Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
260. THE MOLE AND THE FRANKINCENSE
Perry 214 (Chambry
326)
Moles are blind animals. A mole once said to his mother, 'I see a mulberry,
mother!' Then he said, 'And I smell incense all around!' And he spoke
a third time and said, 'And I can hear the sound of a tiny bronze ball.'
His mother then said, 'My son, now I understand that in addition to lacking
sight, you have also lost your sense of hearing and smell!'
The story shows that there are some charlatans who promise incredible
things but who are revealed for what they truly are in trivial matters.
Note: In this more elaborate version of the preceding fable, the mole
provides three distinct impressions of the grain of incense: it looks
like a berry, it smells like incense, and it sounds like a little metal
ball.
Source:
Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura
Gibbs.
Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New
cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.
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