<< Home Page | Oxford (Gibbs) Index

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

291. THE FARMER'S BOY AND THE SNAILS
Perry 54 (Chambry 172)

A farmer's boy was roasting snails. When he heard them sizzling in the fire, he said, 'You wretched creatures! Your homes are on fire and all you can do is sing!'
This story shows that anything which is done at the wrong time is liable to be ridiculed.

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.