The Owl and the Grasshopper

by Aesop

AN OWL who was sitting in a hollow tree, dozing away a summer's afternoon, was very much disturbed by a rogue of a Grasshopper singing in the grass beneath. So far from keeping quiet, or moving away at the request of the Owl, the Grasshopper sang all the more, and called her an old blinker that only came out at night when honest people were in bed.

The Owl waited in silence for a time, and the artfully addressed the Grasshopper as follows: Well, my dear, if one can not be allowed to sleep, it is something to be kept awake by such a pleasant voice. And now I think of it, I have a bottle of delicious nectar. If you will come up, you shall have a drop. The silly Grasshopper, came hopping up to the owl, who at once caught and killed him, and finished her nap in comfort.

Moral:
Flattery is not a proof of admiration.

Source:

Aesop's Fables
Copyright 1881
Translator: unknown
WM. L. Allison, New York
Illustrator: Harrison Weir, John Tenniel, Ernest Griset, et.al.