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A fable is a very short story which promises to illustrate or teach us a lesson which is also called a moral. Usually if not always, fables are stories having animal characters that talk like humans.
Many common sayings come from Aesops Fables like "Honesty is the best policy," and "Look before you leap" are familiar examples of fables. Aesop is believed to have been a Greek slave who made up these stories. Nobody is really sure if Aesop made up these fables. What is certain, however, is that the Aesop's Fables are timeless. They are so wonderful that they have been told over and over again for several thousand years. Here are some of the most popular fables of all times I hope you like them. Enjoy!
A hungry Wolf one day saw a Lamb drinking at a stream, and wished to frame some plausible excuse for making him his prey.
"What do you mean by muddling the water I am going to drink?" fiercely said he to the Lamb.
"Pray forgive me," meekly answered the Lamb; "I should be sorry in any way to displease you, but as the stream runs from you toward me, you will see that such cannot be the case."
"That's all very well," said the Wolf; "but you know you spoke ill of me behind my back a year ago."
"Nay, believe me," replied the Lamb, "I was not then born."
"It must have been your brother, then," growled the Wolf.
"It cannot have been, for I never had any," answered the Lamb.
"I know it was one of your lot," rejoined the Wolf, "so make no more such idle excuses." He then seized the poor Lamb, carried him off to the woods, and ate him, but before the poor creature died he gasped out, feebly, "Any excuse will serve a tyrant."
A Kite, that had kept sailing around a dovecote for many days to no purpose, was at last forced by hunger to have recourse to stratagem. Approaching the Pigeons in his gentlest manner, he described to them in an eloquent speech how much better their state would be if they had a king with some firmness about him, and how well such a ruler would shield them from the attacks of the Hawk and other enemies.
The Pigeons, deluded by this show of reason, admitted him to the dovecote as their king. They found, however, that he thought it part of his kingly prerogative to eat one of their number every day, and they soon repented of their credulity in having let him in.
An Ox, grazing in a meadow, chanced to set his foot on a young Frog and crushed him to death. His brothers and sisters, who were playing near, at once ran to tell their mother what had happened.
"The monster that did it, mother, was such a size!" said they.
The mother, who was a vain old thing, thought that she could easily make herself as large.
"Was it as big as this?" she asked, blowing and puffing herself out.
"Oh, much bigger than that," replied the young Frogs.
"As this, then?" cried she, puffing and blowing again with all her might.
"Nay, mother," said they; "if you were to try till you burst yourself, you could never be so big."
The silly old Frog then tried to puff herself out still more, and burst herself indeed.
A Lion, who had grown too old and feeble to go out and hunt for prey, could hardly find enough food to keep him from starving. But at last he thought of a plan for bringing the game within his reach.
He kept quite still in his den and made believe that he was very ill. When the other animals heard of his distress, they came, one by one, to look at him and ask him how he felt. No sooner were they within his reach, however, than he seized upon them and ate them up.
After a good many beasts had lost their lives in this way a Fox came along.
"How do you feel to-day, friend Lion?" he asked, taking care to stand at a safe distance from the den.
"I am very ill," answered the Lion. "Won't you come inside a little while? It does me a great deal of good to see my kind friends."
"Thank you," said the Fox; "but I notice that all the tracks point toward your den and none point away from it," and so saying, he trotted merrily away.
A Lark, who had Young Ones in a field of grain which was almost ripe, was afraid that the reapers would come before her young brood was fledged. Every day, therefore, when she flew off to look for food, she charged them to take note of what they heard in her absence, and to tell her of it when she came home.
One day, when she was gone, they heard the owner of the field say to his son that the grain seemed ripe enough to be cut, and tell him to go early the next day and ask their friends and neighbours to come and help reap it.
When the old Lark came home, the Little Ones quivered and chirped around her, and told her what had happened, begging her to take them away as fast as she could. The mother bade them to be easy; "for," said she, "if he depends on his friends and his neighbours, I am sure the grain will not be reaped tomorrow."
Next day, she went out again, and left the same orders as before. The owner came, and waited. The sun grew hot, but nothing was done, for not a soul came. "You see," said the owner to his son, "these friends of ours are not to be depended upon; so run off at once to your uncles and cousins, and say I wish them to come early to-morrow morning and help us reap."
This the Young Ones, in a great fright, told also to their mother. "Do not fear, children," said she; "kindred and relations are not always very forward in helping one another; but keep your ears open, and let me know what you hear to-morrow."
The owner came the next day, and, finding his relations as backward as his neighbours, said to his son: "Now listen to me. Get two good sickles ready for to-morrow morning, for it seems we must reap the grain by ourselves." The Young Ones told this to their mother.
"Then, my dears," said she, "it is time for us to go; for when a man undertakes to do his work himself, it is not so likely that he will be disappointed." She took them away at once, and the grain was reaped the next day by the old man and his son
The Eagle and the Owl, after many quarrels, swore that they would be fast friends forever, and that they would never harm each other's children.
"But do you know my little ones?" said the Owl. "If you do not, I fear it will go hard with them when you find them."
"Nay, then, I do not," replied the Eagle.
"The greater your loss," said the Owl; "They are the sweetest prettiest things in the world. Such bright eyes! such charming plumage! such winning little ways! You'll know them now from my description."
A short time after the Eagle found the owlets in a hollow tree.
"These hideous little staring frights, at any rate, cannot be neighbour Owl's delicious pets," said the Eagle; "so I may make away with them without the least misgiving."
The Owl, finding her young ones gone, loaded the Eagle with reproaches.
"Nay," answered the Eagle, "blame yourself rather than me. If you paint with such flattering colours, it is not my fault if I do not recognize your portraits."
On the occasion of some festivities that were given by a Roman nobleman, a Merry-Andrew of a fellow caused much laughter by his tricks upon the stage, and, more than all, by his imitation of the squeaking of a Pig, which seemed to the hearers so real that they called for it again and again.
A Countryman, however, in the audience, thought the imitation was not perfect; and he made his way to the stage and said that, if he were permitted, he to-morrow would enter the lists and squeak against the Merry-Andrew for a wager.
The mob, anticipating great fun, shouted their consent, and accordingly, when the next day came, the two rival jokers were in their places.
The hero of the previous day went first, and the hearers, more pleased than ever, fairly roared with delight.
Then came the turn of the Countryman, who having a Pig carefully concealed under his cloak, so that no one would have suspected its existence, vigorously pinched its ear with his thumbnail, and made it squeak with a vengeance.
"Not half as good—not half as good!" cried the audience, and many among them even began to hiss.
"Fine judges you!" replied the Countryman, rushing to the front of the stage, drawing the Pig from under his cloak, and holding the animal up on high. "Behold the performer that you condemn!"
An Old Man and his Little Boy were once driving an Ass before them to the next market-town, where it was to be sold.
"Have you no more wit," said a passerby, "than for you and your Son to trudge on foot and let your Ass go light?" So the Man put his Boy on the Ass, and they went on again.
"You lazy young rascal!" cried the next person they met; "are you not ashamed to ride and let your poor old Father go on foot?" The Man then lifted off the Boy and got up himself.
Two women passed soon after, and one said to the other, "Look at that selfish old fellow, riding along while his little Son follows after on foot!" The Old Man thereupon took up the Boy behind him.
The next traveller they met asked the Old Man whether or not the Ass was his own. Being answered that it was: "No one would think so," said he, "from the way in which you use it. Why, you are better able to carry the poor animal than he is to carry both of you."
So the Old Man tied the Ass's legs to a long pole, and he and his Son shouldered the pole and staggered along under the weight. In that fashion they entered the town, and their appearance caused so much laughter that the Old Man, mad with vexation at the result of his endeavours to give satisfaction to everybody, threw the Ass into the river and seizing his Son by the arm went his way home again.
The Tyrant of the Forest issued a proclamation commanding all his subjects to repair immediately to his royal den.
Among the rest, the Bear made his appearance, but pretending to be offended with the odour which issued from the Monarch's apartments, be was imprudent enough to hold his nose in his Majesty's presence.
This insolence was so highly resented that the Lion in a rage laid him dead at his feet.
The Monkey, observing what had passed, trembled for his skin, and attempted to conciliate favour by the most abject flattery. He began with protesting that, for his part, he thought the apartments were perfumed with Arabian spices; and, exclaiming against the rudeness of the Bear, admired the beauty of his Majesty's paws, so happily formed, he said, to correct the insolence of clowns.
This adulation, instead of being received as he expected, proved no less offensive than the rudeness of the Bear, and the courtly Monkey was in like manner extended by the side of Sir Bruin.
And now his Majesty cast his eye upon the Fox.
"Well, Reynard," Said he, "and what scent do you discover here?"
"Great Prince," replied the cautious Fox, "my nose was never esteemed my most distinguishing sense; and at present I would by no means venture to give my opinion, as I have unfortunately caught a terrible cold."
On one fine summer's day in a field a Grasshopper was hopping about in a musical mood. An ant passed by bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
The grasshopper invited the ant to sit for a chat with him. But the ant refused saying that "I’m storing up food for winter". " Why don’t you do the same?" asked the ant to the grasshopper.
"Pooh! Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got enough food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.
Finally, when winter came, the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing corn and grain from their storage.
Then the Grasshopper understood that…
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge anyone here to race with me."
The tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."
"That is a good joke," said the hare. "I could dance around you all the way."
"Keep your boasting until you've beaten," answered the tortoise. "Shall we race?"
So a course was fixed and a start was made. The hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise nearing the finish line, and he could not catch up in time to save the race.
Plodding wins the race.
One day, a lion, a fox, a jackal, and a wolf went hunting together. All day long they tried hard, but could not find anything satisfactory. It was only in the late afternoon that they could catch a deer. The four beasts surrounded the poor animal and killed it as fast as they could. Then they decided to share their food.
The lion was the lord of the jungle and superior to all in strength. Hence, the other creatures agreed when he proposed to share the food for all.
Placing one of its paws upon the dead animal, the lion said,
"You see, as a member of the hunting party, it is my right to receive one of these portions."
The others nodded in agreement.
"But then, I am also the King of Beasts. So I must receive a little bit more". he declared.
The others looked uneasily at each other.
"And besides, I was leading the hunt. So I deserve a little more extra". he proclaimed.
The others mumbled something, but it could not be heard.
"As for the fourth share, if you wish to argue with me about its ownership, let's begin, and we will see who will get it."
"Humph," the others grumbled. They walked away with their heads down. They knew it was pointless to argue about their shares.
You may share the labors of the great, but you can not share the spoil.
Once in a dense jungle far far away there lived a mighty lion whom all the other creatures used to fear very much. King of the jungle as he was, the terrible beast knew no fear and he loved the respect he received from all and sundry in the forest. He used to spend half his day in hunting and the other half in sleeping. No creature dared to come near his den at any time of the day, specially when he was asleep for the mighty beast got terribly angry if his sleep was disturbed in any way.
But one day it so happened that a little mouse got curious to see how the lion's den looked like. So he set out for the cave where the lion rested. When he got near, he could not see the lion.
"He has gone somewhere. Is he going to come back soon? Nah...I don't think so." thought the mouse. It ran and sneaked into the cave. It was a dark, desolate place but big enough for the lion to live. The mouse felt small and a little afraid when he saw the large footprints of the lion on the ground.
"Maybe I should turn back." thought he.
Just then he heard the sound of the footsteps of the lion."Oh no, he is coming back. Now what do I do?" the mouse trembled anxiously.
The lion had only gone to quench his thirst from a river close by and he was coming back to take rest.
The mouse hid himself in the dark inside of the cave and saw the huge shadow of the lion falling on the floors. The lion sat near the entrance of the cave and rested his head on his huge paws. Soon he was fast asleep. The whole cave seemed to tremble with the loud snoring of the jungle king.
The mouse tried to creep out as stealthily as he could. Soon he was near the entrance. But as he tried to cross the lion, his little tail grazed against the left paw of the beast and the lord of the jungle woke up with a start. Imagine his anger and the roar he gave when he saw the puny mouse in his den.
The frightened mouse lost his mind and began to run up and down upon the lion. The lion placed his huge paw upon its tail and opened his big jaws to swallow the mouse when the latter cried out,
"Pardon, O King, please forgive me. I did not mean to wake you, I was only trying to leave this cave which I had entered out of curiosity. Kindly let me go this time, I shall never forget your nobility: if destiny gives me a chance I will assist you in whichever way I can on one of your bad days."
The lion was amused at this thought. How can the little mouse help him? But he let him go and roared with laughter. The mouse ran for his life, thanking his stars.
A few days, as the lion was prowling majestically through the jungle, it was suddenly caught in a hunter's snare. He struggled furiously to break free. But for all his efforts, he only found himself getting even more entangled in the net of ropes. He roared out of anger and helplessness. The whole jungle began to shake due to the terrible sound and every animal heard the cries of the beast. The mouse heard it too.
"The lord of the jungle is in trouble." thought the mouse. "It is my chance to be of help to him now".
Thinking so, the mouse ran as fast as he could to the place where the sounds were coming from. Soon he found the lion trapped in the hunter's snare.
"Don't move, Your Majesty, I'll cut your ropes and you will soon be free" squeaked the mouse. Without wasting a second, he began nibbling through the ropes with his sharp little teeth. Very soon the lion was free.
"I did not believe that even you could help me. But I was wrong" said the lion humbly. And the two creatures became the best of friends from that day.
No matter how weak and small a creature is, he may be of help if time comes.
Long long ago there lived a fox who loved to eat. He lived close to a vineyard and he used to stare at the lovely grapes that hung there.
"How juice they look. Oh I am sure these are stuff that melts in the mouth when you have them. If only I could reach them".
One sunny day, the fox woke up and saw the grapes glistening by the sunlight. The vineyard looked heavenly and the grapes looked so luscious that the famished fox could no longer control itself. He jumped to reach them but fell down.
He jumped again. No, they were much higher.
He jumped even more. But they were still out of reach.
He jumped and stretched and hopped but to no avail. Those yummy grapes hung higher than the fox could reach. No matter how hard he tried, the fox could not reach the grapes. He panted and began to sweat out of exhaustion.
Giving up finally, he looked up in contempt and said as he walked away, "Those grapes surely must be sour. I wouldn't eat them even if they were served to me on a golden dish."
It's easy to despise what you cannot have.
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful stream that flowed by a stony hill. A small village stood by this stream and the people of this hamlet used its water for their daily needs.
One day, two women started to gossip and forgetful of their belongings, both of them left their pots by the stream. One of the pots was of brass, another of earthenware.
When the tide rose, the swollen waters carried off both the pots downstream. The earthenware pot struggled to keep itself away from the brass one. Seeing this, the brass pot called out to the earten pot:
"Why are you afraid, my friend? I will not strike you."
The earthen pot replied, "That is allright. But if I come too close to you, I will break. You are too tough and I am so weak.
Whether I hit you, or you hit me, I shall be the one to suffer for it."
The strong and the weak cannot keep company.
Years ago, there was a small village by a beautiful river. The people of this village were mainly poor folks who farmed in others' lands or in whatever land each of them had themelves. Among them was a man who was richer than the others. He had more land than the others, ten cows, twelve sheep and a little orchard. He had a loving wife and three sons to look after him.
But he was always worried about his youngest son, who happened to be naughtier than his siblings, and was always full of mischief. This boy seemed to be full of an inexhaustible supply of energy and was always out of the house, roaming in the fields, jumping into ponds and climbing hills and mountains, whatever the time was.
But misfortune struck one day, when the boy mistakenly trod upon a serpent's tail during one of his adventures. The furious snake hissed and bit on his foot. The boy limped back to his parents, crying out of pain. But his helpless family members could do nothing to save the poor boy, for the lethal venom killed him within minutes. However, the boy informed his father about the whereabouts of the snake and how he had been bitten before he took his last breath.
The incensed father took out his axe and hunted down the serpent, who happened to reside in a small hole beside a tree.
Again and again did his axe fall upon the serpent who somehow managed to escape each blow until one powerful stroke cut off part of its tail. Bleeding and crying out of pain, the snake carried its body with great difficulty and slithered into one of the holes between the roots of the huge tree.
"First they trampled my tail. Then they dared to cut it off?" muttered the creature painfully. It vowed revenge against the man.
Thereafter, the snake began to cause losses to the farmer. In a fit of rage, it began to sting several of the Farmer's cattle leading him to suffer a huge loss.
"I had already lost my son, now I have to see my cattle dying. It is best to reconcile with the serpent before it does any more harm to me or any of my family members." the man thought.
With this purpose, the farmer went to the serpent's lair with food and honey and offered him the treats saying,
"You know, we should let bygones be bygones. There was no enmity between us as such. So why don't we forget and forgive each other and be friends?"
"It can't be", replied the snake, "take your gifts away. Neither can you forgive me for the death of your son, nor can I forget the loss of my tail."
Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten.
Hitopadesha Tales - Fables from Ancient India
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