Citation
Aesop's fables

Material Information

Title:
Aesop's fables
Series Title:
Banbury Cross series
Creator:
Aesop
Rhys, Grace Little, 1865-1929
Bell, Robert Anning, 1863-1933 ( Engraver )
Robinson, Charles ( Illustrator )
J. M. Dent & Co ( Publisher )
Turnbull & Spears ( Printer )
Place of Publication:
London
Publisher:
J.M. Dent & Co.
Manufacturer:
Turnbull and Spears
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 15 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Children's stories ( lcsh )
Children's stories -- 1895 ( lcsh )
Fables -- 1895 ( rbgenr )
Bldn -- 1895
Genre:
Children's stories
Fables ( rbgenr )
novel ( marcgt )
Spatial Coverage:
England -- London
Scotland -- Edinburgh
Target Audience:
juvenile ( marctarget )

Notes

General Note:
"Banbury cross series. Prepared for children by Grace Rhys"--half title.
General Note:
Pictorial endpapers signed R.A.B., i.e. Robert Anning Bell.
Statement of Responsibility:
illustrated by Charles Robinson.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Holding Location:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
Resource Identifier:
026610747 ( ALEPH )
ALG3193 ( NOTIS )
04942292 ( OCLC )

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This item has the following downloads:


Full Text







BANB IRY 7 i ;
rh
=e








Gs Wi a ‘G, The Baldwin Library
vee ity
i ee









THE
BANBURY GROSS
SERIES

PREPARED FOR CHILDREN By Grace Ruys

ZESOP’S FABLES










AESOPS: G23
FABLES + (sit
t «£

N i

ILLVOTRATED ¢ BY «
ROBINSON = © @ -

*



* LONDON -
- PVBLISHED: BY-
*J MDEINT-* =
: ALDINE - HOVSE
* OVER -AGAINST~

GREAT- EASTERN - ST- BC
. MDCCEXCY -










NID, this is Aésop’s house,
And the cover is the door ;
When the rains of winter pour,
Then the Lion and the Mouse,
And the Frogs that asked a king,
And all the Beasts with curious features,
That talk just like us human creatures,

Open it, and ask you in!
G. R.










CONCEITED jackdaw was vain

enough to imagine that he wanted
nothing but the coloured plumes to make
him as beautiful a bird as the Peacock.
Puffed up with this wise conceit, he
dressed himself with a quantity of their
finest feathers, and in this borrowed garb,
leaving his old companions, tried to pass
for a peacock; but he no sooner at-
tempted to stray with these splendid
birds, than an affected strut betrayed
the sham. The offended peacocks fell
upon him with their beaks, and soon
stripped him of his finery. Having
turned him again into a mere jackdaw,
they drove him back to his brethren,







But they, remembering what airs he had

once given himself, would not permit

him to flock with them again, and treated
him with well-deserved contempt.







ae

oe —

















DISPUTE once arose between the

Sun and the Wind, which was the
stronger of the two, and they agreed
to count this as proof, that whichever
soonest made a traveller take off his
cloak, should be held the most powerful.
The wind began, and blew with all his
might and main a blast, cold and fierce
asa winter storm; but the stronger he
blew, the closer the traveller wrapped
his cloak about him, and the tighter he
grasped it with his hands. Then broke
out the sun: with his welcome beams
he chased away the vapour and the cold;
the traveller felt the pleasant warmth,
and as the sun shone brighter and
brighter, he sat down, overcome by the
heat, and cast aside the cloak that all
the blustering rage of the wind could





not compel him to lay down. ‘‘ Learn
from this,” said the sun to the wind,
‘‘that soft and gentle means will often
bring about, what force and fury never
can.”



12B





: Z = f ae ae |
ie: A “i - MANGER:

F a
LE oe :

PE mrs a eee
Nia Sas SEN













DOG made his bed in a manger, and

lay snarling and growling to keep

the horses from their provender. <‘ See,”
said one of them, ‘‘ what a miserable
cur! who neither can eat corn himself,

nor will allow those to eat it who can.”











WOODMAN was felling a tree

on the bank of a river; and by
chance let his axe slip from his hand,
which dropped into the water and im-
mediately sank to the bottom. Being
therefore in great distress, he sat down
by the side of the stream and bewailed
his loss. Upon this, Mercury, whose
river it was, had compassion on him,
and appearing before him asked the
cause of his sorrow. On hearing it,
he dived to the bottom of the river,
and coming up again, showed the man a
golden hatchet, and asked if that were
his. He said that it was not. Then
Mercury dived a _ second time, and
brought up a silver one. The wood-
man refused it, saying again that this
was not his. So he dived a third time,



and brought up the very axe that had
been lost.

‘‘That is mine!” said the Wood-
man, delighted to have his own again.
Mercury was so pleased with his honesty
that he made him a present of the
other two, as a reward. for his just
dealing.

The man goes to his companions,
and giving them an account of what
had happened to him, one of them
determined to try whether he might
not have the like good fortune. So
he went presently to the river’s side
and let his axe fall on purpose into
the stream. Then he sat down on the
bank and made a great show of weep-
ing. Mercury appeared as before, and
diving, brought up a golden axe. When
he asked if that were the one that
was lost, ‘Aye, surely!” said the
man, and snatched at it greedily. But







A
‘e

AEC
WA
iy KOs

ais Cog,





Mercury, to punish his impudence and
lying, not only refused to give him
that, but would not so much as let
him have his own axe again.

















FOX one day invited a Stork to
dinner, and being disposed to
divert himself at the expense of his
guest, provided nothing for dinner but
some thin soup in a shallow dish. This
the Fox lapped up very readily, while
the Stork, unable to gain a mouthful
with her long narrow bill, was as
hungry at the end of dinner as when
she began. The Fox, meanwhile, said
he was very sorry to see her eat so
sparingly, and hoped that the dish was
seasoned to her mind. The Stork, see-
ing that she was played upon, took no
notice of it, but pretended to enjoy
herself extremely ; and at parting begged
the Fox to return the visit. So he agreed
to dine with her the next day. He
arrived in good time, and dinner was



ordered forthwith; but when it was
served up, he found to his dismay, that
it was nothing but minced meat in a
tall, narrow-necked jar. Down this the
Stork easily thrust her long neck and
bill, while the Fox had to content him-
self with licking the outside of the jar.
‘‘T am very glad,” said the Stork, ‘that
you seem to have so good an appetite;
and I hope you will make as hearty a
dinner at my table as I did the other
day at yours.” At this the Fox hung
down his head and showed his teeth—
‘Nay, nay,” said the Stork, ‘don’t
pretend to be out of humour about the
matter; they that cannot take a jest
should never make one.”












XK (

N a cold frosty day in winter, the
Ants were dragging out some of
the corn which they had laid up in
summer-time, so as to air it. ‘The Grass-
hopper, half-starved with hunger, begged
the ants to give him a morsel of it to save
his life. <‘‘ Nay,” said they, “but you
should have worked in the summer, and
you would not have wanted in winter.”







“Well,” says the Grasshopper, “ but
I was not idle either, for I sung out the
whole season!” ‘ Nay, then,” said the
Ants, ‘‘ you'll do well to make a merry
year of it, and dance in winter to the tune
that you sung in summer.”









LION was sleeping in his lair, when

a Mouse, not looking where he was

going, ran over the mighty beast’s nose
and awakened him. The Lion clapped
his paw on the frightened little creature,
and was about to make an end of him in
a moment, when the Mouse, in pitiable
tone, begged him to spare one who had
done him wrong without being aware.
The Lion looking kindly on his little
prisoner’s fright, generously let him go.
Now it happened, no long time after, that
the Lion, while ranging the woods for his
prey, fell into the toils of the hunters;
and finding himself entangled without
hope of escape, set up a roar that filled
the whole forest with its echo. The
Mouse, quickly recognising the Lion’s
voice, ran to the spot, and without more







ado set to work to nibble the knot in the
cord that bound him, and in a short time,
set him free ; thus showing him that kind-
ness is seldom thrown away, and that there
is no creature so much below another but
that he may have it in his power to return
a good deed.









CROW, ready to die with thirst,

flew with joy to a Pitcher, which
he saw at a distance. But when he
came up to it, he found the water so low
that with al] his stooping and straining he
was unable to reach it. Thereupon he
tried to break the Pitcher; then to
overturn it; but his strength was not
sufficient to do either.. At last, seeing
some small pebbles lie near the place, he
cast them one by one into the Pitcher;
and thus, by degrees, raised the water up
to the very brim, and quenched his thirst.













ONG ago, when the Frogs were all

at liberty in the lakes, and had
grown quite weary of following every
one his own devices, they assembled one
day together and with a great clamour
petitioned Jupiter to let them have a king
to keep them in better order and make
them lead honester lives. Jupiter,
knowing their foolishness, smiled at their
request, and threw down a log into the
lake, which by the huge splash and com-
motion it made, sent the whole nation of
Frogs into the greatest terror and amaze-
ment. They rushed under the water and
into the mud, and dared not come within a
leap’s-length of the spot where it lay. At
length one Frog bolder than the rest
ventured to pop his head above the water,
and take a look at their new king from a







respectful —_ distance.
Presently when they
saw the log lie stock-
still, others began to
swim up to it and
around it, till by de-
grees growing bolder
and bolder, they at last
leaped upon it and
treated it with the
greatest contempt. Full
of disgust for so tame
aruler, they carried a
petition a second time
to Jupiter for another
and more active King.
Upon which he sent
them a stork, who had
no sooner come among
them, than he began
laying hold of them,
and devouring them
one by one as fast as

ree

Prerrri ty}
err rw





he could, and it was in vain that they
tried to escape him. Then they sent
Mercury with a private message to
Jupiter, begging him to take pity on them
once more; but Jupiter replied that they
were only suffering the punishment due
to their folly, and that another time they
would learn to let well alone, and not be
dissatisfied with their natural state.

SETts







FOX, very hungry, chanced to come

into a vineyard, where there hung

many bunches of charming ripe grapes ;

but nailed up to a trellis so high, that he

leaped till he quite tired himself without

being able to reach one of them. At

last, ‘‘ Let who will take them!” says

he; ‘‘they are but green and sour; so
Pll even let them alone.”





Prreray
HON XY 7

ANE
y

}
INA
ni W

Naat

fi Lp i :

ty Py i
d Na



aS aN








\ eo)
Oi 7 I Ly
RY

“' ry
SRR }





S a Wolf was lapping at the head of
a running brook, he spied a stray
Lamb paddling, at some distance down
the stream. Having made up his mind
to make his dinner off her, he bethought
himself how he might begin the quarrel.
«¢ Wretch,” said he to her, ‘‘how dare
you muddle the water that I am drink-
ing?” <‘ Indeed,” said the Lamb humbly,
«IT do not see how I can disturb the
water, since it runs from you to me, not
from me to you.” ‘Be that as it may,”
replied the Wolf, ‘it was but a year
ago that you called me many ill names.”
«Qh, sir,” said the Lamb trembling, ‘a
year ago I was not born.” ‘No matter,
it was your father then, or some of your
relations,” and immediately seizing the
innocent Lamb, he tore her to pieces.







: ee cA
Be
NN





The Fox and
the Crow.

CROW had snatched

a piece of cheese

out of a cottage window,
and flew up with it into a
high tree, that she might
eat it at her ease. A Fox
having spied her came and .
sat underneath and began

_ to pay the Crow compli-

ments on her beauty.
“Why,” said he, “I
never saw it before, but
your feathers are of a
more delicate white than
any that ever I saw in my
life! Ah! what a fine
shape and graceful neck
is there! And TI have no

doubt but you have a
ze





tolerable voice. If it is but as fine as |
your complexion, I do not know a bird |
that can match you.” |

The Crow, tickled with this very civil
language, nestled and wriggled about, |
and hardly knew where she was. But |
thinking the Fox a little doubtful as to
the quality of her voice, and having a |
mind to set him right in the matter, she |
began to sing, and in the same instant,
down dropped the cheese; which the |
Fox presently chopped up, and then bade
her remember that whatever he had said
of her beauty, he had spoken nothing yet
of her brains.





Cia
Aly)



AAAS
Y
ASN AH TAY)



PRINTED BY
TURNBULL AND SPEARS

EDINBURGH








I5hMb













Full Text




BANB IRY 7 i ;
rh
=e








Gs Wi a ‘G, The Baldwin Library
vee ity
i ee
THE
BANBURY GROSS
SERIES

PREPARED FOR CHILDREN By Grace Ruys

ZESOP’S FABLES

AESOPS: G23
FABLES + (sit
t «£

N i

ILLVOTRATED ¢ BY «
ROBINSON = © @ -

*



* LONDON -
- PVBLISHED: BY-
*J MDEINT-* =
: ALDINE - HOVSE
* OVER -AGAINST~

GREAT- EASTERN - ST- BC
. MDCCEXCY -




NID, this is Aésop’s house,
And the cover is the door ;
When the rains of winter pour,
Then the Lion and the Mouse,
And the Frogs that asked a king,
And all the Beasts with curious features,
That talk just like us human creatures,

Open it, and ask you in!
G. R.

CONCEITED jackdaw was vain

enough to imagine that he wanted
nothing but the coloured plumes to make
him as beautiful a bird as the Peacock.
Puffed up with this wise conceit, he
dressed himself with a quantity of their
finest feathers, and in this borrowed garb,
leaving his old companions, tried to pass
for a peacock; but he no sooner at-
tempted to stray with these splendid
birds, than an affected strut betrayed
the sham. The offended peacocks fell
upon him with their beaks, and soon
stripped him of his finery. Having
turned him again into a mere jackdaw,
they drove him back to his brethren,

But they, remembering what airs he had

once given himself, would not permit

him to flock with them again, and treated
him with well-deserved contempt.







ae

oe —





DISPUTE once arose between the

Sun and the Wind, which was the
stronger of the two, and they agreed
to count this as proof, that whichever
soonest made a traveller take off his
cloak, should be held the most powerful.
The wind began, and blew with all his
might and main a blast, cold and fierce
asa winter storm; but the stronger he
blew, the closer the traveller wrapped
his cloak about him, and the tighter he
grasped it with his hands. Then broke
out the sun: with his welcome beams
he chased away the vapour and the cold;
the traveller felt the pleasant warmth,
and as the sun shone brighter and
brighter, he sat down, overcome by the
heat, and cast aside the cloak that all
the blustering rage of the wind could


not compel him to lay down. ‘‘ Learn
from this,” said the sun to the wind,
‘‘that soft and gentle means will often
bring about, what force and fury never
can.”



12B


: Z = f ae ae |
ie: A “i - MANGER:

F a
LE oe :

PE mrs a eee
Nia Sas SEN







DOG made his bed in a manger, and

lay snarling and growling to keep

the horses from their provender. <‘ See,”
said one of them, ‘‘ what a miserable
cur! who neither can eat corn himself,

nor will allow those to eat it who can.”





WOODMAN was felling a tree

on the bank of a river; and by
chance let his axe slip from his hand,
which dropped into the water and im-
mediately sank to the bottom. Being
therefore in great distress, he sat down
by the side of the stream and bewailed
his loss. Upon this, Mercury, whose
river it was, had compassion on him,
and appearing before him asked the
cause of his sorrow. On hearing it,
he dived to the bottom of the river,
and coming up again, showed the man a
golden hatchet, and asked if that were
his. He said that it was not. Then
Mercury dived a _ second time, and
brought up a silver one. The wood-
man refused it, saying again that this
was not his. So he dived a third time,
and brought up the very axe that had
been lost.

‘‘That is mine!” said the Wood-
man, delighted to have his own again.
Mercury was so pleased with his honesty
that he made him a present of the
other two, as a reward. for his just
dealing.

The man goes to his companions,
and giving them an account of what
had happened to him, one of them
determined to try whether he might
not have the like good fortune. So
he went presently to the river’s side
and let his axe fall on purpose into
the stream. Then he sat down on the
bank and made a great show of weep-
ing. Mercury appeared as before, and
diving, brought up a golden axe. When
he asked if that were the one that
was lost, ‘Aye, surely!” said the
man, and snatched at it greedily. But

A
‘e

AEC
WA
iy KOs

ais Cog,


Mercury, to punish his impudence and
lying, not only refused to give him
that, but would not so much as let
him have his own axe again.





FOX one day invited a Stork to
dinner, and being disposed to
divert himself at the expense of his
guest, provided nothing for dinner but
some thin soup in a shallow dish. This
the Fox lapped up very readily, while
the Stork, unable to gain a mouthful
with her long narrow bill, was as
hungry at the end of dinner as when
she began. The Fox, meanwhile, said
he was very sorry to see her eat so
sparingly, and hoped that the dish was
seasoned to her mind. The Stork, see-
ing that she was played upon, took no
notice of it, but pretended to enjoy
herself extremely ; and at parting begged
the Fox to return the visit. So he agreed
to dine with her the next day. He
arrived in good time, and dinner was
ordered forthwith; but when it was
served up, he found to his dismay, that
it was nothing but minced meat in a
tall, narrow-necked jar. Down this the
Stork easily thrust her long neck and
bill, while the Fox had to content him-
self with licking the outside of the jar.
‘‘T am very glad,” said the Stork, ‘that
you seem to have so good an appetite;
and I hope you will make as hearty a
dinner at my table as I did the other
day at yours.” At this the Fox hung
down his head and showed his teeth—
‘Nay, nay,” said the Stork, ‘don’t
pretend to be out of humour about the
matter; they that cannot take a jest
should never make one.”



XK (

N a cold frosty day in winter, the
Ants were dragging out some of
the corn which they had laid up in
summer-time, so as to air it. ‘The Grass-
hopper, half-starved with hunger, begged
the ants to give him a morsel of it to save
his life. <‘‘ Nay,” said they, “but you
should have worked in the summer, and
you would not have wanted in winter.”

“Well,” says the Grasshopper, “ but
I was not idle either, for I sung out the
whole season!” ‘ Nay, then,” said the
Ants, ‘‘ you'll do well to make a merry
year of it, and dance in winter to the tune
that you sung in summer.”



LION was sleeping in his lair, when

a Mouse, not looking where he was

going, ran over the mighty beast’s nose
and awakened him. The Lion clapped
his paw on the frightened little creature,
and was about to make an end of him in
a moment, when the Mouse, in pitiable
tone, begged him to spare one who had
done him wrong without being aware.
The Lion looking kindly on his little
prisoner’s fright, generously let him go.
Now it happened, no long time after, that
the Lion, while ranging the woods for his
prey, fell into the toils of the hunters;
and finding himself entangled without
hope of escape, set up a roar that filled
the whole forest with its echo. The
Mouse, quickly recognising the Lion’s
voice, ran to the spot, and without more

ado set to work to nibble the knot in the
cord that bound him, and in a short time,
set him free ; thus showing him that kind-
ness is seldom thrown away, and that there
is no creature so much below another but
that he may have it in his power to return
a good deed.



CROW, ready to die with thirst,

flew with joy to a Pitcher, which
he saw at a distance. But when he
came up to it, he found the water so low
that with al] his stooping and straining he
was unable to reach it. Thereupon he
tried to break the Pitcher; then to
overturn it; but his strength was not
sufficient to do either.. At last, seeing
some small pebbles lie near the place, he
cast them one by one into the Pitcher;
and thus, by degrees, raised the water up
to the very brim, and quenched his thirst.




ONG ago, when the Frogs were all

at liberty in the lakes, and had
grown quite weary of following every
one his own devices, they assembled one
day together and with a great clamour
petitioned Jupiter to let them have a king
to keep them in better order and make
them lead honester lives. Jupiter,
knowing their foolishness, smiled at their
request, and threw down a log into the
lake, which by the huge splash and com-
motion it made, sent the whole nation of
Frogs into the greatest terror and amaze-
ment. They rushed under the water and
into the mud, and dared not come within a
leap’s-length of the spot where it lay. At
length one Frog bolder than the rest
ventured to pop his head above the water,
and take a look at their new king from a

respectful —_ distance.
Presently when they
saw the log lie stock-
still, others began to
swim up to it and
around it, till by de-
grees growing bolder
and bolder, they at last
leaped upon it and
treated it with the
greatest contempt. Full
of disgust for so tame
aruler, they carried a
petition a second time
to Jupiter for another
and more active King.
Upon which he sent
them a stork, who had
no sooner come among
them, than he began
laying hold of them,
and devouring them
one by one as fast as

ree

Prerrri ty}
err rw


he could, and it was in vain that they
tried to escape him. Then they sent
Mercury with a private message to
Jupiter, begging him to take pity on them
once more; but Jupiter replied that they
were only suffering the punishment due
to their folly, and that another time they
would learn to let well alone, and not be
dissatisfied with their natural state.

SETts

FOX, very hungry, chanced to come

into a vineyard, where there hung

many bunches of charming ripe grapes ;

but nailed up to a trellis so high, that he

leaped till he quite tired himself without

being able to reach one of them. At

last, ‘‘ Let who will take them!” says

he; ‘‘they are but green and sour; so
Pll even let them alone.”


Prreray
HON XY 7

ANE
y

}
INA
ni W

Naat

fi Lp i :

ty Py i
d Na



aS aN


\ eo)
Oi 7 I Ly
RY

“' ry
SRR }


S a Wolf was lapping at the head of
a running brook, he spied a stray
Lamb paddling, at some distance down
the stream. Having made up his mind
to make his dinner off her, he bethought
himself how he might begin the quarrel.
«¢ Wretch,” said he to her, ‘‘how dare
you muddle the water that I am drink-
ing?” <‘ Indeed,” said the Lamb humbly,
«IT do not see how I can disturb the
water, since it runs from you to me, not
from me to you.” ‘Be that as it may,”
replied the Wolf, ‘it was but a year
ago that you called me many ill names.”
«Qh, sir,” said the Lamb trembling, ‘a
year ago I was not born.” ‘No matter,
it was your father then, or some of your
relations,” and immediately seizing the
innocent Lamb, he tore her to pieces.

: ee cA
Be
NN


The Fox and
the Crow.

CROW had snatched

a piece of cheese

out of a cottage window,
and flew up with it into a
high tree, that she might
eat it at her ease. A Fox
having spied her came and .
sat underneath and began

_ to pay the Crow compli-

ments on her beauty.
“Why,” said he, “I
never saw it before, but
your feathers are of a
more delicate white than
any that ever I saw in my
life! Ah! what a fine
shape and graceful neck
is there! And TI have no

doubt but you have a
ze


tolerable voice. If it is but as fine as |
your complexion, I do not know a bird |
that can match you.” |

The Crow, tickled with this very civil
language, nestled and wriggled about, |
and hardly knew where she was. But |
thinking the Fox a little doubtful as to
the quality of her voice, and having a |
mind to set him right in the matter, she |
began to sing, and in the same instant,
down dropped the cheese; which the |
Fox presently chopped up, and then bade
her remember that whatever he had said
of her beauty, he had spoken nothing yet
of her brains.


Cia
Aly)



AAAS
Y
ASN AH TAY)
PRINTED BY
TURNBULL AND SPEARS

EDINBURGH


I5hMb