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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

416. THE RACE HORSE IN THE MILL
Perry 318 (Babrius 29)

There was once a race-horse who had grown old and was sold to grind in the mill. Harnessed to the mill-stone, he ground grain all day long and into in the evening. As he was working, the old horse groaned aloud and said, 'Once I ran in the races, but now I must run in circles around this millers' course!'
Do not boast too much at the height of your powers; people often spend their old age worn out with toil and trouble.

Note: 'The horse's old age' was proverbial in Greek (see Erasmus, Adages 2.1.32), suggesting the contrast between a youthful age of strength and vigour which is diminished in old age.


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.