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

79. THE BEES AND THE BEEKEEPER
Perry 72 (Chambry 235 *)

A thief got into a beekeeper's property when its owner was away and stole the honeycombs. When the owner came back and saw that the beehives were empty, he stood there puzzling over what had happened. The bees then came back from their pastures and when they found the beekeeper there, they attacked him fiercely with their stings. The beekeeper said to the bees, 'You wretched creatures! You let the man who stole your honeycombs get away with impunity while you direct your rage at me, the very person who takes care of you!'
So too there are people who foolishly leave themselves unprotected against their enemies and push their friends away as if those friends were plotting against them.


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.