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

522. HERMES AND THE EARTH
Perry 102 (Chambry 109)

When Zeus had fashioned man and woman, he ordered Hermes to take them to Gaia, the Earth, and to show them how to obtain food by digging in the ground. At first, the Earth refused to cooperate in Hermes' mission. Hermes then compelled her, saying that Zeus had ordered her to do so. Earth replied, 'Then let them dig as much as they like, but they will pay for it with groans and tears!'
This fable is suitable for those people who casually take out loans but who then find it difficult to pay them back.


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.