The Hawk who Chased a Dove

The Hawk who Chased a Dove.The hawk was chasing a dove in headlong flight and flew straight into a farmhouse, where he was captured by a farmer. The hawk plaintively begged the farmer to let him go; "After all, I haven't done anything to hurt you," he said. To which the farmer replied, "And that dove hadn't done anything to hurt you either." Moral. The story shows that it is right to punish people who try to harm those who are innocent.

Accipiter Columbam Insequens. Cum Accipiter columbam praecipiti insequeretur volatu, villam quandam ingressus, a Rustico captus est, quem blande, ut se dimitteret, obsecrabat, "Non enim te laesi," dicens. Cui Rusticus "Nec haec," respondit, "te laeserat." Morale. Fabula indicat merito puniri qui innocentes laedere conantur.

Notes. This is Abstemius 3. As usual with Abstemius, it is not found in Perry's inventory. I really like the way that this tiny little fable expresses the Golden Rule. This shows it from the negative side, of course - since the hawk was ready to kill the innocent dove, he cannot really expect much from his own protestations of innocence!