'The Fox and the Dragon'

'The Fox and the Dragon', an illustration by John Vernon Lord 

in Aesop's Fables; 1989, page 76.

The Text: 

The Fox and the Dragon

AS a Fox was Earthing Himself, he Digg’d so Deep, ’till at last he came to a Dragon’s Den, where he found a prodigious Mass of Hidden Treasure. He made his Excuse for his Intrusion, and begg’d the Dragon’s leave but to Ask him One Question. Pray (says he) where’s the Pleasure or the Profit of Spending all your Days in a Hole thus, without either Light or Sleep? Why, ’tis my Fate, says the Dragon, and there’s no more to be said. Here’s a Monstrous Hord, says the Fox. and I cannot find that you either Give or Use One Penny out of all this Store. ’Tis a Misery, says the other, that I am Doom’d to, and there’s no Avoiding it. Why then says the Fox, He that’s Born under Your Stars is certainly the most Wretched of Creatures.

Moral: The miser who accumulates  treasures for the sake of it , without making use of it, is doomed to misery.

Text: Roger L’Estrange (1/475, 1692).

Selected Parallels: Phaedrus 4/21. Perry 518. TMI B11.6.2.

'The Birds, Beasts and the Bat', an illustration by John Vernon Lord 

in Aesop's Fables; 1989, page 74.

The Text: 

'The Birds, Beasts and the Bat'

A great conflict was about to come off between the Birds and the Beasts. When the two armies were collected together the Bat hesitated which to join. The Birds that passed his perch said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Beast." Later on, some Beasts who were passing underneath him looked up and said: "Come with us"; but he said: "I am a Bird." Luckily at the last moment peace was made, and no battle took place, so the Bat came to the Birds and wished to join in the rejoicings, but they all turned against him and he had to fly away. He then went to the Beasts, but soon had to beat a retreat, or else they would have torn him to pieces. "Ah," said the Bat, "I see now, 

"He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends." 

Selected Parallels: Caxton 3/4. L'Estrange 41. Ademar 38. Perry 566.

'The Flying Fish and the Dolphin'

'The Flying Fish and the Dolphin', an illustration by John Vernon Lord 

in Aesop's Fables; 1989, page 70.

The Text: 

The Flying Fish and the Dolphin

A Flying Fish, being pursued by a Dolphin, and driven with great Violence, not minding which way he went, was thrown, by the Force of the Waves, upon a Rock, and left there. His death was now inevitable;  but, casting his eye on one side, and seeing the Dolphin, in the same Condition, lye gasping by him, Well,  says he, I must dye, ’tis true, but I dye with Pleasure, when I behold him who is the Cause of it involv’d in the same Fate.

Moral: Revenge is sweet when misfortune is shared by those who were responsible for it.

Text: adapted from Samuel Croxall (63, 1722).

Selected Parallels: L’Estrange 1/90. Chambry 132. Perry 113. 

'The Snake and File'

'The Snake and File', an illustration by John Vernon Lord in Aesop's Fables; 1989, page 46.

The Text: 

The Viper and the File

A VIPER chanced his head to pop

Into a fam’d watchmaker’s shop;

Long near the place had he been lurking,

And staid till past the hours of working.

As with keen eyes he glanced  around

In search of food, a file he found:

Of meats he saw no single item,

Which tempted hungry jaws to bite ’em;

So with his fangs the eager fool

Attacked the rough impassive tool;

And whilst his wounded palate bled,

Fancied on foreign gore he fed.

When thus the file retorted coolly : -

“Viper! this work’s ingenious, truly!

No more those idle efforts try;

Proof ’gainst assaults like yours am I.

On me you’d fracture ev’ry bone,

I feel the teeth of Time alone,”

Moral: We ultimately upset ourselves if we persist in arguing with those who have no feelings

Text: Mr Matthews (La Fontaine 5/16, 1820).

Selected Parallels: Phaedrus 4/8. Caxton, Romulus 3/12. L’Estrange 44. Chambry 116. Perry 93 (cf 59). TMI J552.3.

  

Title of book for text: Fables, Original and Selected, G. Moir Bussey, London, Charles Tilt, 1839. (page 65).

Bussey writes in his introduction (pxxvii) that ‘The excellent versions of La Fontaine’s Fables, are chiefly derived from a volume published anonymously by Mr Murray, in 1820, and are believed to be the production of Mr. Matthews’.

'The Three Wishes'

'The Three Wishes', an illustration by John Vernon Lord in Aesop's Fables; 1989, page 43.

The Text:

The Three Wishes

A countryman caught a dwarf one day in a wood. The dwarf said to the man that if he’d set him free he would grant the countryman three wishes. The countryman’s wife demanded that she should choose the wishes, believing that her choice of would be better than his. The man therefore allowed his wife two of the three wishes. One day, when her husband was attempting to gnaw at a bone during suppertime, the wife said, “ I wish you had a beak to get the meat off that bone”. As soon as she uttered these words the man had a beak fixed upon his face. “Oh dear”, she said, “I wish you didn’t have that beak”, whereupon the man no longer had the beak, nor did he have a nose. Then it was the turn of the countryman to have his wish and he wished that his face could be restored to normal. And so, having used up all the three wishes nothing had been gained for the couple.

Text: JVL (adapted from La Fontaine).

Selected Parallels: Perry 668. La Fontaine Vll/6. TMI J2071.

'Fish in a Frying Pan'

'Fish in a Frying Pan', an illustration by John Vernon Lord 

in Aesop's Fables, Jonathan Cape, 1989, page 40.

The text:

The Fish and the Frying Pan

A Cook to please her master’s taste.

Some Fish in frying pan had plac’d;

Which both begin in plaintive tone,

Their sad disaster to bemoan.

Says one to ’tothers, let us fly,

Nor stay in this hot fat to fry;

So to escape the Cook’s dread ire,

They leapt, and fell into the fire.

Thus ignorant and blind to ruin,

We change full oft to our undoing.

Moral: It is advisable to consider the advantages of one’s present situation, however uneasy it may be, only to exchange it for something else that could be much worse.

Text: adapted from T. Ticklepitcher's version p81 (1788).

Selected parallels: Abstemius 20. L’Estrange 1/273. Perry 725.