An eagle was chasing a hare, who in his terror begged a lowly dung beetle for protection. The beetle pleaded for the hare's life, but the eagle, scorning so small a creature, devoured the hare before its eyes. The beetle never forgot the insult: season after season it climbed to the eagle's nest and rolled out her eggs, one by one, to break upon the ground. At last the eagle laid her eggs in the lap of Zeus himself; but the beetle dropped a ball of dung into the god's lap, and as Zeus rose to shake it off, he spilled the eggs without thinking.
No we are so weak that a wrong leaves them powerless, and no one so great that they can despise the small without paying for it.
Nº 252The Trees and the OliveOne day the trees set about electing a king to rule over them, and they said to the olive, "Reign over us." And the olive replied, "I, give up the…Read the fable →
Nº 190The Hares and the FoxesThe hares one day, being at war with the eagles, called on the foxes for help. The foxes replied, "We would have come to your aid, if we did not know…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 →