Aesop's Fables
*** Retold by Julie Harding
*** Illustrated by Maria Voris
<<< The Fox and the Stork
The fox had the stork over to eat soup . The fox put the soup in a flat dish . The stork could not eat any soup . He could not reach it with his long beak . The fox ate all the soup , and the stork went hungry . The next day , the stork invited the fox over for dinner . The stork put some meat in a jar with a long neck. The stork ate easily because his long beak fit into the jar . The fox could not get to the meat . This time he went hungry. The fox admitted that he had been wrong.
Moral: If you do mean things to others , they might do mean things to you in return.
<<< The Fox and the Crow
The fox saw the crow fly to her favorite branch . She had a piece of cheese in her beak . The fox thought for a moment. He walked under the crow's branch and looked up at her, " You are the prettiest bird I have ever seen , " said the fox. The crow looked down at the fox . "You fly so fast and gracefully . I bet you can sing , too , " he said . The crow loved to hear compliments . She decided to sing for the fox . She opened her beak to sing . The cheese fell into the fox's mouth. When he was done eating , he said , "Thank you very much. That was all I really wanted."
Moral: Do not trust strangers who try to flatter you.
<<< The Crow and the Pitcher
The crow had been flying all day , and he was very thirsty. He came across a pitcher that was half full of water . He could not reach the water in the pitcher to drink . His beak could not reach down the neck of the pitcher . He tried tipping the pitcher , but it was too heavy . He saw that there were pebbles all over the ground . He began to drop pebbles one at a time into the pitcher . It took a very long time , but the water rose to the top. Then he drank all the water he wanted.
Moral : Doing things little by little is just as good as doing things all at once.
<<< The Dog and his Reflection
A dog was walking across the bridge over a stream . He had a nice piece of meat in his mouth . He looked down . He thought that he saw another dog . He thought the other dog had meat , too . He snapped at the meat in the dog's mouth . His own meat fell into the water . Then he realized it was not another dog after all . It was only his reflection.
Moral : If you are always greedy for more, you might lose what you already have.
<<< The peacock
Peacock ' s strange voice made people laugh . He wished he could sing beautiful songs like the nightingale . Peacock asked the goddess of animals for a new voice . The goddess replied , "You are jealous of the nightingale , but you should not be . The feathers on your neck shine with every color of the rainbow. And your tail looks as if it is covered in gems . No one has it all. The falcon is very fast . The eagle is very strong . The parrot can speak . The raven is smart . The nightingale has a pretty song. You are big and beautiful . You are special just as you are."
Moral : No one can be the best at everything . Treasure your own gifts and talents.
<<< The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
The poor country mouse came to visit his cousin the rich city mouse . There were many things to do in the city . The country mouse had never seen so many other mice . The city mouse warned the country mouse that there was a cat in the house . The country mouse was scared . He decided that he would rather live in the poor , quiet country than live in fear every day . With that , the country mouse happily left for his humble home.
Moral : It is better to live simply in safety than to live in luxury and fear.
<<< The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
A wolf put on a costume to look like a sheep . The wolf then went to a nearby pasture where there were many sheep. The shepherd let him into the pasture , thinking that he was a sheep . The wolf was about to bite a poor lamb when the shepherd saw what he was doing . The shepherd threw the wolf out of the pasture and told him not to come back . From that day on , the shepherd never let a sheep into the pasture until he checked it for sharp teeth.
Moral : The way things look is not always the way things are.
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