Title: Æsop's Fables with Modern Instances
Author: Aesop, 620 BC-563 BC
Language: English
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       *       *       *       *       *



  SOME OF ÆSOP'S FABLES

  WITH

  MODERN INSTANCES


  [Illustration]


  SOME OF

  ÆSOP'S FABLES

  WITH

  MODERN INSTANCES

  SHEWN IN DESIGNS

  BY

  RANDOLPH CALDECOTT

  FROM NEW TRANSLATIONS BY ALFRED CALDECOTT, M.A.

  THE ENGRAVINGS BY J.D. COOPER


  London
  MACMILLAN AND CO.
  1883


  _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_.



  INDEX.


  NUMBER                                                   PAGE

  I. THE FOX AND THE CROW                                    1

  II. THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN                             5

  III. THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH                     9

  IV. THE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES                             13

  V. THE COPPERSMITH AND HIS PUPPY                          17

  VI. THE FROGS DESIRING A KING                             21

  VII. THE DOG AND THE WOLF                                 25

  VIII. THE STAG LOOKING INTO THE WATER                     29

  IX. THE FROGS AND THE FIGHTING BULLS                      33

  X. THE LION AND OTHER BEASTS                              37

  XI. THE FOX AND THE STORK                                 41

  XII. THE HORSE AND THE STAG                               45

  XIII. THE COCK AND THE JEWEL                              49

  XIV. THE ASS, THE LION, AND THE COCK                      53

  XV. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB                                 57

  XVI. THE MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES                            61

  XVII. THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL                              65

  XVIII. THE EAGLE AND THE FOX                              69

  XIX. THE OX AND THE FROG                                  73

  XX. THE HAWK CHASING THE DOVE                             77



NOTE.


Sixteen of these Twenty Fables have been handed down to us in a Greek
form: for these Halm's text has been used. As to the other four--Number
IX. is from Phaedrus, and retains a flavour of artificiality; Numbers
XIII. and XX. are from Latin versions; and Number X. is from a French
one.

The Translations aim at replacing the florid style of our older English
versions, and the stilted harshness of more modern ones, by a plainness
and terseness more nearly like the character of the originals.

In the following cases the Translations have been adapted to the
Designs. In Number I. _cheese_ has been put for _meat_; in Number VIII.
a _pack of Hounds_ for a _Lion_; in Number XI. a _Stork_ for a _Crane_;
in Number XIX. a _Frog_ for a _Toad_; and in Number VII. the Dog should
be _tied up_. The reason of this is, that in the collaboration the
Designer and Translator have not been on terms of equal authority; the
former has stood unshakeably by English tradition, and has had his own
way.

                                                                A.C.


[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE FOX AND THE CROW


[Illustration]

THE FOX AND THE CROW.


A Crow stole a piece of cheese and alighted with it on a tree. A Fox
watched her, and wishing to get hold of the cheese stood underneath and
began to make compliments upon her size and beauty; he went so far as to
say that she had the best of claims to be made Queen of the Birds, and
doubtless it would have been done if she had only had a voice. The Crow,
anxious to prove to him that she did possess a voice, began to caw
vigorously, of course dropping the cheese. The Fox pounced upon it and
carried it off, remarking as he went away, "My good friend Crow, you
have every good quality: now try to get some common sense."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN


[Illustration]

THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN.


An Ass who had dressed himself up in a Lion's skin was mistaken by
everybody for a lion, and there was a stampede of both herds and men.
But presently the skin was whisked off by a gust of wind, and the Ass
stood exposed; and then the men all charged at him, and with sticks and
cudgels gave him a sound drubbing.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH


[Illustration]

THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH.


A Fisherman cast his net and caught a little Fish. The little Fish
begged him to let him go for the present, as he was so small, and to
catch him again to more purpose later on, when he was bulkier. But the
Fisherman said: "Nay, I should be a very simpleton to let go a good
thing I have got and run after a doubtful expectation."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES


[Illustration]

THE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES.


A Jackdaw observing how well cared for were the Doves in a certain
dovecote, whitewashed himself and went to take a part in the same way of
living. The Doves were friendly enough so long as he kept silence,
taking him for one of themselves; but when he once forgot himself and
gave a croak they immediately perceived his character, and cuffed him
out. So the Jackdaw, having failed in getting a share of good things
there, returned to his brother Jackdaws. But these latter not
recognising him, because of his colour, kept him out of their mess also;
so that in his desire for two things he got neither.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE COPPERSMITH AND HIS PUPPY


[Illustration]

THE COPPERSMITH AND HIS PUPPY.


A certain Coppersmith had a Puppy. While the Coppersmith was at work the
Puppy lay asleep; but when meal-time came he woke up. So his master,
throwing him a bone, said: "You sleepy little wretch of a Puppy, what
shall I do with you, you inveterate sluggard? When I am thumping on my
anvil you can go to sleep on the mat; but when I come to work my teeth
immediately you are wide awake and wagging your tail at me."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE FROGS DESIRING A KING


[Illustration]

THE FROGS DESIRING A KING.


The Frogs were grieved at their own lawless condition, so they sent a
deputation to Zeus begging him to provide them with a King. Zeus,
perceiving their simplicity, dropped a Log of wood into the pool. At
first the Frogs were terrified by the splash, and dived to the bottom;
but after a while, seeing the Log remain motionless, they came up again,
and got to despise it so much that they climbed up and sat on it.
Dissatisfied with a King like that, they came again to Zeus and
entreated him to change their ruler for them, the first being altogether
too torpid. Then Zeus was exasperated with them, and sent them a Stork,
by whom they were seized and eaten up.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE DOG AND THE WOLF


[Illustration]

THE DOG AND THE WOLF.


A Wolf, seeing a large Dog with a collar on, asked him: "Who put that
collar round your neck, and fed you to be so sleek?" "My master,"
answered the Dog. "Then," said the Wolf, "may no friend of mine be
treated like this; a collar is as grievous as starvation."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE STAG LOOKING INTO THE WATER


[Illustration]

THE STAG LOOKING INTO THE WATER.


A Stag parched with thirst came to a spring of water. As he was drinking
he saw his own reflection on the water, and was in raptures with his
horns when he observed their splendid size and shape, but was troubled
about his legs, they seemed so thin and weak. As he was still musing,
some huntsmen with a pack of hounds appeared and disturbed him,
whereupon the Stag took to flight, and keeping a good distance ahead so
long as the plain was free from trees, he was being saved; but when he
came to a woody place he got his horns entangled in the branches, and
being unable to move was seized by the hounds. When he was at the point
of death he said to himself: "What a fool am I, who was on the way to be
saved by the very things which I thought would fail me; while by those
in which I so much trusted I am brought to ruin."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE FROGS AND THE FIGHTING BULLS


[Illustration]

THE FROGS AND THE FIGHTING BULLS.


A Frog in his marsh looking at some Bulls fighting, exclaimed: "O dear!
what sad destruction threatens us now!" Another Frog asked him why he
said that, seeing that the Bulls were only fighting for the first place
in the herd, and that they lived quite remote from the Frogs. "Ah," said
the first, "it is true that our positions are wide apart, and we are
different kinds of things, but still, the Bull who will be driven from
the rule of the pasture will come to lie in hiding in the marsh, and
crush us to death under his hard hoofs, so that their raging really does
closely concern the lives of you and me."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE LION AND OTHER BEASTS


[Illustration]

THE LION AND OTHER BEASTS.


The Lion one day went out hunting along with three other Beasts, and
they caught a Stag. With the consent of the others the Lion divided it,
and he cut it into four equal portions; but when the others were going
to take hold of their shares, "Gently, my friends," said the Lion; "the
first of these portions is mine, as one of the party; the second also is
mine, because of my rank among beasts; the third you will yield me as a
tribute to my courage and nobleness of character; while, as to the
fourth,--why, if any one wishes to dispute with me for it, let him
begin, and we shall soon see whose it will be."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE FOX AND THE STORK


[Illustration]

THE FOX AND THE STORK.


The Fox poured out some rich soup upon a flat dish, tantalising the
Stork, and making him look ridiculous, for the soup, being a liquid,
foiled all the efforts of his slender beak. In return for this, when the
Stork invited the Fox, he brought the dinner on the table in a jug with
a long narrow neck, so that while he himself easily inserted his beak
and took his fill, the Fox was unable to do the same, and so was
properly paid off.

[Illustration: "Frame 1: "With Mr Fox's respects & many happy returns
of the day" Frame 2: "With Mrs Stork's kind regards and the compliments
of the season"]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE HORSE AND THE STAG


[Illustration]

THE HORSE AND THE STAG.


There was a Horse who had a meadow all to himself until a Stag came and
began to injure the pasture. The Horse, eager to punish the Stag, asked
a man whether there was any way of combining to do this. "Certainly,"
said the Man, "if you don't object to a bridle and to my mounting you
with javelins in my hand." The Horse agreed, and was mounted by the Man;
but, instead of being revenged on the Stag, he himself became a servant
to the Man.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE COCK AND THE JEWEL


[Illustration]

THE COCK AND THE JEWEL.


A Barn-door Cock while scratching up his dunghill came upon a Jewel.
"Oh, why," said he, "should I find this glistening thing? If some
jeweller had found it he would have been beside himself with joy at the
thought of its value; but to me it is of no manner of use, nor do I care
one jot about it; why, I would rather have one grain of barley than all
the jewels in the world."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE ASS, THE LION, AND THE COCK


[Illustration]

THE ASS, THE LION, AND THE COCK.


An Ass and a Cock were in a shed. A hungry Lion caught sight of the Ass,
and was on the point of entering the shed to devour him. But he took
fright at the sound of the Cock crowing (for people say that Lions are
afraid at the voice of a Cock), and turned away and ran. The Ass, roused
to a lofty contempt of him for being afraid of a Cock, went out to
pursue him; but when they were some distance away the Lion ate him up.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB


[Illustration]

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.


A Wolf seeing a Lamb drinking at a brook, took it into his head that he
would find some plausible excuse for eating him. So he drew near, and,
standing higher up the stream, began to accuse him of disturbing the
water and preventing him from drinking.

The Lamb replied that he was only touching the water with the tips of
his lips; and that, besides, seeing that he was standing down stream,
he could not possibly be disturbing the water higher up. So the Wolf,
having done no good by that accusation, said: "Well, but last year you
insulted my Father." The Lamb replying that at that time he was not
born, the Wolf wound up by saying: "However ready you may be with your
answers, I shall none the less make a meal of you."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES


[Illustration]

THE MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES.


A Man whose hair was turning gray had two Wives, one young and the other
old. The elderly woman felt ashamed at being married to a man younger
than herself, and made it a practice whenever he was with her to pick
out all his black hairs; while the younger, anxious to conceal the fact
that she had an elderly husband, used, similarly, to pull out the gray
ones. So, between them, it ended in the Man being completely plucked,
and becoming bald.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL


[Illustration]

THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL.


A Fox had had his tail docked off in a trap, and in his disgrace began
to think his life not worth living. It therefore occurred to him that
the best thing he could do was to bring the other Foxes into the same
condition, and so conceal his own deficiency in the general distress.
Having assembled them all together he recommended them to cut off their
tails, declaring that a tail was an ungraceful thing; and, further, was
a heavy appendage, and quite superfluous. To this one of them rejoined:
"My good friend, if this had not been to your own advantage you would
never have advised us to do it."

[Illustration: "Nonsense, my dears! Husbands are ridiculous things & are
quite unnecessary!"]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE EAGLE AND THE FOX


[Illustration]

THE EAGLE AND THE FOX.


An Eagle and a Fox entered into a covenant of mutual affection and
resolved to live near one another, looking upon close intercourse as a
way of strengthening friendship. Accordingly the former flew to the top
of a high tree and built her nest, while the latter went into a bush at
the foot and placed her litter there. One day, however, when the Fox
was away foraging, the Eagle, being hard pressed for food, swooped down
into the bush, snatched up the cubs and helped her own fledglings to
devour them. When the Fox came back and saw what had happened she was
not so much vexed at the death of her young ones as at the impossibility
of requital. For the Eagle having wings and she none, pursuit was
impossible. So she stood some distance away and did all that is left for
the weak and impotent to do--poured curses on her foe. But the Eagle was
not to put off for long the punishment due to her violation of the
sacred tie of friendship. It happened that some country-people were
sacrificing a goat, and the Eagle flew down and carried away from the
altar some of the burning flesh. But when she had got it to her eyrie a
strong wind got up and kindled into flame the thin dry twigs of the
nest, so that the eaglets, being too young to be able to fly, were
roasted, and fell to the ground. Then the Fox ran up and, before the
Eagle's eyes, devoured them every one.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE OX AND THE FROG


[Illustration]

THE OX AND THE FROG.


An Ox, as he was drinking at the water's edge, crushed a young Frog
underfoot. When the mother Frog came to the spot (for she happened to be
away at the time) she asked his brothers where he was. "He is dead,
mother," they said; "a few minutes ago a great big four-legged thing
came up and crushed him dead with his hoof." Thereupon the Frog began to
puff herself out and ask whether the animal was as big as that. "Stop,
mother, don't put yourself about," they said; "you will burst in two
long before you can make yourself the same size as that beast."

[Illustration: "There, my child, have I not as many buttons as Lady
Golderoy now?"]

[Illustration]



[Illustration]

THE HAWK CHASING THE DOVE


[Illustration]

THE HAWK CHASING THE DOVE.


A Hawk giving headlong chase to a Dove rushed after it into a farmstead,
and was captured by one of the farm men. The Hawk began to coax the man
to let him go, saying that he had never done him any harm. "No,"
rejoined the man; "nor had this Dove harmed you."

[Illustration]

[Illustration]





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