This fable can be used for a man who is a thief.
NOTE: Tiresias was a legendary prophet who was able to interpret the signs of the gods, such as the flight of birds and other natural portents, but because he was blind, his interpretation of the signs depended on hearing reports from sighted persons, as in this fable.
Fable 476 (Chambry 260* = Perry 178)
The Traveller and Hermes
A traveller who needed to make a long journey vowed that if he found anything, he would give half of it to Hermes. When he came across a bag full of dates and almonds he grabbed the bag and ate the almonds and dates. He then placed the pits of the dates and the shells of the almonds upon an altar and said, ‘You have what was promised you, O Hermes: I have saved the outsides and the insides for you!’
The fable can be used for a money-grubbing man who is so greedy that he even tries to trick the gods.
Fable 477 (Chambry 55 = Perry 28)
The Sick Man and the Gods
A poor man had fallen sick, so he prayed to the gods and vowed, ‘If I recover my health, I will sacrifice a hundred oxen in your honour.’ The gods wanted to test whether the man was telling the truth, so they granted his prayer and the man recovered from his sickness. When the man was well again, he did not have any oxen that he could sacrifice, so he made a hundred oxen out of dough and burned them on the altar, saying, ‘O supernatural beings, behold, I have fulfilled my vow.’ The gods wanted to pay him back for having tricked them, so they stood at the head of his bed in a dream and said, ‘Go to the beach, in such-and-such a place, and you will find there a hundred talents of gold.’ The man woke up, filled with joy, and went running down to the designated place to look for the gold. When he got there, he fell into the hands of pirates and was taken captive. The man pleaded with the pirates and said, ‘Just let me go and I will give you a thousand talents of gold!’
The story shows that the gods hate liars.
NOTE: In another version of this fable, the man is sold by the pirates for the same amount of money promised to the man by the gods. These oxen made out of dough resemble the proverbial ‘Locrian bull’, a sacrificial bull which the Locrians made out of wood and offered in place of a real one (Erasmus, Adages 2.8.62).
Fable 478 (Chambry 46* = Perry 34)
The Sick Man and His Wife
A poor man had taken ill and was in very bad shape. When the doctors had given up hope, since he didn’t have anything he could pay with, the man called upon the gods and vowed, ‘O you great and radiant divinities, if you restore my health, I will bring a hundred oxen to you as a sacrifice.’ His wife then asked him, ‘Where are you going to get a hundred oxen from, if you get well?’ The man said to her, ‘And do you suppose I am going to ever get out of this bed so that the gods will be able to demand payment?’
The story shows that people are often quick to make promises, but they do not really expect to have to fulfill them.
Fable 479 (Chambry 166* = Perry 323)
The Raven and Hermes
A raven who had been caught in a snare prayed to Apollo, promising that he would make an offering of frankincense if Apollo would rescue him from the snare. The raven escaped, but he forgot about his vow. Later on he was caught in another snare, but he ignored Apollo this time and instead vowed a sacrifice to Hermes. Hermes then said to the bird, ‘You wretched creature! How can I trust you, when you betrayed your former master?’
FABLES ABOUT GODS AND FOOLS
Fable 480 (Chambry 53 = Perry 30)
The Shipwrecked Man and Athena
A wealthy Athenian was making a sea voyage with some companions. A terrible storm blew up and the ship capsized. All the other passengers started to swim, but the Athenian kept praying to Athena, making all kinds of promises if only she would save him. Then one of the other shipwrecked passengers swam past him and said, ‘While you pray to Athena, start moving your arms!’
So too we should think of ourselves and do something on our own in addition to praying to the gods. The fable shows that it is better to gain the favour of the gods by our own efforts than to fail to take care of ourselves and be rescued by supernatural powrs. When disaster comes upon us, we should make every possible effort on our own behalf and only then ask for divine assistance.
Fable 481 (Babrius 20 = Perry 291)
Heracles and the Driver
An ox-driver was bringing his wagon from town and it fell into a steep ditch. The man should have pitched in and helped, but instead he stood there and did nothing, praying to Heracles, who was the only one of the gods whom he really honoured and revered. The god appeared to the man and said, ‘Grab hold of the wheels and goad the oxen: pray to the gods only when you’re making some effort on your own behalf; otherwise, your prayers are wasted!’
Fable 482 (Chambry 356* = Perry 231)
The Man, the Flea, and Heracles
A flea once jumped up onto a man’s foot and sat there. The man called upon Heracles to aid him in his struggle. When the flea finally jumped off, the man groaned and said, ‘O Heracles, if you refused to help me to defeat this flea, how will you exert yourself on my behalf against more powerful enemies?’
The story shows that we should not call upon the gods in trivial affairs but only in dire necessity.
NOTE: This motif was proverbial: ‘calling on the gods because of the bite of a flea’ (see Erasmus, Adages 3.4.4). In other versions of this story (included in Chambry’s first edition of the Greek fables), the man is said to be an athlete who expects Heracles to help him defeat his competitors.
Fable 483 (Babrius 10 = Perry 301)
Aphrodite and the Slave-woman
A man was in love with an ugly, wicked slave-woman from his own household and was quick to give her whatever she asked for. This slave-woman, bedecked with gold and trailing a delicate purple robe around her legs, would pick fights with the master’s wife at every opportunity. It was Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, whom she regarded as the cause of her good fortune, so she lit lamps in the goddess’s honour, sacrificing, praying, begging, and beseeching her every single day. Finally the goddess came to the couple as they were sleeping. She appeared to the slave-woman in a dream and said, ‘Do not give thanks to me; I certainly did not make you beautiful! Indeed, I am furious that this man would even think you were worth looking at.’
NOTE: An epimythium probably added by a later editor reads: ‘Only a man who is out of his mind and hated by the gods delights in ugly things as if they were beautiful.’
Fable 484 (Syntipas 2 = Perry 60)
The Poor Man and Death
A poor man was carrying a load of wood on his shoulders. After a while he was feeling faint, so he sat down by the side of the road. Putting aside his burden, he bitterly called out to Death, summoning Death with the words ‘O him!’ Death immediately showed up and said to the man, ‘Why have you summoned me?’ The man said, ‘Oh, just to have you help me pick this burden up off the ground!’
The fable shows that everyone clings to life, even if they suffer from affliction and oppression.
NOTE: In other versions of this fable (Chambry 78), the protagonist is an ‘old man’, rather than a ‘poor man’.
Fable 485 (Phaedrus App. 8 = Perry 536)
The Oracle of Apollo
‘I beseech you, reveal the way that is best for us, O Phoebus Apollo, you who dwell in Delphi and have your home on fair Parnassus.’ At these words, the hair on the head of the consecrated priestess of the oracle suddenly stood on end, the tripods began to shake, and the roar of Religion boomed from the inner shine, while the laurels trembled and the day itself grew pale. Struck by the god, the Pythian priestess uttered these words, ‘Listen, O nations, to the counsels of Apollo, the god of Delos: abide in piety; make good your promises to the gods in heaven; defend with military might your homeland and your parents, your children and your faithful wives; drive the enemy away with the sword; sustain your friends and be kind to the victims of misfortune; give aid to hone
st people and oppose lying scoundrels; avenge acts of crime and rebuke the wicked; punish all those who pollute the marriage bed with perverted adultery; watch out for evil-doers and trust no one too much.’ Having pronounced these words, the virgin priestess fell into a raging frenzy—and she was truly enraged, since her words had been spoken in vain.
NOTE: Delphi is located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and the priestess of Apollo at Delphi is called the ‘Pythia’. The laurel is a plant sacred to Apollo, and Delos was the island where he was born.
FABLES ABOUT GIVING ADVICE TO FOOLS
Fable 486 (Chambry 277* = Perry 186)
The Driver and the Donkey on the Cliff
A donkey had turned aside from the main road and was heading for a cliff. The driver shouted at him, ‘Where are you going, you wretched beast?’ He grabbed hold of the donkey’s tail and tried to drag him back from the cliff, but the donkey did not stop and instead kept going forward. So the man pushed the donkey even harder than he had pulled him back and said, ‘Go ahead then! You can take the worthless victor’s crown in this damned contest.’
The fable criticizes people who are destroyed by their own stupidity.
Fable 487 (Ademar 20 = Perry 39)
The Swallow and the Other Birds
Some birds who had flocked together saw a man sowing flax seed, but they thought nothing of it. The swallow, however, understood what this meant. She called an assembly of the birds and explained that this was an altogether dangerous situation, but the other birds just laughed at her. When the flax seed sprouted, the swallow warned the birds again, ‘This is something dangerous; let’s go and pull it up. If it is allowed to grow, people will make it into nets and we will not able to escape the traps that they devise.’ The birds mocked the swallow’s words and scorned her advice. So the swallow went to the people and began to make her nest only under the roofs of their houses. Meanwhile, the other birds refused to heed the swallow’s warnings, so now they are constantly being trapped in nets and snares.
Fable 488 (Dio Chrysostom, Orations 12 = Perry 437)
The Owl and the Other Birds
Since the owl was a wise bird, she advised the other birds when the first oak tree sprouted that they should not allow it to grow. If they didn’t uproot the tree at all costs, it would produce an inescapable substance, birdlime, that would bring about their death and destruction. Later on, when the people began to sow flax, the owl told the birds that they should pluck out the flax seed, since it was also going to wreak havoc on the birds. The third time, the owl saw a man with a bow and she said that the man would overtake them with their own feathers: although the man walked on foot he would be able to launch arrows with wings. Each time the birds refused to heed the owl’s advice. They acted as if she were crazy and said she was out of her mind. As things turned out, the birds discovered, much to their surprise, that the owl had been right all along. Therefore, whenever any other bird encounters the owl, they now treat her with reverence, as if she were an expert in everything. But the owl does not give them advice any more; she only complains.
NOTE: Perry also includes a second passage from Dio Chrysostom (Orations 72) which includes this same story. For a fable about a bird being shot by his own feathers, see Fable 43.
Fable 489 (Phaedrus App. 18 = Perry 546)
The Rooster and the Cats
There was a rooster who employed cats as his litter-bearers. When the fox saw the rooster being proudly carried about in this way, she said to him, ‘I advise you to beware of treachery: if you look into the faces of those cats, you will realize that they are not bearing a burden—they are carting off loot!’ Afterwards, when the pack of cats began to grow hungry, they tore their lord to pieces and divided his remains amongst themselves.
NOTE: There is a promythium appended to the fable in Perotti’s Appendix: ‘Overconfidence often leads people into danger.’
Fable 490 (Chambry 67* = Perry 69)
The Two Frogs by the Road
There were two frogs who lived near one another. One lived in a deep pond that was far away from the road, but the other lived near the road where there was only a small amount of water. The frog who lived in the deep pond advised the other frog to move in with him so that they could share the pond between them and live a life that was less fraught with danger. The roadside frog refused the offer, saying that he had become accustomed to his home and couldn’t tear himself away. Not long afterwards, he was crushed under the wheel of a passing wagon.
The same is true of people who persist in some worthless activity: before they know it, they’ve lost everything.
Fable 491 (Lucian, Hermotimus 84 = Perry 429)
The Fox and the Man Counting the Waves
Aesop tells this story. A certain man was sitting on the beach counting the waves as they broke against the shore. When he lost count of the waves he grew angry and frustrated. A sly fox then approached the man and said, ‘Good sir, what is the point of becoming angry about the waves that have already gone by? You need to just put them out of your mind and pick up counting again where you left off!’
FABLES ABOUT RAISING CHILDREN
Fable 492 (Phaedrus App. 12= Perry 540)
The Old Bull and the Young Bull
A father had an unmanageable son who indulged his vicious adolescent temper by brutally whipping the slaves whenever his father wasn’t looking. Aesop therefore shared this little story with the father. ‘A farmer once yoked an old bull to a young bull. The old bull tried to escape being yoked to this mismatched partner, complaining that his strength had become feeble with age. The farmer said to the bull, “Have no fear. I am not doing this to make you work but so that you will keep the young bull in check, seeing as how he has lamed many of the other bulls with his kicking and butting.” So too you must always keep that boy beside you in order to restrain his reckless inclinations with your own moderation, or else you will end up with even greater cause for complaint in your household.’
A mild disposition can put a stop to vicious behaviour.
NOTE: Compare the English proverb, ‘an old ox makes a straight furrow’ (The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs).
Fable 493 (Babrius 47 = Perry 53)
The Old Man and His Sons
Among the folk of days gone by, there was a very elderly gentleman who had many sons. When he was about to reach the end of his life, the old man asked his sons to bring to him a bundle of slender rods, if there happened to be some lying about. One of his sons came and brought the bundle to his father. ‘Now try, with all your might, my sons, to break these rods that have been bound together.’ They were not able to do so. The father then said, ‘Now try to break them one by one.’ Each rod was easily broken. ‘O my sons,’ he said, ‘if you are all of the same mind, then no one can do you any harm, no matter how great his power. But if your intentions differ from one another, then what happened to the single rods is what will happen to each of you!’
NOTE: An epimythium probably added by a later editor reads: ‘Brotherly love is mankind’s greatest good; even the lowly are exalted by it.’ This story was associated with a Scythian king who supposedly shared this lesson with all eighty of his surviving sons (see Scilurus, in Plutarch, Sayings of the Kings and Commanders).
Fable 494 (Chambry 83* = Perry 42)
The Farmer and His Sons
A farmer who was about to die wanted his sons to be knowledgeable about the farm, so he summoned them and said, ‘My children, there is a treasure buried in one of my vineyards.’ After he died, his sons took ploughs and mattocks and dug up the entire farm. They did not find any treasure, but the vineyard paid them back with a greatly increased harvest.
Thus they learned that man’s greatest treasure consists in work.
Fable 495 (Phaedrus 3.8 = Perry 499)
The Children and the Mirror
Pay heed to this advice, and take stock of yourself regularly.
There was a man who had an extremely ugly daughter and a son who was
remarkable for his good looks. While the two of them were playing childish games, they happened to look into a mirror which had been left lying on their mother’s armchair. The boy boasted about his beauty, and this made the girl angry. She couldn’t stand her boastful brother’s jokes, since she naturally took everything he said as a slight against herself. Spurred by jealousy, the girl wanted to get back at her brother, so she went running to their father and accused her brother of having touched something that was only for women, even though he was a man. The father hugged and kissed his children, bestowing his tender affection on them both, and said, ‘I want you to use the mirror each and every day: you, my son, so that you will remember not to spoil your good looks by behaving badly, and you, my daughter, so that you will remember to compensate for your appearance by the good quality of your character.’
Aesop's Fables Page 29
