Aesop stories - Last Boast

A fir tree said boastingly to the bramble bush growing in its shade:

“You are useless. Nobody wants you. I am everywhere used for roofs and houses. Men can’t do without me.”

“You’re so right,” said the bramble. “Here’s a man coming to you with an axe, right now. Farewell.”

Moral: Pride comes before a fall.

Aesop stories - Hanging Together

The cranes were eating grain from his field, so the farmer set a trap and caught several of them.

Among them was a stork.

“You can see I don’t belong here,” said the stork. “I’m a law- abiding bird. Please let me go.”

You may well be what you claim to be,” said the farmer. “But I caught you along with these robbers, so you will have to hang with them.”

Moral: You are judged by the company you keep.

Aesop stories - Foxy Rooster

A fox sneaked into a farm and grabbed a prize rooster.

The farmer saw him and raised the alarm and he with his dogs started chasing the fox.

The fox, though he was holding the rooster in his mouth, was running very fast.

"Get him! Get him!" shouted the farmer to his dogs.

"No!" suddenly screamed the rooster. "Don't come near me!"

"My master was very cruel to me," explained the rooster to the fox. "Tell him to stay away from me."

The fox was delighted. "He wants you to stay away from him!" he shouted at the farmer, in the process releasing his hold on the rooster.

The rooster flew up into a tree and stayed there till he was rescued by his master.

Moral: Think twice before you open your mouth to speak.

Aesop stories - Fox in Cart

A fox, observing a fish cart coming, lay down and pretended to be dead.

The cart man, tempted by the idea of making some money by selling the fox's fur, picked up the animal by its tail and flung it into the back of the cart among the fish.

Then he resumed his journey. The fox ate his full of the fish and jumped out of the cart.

A wolf saw him jumping out and asked him what he had been doing in it. The fox told him and also how he had got into it in the first place.

The wolf ran ahead of the cart and lay down in its path, pretending to be dead.

The cart man was delighted to find another animal to sell, but he found the animal too heavy to lift.

So he pushed it into a sack, tied the sack to his cart and dragged it away.

Moral: What works for one may not work for another.

Aesop stories - Defeated by Pride

Two roosters fought for supremacy in the farmyard.

Finally one was vanquished and he went and hid himself in a corner of the hen-house.

Defeated by Pride The victor flew up to the roof of the barn and begin to crow, “I’ve won, I’ve won!”

An eagle swooped down and carried him away and the rooster that had been defeated suddenly found himself unchallenged master of the farmyard.

Moral: The enemy is often defeated by his own pride.

Aesop stories - Boar with Foresight

A wild boar was rubbing his tusks against a tree.

A fox passing by asked him what he was doing.

"My tusks are my weapons," said the boar. "I'm sharpening them."

"Why waste time sharpening your weapons when there's no danger in sight?" said the fox. "You're being foolish."

Just then a hunter appeared on the scene.

Frightened by the boar's sharpened tusks, he turned on the fox instead and shot him dead.

Moral : Be prepared.

Aesop stories - A Cartload of Almonds

A squirrel joined the service of the King of the Forest, the lion.

He did whatever work was given to him, quickly and well. The lion became fond of him and promised to give him a cart full of almonds as pension when he retired.

The squirrel envied the other squirrels in the forest because of their carefree life. He longed to run up and down trees and leap from branch to branch like them but he could not leave the king's side and even if he could he had to move with courtly dignity.

He consoled himself with the thought that at the end of his career, he would receive a cart full of almonds, a food that few squirrels got to taste in their lifetime.

"They will envy me then," he would tell himself.

The years passed. The squirrel became old and then it was time for him to retire.

The king gave a grand banquet in his honor and at the end of it, presented him with a cart full of almonds as he had promised.

The squirrel had waited so long for this day but when he saw the almonds, he was seized with sadness.

He realized they were of no use to him now. He had lost all his teeth.