{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_34588/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_34588","id":"gutenberg_34588","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34588","summary":null,"tags":["Aesop's fables -- Translations into English","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","English wit and humor, Pictorial","Fables, Greek -- Illustrations","Fables, Greek -- Translations into English"],"text":"SOME OF AESOP'S FABLES\n\n  WITH\n\n  MODERN INSTANCES\n\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n\n  SOME OF\n\n  AESOP'S FABLES\n\n  WITH\n\n  MODERN INSTANCES\n\n  SHEWN IN DESIGNS\n\n  BY\n\n  RANDOLPH CALDECOTT\n\n  FROM NEW TRANSLATIONS BY ALFRED CALDECOTT, M.A.\n\n  THE ENGRAVINGS BY J.D. COOPER\n\n\n  London\n  MACMILLAN AND CO.\n  1883\n\n\n  _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_.\n\n\n\n\n  INDEX.\n\n\n  NUMBER                                                   PAGE\n\n  I. THE FOX AND THE CROW                                    1\n\n  II. THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN                             5\n\n  III. THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH                     9\n\n  IV. THE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES                             13\n\n  V. THE COPPERSMITH AND HIS PUPPY                          17\n\n  VI. THE FROGS DESIRING A KING                             21\n\n  VII. THE DOG AND THE WOLF                                 25\n\n  VIII. THE STAG LOOKING INTO THE WATER                     29\n\n  IX. THE FROGS AND THE FIGHTING BULLS                      33\n\n  X. THE LION AND OTHER BEASTS                              37\n\n  XI. THE FOX AND THE STORK                                 41\n\n  XII. THE HORSE AND THE STAG                               45\n\n  XIII. THE COCK AND THE JEWEL                              49\n\n  XIV. THE ASS, THE LION, AND THE COCK                      53\n\n  XV. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB                                 57\n\n  XVI. THE MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES                            61\n\n  XVII. THE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL                              65\n\n  XVIII. THE EAGLE AND THE FOX                              69\n\n  XIX. THE OX AND THE FROG                                  73\n\n  XX. THE HAWK CHASING THE DOVE                             77\n\n\n\n\nNOTE.\n\n\nSixteen of these Twenty Fables have been handed down to us in a Greek\nform: for these Halm's text has been used. As to the other four--Number\nIX. is from Phaedrus, and retains a flavour of artificiality; Numbers\nXIII. and XX. are from Latin versions; and Number X. is from a French\none.\n\nThe Translations aim at replacing the florid style of our older English\nversions, and the stilted harshness of more modern ones, by a plainness\nand terseness more nearly like the character of the originals.\n\nIn the following cases the Translations have been adapted to the\nDesigns. In Number I. _cheese_ has been put for _meat_; in Number VIII.\na _pack of Hounds_ for a _Lion_; in Number XI. a _Stork_ for a _Crane_;\nin Number XIX. a _Frog_ for a _Toad_; and in Number VII. the Dog should\nbe _tied up_. The reason of this is, that in the collaboration the\nDesigner and Translator have not been on terms of equal authority; the\nformer has stood unshakeably by English tradition, and has had his own\nway.\n\n                                                                A.C.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FOX AND THE CROW\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FOX AND THE CROW.\n\n\nA Crow stole a piece of cheese and alighted with it on a tree. A Fox\nwatched her, and wishing to get hold of the cheese stood underneath and\nbegan to make compliments upon her size and beauty; he went so far as to\nsay that she had the best of claims to be made Queen of the Birds, and\ndoubtless it would have been done if she had only had a voice. The Crow,\nanxious to prove to him that she did possess a voice, began to caw\nvigorously, of course dropping the cheese. The Fox pounced upon it and\ncarried it off, remarking as he went away, \"My good friend Crow, you\nhave every good quality: now try to get some common sense.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN.\n\n\nAn Ass who had dressed himself up in a Lion's skin was mistaken by\neverybody for a lion, and there was a stampede of both herds and men.\nBut presently the skin was whisked off by a gust of wind, and the Ass\nstood exposed; and then the men all charged at him, and with sticks and\ncudgels gave him a sound drubbing.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH.\n\n\nA Fisherman cast his net and caught a little Fish. The little Fish\nbegged him to let him go for the present, as he was so small, and to\ncatch him again to more purpose later on, when he was bulkier. But the\nFisherman said: \"Nay, I should be a very simpleton to let go a good\nthing I have got and run after a doubtful expectation.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE JACKDAW AND THE DOVES.\n\n\nA Jackdaw observing how well cared for were the Doves in a certain\ndovecote, whitewashed himself and went to take a part in the same way of\nliving. The Doves were friendly enough so long as he kept silence,\ntaking him for one of themselves; but when he once forgot himself and\ngave a croak they immediately perceived his character, and cuffed him\nout. So the Jackdaw, having failed in getting a share of good things\nthere, returned to his brother Jackdaws. But these latter not\nrecognising him, because of his colour, kept him out of their mess also;\nso that in his desire for two things he got neither.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE COPPERSMITH AND HIS PUPPY\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE COPPERSMITH AND HIS PUPPY.\n\n\nA certain Coppersmith had a Puppy. While the Coppersmith was at work the\nPuppy lay asleep; but when meal-time came he woke up. So his master,\nthrowing him a bone, said: \"You sleepy little wretch of a Puppy, what\nshall I do with you, you inveterate sluggard? When I am thumping on my\nanvil you can go to sleep on the mat; but when I come to work my teeth\nimmediately you are wide awake and wagging your tail at me.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FROGS DESIRING A KING\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FROGS DESIRING A KING.\n\n\nThe Frogs were grieved at their own lawless condition, so they sent a\ndeputation to Zeus begging him to provide them with a King. Zeus,\nperceiving their simplicity, dropped a Log of wood into the pool. At\nfirst the Frogs were terrified by the splash, and dived to the bottom;\nbut after a while, seeing the Log remain motionless, they came up again,\nand got to despise it so much that they climbed up and sat on it.\nDissatisfied with a King like that, they came again to Zeus and\nentreated him to change their ruler for them, the first being altogether\ntoo torpid. Then Zeus was exasperated with them, and sent them a Stork,\nby whom they were seized and eaten up.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE DOG AND THE WOLF\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE DOG AND THE WOLF.\n\n\nA Wolf, seeing a large Dog with a collar on, asked him: \"Who put that\ncollar round your neck, and fed you to be so sleek?\" \"My master,\"\nanswered the Dog. \"Then,\" said the Wolf, \"may no friend of mine be\ntreated like this; a collar is as grievous as starvation.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE STAG LOOKING INTO THE WATER\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE STAG LOOKING INTO THE WATER.\n\n\nA Stag parched with thirst came to a spring of water. As he was drinking\nhe saw his own reflection on the water, and was in raptures with his\nhorns when he observed their splendid size and shape, but was troubled\nabout his legs, they seemed so thin and weak. As he was still musing,\nsome huntsmen with a pack of hounds appeared and disturbed him,\nwhereupon the Stag took to flight, and keeping a good distance ahead so\nlong as the plain was free from trees, he was being saved; but when he\ncame to a woody place he got his horns entangled in the branches, and\nbeing unable to move was seized by the hounds. When he was at the point\nof death he said to himself: \"What a fool am I, who was on the way to be\nsaved by the very things which I thought would fail me; while by those\nin which I so much trusted I am brought to ruin.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FROGS AND THE FIGHTING BULLS\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FROGS AND THE FIGHTING BULLS.\n\n\nA Frog in his marsh looking at some Bulls fighting, exclaimed: \"O dear!\nwhat sad destruction threatens us now!\" Another Frog asked him why he\nsaid that, seeing that the Bulls were only fighting for the first place\nin the herd, and that they lived quite remote from the Frogs. \"Ah,\" said\nthe first, \"it is true that our positions are wide apart, and we are\ndifferent kinds of things, but still, the Bull who will be driven from\nthe rule of the pasture will come to lie in hiding in the marsh, and\ncrush us to death under his hard hoofs, so that their raging really does\nclosely concern the lives of you and me.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE LION AND OTHER BEASTS\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE LION AND OTHER BEASTS.\n\n\nThe Lion one day went out hunting along with three other Beasts, and\nthey caught a Stag. With the consent of the others the Lion divided it,\nand he cut it into four equal portions; but when the others were going\nto take hold of their shares, \"Gently, my friends,\" said the Lion; \"the\nfirst of these portions is mine, as one of the party; the second also is\nmine, because of my rank among beasts; the third you will yield me as a\ntribute to my courage and nobleness of character; while, as to the\nfourth,--why, if any one wishes to dispute with me for it, let him\nbegin, and we shall soon see whose it will be.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FOX AND THE STORK\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FOX AND THE STORK.\n\n\nThe Fox poured out some rich soup upon a flat dish, tantalising the\nStork, and making him look ridiculous, for the soup, being a liquid,\nfoiled all the efforts of his slender beak. In return for this, when the\nStork invited the Fox, he brought the dinner on the table in a jug with\na long narrow neck, so that while he himself easily inserted his beak\nand took his fill, the Fox was unable to do the same, and so was\nproperly paid off.\n\n[Illustration: \"Frame 1: \"With Mr Fox's respects & many happy returns\nof the day\" Frame 2: \"With Mrs Stork's kind regards and the compliments\nof the season\"]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE HORSE AND THE STAG\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE HORSE AND THE STAG.\n\n\nThere was a Horse who had a meadow all to himself until a Stag came and\nbegan to injure the pasture. The Horse, eager to punish the Stag, asked\na man whether there was any way of combining to do this. \"Certainly,\"\nsaid the Man, \"if you don't object to a bridle and to my mounting you\nwith javelins in my hand.\" The Horse agreed, and was mounted by the Man;\nbut, instead of being revenged on the Stag, he himself became a servant\nto the Man.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE COCK AND THE JEWEL\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE COCK AND THE JEWEL.\n\n\nA Barn-door Cock while scratching up his dunghill came upon a Jewel.\n\"Oh, why,\" said he, \"should I find this glistening thing? If some\njeweller had found it he would have been beside himself with joy at the\nthought of its value; but to me it is of no manner of use, nor do I care\none jot about it; why, I would rather have one grain of barley than all\nthe jewels in the world.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE ASS, THE LION, AND THE COCK\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE ASS, THE LION, AND THE COCK.\n\n\nAn Ass and a Cock were in a shed. A hungry Lion caught sight of the Ass,\nand was on the point of entering the shed to devour him. But he took\nfright at the sound of the Cock crowing (for people say that Lions are\nafraid at the voice of a Cock), and turned away and ran. The Ass, roused\nto a lofty contempt of him for being afraid of a Cock, went out to\npursue him; but when they were some distance away the Lion ate him up.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE LAMB\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE WOLF AND THE LAMB.\n\n\nA Wolf seeing a Lamb drinking at a brook, took it into his head that he\nwould find some plausible excuse for eating him. So he drew near, and,\nstanding higher up the stream, began to accuse him of disturbing the\nwater and preventing him from drinking.\n\nThe Lamb replied that he was only touching the water with the tips of\nhis lips; and that, besides, seeing that he was standing down stream,\nhe could not possibly be disturbing the water higher up. So the Wolf,\nhaving done no good by that accusation, said: \"Well, but last year you\ninsulted my Father.\" The Lamb replying that at that time he was not\nborn, the Wolf wound up by saying: \"However ready you may be with your\nanswers, I shall none the less make a meal of you.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAN AND HIS TWO WIVES.\n\n\nA Man whose hair was turning gray had two Wives, one young and the other\nold. The elderly woman felt ashamed at being married to a man younger\nthan herself, and made it a practice whenever he was with her to pick\nout all his black hairs; while the younger, anxious to conceal the fact\nthat she had an elderly husband, used, similarly, to pull out the gray\nones. So, between them, it ended in the Man being completely plucked,\nand becoming bald.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE FOX WITHOUT A TAIL.\n\n\nA Fox had had his tail docked off in a trap, and in his disgrace began\nto think his life not worth living. It therefore occurred to him that\nthe best thing he could do was to bring the other Foxes into the same\ncondition, and so conceal his own deficiency in the general distress.\nHaving assembled them all together he recommended them to cut off their\ntails, declaring that a tail was an ungraceful thing; and, further, was\na heavy appendage, and quite superfluous. To this one of them rejoined:\n\"My good friend, if this had not been to your own advantage you would\nnever have advised us to do it.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"Nonsense, my dears! Husbands are ridiculous things & are\nquite unnecessary!\"]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE EAGLE AND THE FOX\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE EAGLE AND THE FOX.\n\n\nAn Eagle and a Fox entered into a covenant of mutual affection and\nresolved to live near one another, looking upon close intercourse as a\nway of strengthening friendship. Accordingly the former flew to the top\nof a high tree and built her nest, while the latter went into a bush at\nthe foot and placed her litter there. One day, however, when the Fox\nwas away foraging, the Eagle, being hard pressed for food, swooped down\ninto the bush, snatched up the cubs and helped her own fledglings to\ndevour them. When the Fox came back and saw what had happened she was\nnot so much vexed at the death of her young ones as at the impossibility\nof requital. For the Eagle having wings and she none, pursuit was\nimpossible. So she stood some distance away and did all that is left for\nthe weak and impotent to do--poured curses on her foe. But the Eagle was\nnot to put off for long the punishment due to her violation of the\nsacred tie of friendship. It happened that some country-people were\nsacrificing a goat, and the Eagle flew down and carried away from the\naltar some of the burning flesh. But when she had got it to her eyrie a\nstrong wind got up and kindled into flame the thin dry twigs of the\nnest, so that the eaglets, being too young to be able to fly, were\nroasted, and fell to the ground. Then the Fox ran up and, before the\nEagle's eyes, devoured them every one.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE OX AND THE FROG\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE OX AND THE FROG.\n\n\nAn Ox, as he was drinking at the water's edge, crushed a young Frog\nunderfoot. When the mother Frog came to the spot (for she happened to be\naway at the time) she asked his brothers where he was. \"He is dead,\nmother,\" they said; \"a few minutes ago a great big four-legged thing\ncame up and crushed him dead with his hoof.\" Thereupon the Frog began to\npuff herself out and ask whether the animal was as big as that. \"Stop,\nmother, don't put yourself about,\" they said; \"you will burst in two\nlong before you can make yourself the same size as that beast.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"There, my child, have I not as many buttons as Lady\nGolderoy now?\"]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE HAWK CHASING THE DOVE\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE HAWK CHASING THE DOVE.\n\n\nA Hawk giving headlong chase to a Dove rushed after it into a farmstead,\nand was captured by one of the farm men. The Hawk began to coax the man\nto let him go, saying that he had never done him any harm. \"No,\"\nrejoined the man; \"nor had this Dove harmed you.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]","title":"Some of \u00c6sop's Fables with Modern Instances","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":2831}