Aesop Fable of the Day

The Shepherd and the Sheep

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 03:00:01 -0600

A SHEPHERD, driving his Sheep to a wood, saw an oak of unusual size, full of acorns, and, spreading his cloak under the branches, he climbed up into the tree, and shook down the acorns. The Sheep, eating the acorns, frayed and tore the cloak. The Shepherd coming down, and seeing what was done, said: "O you most ungrateful creatures! You provide wool to make garments for all other men, but you destroy the clothes of him who feeds you."

Moral: The basest ingratitude is that which injures those who serve us.

The Ass and His Purchaser

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 03:00:01 -0600

A MAN wished to purchase an Ass, and agreed with its owner that he should try him before he bought him.

He took the Ass home, and put him in the straw-yard with his other Asses, upon which he left all the others, and joined himself at once to the most idle and the greatest eater of them all.

The man put a halter on him, and led him back to his owner, saying: "I do not need a trial; I know that he will be just such another as the one whom he chose for his companion."

Moral: A man is known by the company he keeps.

The Fisherman and the Little Fish

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 03:00:01 -0600

A FISHERMAN who lived on the produce of his nets, one day caught a single small Fish as the result of his day's labor. The Fish, panting convulsively, thus entreated for his life: "O Sir, what good can I be to you, and how little am I worth? I am not yet come to my full size. Pray spare my life, and put me back into the sea. I shall soon become a large fish, fit for the tables of the rich; and then you can catch me again, and make a handsome profit of me." The Fisherman replied: "I should be a very simple fellow, if I were to forego my certain gain for an uncertain profit."

The Dogs and the Hides

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 03:00:01 -0600

SOME DOGS, famished with hunger, saw some cow-hides steeping in a river. Not being able to reach them, they agreed to drink up the river; but it fell out that they burst themselves with drinking long before they reached the hides.

Moral: Attempt not impossibilities.

The Eagle and the Kite

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 03:00:01 -0600

AN EAGLE, overwhelmed with sorrow, sat upon the branches of a tree, in company with a Kite. "Why," said the Kite: "do I see you with such a rueful look?" "I seek," she replied: "for a mate suitable for me, and am not able to find one." "Take me," returned the Kite: "I am much stronger than you are." "Why, are you able to secure the means of living by your plunder?" "Well, I have often caught and carried away an ostrich in my talons." The Eagle, persuaded by these words, accepted him as her mate.

Shortly after the nuptials, the Eagle said: "Fly off and bring me back the ostrich you promised me." The Kite, soaring aloft into the air, brought back the shabbiest possible mouse. "Is this," said the Eagle: "the faithful fulfillment of your promise to me?' The Kite replied: "That I might attain your royal hand, there is nothing that I would not have promised, however much I knew that I must fail in the performance."

Moral: Promises of a suitor must be taken with caution.

The Wolf and the House-dog

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 03:00:01 -0600

A WOLF, meeting a big, well-fed Mastiff, having a wooden collar about his neck, inquired of him who it was that fed him so well, and yet compelled him to drag that heavy log about wherever he went. "The master," he replied. Then said the Wolf: "May no friend of mine ever be in such a plight; for the weight of this chain is enough to spoil the appetite."

Moral: Nothing can compensate us for the loss of our liberty.

The Fisherman Piping

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 03:00:01 -0600

A FISHERMAN skilled in music took his flute and his nets to the sea-shore. Standing on a projecting rock he played several tunes, in the hope that the fish, attracted by his melody, would of their own accord dance into his net, which he had placed below. At last, having long waited in vain, he laid aside his flute, and casting his net into the sea, made an excellent haul.