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

377. THE DONKEY AND THE FROGS
Perry 189 (Chambry 271)

A donkey was carrying a load of wood across a swamp when he slipped and fell into the water. Unable to get up, the donkey began to weep and moan. When the frogs who lived in the swamp heard the donkey complaining, they said, 'Hey you! What would you do if you had to spend as much time here as we do, given that you make such a fuss about having fallen in for just a few minutes?'
A person who easily endures great hardships can use this fable to reproach a lazy person who is put out by the least inconvenience.


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.