 Preface an Introduction of Fables of Esop and Others. The Preface Dedicatory. To the Youth of the British Isles. In collecting together for your use and benefit some of the prudential maxims, immoral opothems of the ancient sages, the publishers of this volume have been stimulated by an ardent desire to render this excellent mode of instruction as agreeable as possible, and at the same time to impress the precepts contained in the fables more forcibly on your minds. They have endeavored to make the embellishments worthy of your notice and examination. If the seeds of morality and patriotism be early sown, they will spring up and ripen to maturity in a confirmed love of truth, integrity, and honor. And without these for his guide, no man can do credit to himself or his country. This consideration is of vital importance, for our comfort and happiness through life mainly depend upon a strict adherence to the rules of morality and religion. The youth who is early tutored in an invincible regard for his own character will soon perceive the duties imposed upon him by society, and will have pleasure in fulfilling them as much for his own satisfaction as for the sake of his fellow men. But when the latent powers of the mind are neglected, or not directed into the paths of rectitude, by good precepts and worthy examples, vice and folly enter the opening and lead their victim into evils and errors which render his life miserable and sometimes hurry him into an ignominious grave. To delineate the characters and passions of men under the semblance of lions, tigers, wolves, and foxes is not so extravagant a fiction as it may at first sight seem. For the innocent and inexperienced will find when they engage in the busy scenes of the world that they will have to deal with men of dispositions not unlike those of animals, and that their utmost vigilance will be required to guard against their violence and machinations. In attempting to form an estimate of the characters of mankind, many gradations and shades will be found between the two extremes of virtue and vice. The philanthropist views with feelings of benevolence the wavering balance and adds those he finds on the confines to the number of the virtuous. While the misanthrope with gloomy malignity endeavors to include within the circle of vice those who are standing upon the ill-defined line of division, and thus swells the number of the bad, both observe with pain that great numbers exist whose whole lives seem to be spent in disfiguring the beautiful order which might otherwise reign in society, regardless of the misery which their wickedness scatters around them. They see men who suffer their bad passions and gross appetites to be the sole rule of their conduct, and whether they show themselves in an inordinate ambition, a thirst after false glory, or an insatiable avarice, their consequences are pernicious and defuse evil to stress and ruin among mankind, in proportion to the extent to which their baneful influence reaches. The misanthrope in contemplating the scene of mischief and disorder is apt to arraign the wisdom and justice of providence for permitting it to exist, but the philanthropist views it with a more extended range of vision, and while he laments the evil he attributes the apparent want of human feelings to the actors, to an early perversion of intellect, or to a stifling of the reasoning power given by the great creator to man for his guide, and without which he is the worst animal in the creation, a mere two-legged tiger. Upon the childhood and youth of such men, the great truth taught by the inspired and wisest writers of all ages, that no life can be pleasing to God which is not useful to man, has not been sufficiently impressed, or probably the energy with which they pursue their wicked career might have been led into a different course, and instead of the scourges they would have been the benefactors of mankind. When religion and morality are blended together in the mind, they impart their blessings to all who seek the aid of the one, and obey the dictates of the other, and their joint effects are seen and felt in the perpetual cheerfulness they impart. They incite the innocent whistle of the plowmen at his plow, of the cobbler in his stall, and the song of the milkmaid at her pail. It is a sign of their being perverted when they engender melancholy notions, for these are the offspring of bigotry, fanaticism, and ignorance. The service of the omnipotent is not of this gloomy cast. He has spread out the table of this beautiful world of wonders for the use of his creatures, and has placed man at the head of it, that he might enjoy its bounties as well as prepare himself for the approaching change to another, which inspiration has powerfully impressed on his soul as the unknowable region of his next advance. The materialist in his dreary reveries cannot comprehend this. Neither will he acknowledge that his being placed here is equally as miraculous as that he should be placed in another world or worlds progressively to improve to all eternity. But to harbour doubts on this subject is like disputing the wisdom, the justice, and the mercy of the author of our being, who according to the conceptions we form of his goodness, as exhibited in the design, the grandeur and the immensity of creation, where everything is systematic, regular, and in order, would never decree that man should be placed here instinctively to know his maker. To take a short peep at the stupendous, the amazing whole, to view all these and have powers of mind given him only to know and repugnantly to feel that after a life mixed with turmoil, grief, and disease he has to be annihilated. In our conception of things and to the limited understanding which has been given us, all this would appear to be labour in vain. The volume of the creation speaks alike to all, and cannot be defaced by man. But the ways of providence are beyond his comprehension. Omnipotence has not been pleased to gratify his pride and vanity, nor to consult his understanding in the government of the universe, but sufficient has been disclosed unto him to point out the moral duties he owes to society, and the religious worship due to his maker without groping after what is utterly beyond his reach. Or our feeble reason is too weak to comprehend the divine essence, and our thoughts on their utmost stretch roll back on darkness. We reason but we err, for how can we comprehend the immensity of endless space, of time and eternity, a beginning or an end, or what conceptions can we form of the power which made the sun and worlds without number. Truly this is far too much for a finite being who does not know why he can move one of his own fingers, or cease to do so when he pleases. But all may know and fulfill their religious obligations by reverting and adoring their creator, and walking humbly before him, and their moral duties by being in their several stations, good sons, brothers, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, neighbors, and members of society. Having with humble diffidence in this masquerade of life attempted to point out to youth the exterior of the temple of virtue, and to lead them into its steps, the editor leaves them there, respectfully recommending them to explore the whole interior under the guidance of men more imminent for their mental powers and attainments in learning, philosophy, and piety. Of these, an illustrious band had placed at every avenue and turning their inestimable works as directions to guide us to usefulness and respectability here, and eternal happiness hereafter. Thomas B. Rick, Newcastle, September 1818. The Introduction From time to time in all ages, men inspired or gifted with a superior degree of intellectual power have appeared upon the stage of life, in order by lightning others, to fulfill the designs of omnipotence in uniting the world in a state of civilized society, patriarchs or heads of families that first directed or governed those who were immediately dependent upon them. These in time increased and became clans. These again, by their quarrels and their wars, were induced to elect chieftains or kings over a number of united clans, from which were formed the various nations and kingdoms of the earth. In this early stage of the world, when men were ignorant and uncivilized, the chase and war seemed almost wholly to have occupied their time and attention. Their kings ruled over them with despotic sway, and the will of the prince was the only law, and thus the barbarism of the subject and the tyranny of the ruler went hand in hand together. That over-swollen pride which seems the natural accompaniment of despotic power blinds the understandings of its possessors and renders them wholly regardless of the important trust reposed in them. The evils arising out of their bad government are felt, more or less, by the whole people over whom they preside, and pride and arrogance prevent the approach of sincerity and truth. The sycophant and the slave then only find admission, and all other men are kept at a distance. While kings and governors were of this character, the voice of truth could only reach their ears through allegory and fable, which took their rise in the infancy of learning, and seemed to have been the only safe mode of conveying admonition to tyrants. This pleasing method of instilling instruction into the mind has been found by experience to be the shortest and best way of accomplishing that end, among all ranks and conditions of men. The first fable upon record is that of Jotham and the trees in the Bible, and the next is that of the poor man and his lamb, as related by Nathan to King David, and which carried with it a blaze of truth that flashed conviction on the mind of the royal transgressor. Conditions of reproof, religion and morality were, we find, continually delivered in this mode by the sages of old, to the exalted among mankind. It is asserted by authors that Apologs and Fables had their origin in the eastern world, and that the most ancient of them were the productions of Vishnu Sarma, commonly called Pilpe, whose beautiful collections of Apologs were esteemed as sacred books in India and Persia, whence they were spread abroad among other nations, and were by them celebrated and holden in much estimation. They were translated from the Persian and Arabian into Greek by Simeon Seth, a man of great learning, who was an officer of the imperial household at Constantinople about the year 1070. Seth's version was imitated in Latin by Piers Alphonse, a converted Jew, as early as the year 1107. And this is supposed to have been the first version of Pilpe's Apologs that made its way to become familiarized in Europe. The time in which Pilpe lived seems not to be certainly known to the learned, but some of them supposed that the fables of Esaupe and others were grounded upon his models. The time in which Esaupe lived is better ascertained, and of all the fabulous who have amused and instructed mankind by their writings, his name stands preeminent. Authors fixed his birthplace at Kothiem in Frigia Major, but the history of this remarkable person, who lived about 572 years before Christ, and about 100 years before Herodotus, the Greek historian, has been so involved in mystery, traditionary stories, and absurd conjectures, that any attempt to give a detail from such materials would only serve to be willed or youth, and lead them into a labyrinth of error, and it would be important to trouble the learned reader with that which must be sufficiently familiar to him. Footnote. The curious inquire is referred to the essay on the Esaupean fable by Sir Brooke Boothby Baronet, from which this sketch is extracted. End footnote. The whole of the absurd fictions concerning this wise and amiable man were invented by Maximus Planoutis, a Greek monk. Footnote. Planoutis lived at Constantinople in the 14th century. His fables were printed at Milan, AD 1480. End footnote. Plutarch and other authentic historians. Footnote. The first person who took great pains to detect and expose the follies and absurdities of Planoutis' life of Esaupe, and collected what could be known was Bache de Miseriac, a man of great learning who flourished about the year 1632. End footnote. Have, however, given a very different account of the illustrious fabulous. It would appear, according to some of these relations, that Esaupe, originally a shepherd's boy, had risen from the condition of a slave to great immanence, and that he lived in the service of Xanthus and Jedmon or Idmon in the island of Samus, and afterwards at Athens. Phaedrus speaks of him as living the greater part of his life at the latter place, where it appears a handsome statue executed by the hand of the famous statuary, Lysippus, was erected to his memory, in place before those of seven sages of Greece. Footnote. These sages were Solon, Thales, Kylo, Cleobulus, Bias, Patacus, and Periander, to whom Laterius adds Anarchus, Mauro, Ferricides, Epaminides, and Piscistratus. End footnote. He also notices his living at Samus and interesting himself in a public capacity in the administration of the affairs of that place, where Aristotle also introduces him as a public speaker and records the fact of his reciting the fable of the fox and the hedgehog. Footnote. You men of Samus, let me entreat you to do as the fox did, for this man, having got money enough, can have no further occasion to rob you, but if you put him to death, some needy person will fill his place whose wants must be supplied out of your property. End footnote. While pleading on behalf of a minister upon the occasion of his being impeached for embezzling the public treasure, Esop is also mentioned as speaking in a public capacity to the Athenians at the time when Piscistratus seized upon their liberties. Footnote. The fable of the frogs desiring a king. End footnote. Upon each of these occasions he is represented as having introduced a fable into his discourse, in a witty and pleasing manner. He was holding to the highest veneration and esteem in his day, by all men imminent for their wisdom and virtue. It appears that there was scarcely an author among the ancient Greeks who mixed anything of morality in his writings that did not either quote or mention Esop. Plato described Socrates as turning some of Esop's fables into verse, during those awful hours which he spent in prison immediately before his death. Erosophonies not only takes hints from Esop, but mentions him much to his honor as one whose works were or ought to be read before any other. Aeneas and Horus have embellished their poetry from his stores. An ancient sages and authors all concur in bearing the most ample testimony to his distinguished merits. Plutarch and his imaginary banquet of the seven wise men, among several other illustrious persons of ancient times, celebrated for their wit and knowledge, introduces Esop and describes him as being very courtly and polite in his behavior. Upon the authority of Plutarch also, we fixed the life of Esop in the time of Cresus, the king of Lydia, who invited him to the court of Sardis. By this prince he was holding in such esteem as to be sent as his envoy to Periander, king of Corinth, which was about 320 years after the time in which Homer lived and 550 before Christ, who was also deputed by Cresus to consult the oracle of Delphi, while on this embassy he was ordered to distribute to each of his citizens four menae of silver. But some disputes arising between them and Esop reproach them for their indolence and suffering their lands to lie uncultivated, and in depending on the gratuities of strangers for a precarious subsistence. The quarrel which it would appear ran high between them, ended in Esop sending back the money to Sardis. This so exasperated the Delphians that they resolved upon his destruction, and that they might have some color of justice for what they intended. They concealed among his effects, when he was taking his departure from Delphi, a gold cup consecrated to Apollo, and afterwards pursuing him easily found what they themselves had hidden. On the pretext that he had committed this sacrilegious theft, they carried him back to the city, and notwithstanding his imprecating upon them the vengeance of heaven, they immediately condemned him to be cast from the rock hypania, as the punishment for the pretended crime. Ancient historians say that for this wickedness the Delphians were for a long time visited with pestilence and famine, until an expiation was made, and then the play ceased. It was not until many ages after the death of Esop that his most prominent successor, Phaedrus, arose. He translated Esop's fables from the Greek into Latin and added to them many of his own. Of Phaedrus little is known except from his works. He is said to have lived in the times of the emperors Augustus and Tiberius, and to have died in the reign of the latter. The first printed edition of fables with cuts was published in Gauda in 1482. Caxton published some of them in 1484, and Bonus Ocursius in 1489, to which he prefixed Plenuti's life of Esop. But the most perfect edition of Phaedrus's works was published in five volumes by Peter Pithu at Troyes in 1596, from manuscripts discovered by him in the cities of Reims and Dijon. To these have succeeded in later times a numerous list of epipulists. Footnote Sir Roger Lestrange, born 1616, died 1704. John de la Fontaine, born 1621, died 1695. John Dryden, born 1631, died 1701. Antoine Haudhardt de la Matte, born 1672, died 1731. John Gaye, born 1688, died 1732. Samuel Croxall, D.D., Archdeacon of Herford, died 1752. Edward Moore, died 1757. Draper, Robert Doddsley, born 1703, died 1764. William Wilkie, born 1721, died 1772. Abbey Broetier, born 1722, died 1789. End footnote. Besides such of the poets as have occasionally interspersed fables in their works. These in their day have had, and many other of them still have, their several admirers. But Gaye and Doddsley best maintain their ground in this country, as is proved by the regular demand for the new editions. Croxwell's fables, which were first published in 1722 with cuts on metal, in the manner of wood, have also had a most extensive sell. And Sir Brooke Boothby's elegant little volumes, in verse published in 1809, are now making their way into the public notice. The editor of the present volume, in attempting to continue the same pleasing mode of conveying instruction, long since laid down as a guide to virtue, as quoted and compiled from other fabulous, whatever seemed best suited to his purpose. His sole object is utility, and he is not altogether without hope that in attempting to embellish and perpetuate a fabric which has its foundations laid in religion and morality, his efforts may not be wholly ineffectual to induce the young to keep steadily in view those great truths, which form the sure landmark to heaven, where only they can attain peace and happiness. End of introduction. Section 2 of Fables of Aesop and Others This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Jennifer Henry. Fables of Aesop and Others by Aesop. The Two Crabs Two crabs, the mother and daughter, having been left by the receding tide, were creeping again towards the water. When the former, observing the awkward gait of her daughter, got into a great passion, and desired her to move straight forward in a more becoming and sprightly manner, and not crawl sidling long in a way so contrary to all the rest of the world. Indeed, mother, says the young crab, I walk as properly as I can, and to the best of my knowledge, but if you would have me to go otherwise, I beg you would be so good as to practice it first and show me by your own example how you would have me conduct myself. Application. Ill examples corrupt even the best natural disposition, and it is in vain to instruct our children, their talents being only imitation, to walk by one rule if we ourselves go by another. The good precepts which we may lay down to them will be bestowed in vain if they see by our own conduct that we pursue a contrary course to that which we recommend to them. Parents, therefore, who are desirous of working an effectual reformation in their children, should begin by making a visible amendment in themselves, and this is a duty they owe to society as well as to their offspring, it being of the utmost importance to both that probity and honor be early instilled into their youthful minds. As these grow with their growth, and while at the same time they command respect, they lay the foundation of their individual happiness through life. Section 3 of Fables of Esop and Others. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Tara Elson. Fables of Esop and Others by Esop. The ape and her young ones. An ape having two young ones was dotingly fond of one, but disregarded and slighted the other. One day she chanced to be surprised by the hunters, and had much to do to get off. However, she did not forget her favorite young one, which she took up in her arms that it might be the more secure. The other, which she neglected by natural instinct, leapt upon her back, and so away they scampered together. But it unnuckly fell out in the over-anxiety of her precipitous flight, confused and blinded with haste, that she struck her favorite's head against a branch, which threw it on the ground where the darling bantling was seized by the dogs and killed. The hated one, clinging close to her rough back, escaped all the danger of the pursuit. Application. By dear mamma's o' weaning fondness spoilt, caressed and pampered dies the favorite child. A boy she slights, rough, vigorous and well-grown, unaided, bears the brunt, and shifts alone. The indulgence which parents show to their children arises from the most amiable of human weaknesses. But it is not the less injurious in its effects, and therefore it is of great importance to guard against it, and not to suffer blind fondness to transport us beyond the bounds of a discreet affection, but that often proves the ruin of the child. This fable is also intended to expose the folly of a system of favoritism in families, for experience shows that those children who are the least pampered and indulged usually make the best and cleverest men. End of Section 3. Section 4 of Fables of Esop and Others. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Tara Elson. Fables of Esop and Others by Esop. The Boy and His Mother. A little boy having stolen a book from one of his school fellows took it to his mother, who instead of correcting him, praised his sharpness and rewarded him. In process of time, as he grew bigger, he increased also in villainy, till at length he was taken up for committing a great rubbery and was brought to justice and condemned for it. As the officers were conducting him to the gallows, he was attended by a vast crowd, and among the rest his mother came sobbing along and imploring her son's unhappy fate, which the criminal observing, he begged leave to speak to her. This being granted, he put his mouth to her ear as if he was going to whisper something and bit it off. The officer shocked at this behaviour, asked him if the crimes he had committed were not sufficient to glut his wickedness, without being also guilty of such an unnatural violence towards his mother. There'd no one wonder, said he, that I have done this for her, for she deserves even worse at my hands. For if she had chastised instead of praising and encouraging me, when I stole my school fellow's book, I should not now have been brought to this ignomious and untimely end. Application The approaches to vice are by slow degrees, and the good or evil bias given to youth is seldom eradicated. The first deviations from sound morality should therefore be more strictly watched and wickedness checked or punished in time. For when vice grows into a habit, it becomes curable, and both good governments and private families are deeply concerned in its attendant consequences. One need not scruple to affirm that most of the depravity which is so frequent in the world and so pernicious to society is owing to the bad education of youth, and to the conevance or ill-example of their parents. It is therefore of them at most consequence their parents, guardians and tutors should be of characters befitting them for the vice and important officers they have to perform. The letter description of persons may and ought to be carefully selected, but it is to be lamented that the base and mean-spirited hosts of bad parents are out of the reach of control, and nothing can prevent the evils arising from their tutorage. Perhaps it would be harsh to make laws to check the marriage of such, but there is no need to encourage the breed of them for they are already over abundantly numerous. End of section 4 Section 5 of Fables of Esop and Others This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Fables of Esop and Others by Esop The Master and His Scholar As a schoolmaster was walking upon the bank of a river he heard a cry as of one in distress. Advancing a few paces farther he saw one of his scholars in the water hanging by the branch of a willow. The boy had, it seems, been learning to swim with quarks and now thinking himself sufficiently experienced had thrown these implements aside and ventured into the water without them. But the force of the stream having hurried him out of his depth he had certainly been drowned had not the branch of the tree providentially hung in the way. The Master took up the quarks which lay upon the ground and throwing them to his scholar made use of this opportunity to read a lecture to him upon the inconsiderate rashness of youth. Let this be an example to you, says he, in the conduct of your future life never to throw away your quarks till time has given you strength and experience enough to swim without them. Application Rashness is the peculiar vice of youth and may be styled the characteristic foible of that season of life. The foundation of this rashness is laid in a fine conceit of their own abilities which tempts them to undertake affairs too great for their capacities and to venture out of their depths or to suffer themselves to be hurried into the most precipitous and dangerous measures before they find out their own weakness and inability. That therefore behooves inexperienced young men to keep a cautious guard over their passions to check the irregularities of their disposition and to listen to the wholesome advice and good counsel those whose judgments are matured by age and experience. For few are above the need of advice nor are we ever too old to learn anything for which we may be the better. But young men above all should not disdain to open their eyes to good example in their ears to admonition. Neither should they be ashamed to borrow rules for their behavior in the world until they are enabled from their own knowledge of men and things to stem its crooked tides and currents with ease and honor to themselves. Consult your elders. Use their sense alone till age and practice have confirmed your own. End of section 5 Section 6 of fables of ASOP and others. This is LibriVox Recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Lyndon Springfield, Missouri ASOP and others by ASOP Industry and Sloth An indolent young man being asked why he lay in bed so long jacosely answered every morning of my life I am hearing causes I have two fine girls their names are Industry and Sloth close at my bedside as soon as I awake pressing their different suits one entreats me to get up the other persuades me to lie still and then they alternately to me as various reasons why I should rise and why I should not this detains me so long it being the duty of an impartial judge to hear all that can be said on either side that before the pleadings are over it is time to go to dinner application he who defers his work from day to day does on a river's brink expecting stay till the whole stream which stopped him shall be gone it runs forever will run on indolence is like a stream which flows slowly on but yet it undermines every virtue it rests the mind and gives a tincture to every action of one's life the term of which does not allow time for long protracted deliberations and yet how many waste more of their time in idly considering which of two affairs to begin first then would have ended them both tomorrow is still the fatal time when all is to be done tomorrow comes it goes and still indolence pleases itself with the shadow while it loses the substance and thus men pass through life like a bird through the air and leave no track behind them unmindful that the present time alone is ours and should be managed with judicious care since we cannot secure a moment to come nor recall one that has passed it is no matter how many good qualities the mind may be possessed of they all lie dormant if we want the necessary vigor and resolution to draw them forth for this slumber of the mind leaves no difference between the greatest genius and the meanest understanding neither the mind nor the body can be active and vigorous without proper exertion and trouble springs from idleness and grievous toil from useless ease therefore whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest Recording by Lyndon Springfield, Missouri A prodigal thoughtless young man who had wasted his whole patrimony in taverns and gaming houses among his lewd idle companions was taking a melancholy walk near a brook it was in the spring while the hills were yet capped with snow but it happened to be one of those clear sunny days which sometimes occur at that time of year and to make appearances the more flattering a swallow which had been invited forth by the warmth flew skimming along upon the surface of the water. The youth observing this concluded that the summer was now come and that he should have little or no occasion for clothes so went and pond them and ventured the money for one steak more among his sharping associates when this too was gone like all the rest of his property he took another solitary walk in the same place as before but the weather being severe and frosty everything had put on a very different aspect the brook was frozen over and the poor swallow lay dead upon the bank at this the youth smarting under the sense of his own misery mistakenly reproached the swallow as the cause of all his misfortunes he cried out oh unhappy bird thou hast undone both but thyself and me who is so credulous as to trust to thy appearance application they who frequent taverns and gaming houses and keep bad company should not wonder if they are reduced in a very short time to pinnury and want the wretched young fellows who once addict themselves to such a scandalous course of life scarcely think of or attend to anything besides they seem to have nothing else in their heads but how they may squander what they have got and where they may get more when that is gone they do not make the same use of their reason as other people but like the jaundiced eye view everything in a false light and having turned to deaf ear to all advice and pursued their unaltered course until all their property is irrecoverably lost when at length misery and innocence of their situation they still lay the blame upon any cause but the right one their own extravagance and folly like the prodigal in the fable who would not have considered a solitary occurrence as a general indication of the season had not his own wicked desires blinded his understanding End of Section 7 Recording by Lyndon Springfield, Missouri The Collier and the Fuller The Collier and the Fuller being old acquaintances happened upon a time to meet together and the latter being but ill-provided with a habitation was invited by the former to come and live in the same house where they were living and the Collier and the Fuller being old acquaintances and the Collier and the Fuller being old acquaintances being old acquaintances to come and live in the same house with him I thank you my dear friend, replied the Fuller for your kind offer but it cannot be for if I were to dwell with you whatever I should take pains to scour and make clean in the morning the dust of you and your coals with blacken and defile before night Application It is of no small importance in life to be cautious what company we keep and with whom we enter into friendship for though we are ever so well disposed ourselves and free from vice yet if those with whom we frequently converse are engaged in a lewd, wicked course it will be almost impossible for us to escape being drawn in with them. If we are truly wise and would shun those rocks of pleasure upon which so many have split, we should forbid ourselves all manner of commerce and correspondence with those who are steering a course which reason tells us is not only not for our advantage but would end in our destruction all the virtue we can boast of will not be sufficient to ensure our safety we embark in bad company for though our philosophy were such as would preserve us from being tainted and infected with their manners yet their characters would twist and entwine themselves along with ours and so intricate a fold that the world would not take the trouble to unravel and separate them reputation is of a blending nature like water that which is derived from the clearest spring if it chance to meet with a foul current runs on undistinguished in one muddy stream must ever partake of the color and condition of its associate end of section 8 section number 9 of fables of ASAP and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rebecca Zimmerman Lancaster, Pennsylvania fables of ASAP and others by ASAP the husband man and his sons a husband man at the point of death being desirous to the same innocent course of agriculture in which he himself had been engaged all his life made use of this expedient he called them to his bedside and said all the patrimony I have to bequeath to you my sons is my farm and my vineyard of which I make you joint heirs but I charge you not to let them go out of your own occupation for if I have any treasure besides it lies buried somewhere in the ground within a foot of the surface this made the sons conclude that he talked of money which he had hidden so after their father's death with unweary diligence they carefully dug up every inch and though they found not the money they expected the ground by being well stirred and loosened produced so plentiful a crop of all that was sown in it has proved a real and that no inconsiderable treasure application the good name and the good counsel of a father are the best legacies he can leave to his children and they ought to revere the one and keep in mind the other the wealth which a man acquires by his honest industry affords him greater pleasure in the enjoyment than when acquired in any other way and men who by personal labor have obtained a competency know it's value better than those who have had it showered upon them without any efforts of their own idleness engenders disease while exercises the great prop of health is the greatest blessing of life which consideration alone ought to stimulate men to pursue some useful employment and among the almost endless number of those to which good laws and well organized society give birth and encouragement there are none equal to the culture of the earth none which yield a more grateful return the pleasures derived both from agriculture and horticulture are so various so delightful and so natural to man that they are not easily to be described and are never to be excelled for in whatever way they are pursued the mind may be constantly entertained with the wonderful economy of the vegetable world and the nerves are invigorated and kept in proper tone by the freshness of the earth and the fragrancy of the air which blushed the countenance with a health and give a relish to every meal end of section number nine section number ten of fables of asop and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rebecca Zimmerman Lancaster, Pennsylvania fables of asop and others by asop the proud frog and the ox an ox grazing in a meadow chance to set his foot upon a parcel of young frogs and trod one of them to death the rest informed their mother when she came home what had happened telling her that the beast which did it was the hugest creature that they ever saw in their lives what was it so big says the old frog swelling and blowing up her speckled belly to a great degree oh bigger by a vast deal they said and so big says she straining herself yet more indeed say they if you were to burst yourself you would never be so big she strove yet again and burst herself indeed application how many vain people of moderate easy circumstances by entertaining the silly ambition of vying with their superiors in station and fortune get into the direct road to ruin in whatever station of life it may have pleased Providence to place us we ought to determine upon living within our income and to endeavor by honesty sobriety and industry to maintain our ground young men upon their launching out into the world would do well deeply to reflect upon this for their future peace of mind and happiness greatly depends upon it they need only look a little about them to see how a contrary conduct has operated upon thousands and it is to be feared will continue to fill our gals with debtors and bedlam with lunatics end of section 10 section 11 of fables of asap and others this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rebecca Zimmerman Lancaster, Pennsylvania fables of asap and others by asap the stag looking into the water a stag drinking saw himself in the water and pleased with the sight stood contemplating his shape what a gorgeous pair of branching horns are here how gracefully do these antlers project over my forehead and give an agreeable turn to my whole face but I have such legs as really make me ashamed they look so very long and unsightly that I had rather have none at all in the midst of this sililliquy he was alarmed with the cry of a pack of hounds away he flies in some consternation and bounding nimbly over the plane through dogs and men he had a vast distance behind him after which taking a very thick cops he had the ill fortune to be entangled by his horns in the branches where he was held fast till the hounds came up and seized him in the pangs of death he is said to have uttered these words unhappy creature that I am I am too late convinced that what I prided myself in has been the cause of my undoing and what I so much disliked was the only thing that could have saved me application we often make a false estimate in preferring our ornamental talents to our useful ones and our apt to place our love and admiration on wrong objects when our vanity is stronger than our reason show and ostentation find easy admission into our hearts and we are much fonder of specious trifles than useful plainness but the truest mark of wisdom is to estimate things at their just value and to know whence the most solid advantages may be derived otherwise like the stag and the fable we may happen to admire those accomplishments which are not only of no real use but often prove prejudicial to us while we despise those things on which our safety may depend he that does not know himself will often form a false judgment upon other matters that most materially concern him and thus it fares with many who suffer themselves to be deluded with the false pump of high life and whose vanity prompts them to conceive that they possess many talents which qualify them to shine in that circle into which they had judged rightly they would never have entered but rather have applied themselves to improve other qualifications which might have insured their own happiness and rendered them useful members of society end of section 11 section 12 of fables of asop and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rebecca Zimmerman Lancaster, Pennsylvania fables of asop and others by asop the leopard the leopard one day took it into his head to value himself upon the great variety and beauty of his spots and truly he saw no reason why even the lion should take place of him since he could not show so beautiful a skin as for the rest of the wild beasts of the forest he treated them all without distinction in the most haughty and disdainful manner but the fox being among them went up to him with a great deal of spirit and told him that he was mistaken in the value he was pleased to set upon himself since people of judgment were not used to form their opinion of merit from an outward appearance but by considering the good qualities and endowments with which the mind was stored within application wise men are chiefly captivated with the beauty of the mind rather than that of the person and whenever they are infatuated with a passion for anything else it is generally observed that they cease, during that time at least to be what they were and indeed are only considered to be playing the fool it too often happens that women of remarkable beauty are so fully satisfied with their outward excellencies that they totally neglect the improvement of their minds not considering that it is only a combination of mental and personal charms that can entitle them to be ranked as nature's greatest ornaments and mindful of this however they are too apt to consider beauty as the only thing resiquent of their sex and since they are endowed with it in such an eminent degree they look down with the stain on females less happy in personal charms beauty has undoubtedly great influence over the hearts of mankind but when it is overrun with avocation and conceit their admiration will soon be turned into disgust but blessed with good sense and good humor will captivate the hearts of worthy men and more effectually secure their constancy end of section 12 section 13 of fables of asop and others this is a labourvox recording all labourvox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit labourvox.org recording by Rebecca Zimmerman Lancaster, Pennsylvania fables of asop and others by asop the peacock and the crane the peacock and the crane having by chance met together the peacock erected his tail displaying his gaudy plumes and looked with contempt upon the crane as some mean ordinary person the crane resolving to mortify his insolence took occasion to say that peacocks were very fine birds indeed if fine feathers could make them so but that he thought it a much nobler thing to be able to rise above the clouds into endless space and survey the wonders of the heavens as well as the earth beneath with its seas, lakes and rivers as far as the eye can reach then to strut about upon the ground and to be gazed at by children application there cannot be a greater sign of a weak mind than a person's valuing himself on a gaudy outside whether it consists of the beauties of the person or the still more contemptible vanity of fine clothes this kind of misguided pride while it endeavours to exalt commonly tends to lower the persons who are infected with it but never renders them so truly ridiculous as when it inspires them with the contempt of those who have ten times more worth than themselves to value ourselves upon glitter and finery of dress is one of the most trifling of all vanities and a man of sense would be ashamed to bestow upon it the least attention they who examine things by the scale of common sense must find something of weight and substance before they can be persuaded to set a value upon it the mind that is stored with virtuous and rational sentiments and the behaviour which is founded upon complacency and humility and the value upon the possessor which all men of discernment are ever ready to admire and acknowledge end of section 13 section number 14 of fables of ASAP and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lola of Northern Virginia and the fables of ASAP and others by ASAP the two pots an earthen pot and one of brass standing together upon the brink of a river were both carried away by a sudden rise of the water the earthen pot shows some uneasiness fearing he should be broken but his companion of brass made him be under no apprehension as he would take care of him oh, replies the other keep as far off as you can most afraid of for whether the stream dash you against me or me against you I am sure to be the sufferer and therefore I beg of you do not let us come near one another application a man of moderate fortune who is contented with what he has and finds he can live happily upon it should be particularly guarded against the ill judged ambition of associating with the rich and powerful for what in them his economy is of extravagance and at the very time they honor him with their countenance they are leading him on to his ruin people of equal conditions may flow down the current of life without hurting each other but it is no easy matter to steer one's course in company with the great so as to escape without a bold neither is it desirable to live in the neighborhood of a very great man for whether we ignorantly trespass upon him or he knowingly encroach upon us to be the sufferers end of chapter 14 section number 15 of fables of asop and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lola Jane fables of asop and others by asop the mole and her dam the young mole snuffed up her nose and told her dam she smelled an odd kind of a smell by and by oh strange says she what a noise there is in my ears as if ten thousand hammers were going a little after she was at it again look look what is that I see yonder it is just like the flame of a fiery furnace the dam replied pray child hold your idle tongue and if you would have us allow you any sense at all do not affect to show more the nature has given you application by affectation we aim at being thought to possess some accomplishment which we have not or as showing what we have in a conceited ostentatious manner there is scarcely any species of ridiculous behavior which is not derived from it grows out of folly and insincerity it derogates from genius it is the bane of beauty and diminishes its charms it is disagreeable to others and hurtful to the person who uses it it detracts from some real possession and makes qualities that would otherwise pass well enough appear nauseous and offensive and whoever indulges in it may be sure to lay themselves open and call forth the attention of others to notice their vanity to cure ourselves of affectation we have only to call the aid of truth and insincerity which will cut off the whole train of its follies at one stroke end of chapter 15 section number 16 of fables of asop and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recorded by Lola Janie fables of asop and others by asop the goat the kid and the wolf the goat going abroad to feed shut up her young kid at home charging him to bolt the door fast and open it to nobody till she herself should return the wolf who lay lurking hard by heard the charge given and soon after came and knocked at the door counterfeiting the voice of the goat and desire to be admitted the kid looking out at the window and finding the cheap made him go about his business for however he might imitate a goat's voice yet he appeared too much like a wolf to be trusted application, deceit, hypocrisy and villainy are constantly on the watch to entrap and ensnare the innocent and the unwary every beautiful woman is commonly surrounded by a kind of men who would undermine her virtue and inexperienced men of fortune in the outset of life must constantly be set with rogues and sharpers and these artful villains under one species pretext or another too often affect the ruin of the weak and unsuspicious of both sexes as a guard against all these the early admonitions of parents are of inestimable worth they are built upon the tenderest regard in the most sincere affection those who have already traveled over the difficult past of life and buffeted its storms have observed the snares and the dangers with which the way is true and they are enabled by the experience to forewarn those who are about to launch out in the troubled oceans of life to steer their course clear of its hidden rocks its shoals and its quicksands did youth but know the importance of this early advice how eagerly would they treasure it in their minds and as occasion required with what pleasure would they draw it forth and obey its dictates to the neglect of these precepts may be attributed much of the ill conduct we see in the world and most of the misfortunes which befall mankind through life honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the lord, thy god give it thee and of section number 16 section number 17 of fables of asop and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lola Janney fables of asop and others by asop the brother and sister a certain man had two children a son and a daughter the boy, very handsome and the girl only moderately so they were both young and happened to be one day playing near the looking glass which stood in their mother's toilet the boy, pleased with the novelty of the thing viewed himself for some time and in a wanton, roguish manner observed to the girl how handsome he was she resented it and could not bear the insolent matter in which he spoke for she understood it as how could she do otherwise to be intended as a direct affront to her therefore she ran immediately to her father in a deal of aggravation complained of her brother particularly of his having acted so effeminate as part as to look in a glass and meddle with things which belong to women only the father embraced them both with much tenderness and affection and told them that he should like to have them look in a glass every day to the intent that you says he addressing himself to the boy if you think that face of yours handsome grace and spoil it by an ugly temper and a foul behavior and that you speaking to the girl may make up for the defects of your person if there be any by the sweetness of your manners and the agreeableness of your conversation application we should every day view ourselves considerably in a looking glass with the intent of converting it to a better purpose than that of merely observing and admiring our person let those on whom nature has been liable of her bounties and bestowing a fine countenance with symmetry of person health and strength always remember that these are gifts of providence for which we ought to be thankful but never vain these qualifications ought only to act as a spur to induce us to cultivate the mind by study by reading and reflection so as to cause it to correspond to his beauties with those of our outward appearance let others again who have not anything in their personal appearance to attract the attention of the world strive also to improve the faculties of the mind and to excel in the beauties of a good temper and in agreeable conversation the charms of which notwithstanding a rough exterior cannot fail to endear the possessor to all men of sense who will readily discover intrusive whether it be made up of a lively imagination, clear perceptions or the transparent sincerity of an honest heart End of Chapter 17 Section Number 18 of Fables of ASOP and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Lola Janney Fables of ASOP and Others by ASOP The Sheepbiter A certain shepherd had a dog upon whose fidelity he relied very much for whenever he had occasion to be absent himself he committed the care of his flock to the charge of this dog and to encourage him to do his duty cheerfully he fed him constantly with sweet milk and curds and sometimes threw him a bone extraordinary yet notwithstanding this no sooner was his back turned than the treacherous curve fell upon some one of the flock and thus devoured the sheep instead of guarding and defending them The shepherd having at length found out his tricks was resolved to hang him and the dog when the rope was about his neck and he was just going to be tied up began to expulsulate with his master asking him why he was so unmercifully bent against him who was his own servant and creature and had only committed a few crimes and why he did not rather take vengeance on the wolf who was an open and declared enemy nay, replied the shepherd it is for that very reason that I think you ten times more worthy of death for from him I expected nothing but hostilities and therefore could guard against him you are dependent on as a just faithful servant and fed and encouraged you accordingly and therefore your treachery is more base and your ungratitude the more unpardonable application the common disappointments which we are liable to through life do not bring with them anything to be compared to the bitterness we experience from the profidity of those we esteem and trust it as friends an open enemy we can guard against and we look upon him when he is at rest as we do at the sword within it's scabbard but the man who betrays his trust masked under the appearance of friendship wounds us in the tenderest part and involves us in a cruelly complicated grief which frets the mind and heightens the sum of our infelicity friendship is the cordial of human life the balm of society and he who violates his laws by treachery and deceit converts it into the deadliest poison and renders that which ought to be the defense and support of our steps our greatest snare and danger end of chapter 18 section number 19 of fables of asop and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lola Janey fables of asop and others by asop the old woman and her maids an old woman who had several maid servants used to call them up to their work at the crowing of the cock the damsels not liking to have their sweet slumber disturbed so early combined together and killed the cock thinking that they might enjoy their warm beds a little longer in this they found themselves mistaken for the old woman having lost her unerring guide from that time roused them out of their beds whenever she awoke although it might be at midnight application be governed ourselves by imagination rather than by judgment mistaking the reason of things and imputing the issue of them to wrong causes we should endeavor to contend ourselves in our present station we should be not very bad indeed for it seldom happens that everything can be in all respects agreeable to our wishes when we give full scope to the impatience of our tempers and quit our present condition in life we often find we have not changed for the better but we are too fond of carving out our fortunes for ourselves and wish to remove this or that obstacle which we imagine stands between us in our felicity then too late to see how greatly we are mistaken in our notions when we feel we have changed for the worse before we attempt any alteration of movement we should if possible ascertain what state it will produce and not suffer infirmity of temper to embitter our lives but above all we should never aim at mending our fortunes by fraud and violence end of chapter 19 section 20 of fables of asop and others this is libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org recording by lola genie fables of asop and others by asop hercules and the carter as a clownish fellow was driving his car along a deep myery lane the wheels stuck so fast in the clay that his horses could not draw it out upon this he fell a balling and praying to hercules to come and help him hercules looking down from a cloud bid him not lie there like an idle dastardly louvy as he was but get up and whip his horses and clap his shoulder stoutly to the wheel adding that this was the only way for him to obtain assistance application the man who sits down at his knees and prays to heaven to have all his wants supplied and his wishes accomplished by a miracle wrought in his favor without using his own exertions and honest endeavors to obtain them deserves to be disappointed many men who have a fair share of natural good sense and who also value themselves upon having their reasoning powers enlightened by revelation yet fall into this error led by fanatics and bigots they follow the fashion of running often to prayers and sermons when they might be much better employed at home the industrious good man instead of publicly praying for the comforts of life pursues his business which is the proper means of procuring them and if at the same time he holds converse with his maker which all men are to do and no man can be happy without doing he needs no veil of hypocrisy to make the world believe better than he really is he feels it his duty and pleasure so to proceed while he sojourns here and knows not how he can do better than by sober and honest industry to provide for those of his own household and to endeavor for the means of helping him that needed the man who is virtuously and honestly engaged is actually serving God all the while and is more likely to have his silent wishes accompanied with strenuous endeavors comply with by the supreme being than he who begs with an unnecessary vehemence and solicits with an empty hand a hand which would be more religious were it usefully employed and more devout were as stretched out to do good to those that wanted End of section 20 Section 21 of fables of ASOP and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lyndon Springfield, Missouri fables of ASOP and others by ASOP the eagle the cat and the sow an eagle had built her nest upon the top branches of an old oak a wild cat inhabited a hole in the middle and in the hollow part at the bottom was a sow with a whole litter of pigs a happy neighborhood and might long have continued so had it not been for the wicked insinuations of the designing cat for first of all up she crept to the eagle and good neighbor says she we shall all be undone that filthy sow yonder does nothing but lie rooting at the foot of the tree and as I suspect intends to grab it up that she may more easily come at our young ones I will take care of my own concerns you may do as you please but I will watch her motions though I stay at home this month for it when she had said this which could not fail of putting the eagle into a great fright down she went and made a visit to the sow at the bottom putting on a sorrowful face I hope says she you do not intend to go abroad today why not says the sow nay replies the other you may do as you please but I overheard the eagle tell her young ones that she would treat them with a pig the first time she saw you go out and I am not sure but she may take up with a kitten in the meantime so good morrow to you you will excuse me I must go and take care of the little folks at home away she went accordingly and by contriving to steal out softly at nights for her prey and to stand watching and peeping all day at her hole as under great concern she made such an impression upon the eagle and the sow that neither of them dared to venture abroad for fear of the other the consequence of which was that they in a little time were starved and their young ones fell prey to the treacherous cat and her kittens application this shoes us the consequence of giving ear to a gossiping double-tongued neighbor many sociable well-disposed families who have grown up into a perpetual discord by one of these wicked go-betweens so that whoever would avoid the imputation of being a bad neighbor should guard both against receiving ill impressions by hearsay and uttering his opinions of others to those busybodies who, to gratify a malignant disposition or gain some selfish end of their own can magnify a gnat to the size of a camel or swell a molehill and a garden end of section 21 recording by linden springfield, missouri section 22 of fables of asop and others this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org recording by linden springfield, missouri fables of asop and others by asop the lark and her young ones a lark who had young ones in a field of corn nearly ripe was under some fear lest the reapers should come and cut it down before her young brood were fledged and able to remove from the place wherefore, when she flew abroad in the morning to seek food for them she charged them to listen to what the farmer said about shearing on her return her young family opened all their little throats at once to inform her that the farmer had sent to his neighbors to reap the corn the next morning is that all said the old lark then there is no danger when she went abroad again the next morning she left the same instructions as before at night she found her young ones more alarmed than at first for the farmer had applied to his friends earnestly requesting them to begin the harvest the next day she received this intelligence as calmly as before in the evening they told her that the farmer had been charging his son to get the sickles ready for it was in vain to wait for other people and that they would cut the corn tomorrow themselves nay then said the old lark we must be off as soon as we can for when a man undertakes to do his business himself it is not so likely that he will be disappointed application he who depends on the assistance of others to perform what he is able to do himself must not be surprised to find that his business is neglected he may be sure that it will be best done when he puts forth his own hands and looks after it with his own eyes how indeed can any man imagine that other people will be active in his interest while he himself remains indolent and unconcerned about his own affairs men of such tempers and dispositions live in a state of suspense and subject themselves to perpetual disappointments and losses which their own industry would have prevented and have kept their minds at ease they do not use their reasoning powers but sink down into a kind of stupid abject dependence upon others which degrades even the finest talents with which human nature is dignified End of Section 22 Recording by Linden Springfield, Missouri Section 23 of Fables of Aesop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Linden, Springfield, Missouri Fables of Aesop and Others by Aesop The Young Men and the Cook Two young men went into a cook's shop under pretense of buying some meat and while the cook's back was turned one of them snatched up a piece of beef and gave it to his companion who clapped it under his cloak The cook, turning about and missing his beef began to charge them with it upon which he that first took it swore bitterly he had none of it he that had it swore as heartily that he had not taken it Why, look ye gentlemen says the cook I see your equivocation though I cannot tell which of you has taken my meat I am sure between you there is a thief Application This fable shows how little reliance can be placed on either the word or the oath of those who, like the thieves in the cook's shop, have neither honor nor honesty An honest man's word is as good as his oath and so is a rogue's too for he that will cheat and lie will not scruple to forswear himself the former needs no oath to bind him and the latter, though he swear in the most solemn manner that can be invented only deceives you the more certainly as he who scruples not to steal will never regard the heinous guilt of calling upon the supreme being to witness his atrocity it is no less wicked to quibble and evade the truth than it is to deny it altogether for the falsehood consists in what we wish the hearer to believe not in the literal import in what we say men who habituate themselves to this species of deceit will be ready to go to the length of any perjury early to impress the mind with the unspeakable worth of truth is of the utmost importance it is sacred and no man can say in the face of the world that it ought not to prevail no discussions can injure its cause it emanates from heaven it is an attribute of omnipotence it is therefore eternal End of Section 23 Recording by Lyndon Springfield, Missouri Section 24 of Fables of Asop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Fables of Asop and Others by Asop A mule which was pampered up and easily worked became plump, sleek and in high condition and in the height of his wantonness would scamper about from hill to dale in all the wildness of unbridled restraint Why should not I said he to himself be as good a racer as any horse whatever father whose pedigree was well known was one of the best of them Do not I resemble him in every respect While he was indulging his vanity in reveries of this kind his master having occasion to mount him upon urgent business put him upon his speed and air long was obliged to use both whip and spur to force him to push forward Thus jaded and tired he muttered to himself Alas! I find now I was mistaken in my pedigree for my sire was not a horse but an ass application the man who has been brought up in ease and affluence and pampered and anticipated in all his wants little imagines what a figure he would make in the world and he were put to the trial to rub through its thorny mazes and provide for himself The children of the poor industrious honest man when brought up like their parents are put to a kind of school such as the opulent it is feared can seldom form any conception of and if the former by their industry and abilities rise above poverty their enjoyments in life can only surpass those who have been without effort upheld in every real as well as imaginary want the sensible poor man does not trouble his head about his pedigree but he knows that his descent must of course be as ancient as that of any man on earth and that if he is respected in the world it must arise solely to own good conduct and merit the man who has nothing to boast but the merely tracing back his ancestry is building upon a hollow foundation if indeed his ancestry have arisen to their high station by patriotic and virtuous means and have deservedly maintained a high character for probity worth and honor let him follow their example if otherwise all he can do or say will only prove him to be a mongrel or an ass the pride of family is all a cheat his personal merit only makes us great end of section 24 recording by narrator jay section 25 of fables of asop and others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lyndon Springfield, Missouri fables of asop and others by asop the cock and the jewel a gallant young cock in company with his mistresses raking upon a dung hill for something to entertain them with happened to scratch up a jewel he knew what it was well enough for it sparkled with an exceeding bright luster and not knowing what to do with it he shrugged up his wings, shook his head and putting on a grimace expressed himself to this purpose indeed you are a very fine thing but I know not any business you have here I make no scruple of declaring that my taste lies quite another way and I would rather have one grain of dear delicious barley than all the jewels under the sun application more or less have interpreted this fable in various ways some of them ascribing the want of setting a proper value upon the jewel to ignorance and say to fools the treasures dug from wisdom's mind are jewels turned to cocks and pearls to swine but the most obvious meaning of the fable is surely to show that men who weigh well their own real wants and shape their pursuits to their abilities will always prefer those things which are necessary to such as are merely ornamental or superfluous and not easily suffer themselves to be led astray by the gaudy allurements of glitter and show which have no other value than what vanity, pride or luxury may have set upon them but governing their minds by their own reason judge of everything by its intrinsic worth End of Section 25 Recording by Linden, Springfield, Missouri A man was felling a tree on the steep bank of a river and by chance let slip his hatchet which dropped into the water and sunk to the bottom being in distress for want of his tool he sat down and bemoaned himself on the occasion upon this, he was in distress for want of his tool he sat down and bemoaned himself on the occasion upon this, he was in distress for want of his tool he sat down and bemoaned himself on the occasion upon this, Mercury appeared to him and being informed of the cause of his complaint dived to the bottom of the river and coming up again showed the man a golden hatchet demanding if that were his he denied that it was upon which Mercury dived a second time and brought up a silver one the man refused it alleging likewise that it was not his he dived a third time and fetched up the individual hatchet the man had lost upon sight of which the poor fellow was overjoyed and took it with all humility and thankfulness Mercury was so pleased with his honesty that he gave him the other into the bargain as a reward for his just dealing away goes the man to his companions and giving them an account of what had happened one of them went presently to the river side and let his hatchet fall designedly into the stream then sitting down upon the bank he fell to weeping and lamenting as if he had been really and sorely afflicted Mercury appeared as before and diving brought him up a golden hatchet asking if that were the hatchet he had lost transported at the precious metal he answered yes and went to snatch it greedily but the God detesting his abominable impudence not only refused him that but would not so much as let him have his own again application honesty is the best policy and one of our best poets has further stamped a value upon the good old maxim by his assertion that an honest man is the noblest work of God the paths of truth and integrity are so plain direct and easy that the man who pursues them stands in no need of subtle contrivances to deceive the world he listens to the honest monitor within and makes good his professions with his practice neither gold nor silver hatchets can make him deviate from it and whatever situation he may be placed in he is sure to meet the esteem of all men within the circle in which he moves and has besides the constant pleasure of feeling self-approbation within his own breast end of section 26 section 27 of Fables of Esop and Others this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Jennifer Fornier Marshall, Virginia, USA Fables of Esop and Others by Esop a fox being in a shop where Visormasks were sold laid his foot upon one of them and considering it a while attentively at last broke out into this exclamation bless me says he what a handsome goodly figure this makes what a pity it is that it should want brains the accomplished bow in air and mean how blessed his hat well-fashioned and his hair well-dressed is yet undressed within to give him brains exceeds his hatters or his barber's pains this fable is leveled that numerous part of mankind who out of their own ample fortunes take care to accomplish themselves in everything but common sense and seem not even to bestow a thought upon the important consequences of cultivating their understandings the smooth address and plausible behavior of the varnished phop may indeed pass current with the ignorant and superficial but however much he may value himself upon his birth or figure he never fails exciting the contempt or the pity of men of sagacity and penetration and the ridicule of those who are disposed to amuse themselves at the folly and vanity of such as put on the mask of wisdom to cover their want of brains End of Section 27 Section 28 of Fables of Esop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Jennifer Fornier, Marshall, Virginia, USA Fables of Esop and Others by Esop The Thief and the Dog A thief coming to rob a certain house in the night was thwarted in his attempts by a fierce, vigilant dog who kept barking at him continually upon which the thief, thinking to stop his mouth threw him a piece of bread but the dog refused it with indignation telling him that before he had only suspected him to be a bad man but now upon his offering to bribe him his suspicions were fully confirmed and that as he was entrusted with the guardianship of his master's house he would never cease barking while such a rogue was lurking about it Application Nothing can alter the honest purpose of him whose mind is imbued with good principles he will despise an insidious bribe and the greater the offer which is designed to buy his silence the louder and more indignantly will he open out against the miscreant who would thus practice upon him He knows that the favors held out to him are not marks of the love and regard of him who would confer them but are meant as the price at which he is to sell his honour and his virtue With a mind unpolluted his noble resolution never fails to produce the happiest consequences by preserving his friends and himself from the mischievous projects laid against them So true it is that virtue is its own reward while corruption and veniality are sure in the end to bring the greatest miseries on those and their adherents who are so base or perhaps inconsiderate as to subject themselves to future evils of the most fatal nature for the sake of a little present profit A certain man had a goose which laid him a golden egg every day but not contented with this which rather increased than abated his avarice he was resolved to kill the goose and cut a perbelly and that by doing so he might come at the inexhaustible treasure which he fancied she had within her He did so and to his great sorrow and disappointment found nothing Application Passion can be a greater torment to those who are led by it or more frequently mistakes its aim than insatiable covetousness It makes men blind to their present happiness and conjures up ideal prospects of increasing felicity which often tempt its deluded votaries to their ruin Men who give themselves up to this propensity know not how to be contented with the constant and continued sufficiency with which providence may have blessed them Their minds are haunted with the prospect of becoming rich and their impatient craving tempers are perpetually prompting them to try to obtain their object all at once They lose all present enjoyment in remotely contemplating the future and while they are shooing by their conduct how insensible they are to the bounty of providence they are at the same time laying the foundation of their own unhappiness End of Section 29 Section 30 of Fables of Esop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Farah Iftikar Fables of Esop and Others by Esop The Wanton Carth A carth which had been some time fattening in a rich pasture full of wantonness and arrogance could not forebear insulting an old ox every time he saw him at the plow What a sorry drudge art thou, says he to bear that heavy yoke and draw all day a plow at thy tail See what a fat, sleek and comely appearance I make and what a life of ease I lead I go where I please and frisk about in the sunshine or lie down under the cool shade just as my own fancy prompts me The ox, not moved by this incidence, made no reply but pursued his daily round of alternate labour and rest until he saw the carth taken and delivered to a priest who immediately led him to the altar and prepared to sacrifice him when the fatal knife was just at his throat The ox drew near and whispered him to this purpose See what your wanton and lazy life has brought you to a premature and painful death Applications We may learn by this fable the general consequence of an idle life and how well-rewarded, laborious, diligent men are in the end when they quietly enjoy the fruits of their industry They who by little tricks and chickenry or by open violence and robbery are unable to live in a high expensive way often despise the poor honest man who is contented with the humble produce of his daily labour But how often is the poor man comforted by seeing these wanton villains led in disgrace and misery to the altar of justice while he has many a cheerful summer's morning to enjoy abroad and many a long winter's evening to indulge it at home by a quiet hearth and under an envied roof blessings which often attend a sober, industrious man though the idle and the profligate are utter strangers to them Luxury and intemperance, besides their inevitable tendency to shorten a man's days are very apt to engage their besotted vocaries in a debauched life not only preditial to their health but which engenders in them a contempt for those whose good sense and true taste of happiness inspire them with an aversion to idleness and effeminacy and put them upon hardening the constitution by innocent exercise and laudable employment How many do gluttony and sloth tumble into an untimely grave while the temperate and the active drink sober drafts of life and spin out the thread of their existence to the most desirable length End of Section 30 Recording by Farah Iftikar Section 31 are fables of ESOP and others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Farah Iftikar Fables of ESOP and Others By ESOP The Boasting Traveller One who had been abroad was giving an account of his travels and among other places said he had been at Rhodes where he had distinguished himself so much in Leapink an exercise which that city was famous for that not a Rhodian could come near him When those who were present did not seem to credit this relation so readily as he intended they should he took some pains to convince them of it by oaths and protestations upon which one of the company told him he'd need not give himself so much trouble about it since he would put him in a way to demonstrate the fact which was to suppose the place there were in to be Rhodes and to perform his extraordinary leap over again The boaster, not liking this proposal sat down quietly and had no more to say for himself Application We had better be contented to keep our exploits to ourselves than to appear ridiculous by attempting to force a belief of that which is improbable and travel gentlemen should have a care how they import falsehoods and inventions of their own from foreign parts and attempt to vent them at home for stable truths It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the mind that a lie is upon all occasions degrading to the person who utters it and should be most scrupulously avoided not only on account of its baseness but because it is impossible to foresee in how many troubles it may involve him who passes it off it will not always receive credit and is ever liable to detection When it is calculated for wicked purposes it will deservedly incur punishment and when it is of a harmless or insignificant nature it will even then often expose its author to contempt and ridicule and vanity never mistakes its ends more grossly than when it attempts to aggrandize itself at the expense of truth End of Section 31 Recording by Farah Iftikar Section 32 of fables of ASOP and others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Michael Fasio Fables of ASOP and others by ASOP The Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf A Shepherd's Boy while attending his flock used frequently to divert himself by crying out, The Wolf! The Wolf! The husband men in the enjoining grounds thus alarmed left their work and ran to his assistants finding that he was only sporting with their feelings and bantering them they resolved at last to take no notice of his alarms It was not long, however, before the wolf really came and the boy bawled out The Wolf! The Wolf! as he had done before but the men having been so often deceived paid no attention to his cries and the sheep were devoured without mercy Application The man who would go through the world with reputation and success must preserve a religious adherence to truth for no talents or industry can give him weight with others or induce the sensible part of mankind to place any confidence in him if he be known to deviate without scruple from veracity Men of this stamp soon become notorious and besides the ignominy which attaches to their characters they have to undergo the mortification of not being believed even when they do speak the truth Whatever misfortune may befall them and however sincere they may be in making known their distress yet, like the boy in the fable their complaints and most earnest asseverations cannot procure them credit and are received at best with doubt and suspicion The same consequences follow falsehood and deception whether practised by individuals or public governors and they will both find in the end that they have been guided by cunning and not by wisdom For although the ignorant part of mankind may to serve the temporary purposes of bad government be acted upon by false alarms of imaginary dangers yet even these in time will see through the stale tricks and artifices of those whose designs are to gall and impose upon them End of Section 32 Section 33 of Fables of Aesop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Michael Foscio Fables of Aesop and Others by Aesop The Crow and the Pitcher A crow, ready to die with thirst flew with joy to a pitcher which he beheld at some distance When he came he found water in it, indeed but so near the bottom that with all his stooping and straining he was not able to reach it He then endeavored to overturn the pitcher that at least he might be able to get a little of it but his strength was not sufficient for the accomplishment of this purpose At last seeing some pebbles lie near the place he cast them one by one into the pitcher and thus by degrees raised the water up to the very brim and satisfied his thirst Application What we cannot accomplish by strength we may by ingenuity and industry A man of sagacity and penetration upon meeting with a few difficulties does not drop his pursuits but if he cannot succeed in one way sets his mind to work upon another and does not hesitate about stepping out of the old beaten track which had been thoughtlessly pursued in a roundabout way by thousands before him The present state of the world enlightened by arts and sciences is a proof that difficulties seemingly unsurmountable and undertakings once imagined to be impossible have been accomplished and this ought to be kept in mind as a spur to continued exertion for we are not acquainted with the strength of our own minds till we exercise them or to what length our abilities will carry us till we put them to the trial Quote What is discovered only serves to show that nothing's known to what is yet to know The man who enriches the present fund of knowledge with some new and useful improvement does an honour to himself and ought invariably to be rewarded by the public for, like a happy adventurer by sea he discovers as it were an unknown land and imports an additional treasure to his own country End of Section 33 Section 34 of Fables of Aesop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Jennifer Henry Fables of Aesop and Others by Aesop The Partridge and the Cox A man having caught a partridge plucked the feathers out of one of its wings and turned it into a little yard where he kept Gamecocks The Cox led the poor bird a sad life continually pecking at and driving it away from the meat This treatment was taken the more unkindly because offered to a stranger and the Partridge could not help concluding that they were the most uncivil inhospitable people he had ever met with But observing how very frequently they quarreled and fought with each other he comforted himself with reflecting that it was no wonder they were so cruel to him since they showed the same disposition to each other Application No peace is to be expected among those who are naturally fierce quarrelsome and inhospitable and people of a different disposition should avoid as much as possible having anything to do with them But when we cannot help coming into contact with such characters there is no remedy but patience and this virtue a wise man will call to his aid under every misfortune When our sufferings are inflicted by the wickedness of others it is some consolation to reflect that people of this character are continually waging war among themselves and punishing each other and that the consequences of their own wickedness follow them like their shadow besides rendering them the objects of general aversion No virtue was more universally practised or more strongly recommended by the ancients than a mild conduct to our companions and inhospitable entertainment of strangers and when this is not the general character of any people it shows in greater or less degrees the wretched state of society in which they live End of Section 34 Section 35 of Fables of Aesop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Michael Fasio Fables of Aesop and Others by Aesop The Fox and the Crow A crow having taken a piece of meat out of a cottage window flew up into a tree with it with Chafox observing came underneath and began to compliment the crow upon her beauty I protest, says he Your feathers are of a more delicate white than I ever saw in my life Ah, what a fine shape and graceful turn of body is there and I make no question but you have a tolerable voice if it be but as fine as your complexion I do not know a bird that can stand in competition with you The crow, tickled with this very civil language wriggled about and hardly knew where she was and having a mind to convince the Fox in the matter of her voice attempted to sing and in the same instant let the meat drop out of her mouth This being what the Fox wanted he chopped it up in a moment and trotted away laughing at the easy credulity of the crow Application Quote It is a maxim in the schools that flattery is the food of fools Unquote They that love flattery will have cause to repent of their fobule in the long run and yet how few there are among the whole race of mankind who are proof against its attacks The gross way in which it is managed by some silly practitioners is enough to alarm the dullest apprehension but let the ambuscade be disposed with judgment and it will scarcely fail of seizing the most guarded heart How many are tickled to the last degree with the pleasure of flattery even while they are applauded for their honest detestation of it There is no way to baffle the force of this engine but by everyone's examining impartially for himself the true estimate of his own qualities If he deals sincerely in the matter nobody can tell so well as himself what degree of esteem ought to attend any of his actions and therefore he should be entirely easy as to the opinion others have of them If they attribute more to him than is his due they are either designing or mistaken If they allow him less they are envious or possibly still mistaken and in either case are to be despised or disregarded for he that flatters without designing to make advantage of it is a fool and whoever encourages that flattery which he has sense enough to see through is a vain coxcomb End of Section 35 Section 36 of Fables of Esop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by M. Bradley Peters Fables of Esop and Others by Esop The Sensible Ass An old man who was feeding his ass in a fine green meadow being alarmed by the sudden approach of an enemy began urging the ass to put himself forward and fly with all the speed he was able The ass asked him whether he thought the enemy would clap two pairs of panniers upon his back The man said no there was no fear of that Why then says the ass I will not start an inch for what is it to me who my master is since I shall but carry my panniers as usual Application This fable shows us how much in the wrong the poor sort of people most commonly are when they are under any concern about the revolutions of a government All the alteration which they can feel is perhaps in the name of their sovereign or some such important trifle but they cannot well be poor or made to work harder than they did before and yet how are they sometimes imposed upon and drawn in by the artifices of a few mistaken or designing men to foment factions and raise rebellions in cases where they get nothing by success but if they miscarry are in danger of suffering an ignominous and untimely end End of section 36 Section 37 of fables of Esau and others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by M. Bradley Peters Fables of Esau and others by Esau The Swallow and Other Birds A swallow observing a farmer sowing his field with flax called the birds together and informed them what he was about She told them that flax was the material of which the threat was made that composed the fowler's nets so fatal to the feathered race and strongly advised them to assist her in picking up the seed and destroying it Birds heard her with indifference and gave themselves no trouble about the matter and a little time the flax sprung up and appeared above the ground She then put them in mind once more of their impending danger and wished them to pluck it up in the bud before it grew any further But they still slidered her warnings and the flax grew up into stock She again urged them to attack it for it was not yet too late but they only ridiculed her for a silly pretending prophet Finding all her remonstrances availed nothing was resolved to leave the society of such careless unthinking creatures before it was too late So quitting the woods, she repaired to the houses and, forsaking the conversation of the birds has ever since taken up her abode among the dwellings of men Application Wise men read effects in their causes and profit by them but their advice is thrown away when given to the arrogant and self-conceited who are too proud to listen to it It is equally lost upon fools who stupidly or obstinately shut their eyes against impending danger till it is too late to prevent it In both cases, those who have no foresight of their own and those who despise the wholesome admonitions of their friends deserve to suffer from the misfortunes which their own obstinacy, folly or negligence brings upon their head A great portion of mankind from an overweening conceit of their own abilities are unwilling to be advised by anyone with sovereign disposition to pry themselves of the aides of friendship and the benefits which the goodwill of their more sensible neighbors would have conferred upon them with pleasure End of Section 37 Section 38 of Fables of Esop and Others This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Fables of Esop and Others by Esop The Thieves and the Cock Two thieves broken to a house with the design to rob it But when they had pried into every corner found nothing worth taking away but a cock which they seized upon and carried off When they were about to kill him he begged very hard that they would spare his life putting them in mind how useful he was to mankind by crowing and calling them up at times to their work You villain, replied they It is for that very reason we will ring your head off for you alarm and keep the people waking so that we cannot rob and quiet for you Application The same thing which recommends us to the esteem of good people will make those that are bad have nothing but hatred and ill will towards us. For every man who has engaged himself in a vicious or wicked course of life, fiend like makes himself, as it were the natural adversary of virtue It is in vain for innocent men under oppression to complain to those who are the occasion of it All they can urge will but make against them and even their very innocence, though they should say nothing, would render them sufficiently suspected. The moral, therefore that this fable brings along with it is to inform us that there is no trusting nor any hopes of living well with wicked unjust men For their disposition is such that they will do mischief to others as soon as they have the opportunity. When vice flourishes and is in power, were it possible for a good man to live quietly in its neighborhood and preserve his integrity it might be sometimes perhaps convenient for him to do so, rather than quarrel with and provoke it against him But as it is certain that rogues are irreconcilable enemies to men of worth, if the latter would be secure they must take methods to free themselves from the power and society of the former End of section 38