Monday, November 21, 2011
Aesop's Verse Fable of the Day
Here is the Aesop's Verse Fable of the Day!
Looking for more fables in English? Take a look at the Random Verse Fable. :-)
Looking for more fables in English? Take a look at the Random Verse Fable. :-)
Davies: Apollo and Jupiter
Said the far darter to the gods on high,
"Not one can farther shoot or throw than I."
In sport great Jove Apollo's challenge took,
And quick the lots in Mars' cap Hermes shook.
Luck was with Phoebus. Soon the golden bow
And string he circles, lets the arrow go,
And shoots within the gardens of the West.
Said Jove, when the same range his feet had prest,
"Space fails me, boy. To what point can I shoot?"
Thus without shaft he won the arrow's fruit.
Source: Davies: Fables of Babrius = Babrius 68.
"Not one can farther shoot or throw than I."
In sport great Jove Apollo's challenge took,
And quick the lots in Mars' cap Hermes shook.
Luck was with Phoebus. Soon the golden bow
And string he circles, lets the arrow go,
And shoots within the gardens of the West.
Said Jove, when the same range his feet had prest,
"Space fails me, boy. To what point can I shoot?"
Thus without shaft he won the arrow's fruit.
Source: Davies: Fables of Babrius = Babrius 68.
Davies: The Wild Ass and the Lion
Chase partners were the lion and wild ass:
That did in prowess, this in speed surpass:
A booty of fat beasts their hunt supplied,
Which into three the lion would divide.
"This first," said he, "as foremost, I shall take
In right of kinghood. That my equal stake
Marks as my part. And, for the hindmost lot,
'Twill cause you hurt, unless you flee, I wot."
Measure your strength, nor, with a man more strong,
To company or partnership belong.
Source: Davies: Fables of Babrius.
That did in prowess, this in speed surpass:
A booty of fat beasts their hunt supplied,
Which into three the lion would divide.
"This first," said he, "as foremost, I shall take
In right of kinghood. That my equal stake
Marks as my part. And, for the hindmost lot,
'Twill cause you hurt, unless you flee, I wot."
Measure your strength, nor, with a man more strong,
To company or partnership belong.
Source: Davies: Fables of Babrius.
Davies: The Man with Two Wallets
Prometheus was a god, an elder god:
Man, the brutes' lord, he fashion'd of the sod,
'Tis said, and round his neck two wallets hung,
Full of all ills that rise mankind among:
One holding others' faults in front was thrown;
The larger, slung behind him, held his own.
Hence others' falls, methinks, men clearly see,
But when one should look homeward, blind are we!
Source: Davies: Fables of Babrius = Babrius 66.
Man, the brutes' lord, he fashion'd of the sod,
'Tis said, and round his neck two wallets hung,
Full of all ills that rise mankind among:
One holding others' faults in front was thrown;
The larger, slung behind him, held his own.
Hence others' falls, methinks, men clearly see,
But when one should look homeward, blind are we!
Source: Davies: Fables of Babrius = Babrius 66.
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