Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
137. The Monkey and the Fishermen (Perry
203)
A MONKEY perched upon a lofty tree saw some Fishermen casting their nets
into a river, and narrowly watched their proceedings. The Fishermen after
a while gave up fishing, and on going home to dinner left their nets upon
the bank. The Monkey, who is the most imitative of animals, descended
from the treetop and endeavored to do as they had done. Having handled
the net, he threw it into the river, but became tangled in the meshes
and drowned. With his last breath he said to himself, 'I am rightly served;
for what business had I who had never handled a net to try and catch fish?'
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. |