craftsman who had a wooden statue of Hermes. Every day he poured libations and made sacrifices to it, but he still wasn’t able to earn a living. The man got angry at the god, so he grabbed the statue by the leg and threw it down on the ground. The head of the statue shattered and gold coins came pouring out from inside it. As he gathered the gold, the man remarked, ‘Hermes, you are an unlucky god, since you take no thought for your friends. You didn’t do me any good when I was treating you with devotion, but now that I have wronged you, you give me this immense reward. I do not understand this strange kind of cult!’
NOTE: An cpimythium probably added by a later editor reads: ‘Aesop even involves the gods in his stories, urging us to chastise one another: if you honour a wicked man, you will have nothing to show for it, but by shaming him you will make a profit.’ Hermes was the god of craftsmen and merchants; for another fable about Hermes as a god who bestows wealth, see Fable 561.
Fable 465 (Syntipas 48= Perry 405)
The Cyclops and His Treasure
There was a man who was prudent in his prosperity, although he was somewhat too proud of himself. He enjoyed a comfortable life, together with his children, but after a while he lost all his money. Suffering from spiritual distress (which is only natural in such circumstances), the man uttered blasphemies and even felt compelled to commit suicide, because he would rather die than live in such wretched circumstances. Accordingly, he took his sword and set out to find a deserted place. On his way, he came across a deep pit in which he found some gold—and a great sum of gold it was! The gold had been left there by a Cyclops, which is a kind of giant. When this god-fearing man noticed the gold, he was overwhelmed at first by both terror and delight. He then cast aside his sword, took up the gold, and went back home to his children, filled with joy. Later, the Cyclops came back to the pit. When he did not find his gold there, but saw instead a sword lying in its place, he immediately picked up the sword and killed himself.
The story shows that bad things naturally happen to bad people, while good things lie in wait for people who are honest and reasonable.
NOTE: In classical Greek mythology, a Cyclops is an anti-social giant who lives in caves; this story’s representation of a Cyclops guarding buried treasure appears to be unprecedented, although it may be connected with legends about their building walls and fortifications, as well as their associations with the underworld (e.g. Virgil, Aeneid 6.630).
FABLES ABOUT FATE AND FORTUNE
Fable 466 (Babrius 136 = Perry 363)
The Father, the Son, and the Lion
There was a timid old man who had an only child, a son, who was generally high-spirited and who wanted to go hunting. In a dream the father saw his son lying dead, killed by a lion. Afraid that this might really happen and that the dream might actually come true, he built a house for the men of the family, and it was an extremely beautiful house, with high ceilings and sturdy walls and full of sunlight. He then enclosed his son inside this house, locked away under guard. To keep his son from becoming sad, he had the walls decorated with pictures of various animals, and among all these animals there was a painted lion. Staring at the lion, the boy felt even more sad, and he eventually approached the lion and said, ‘O you wicked animal, because you showed that lying dream to my father’s eyes you are able to keep me prisoner here, watched by guards as if I were a woman. But why do I attack you only with words, and not with an act of violence as well?’ The boy then dashed his hands against the lion, intending to scratch its eyes out, but instead a sliver of wood came off and stabbed him under his fingernail. This soon brought about a burning inflammation of the flesh, and although the desperate father did everything he could, it was all to no avail. The infection spread until it reached the boy’s groin, and thus brought his life to an end. The old man was unable to save his child, who had been destined to die because of a lion who was not even alive.
You must bravely endure the things that are prepared for you, not trying to outwit what lies ahead. You will not be able to escape that which must be.
NOTE: For a fable which explains the difference between true and false dreams, see Fable 529.
Fable 467 (Chambry 294 = Perry 162)
The Mother, the Child, and the Crow
The mother of a small baby consulted a soothsayer who told her that her child would be killed by a crow. Terrified, the mother ordered that a large chest be built and she shut her baby inside, protecting him so that no crow could harm him. She continued in this
way, opening the chest at regular intervals in order to give the baby the food that he needed. Then one day, after she had opened the chest and was using an iron bar to prop up the lid, the child recklessly stuck his head out. At that moment, the iron bar—it was a crow bar—fell down on top of the boy’s head and killed him.
NOTE: In the Greek the ‘crow’ (or, rather, korax, the ‘raven’) appears to have been an actual part of the chest, presumably a bar of black metal with a bend at one end, shaped like an English ‘crowbar’.
Fable 468 (Phaedrus App. 16 = Perry 544)
The Bride and the Two Grooms
There were two young men who both wanted to marry the same girl. The well-off young man won the prize, since the poor man had nothing more to offer than his good name and good looks. When the appointed wedding day arrived, the grief-stricken lover was unable to endure the heartbreak and hid himself away in his country home just outside the city. This poor man’s home happened to be located quite near the rich man’s opulent manor, the future home of that young bride who was now about to leave her mother’s care forever (the groom’s house in the city had not seemed sufficiently large for the occasion). The wedding procession unfolded, with a large crowd of guests in attendance and Hymen, the god of marriage, leading the way, the wedding torch in his hand. There was also a donkey standing at the threshold of the gate, who was regularly put out for hire by the poor man, his owner, and it just so happened that the family of the bride had decided to hire this very donkey so that the bride would not bruise her feet on the rough road. At this moment, Venus, the goddess of love, showed her compassion: the clouds in the sky were tossed by the winds and a crack of thunder shook the heavens. As grim night descended with a dense downpour of rain, the light was snatched from everyone’s eyes and the terrified party guests were pelted with hail as they scattered in all directions. While everyone ran in search of shelter from the storm, the donkey scampered under the familiar roof that he found nearby, and announced his arrival with a loud ‘hee-haw’. The household slaves came running up and were amazed to see a beautiful young woman in the wagon. They then went to inform their master, who was reclining with a few of his friends at the table, trying to cheer his broken heart with one cup of wine after another. When the man heard what had happened, he rejoiced at this unexpected pleasure. Incited now by both Bacchus and Venus, the man joyfully completed the wedding ceremony, applauded by his companions. Meanwhile, the family of the bride sent the town crier to look for her, while the erstwhile groom lamented his runaway bride. When the turn of events became known to the general public, they all praised the good will of the gods.
NOTE: There is a promythium appended to the fable in Perotti’s Appendix: ‘The fable shows that fortune can occasionally bestow favours that exceed a person’s hopes and expectations.’ Bacchus was the Roman equivalent of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
Fable 469 (Avianus 12 = Perry 61)
The Farmer and the Goddess Fortune
A farmer had started turning the earth with his plough when he saw a treasure suddenly spring into view from the depths of the furrow. His spirit soared as he abandoned the lowly plough and drove his oxen off to better pastures. He immediately built an altar to the earth goddess Tellus, worshipping her for having happily bestowed on him the wealth that had been buried inside her. While the farmer was rejoicing in his new circumstances, the goddess Fortuna was indignant that he had not considered her equally worthy of incense and offerings. She thus appeared to the man and gave him this warning about the future: ‘Instead of making an offering of your new-found wealth in my temple, you are sharing it with all the other gods. Yet when your gold is stolen and you are stricken with grief, then you will turn to me first of all in your despair and deprivation!’
NOTE: Fortuna is the Roman goddess of luck. Tellus, a Latin word for ‘earth’, is equivalent to the Greek goddess Ge or Gaia.
Fable 470 (Babrius 49 = Perry 174)
The Goddess Fortune and the Man by the Well
A workman had thoughtlessly fallen asleep one night next to a well. While he slept, he seemed to hear the voice of Tyche, the goddess of fortune, as she stood there beside him. ‘Hey you,’ the goddess said, ‘you’d better wake up! I am afraid that if you fall into the well, I will be the one that people blame, giving me a bad reputation. In general, people blame me for everything that happens to them, including the unfortunate events and tumbles for which a person really has only himself to blame.’
NOTE: The name of the Greek goddess ‘Tyche’ means ‘luck’ or ‘fortune’.
Fable 471 (Chambry 131 = Perry 110)
The Man and the Hero
A man kept a hero shrine in his house and made expensive sacrifices to it. Since he was constantly paying out money and spending great sums on the offerings, the god came to him one night and said: ‘Look here, stop squandering your wealth: if you spend everything and become poor, you’ll put the blame on me!’
Likewise, when people suffer misfortune because of their own foolishness, they often blame the gods.
NOTE: The spirits of dead heroes were the object of devotional cult in ancient Greece (in The Republic 427b, Plato divides divine worship into three categories: gods, daemons, and heroes, in that order).
FABLES ABOUT GODS AND MORTALS
Fable 472 (Chambry 50* = Perry 36)
The Man and the Oracle
A wicked man had gone to visit Apollo in Delphi, wanting to test the god. He took a sparrow in one hand, concealing it with his cloak, and then stood by the oracle and inquired of the god, ‘Apollo, the thing that I am carrying in my hand: is it living, or is it dead?’ The man planned to show the sparrow alive if the god said ‘dead’, and if the god said ‘living’, he would strangle the sparrow immediately and present the dead bird. But the god recognized the man’s evil purpose, and said, ‘Listen, do whatever you want: it is entirely up to you whether you will show me something living or dead!’
The fable shows that the divine gods cannot be tricked or deceived.
NOTE: Delphi was the site of Apollo’s main oracle in Greece.
Fable 473 (Babrius 2 = Perry 295)
The Farmer and His Mattock
A farmer had lost his mattock while digging in the vineyard. He checked to see if any of the bystanders had taken it, but each of them denied it. Not knowing what to do, he brought everyone to the city, intending to make them swear a solemn oath (country folk being convinced that only simple-minded gods live in the countryside, unlike the real gods who live inside the city walls, observing everything that happens). They entered through the city gates and put down their packs in order to wash their feet at a well. Then they heard a herald shouting that a thousand drachmas was being offered as a reward for information about property which had been stolen from the god. When the farmer heard this, he said, ‘I have come on a fool’s errand! How can this god know anything about other thieves, when he can’t even find the crooks who stole his own stuff. A god—but he has to offer a reward to find out if any human being knows what happened!’
Fable 474 (Chambry 253* = Perry 173)
The Man, Hermes, and the Axes
A man was chopping wood by a certain river when he dropped his axe and it was carried away by the current. The man then sat down on the riverbank and began to weep. The god Hermes finally took pity on the man and appeared before him. When Hermes learned the reason for his sorrow, he brought up a golden axe and asked whether that was the man’s axe. The man said that it was not his. A second time, Hermes brought up a silver axe, and again asked the man if this was the axe he had lost but the man said that it was not. The third time Hermes brought up the axe that the man had lost and when the man recognized his axe, Hermes rewarded the man’s honesty by giving all of the axes to him as a gift. The man took the axes and went to tell his friends what had happened. One of the men was jealous and wanted to do the same thing, so he took his axe and went to the river. He began chopping some wood and then intentionally let his axe fall into the
whirling waters. As he was weeping, Hermes appeared and asked him what had happened, and the man said that he had lost his axe. When Hermes brought up the golden axe and asked the man if that was the axe he had lost, the greedy man got excited and said that it was the one. Not only did the man fail to receive any gifts from the god, he didn’t even retrieve his own axe.
The fable shows that the gods are sympathetic to honest people and hostile to people who are liars.
Fable 475 (Chambry 110* = Perry 89)
Hermes and Tiresias
Hermes wanted to test Tiresias’ prophetic power, so the god stole some of his cattle from the pasture. He then assumed human form and went to the city in order to pay Tiresias a visit. When Tiresias was told about the loss of his cattle, he took Hermes with him and they went out together to seek an auspice regarding the theft. Tiresias asked Hermes to tell him about any sign from the birds that he happened to see. The first sign Hermes saw was an eagle flying from the left to the right, and he reported this to Tiresias. Tiresias said that this didn’t have anything to do with the cattle. Next, Hermes saw a crow sitting on a tree who first looked up and then looked down towards the ground. Hermes reported this observation to the soothsayer and at this point Tiresias declared, ‘Yes, that crow is swearing by both Heaven and Earth that I could get my cattle back … if you were willing to co-operate!’
Aesop's Fables Page 28
