One day Aesop the fable-teller, being at leisure, wandered into a shipyard. The workers jeered at him and dared him to answer back. So Aesop said: "Long ago there was only chaos and water. Then Zeus, wishing to bring forth another element, the earth, told it to swallow the sea three times. The earth set to work: the first time it laid bare the mountains; the second time it uncovered the plains; and if it makes up its mind to drink the water a third time, your trade will be good for nothing."
Mock someone cleverer than yourself, and you invite a retort all the sharper for it.Moral
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