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

444. THE FOX AND THE HARE IN THE WELL
Perry 408 (Syntipas 10)

A thirsty hare had gone done into a well to drink the water. He took a good long drink, and when he wanted to get back out again, he found himself trapped with no means of escape. It was a very discouraging situation. A fox then arrived on the scene and when she found the hare she said to him, 'You have made a very serious mistake indeed: you should have first decided on a way to get out and only then gone down into the well!'
This fable indicts people who act impulsively, without thinking things through.

Note: For a story in which the fox gets herself trapped in a well, see Fable 113.


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.