<< Home Page | Townsend Index

Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)

243. The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner (Perry 370)

A TRUMPETER, bravely leading on the soldiers, was captured by the enemy. He cried out to his captors, 'Pray spare me, and do not take my life without cause or without inquiry. I have not slain a single man of your troop. I have no arms, and carry nothing but this one brass trumpet.' 'That is the very reason for which you should be put to death,' they said; 'for, while you do not fight yourself, your trumpet stirs all the others to battle.'


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.