A poor man, being sick and in a bad way, promised the gods to sacrifice a hundred oxen to them if they saved him from death. The gods, wishing to test him, very quickly restored his health, and he rose from his bed. But, as he had no real oxen, he modelled a hundred out of suet and burned them on an altar, saying, "Receive my vow, O gods." But the gods, wishing in their turn to play a trick on him, sent him a dream and urged him to go down to the shore: there he would find a thousand Attic drachmas. Beside himself with joy, he ran to the beach, where he fell among pirates, who carried him off; and, being sold by them, he thus came by a thousand drachmas.
Nº 298The Trustee and the OathA man who had received a deposit from a friend was planning to cheat him of it. As this friend called on him to swear an oath, seized with unease, he…Read the fable →
Nº 46The Man Who Promised the ImpossibleA poor man was sick and in a bad way. As the doctors despaired of saving him, he turned to the gods, promising to offer them a hecatomb and to…Read the fable →
Nº 3The Eagle and the FoxAn eagle and a fox became friends and chose to live near one another. But the eagle, from her high nest, swooped down, carried off the fox's cubs,…Read the fable →