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Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)

111. The Rivers and the Sea (Perry 412)

THE RIVERS joined together to complain to the Sea, saying, 'Why is it that when we flow into your tides so potable and sweet, you work in us such a change, and make us salty and unfit to drink?' The Sea, perceiving that they intended to throw the blame on him, said, 'Pray cease to flow into me, and then you will not be made briny.'


George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project Gutenberg. Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google Books.