Category Archives: AESOP TALES
55.The Bull and the Goat
A BULL, escaping from a lion, hid in a cave which some shepherds had recently occupied. As soon as he entered, a he-goat left in the cave sharply attacked him with his horns. The bull quietly addressed him:
“Butt away as much as you will. I have no fear of you, but of the lion. Let that monster go away and I will soon let you know what is the strength of a goat to that of a bull.”
❖ It shows an evil disposition to take advantage of a friend in distress.
54.The Bull and the Calf
A BULL was striving with all his might to squeeze himself through a narrow passage which led to his stall. A young Calf came up, and offered to go before and show him the way by which he could manage to pass.
“Save yourself the trouble,” said the bull; “I knew that way long before you were born.”
53.The Buffoon and the Countryman
AT a country fair there was a Buffoon who made all the people laugh by imitating the cries of various animals. He finished off by squeaking so like a pig that the spectators thought that he had a porker concealed about him. But a Countryman who stood by said: “Call that a pig’s squeak! Nothing like it. You give me till tomorrow and I will show you what it’s like.” The audience laughed, but next day, sure enough, the Countryman appeared on the stage, and putting his head down squealed so hideously that the spectators hissed and threw stones at him to make him stop. “You fools!” he cried, “see what you have been hissing,” and held up a little pig whose ear he had been pinching to make him utter the squeals.
“MEN OFTEN APPLAUD AN IMITATION AND HISS THE REAL THING.”
52.The Brother and the Sister
A FATHER had one son and one daughter, the former remarkable for his good looks, the latter for her extraordinary ugliness. While they were playing one day as children, they happened by chance to look together into a mirror that was placed on their mother’s chair. The boy congratulated himself on his good looks; the girl grew angry, and could not bear the self-praises of her brother, interpreting all he said (and how could she do otherwise?) into reflection on herself.
She ran off to her father to be avenged on her brother, and spitefully accused him of having, as a boy, made use of that which belonged only to girls. The father embraced them both, and bestowing his kisses and affection impartially on each, said,
“I wish you both would look into the mirror every day: you, my son, that you may not spoil your beauty by evil conduct; and you, my daughter, that you may make up for your lack of beauty by your virtues.”
❖ An ugly woman dreads the mirror.
