Aesop's Fables (Joseph Jacobs)
Jacobs 12. The Swallow and the Other Birds (Perry
39)
It happened that a Countryman was sowing some hemp seeds in a field where
a Swallow and some other birds were hopping about picking up their food.
"Beware of that man," quoth the Swallow. "Why, what is
he doing?" said the others. "That is hemp seed he is sowing;
be careful to pick up every one of the seeds, or else you will repent
it." The birds paid no heed to the Swallow's words, and by and by
the hemp grew up and was made into cord, and of the cords nets were made,
and many a bird that had despised the Swallow's advice was caught in nets
made out of that very hemp. "What did I tell you?" said the
Swallow.
Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin.
The
Fables of Aesop, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by
Richard Heighway (1894). The page images come from Google
Books. The digitized text comes from Project
Gutenberg. You can purchase this inexpensive Dover edition, The
Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs from amazon.com.
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