Once upon a time, there was a wise old man named Aesop. He loved to tell stories about animals. These weren’t just ordinary stories, though! They were special stories that taught us important lessons about life.
In these stories, animals talk and act like people. They can be kind or mean, helpful or lazy, and sometimes even a little silly! But no matter what, their stories always teach us something valuable.
So, get ready to meet some clever foxes, hardworking ants, and many other amazing creatures. Let’s dive into the wonderful world of Aesop’s Fables!
The Farmer and His Three Enemies
A Wolf, a Fox, and a Hare happened to be foraging, one evening, in different parts of a Farmer’s yard.
Their first effort was pretty successful, and they returned in safety to their several quarters; however, not so happy as to be unperceived by the Farmer’s watchful eye, who, placing several kinds of snares, made each of them his prisoner in the next attempt.
He first took the Hare to task, who confessed she had eaten a few turnip-tops, merely to satisfy her hunger; besought him piteously to spare her life, and promised never to enter his grounds again.
He then accosted the Fox, who, in a fawning, obsequious tone, protested that he came into his premises through no other motive than pure good-nature, to restrain the Hares and other vermin from the plunder of his corn; and that, whatever evil tongues might say, he had too great a regard both for him and for justice to be in the least capable of any dishonest action.
He last of all examined the Wolf, what business brought him within the purlieus of a Farmer’s yard. The Wolf very impudently declared that it was with a view of destroying his lambs, to which he had an undoubted right; that the Farmer himself was the only felon, who robbed the community of wolves of what was meant to be their proper food. That this, at least, was his opinion; and whatever fate attended him, he should not scruple to risk his life in the pursuit of his lawful prey. The Farmer, having heard their pleas, determined the cause in the following manner.
“The Hare,” said he, “deserves compassion for the penitence she shows, and the humble confession she has made. As for the Fox and the Wolf, let them be hanged together; their crimes themselves alike deserve it, and are equally heightened by the aggravations of hypocrisy and impudence.”
The Merchant and The Donkey
Once upon a time there lived a salt merchant in a village. H had a donkey. He used to carry all his goods on the back of the donkey to sell in the market. They need to cross a river on the way to the market. He cared for the donkey very much. But the donkey was very lazy.
One day, the merchant had to sell loads of salt. As usual, the donkey and the merchant got down into the river to cross it. The donkey being lazy thought of a trick.
It slightly bent its legs while crossing the river. The salt bags got drenched and dissolved in water. Because of this, the load went down and the donkey became very happy since it need not carry a heavy load. He did it repeatedly.
The merchant was wise enough to know the donkey’s trick.
Hence, he wanted to teach the donkey a lesson. The next day, he loaded the donkey with loads of cotton. When the cotton gets wet, it becomes heavy. The donkey without knowing this played the same trick that day also.
The cotton got wet and became very heavy. The donkey suffered a lot carrying the heavy load.
Moral: Don’t try to fool a person always. or Tit for tat.
THE FOOLISH GOATS
Once a deep stream flowed through a hilly district. A plank of wood served the purpose of a bridge over it. But it was too narrow for two to go on it side by side.
Two goats met on it face to face one day. They stood in the middle and looked angrily at each other. “Go back and let me pass first, “said one. “No,” replied the other; “I will pass first, and you shall go back.” There they stood, each determined to fight the matter out. So they lowered their heads and began to push each other.
Before long each lost list balance and fell down into the stream below.
Moral. Selfishness leads to destruction.
“THE HORSE, HUNTER, AND STAG”
A quarrel had arisen between the Horse and the Stag, so the Horse came to a Hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the Stag. The Hunter agreed, but said: “If you desire to conquer the Stag, you must permit me to place this piece of iron between your jaws, so that I may guide you with these reins, and allow this saddle to be placed upon your back so that I may keep steady upon you as we follow after the enemy.” The Horse agreed to the conditions, and the Hunter soon saddled and bridled him. Then with the aid of the Hunter the Horse soon overcame the Stag, and said to the Hunter: “Now, get off, and remove those things from my mouth and back.”
“Not so fast, friend,” said the Hunter. “I have now got you under bit and spur, and prefer to keep you as you are at present.”
If you allow men to use you for your own purposes, they will use you for theirs.
The Fighting Cocks and The Eagle
Once there were two Cocks living in the same farmyard who could not bear the sight of each other.
At last one day they flew up to fight it out, beak and claw. They fought until one of them was beaten and crawled off to a corner to hide.
The Cock that had won the battle flew to the top of the hen-house, and, proudly flapping his wings, crowed with all his might to tell the world about his victory. But an Eagle, circling overhead, heard the boasting chanticleer and, swooping down, carried him off to his nest.
His rival saw the deed, and coming out of his corner, took his place as master of the farmyard.
Moral: Pride goes before a fall
The Farmar and the sparrows
Manipal was a farmer. He worked from dawn to dusk in his field.
Amidst the crops in the field, a sparrow had built a nest. She roosted in the nest. She has two children. The little sparrows lived with their mother happily.
Days passed by. And the harvesting season quickly approached. The corn was ripe. And everywhere people started their harvests.
The little sparrows said to their mother, “Mummy! We will have to fly away”.
The mother sparrow replied, “Not so soon babies! The farmer is not ready.
One day, they heard the farmer saying “I must call my neighbours and make them do the harvest.”
The little sparrows said, “Mummy, tonight we shall fly away.” The mother said, “Not so soon babies. The farmer won’t make it.” The words of the mother came true. The neighbours did not turn up the next day.
The farmer was heard saying, “I will call my relatives and make them do the harvest”.
This time also the little ones wanted to flyaway. But the mother asked them to relax. Once again, the words of the mother came true.
Now, they heard the farmer saying “Tomorrow I will do the harvest myself’.
On hearing these words, the mother said, “Come my children.
It is time for us to leave this field”.
MORAL : Self-help is always respected.
The Man, Horse, Ox, and Dog
A horse, Ox, and Dog, driven to great straits by the cold, sought shelter and protection from Man. He received them kindly, lit a fire, and warmed them.
He let the Horse make free with his oats, gave the Ox an abundance of hay, and fed the Dog with meat from his own table. Grateful for these favors, the animals determined to repay him to the best of their ability. For this purpose, they divided the term of his life between them, and each endowed one portion of it with the qualities which chiefly characterized himself.
The Horse chose his earliest years and gave them his own attributes: hence every man is in his youth impetuous, headstrong, and obstinate in maintaining his own opinion.
The Ox took under his patronage the next term of life, and therefore man in his middle age is fond of work, devoted to labor, and resolute to amass wealth and to husband his resources.
. The end of life was reserved for the Dog, wherefore the old man is often snappish, irritable, hard to please, and selfish, tolerant only of his own household, but averse to strangers and to all who do not administer to his comfort or to his necessities.
The Fox Without a Tail
A Fox that had been caught in a trap, succeeded at last, after much painful tugging, in getting away.
But he had to leave his beautiful bushy tail behind him.
For a long time he kept away from the other Foxes, for he knew well enough that they would all make fun of him and crack jokes and laugh behind his back. But it was hard for him to live alone, and at last he thought of a plan that would perhaps help him out of his trouble.
He called a meeting of all the Foxes, saying that he had something of great importance to tell the tribe.
When they were all gathered together, the Fox Without a Tail got up and made a long speech about those Foxes who had come to harm because of their tails.
This one had been caught by hounds when his tail had become entangled in the hedge. That one had not been able to run fast enough because of the weight of his brush. Besides, it was well known, he said, that men hunt Foxes simply for their tails, which they cut off as prizes of the hunt. With such proof of the danger and uselessness of having a tail, said Master Fox, he would advise every Fox to cut it off, if he valued life and safety.
When he had finished talking, an old Fox arose, and said, smiling:
“Master Fox, kindly turn around for a moment, and you shall have your answer.”
When the poor Fox Without a Tail turned around, there arose such a storm of jeers and hooting, that he saw how useless it was to try any longer to persuade the Foxes to part with their tails.
Moral: Do not listen to the advice of him who seeks to lower you to his own level.
The Stag at the River
One hot day a stag came to a river to quench his thirst, and seeing his reflection in the water, found his horns truly amazing: “They are magnificent, exquisite, I am so proud of them”, he exclaimed, then, looking at his legs, he became very sad.
“My legs are too short, too thin, if they could be as amazing as my horns… I would be so happy”. But while pondering on all these things, a Lion showed up, and the Stag ran away, but soon stuck his horns into the branches of the trees. It was very easy for the Lion to capture him this way.
“ I can’t believe that my very horns which were my pride brought my misfortune, while my legs which I was so ashamed of would have served me so well. Things are not what they seem to be”.
Moral of this story: Most often, we despise the most precious things and appreciate the wrong ones.
The Grasshopper and The Owl
The Owl always takes her sleep during the day. Then after sundown, when the rosy light fades from the sky and the shadows rise slowly through the wood, out she comes ruffling and blinking from the old hollow tree. Now her weird “hoo-hoo-hoo-oo-oo” echoes through the quiet wood, and she begins her hunt for the bugs and beetles, frogs and mice she likes so well to eat.
Now there was a certain old Owl who had become very cross and hard to please as she grew older, especially if anything disturbed her daily slumbers. One warm summer afternoon as she dozed away in her den in the old oak tree, a Grasshopper nearby began a joyous but very raspy song. Out popped the old Owl’s head from the opening in the tree that served her both for the door and for the window.
“Get away from here, sir,” she said to the Grasshopper. “Have you no manners? You should at least respect my age and leave me to sleep in quiet!”
But the Grasshopper answered saucily that he had as much right to his place in the sun as the Owl had to her place in the old oak. Then he struck up a louder and still more rasping tune.
The wise old Owl knew quite well that it would do no good to argue with the Grasshopper, nor with anybody else for that matter. Besides, her eyes were not sharp enough by day to permit her to punish the Grasshopper as he deserved. So she laid aside all hard words and spoke very kindly to him.
“Well sir,” she said, “if I must stay awake, I am going to settle right down to enjoy your singing. Now that I think of it, I have a wonderful wine here, sent me from Olympus, of which I am told Apollo drinks before he sings to the high gods. Please come up and taste this delicious drink with me. I know it will make you sing like Apollo himself.”
The foolish Grasshopper was taken in by the Owl’s flattering words. Up he jumped to the Owl’s den, but as soon as he was near enough so the old Owl could see him clearly, she pounced upon him and ate him up.
Moral: Flattery is not a proof of true admiration.Do not let flattery throw you off your guard against an enemy.
THE FOX AND THE DRUM
There lived a fox in a forest. One day, he was roaming in the forest in search of food. Suddenly, he heard loud sounds..
BANG… BANG… BANG…
The fox was frightened. “What a deafening sound this is!” he thought. “It echoes through the forest! It seems to be the sound of some strange new animal. Let me run away from here.”
But then he changed his mind. He thought. “If I run away, I might starve to death. Let me hide myself and see how big the animal is. If it lives by killing and eating other animals, it might share its prey with me.”
The fox quietly walked in the direction from where the sound was coming. And what did he see? There was a big drum under a tree. The hanging branches of the tree were swaying in the breeze. As they swayed, they would strike against the drum; and this produced the sound of beats.
BANG…BANG…BANG…
The drum might have been used by soldiers during a battle and since then, it might have been lying in that place. The fox hid himself behind a tree and watched the drum. He thought, “It is dangerous to be in this place. If this huge animal sees me, it will surely kill me and eat me up. Now I must leave this forest and go away.”
But then the fox again thought, “This forest is my house. Why should I leave my home and go away? My mother used to say, ‘Never make a hasty decision when you are frightened.’ Let me go near the animal and observe it closely.”
Although frightened, the fox slowly went near the drum. He said to himself, “As soon as this animal raises its paws to pounce on me, I will run away from here.” But the animal did no such thing! So the fox went a little closer. But still the animal did not do anything. Now the fox gathered some courage. “Let me touch it,” he thought and raised his paws and gently tapped on the drum.
BANG.. The sound of the drum beat echoed through the forest.
The fox moved back a few steps. He again gathered courage and went closer to the drum. Now he was no longer frightened of the drum. He smelled it and thought, “How big this animal is! And, how thick its skin is! It must be fleshy.” The fox’s mouth started watering.
The fox climbed up on the drum and tried to bite it. But the hide was too thick for the fox to bite into. He was surprised. “Such a big animal and yet I am so helpless! It cannot even face my attack. Poor animal!” said the fox to himself. The fox tried very hard to bite off a piece of the thick hide. But he broke his tooth instead! Blood began to drip from his mouth. The fox was very angry. Now with all his might, he bi ino hide. And, at last, he succeeded! Then it became very easy for him to tear it up. The fox was amazed. “I have bitten into this animal’s skin and torn it open. And yet there is no blood,” he wondered.
The fox entered the drum. It was hollow!
The fox sighed. He was disappointed. He did not get any food to eat and, to add to his miseries, he had lost a tooth!
As the breeze blew, the branches of the tree struck against the drum. But this time, there were no sounds of the beats.
The fox said to himself, “Well, I don’t mind losing a tooth. But I am happy that I have lost my fright. I have killed this big animal.” The fox was very proud of himself.
The proud fox held his head high and, once again, began to wander in search of food.
For Readers
We’ve learned so many great lessons from Aesop’s Fables, haven’t we? We’ve met a sly fox, a hardworking ant, a proud crow, and many more. Remember, these stories aren’t just for fun. They teach us how to be good people.
We can learn to be kind and helpful, like the ant who helped the grasshopper. We can learn to be patient and persistent, like the tortoise who raced the hare. And we can learn to be humble and grateful, like the boy who cried wolf.
So, the next time you face a problem or a challenge, remember the lessons from Aesop’s Fables. They can help you find the right way to solve it. And most importantly, they can help you grow into a kind, wise, and happy person.