Bald Man and Fly

There was once a Bald Man who sat down after work on a hot summer's day.

A Fly came up and kept buzzing about his bald pate, and stinging him from time to time.

The Man aimed a blow at his little enemy, but his palm came on his head instead.

Again the Fly tormented him, but this time the Man was wiser and said:

"You will only injure yourself if you take notice of despicable enemies."

Aesop/Lapdog

The Ass and the Lapdog 

A Farmer one day came to the stables to see to his beasts of burden: among them was his favourite Ass, that was always well fed and often carried his master.
With the Farmer came his Lapdog, who danced about and licked his hand and frisked about as happy as could be.
The Farmer felt in his pocket, gave the Lapdog some dainty food, and sat down while he gave his orders to his servants.
The Lapdog jumped into his master's lap, and lay there blinking while the Farmer stroked his ears.
The Ass, seeing this, broke loose from his halter and commenced prancing about in imitation of the Lapdog.
The Farmer could not hold his sides with laughter, so the Ass went up to him, and putting his feet upon the Farmer's shoulder attempted to climb into his lap.
The Farmer's servants rushed up with sticks and pitchforks and soon taught the Ass that: Clumsy jesting is no joke.

The Ass in the Lion's Skin

And on the eve of this sad election, a trip back in time to simple wisdom, sans insults, threats, lies or vulgarity:


An Ass once found a Lion's skin which the hunters had left out in the sun to dry.

He put it on and went towards his native village.

All fled at his approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud Ass that day.

In his delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then every one knew him, and his owner came up and gave him a sound cudgelling for the fright he had caused.

And shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and said:

"Ah, I knew you by your voice."

 Moral of Aesops Fable: Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool

The Ass and the Fox and the Lion

The Ass and the Fox, having entered into a partnership together, went out into the forest to hunt. They had not proceeded far, when they met a Lion. The Fox approached the Lion and promised to contrive for him the capture of the Ass, if he would pledge his word that his own life should be spared. On his assuring him that he would not injure him, the Fox led the Ass to a deep pit, and contrived that he should fall into it. The Lion, seeing that the Ass was secured, immediately clutched the Fox, and then attacked the Ass at his leisure.

Moral of Aesops Fable: Traitors must expect treachery.

The Ass and the Horse

An Ass congratulated a Horse on being so ungrudgingly and carefully provided for, while he himself had scarcely enough to eat, nor even that without hard work. But when war broke out, the heavy armed soldier mounted the Horse, and rushed into the very midst of the enemy, and the Horse, being wounded, fell dead on the battle-field. Then the Ass, seeing all these things, changed his mind, and commiserated the Horse, saying: "How much more fortunate am I than a charger. I can remain at home in safety while he is exposed to all the perils of war."

Moral of Aesops Fable: Be not hasty to envy the condition of others.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest."Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?""I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same.""Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:

Moral of Aesops Fable: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity

The Waggoner

A Waggoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At last he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong.

"O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress," quoth he. 

But Hercules appeared to him, and said:

"Tut, man, don't sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel."

Moral of Aesop's Fable: The gods help those that help themselves

Belling the Cat

Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures they could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and some said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a proposal to make, which he thought would meet the case. "You will all agree," said he, "that our chief danger consists in the sly and treacherous manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could receive some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know when she was about, and could easily retire while she was in the neighborhood."

This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up and said: 

"That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?" The mice looked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said:

Moral of Aesop's Fable: It is easy to propose impossible remedies

Avarice and Envy

Two neighbors came before Jupiter and prayed him to grant their hearts' desire. Now the one was full of avarice, and the other eaten up with envy. So to punish them both, Jupiter granted that each might have whatever he wished for himself, but only on condition that his neighbor had twice as much. The Avaricious man prayed to have a room full of gold. No sooner said than done; but all his joy was turned to grief when he found that his neighbor had two rooms full of the precious metal. Then came the turn of the Envious man, who could not bear to think that his neighbor had any joy at all. So he prayed that he might have one of his own eyes put out, by which means his companion would become totally blind.

Moral of Aesops Fable: Vices are their own punishment

Androcles and the Lion

A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the forest. As he was wandering about there he came upon a Lion lying down moaning and groaning. At first he turned to flee, but finding that the Lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came near, the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and Androcles found that a huge thorn had got into it, and was causing all the pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the Lion, who was soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the Lion took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat from which to live. But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the Lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the Lion, after the latter had been kept without food for several days. The Emperor and all his Court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena. Soon the Lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding and roaring towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles he recognised his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands like a friendly dog. The Emperor, surprised at this, summoned Androcles to him, who told him the whole story. Whereupon the slave was pardoned and freed, and the Lion let loose to his native forest.

Moral of Aesops Fable: Gratitude is the sign of noble souls

Aesop

Fables are short stories which illustrate a particular moral and teach a lesson. The characters of fables and tales are usually animals who act and talk just like people while retaining their animal traits. One of the important story tellers in history is Aesop.
It is believed that Aesop lived from about 620 to 560 B.C. in Samos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea. The name of his first owner was Xanthus. It is certain he spent much of his life living in Greece at the court of King Croesus in Athens. The name Aesop is derived from the Greek word Aethiop which means Ethiopia. It is believed that he eventually became a free man. In Aesop's biography--written over a millennium after his death--Planudes describes Aesop an ugly, deformed dwarf, and the famous marble statue at the Villa Albani in Rome depicts Aesop accordingly.
His fables were first printed in English by William Caxton in 1484, from his own translation made from the French. (William Caxton, b. 1415-d. 1492, was the first English printer and with several others created an English standard through his publishing. He printed 108 works, translated many and his choice of the Fables is significant.) Many of Aesop's fables have in fact since been found on Egyptian papyri known to date between 800 and 1000 years before Aesop's time, so he compiled as well as wrote.