A nightingale was singing high in an oak when a hungry hawk swooped and seized her. Facing death, she begged him to let her go, pleading that she was far too small to fill a hawk's belly, and that he should turn instead to larger birds. But the hawk answered, "I would be out of my mind to drop the meal already in my talons and chase after prey I cannot even see."
Foolish are those who let slip what they already hold for the hope of something greater.
Nº 96The Orator DemadesThe orator Demades was one day addressing the people of Athens. As they were not paying much attention to his speech, he asked leave to tell them a…Read the fable →
Nº 21The Cocks and the PartridgeA man who kept cocks found a tame partridge for sale, bought her, and brought her home to feed with the cocks. But they pecked and chased her, and…Read the fable →
Nº 24The Fisherman and His FluteA fisherman skilled at the flute took his flutes and his nets down to the sea, stood on a jutting rock, and began to play, expecting that the fish,…Read the fable →