Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
262. THE STAG AND HIS REFLECTION
Perry 74 (Syntipas
15)
A stag had grown thirsty and went to a spring in order to drink some
water. When he saw the reflection of his body in the water, he disparaged
the slenderness of his legs but revelled in the shape and size of his
horns. All of a sudden, some hunters appeared and began to chase him.
As the stag ran along the level ground of the plain, he outdistanced his
pursuers and beat them to the marsh by the river. Without thinking about
what he was doing, the stag kept on going, but his horns became tangled
in the overhanging branches and he was captured by the hunters. The stag
groaned and said, 'Woe is me, wretched creature that I am! The thing that
I disparaged could have saved me while I have been destroyed by the very
thing I boasted about.'
This fable shows people should not praise themselves for something
unless it is useful and beneficial.
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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