Aesop Fables

The Boy and the Filberts

Aesop Fables

Fidy Says

The Boy and the Filberts

A Boy put his hand into a pitcher full of filberts. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the pitcher.

Unwilling to lose his filberts, and yet unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears and bitterly lamented his disappointment. A bystander said to him, “Be satisfied with half the quantity, and you will easily get your hand out.”

Moral:Do not attempt too much at once.

posted in People | 8 Suggested Morals

The Boasting Traveler

A man who had traveled in foreign lands boasted very much, on returning to his own country, of the many wonderful and heroic feats he had performed in the different places he had visited.

Among other things, he said that when he was at Rhodes he had leaped to such a distance that no man of his day could leap anywhere near him as to that, there were in Rhodes many persons who saw him do it and whom he could call as witnesses.

One of the bystanders interrupted him, saying:  “Now, my good man, if this be all true there is no need of witnesses.  Suppose this to be Rhodes, and leap for us.”

Moral: Don’t let your words be larger than your deeds.

posted in People | 4 Suggested Morals

Horse and the Groom

A GROOM used to spend all day, every day in currycombing and rubbing down his Horse, but at the same time stole the horse’s oats and sold them for his own profit.

“Think about it!” said the Horse, “if you really want me to be in good condition, you should groom me less, and feed me more.”

Moral: Spend your time on what will give you the results you want.

posted in Miscellaneous, People | 12 Suggested Morals

The Miser

A MISER sold everything he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at every day.

NBP Gold
Creative Commons License photo credit: covilha

One of the miser’s workers observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to keep an eye on the miser. The worker soon discovered the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it.

The next time the Miser visited his gold, he found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and sob loudly. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said,

“Pray do not grieve so… go and take a stone, place it in the hole, and pretend that the gold is still lying there. It will have the same effect; for when the gold was there, you didn’t really have it, as you did not make the slightest use of it.”

Moral: Use it or lose it

posted in People | 11 Suggested Morals

The Goatherd and the Wild Goats

A Goatherd, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up in a cave together with his own for the night.

The next day it snowed very hard, so that the Goatherd could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep them inside the cave. He gave his own goats just enough food to keep them alive, but fed the wild goats more abundantly, hoping that by doing so, they would stay with him and join his herd.

When the snow thawed, the Goatherd led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd.

One of the Wild Goats, turning about, said to him: “That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves.”

Moral: Don’t sacrifice old friends for new ones.

posted in Goat, People | 8 Suggested Morals

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