___________ _ ■ M l 7L £eqacy library Facsimile T^e Fables ojÆsop EDITED, TOLD ANEW AND THEIR HISTORY TRACED BY Joseph Jacobs DONE INTO PICTURES BY Joseph Heighway AS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY MACMILLAN & CO. LTD. LONDON, 1894 1 XEROX 1 UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS, INC. ANN ARBOR • 1966 FROM THE EDITOR TO THE READER Special Contents of this Edition T H E R E ARE as many legends about Æsop as there Copyright © 1966 by Legacy Press, Inc. are about Santa Claus and in the case of Æsop Creators of The Legacy Library as in the case of Old Claus we should all of us feel free to select and believe that legend which we like the best. N ow I prefer the most popular Manufactured in the U.S.A. by Arno Press, Inc. belief of all, and one that has no historical basis New York other than a passing mention by that early great historian Herodotus. And even Herodotus was prone to let a good story replace a cold dull fact. Library of Congress Catalog Card I like to believe that there was an Æsop and Number: AC 66-10380 that he was an Ethiopian slave who lived in Greece some six hundred years before the birth of Christ. This legend has it that Æsop was owned by a man named Iadmon. It also tells us that Æsop was hunchbacked and ugly of face. A nd that he had a great capacity for getting into trouble with his master and getting out of this trouble by tell­ ing the master one after another of the stories we know as Æsop’s Fables. There is, of course, much more to the history of the Fables than this simple legend and Joseph J a c o b s 's JfabCes of /E sop THE FABLES OF ÆSOP SELECTED, TOLD ANEW AND THEIR HISTORY TRACED By J oseph J acobs DONE INTO PICTURES by ■Richard heighway MACMILLAN & CO., L t d . ST. MARTIN’S ST R E E T , LONDON IÇIO PREFACE $J|T is difficult to say what are and what are First Edition 1894 Reprinted 1901, 1902, 1906, 1908, 1910 h not the Fables of Æsop. Almost all the M fables that have appeared in the Western world have been sheltered at one time or another under the shadow of that name. I could at any rate enumerate at least seven hundred which have appeared in English in various books entitled Æsop's Fables. L ’Estrange’s collection alone contains over five hundred. In the struggle for existence among all these a certain number stand out as being the most effective and the most familiar. I have attempted to bring most of these into the following pages. A Short History of the Æsopic Fable . xv List of Fables . xxiii Æsop’s Fables i Notes .... • 195 Index of Fables . 221 Note.—The Illustrations are reproduced by Messrs. Waterlow and Sons’ photo-engraving process. ........ - ~ 7 i LIST OF FABLES PAGE 1. The Cock and the Pearl . 2 2. The Wolf and the Lamb . 4 3. The Dog and the Shadow . 7 4. The Lion’s Share . 8 5. The Wolf and the Crane . 1 0 6. The Man and the Serpent . 1 2 7. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse . 1 5 8. The Fox and the Crow . 1 9 9. The Sick Lion . 23 10. The Ass and the Lap-Dog . 2 4 11. The Lion and the Mouse . 2 6 12. The Swallow and the other Birds . 2 8 13. The Frogs desiring a King . 3 1 14. The Mountains in Labour . 36 15. The Hares and the Frogs . 3 8 16. The Wolf and the Kid . 4 0 17. The Woodman and the Serpent . 4 3 18. The Bald Man and the Fly . 4 7 19. The Fox and the Stork . 5 0 20. The Fox and the Mask . 52 XXIV ÆSOP’S FABLES LIST OF FABLES xxv PAGE PAGE 21. The Jay and the Peacock . -55 52. The Four Oxen and the Lion . .122 22. The Frog and the Ox . -57 53. The Fisher and the Little Fish . .124 23. Androcles . 60 54. Avaricious and Envious . .127 24. The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts . 6 2 55. The Crow and the Pitcher . .129 25. The Hart and the Hunter . 65 56. The Man and the Satyr . 131 26. The Serpent and the File . 6 7 57. The Goose with the Golden Eggs . 134 27. The Man and the Wood . 6 8 58. The Labourer and the Nightingale . .138 28. The Dog and the Wolf . 7 0 59. The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog . 140 29. The Belly and the Members . • 72 60. The Wind and the Sun . 142 30. The Hart in the Ox-Stall . -74 61. Hercules and the Waggoner .... 145 31. The Fox and the Grapes . 7 6 62. The Miser and his Gold .... 146 32. The Peacock and Juno . *79 63. The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey . 149 33. The Horse, Hunter, and Stag . 8 0 64. The Fox and the Mosquitoes . .152 34. The Fox and the Lion . * 8 3 65. The Fox without a Tail . 154 35. The Lion and the Statue . * 8 5 66. The One-Eyed Doe . .156 36. The Ant and the Grasshopper . 8 6 67. Belling the Cat . 159 37. The Tree and the Reed . 8 8 68. The Hare and the Tortoise . .162 38. The Fox and the Cat . •91 69. The Old Man and Death . .164 39. The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing . 93 70. The Hare with Many Friends . .168 40. The Dog in the Manger . 9 7 71. The Lion in Love . .170 41. The Man and the Wooden God . 9 8 72. The Bundle of Sticks . - ^73 42. The Fisher ...... 100 73. The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts . 174 43. The Shepherd’s Boy .... 102 74. The Ass’s Brains . .177 44. The Young Thief and his Mother . 105 75. The Eagle and the Arrow . .179 45. The Man and his Two Wives . .106 76. The Cat-Maiden . .180 46. The Nurse and the Wolf . .109 77. The Milkmaid and her Pail . - 183 47. The Tortoise and the Birds . .111 78. The Horse and the Ass . .185 48. The Two Crabs . • • .114 79. The Trumpeter taken Prisoner . .187 49. The Ass in the Lion’s Skin . .116 80. The Buffoon and the Countryman . .189 50. The Two Fellows and the Bear . .118 81. The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar . .190 51. The Two Pots 120 82. The Fox and the Goat . 193 .