Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
82. The Heifer and the Ox (Perry 300)
A HEIFER saw an Ox hard at work harnessed to a plow, and tormented him
with reflections on his unhappy fate in being compelled to labor. Shortly
afterwards, at the harvest festival, the owner released the Ox from his
yoke, but bound the Heifer with cords and led him away to the altar to
be slain in honor of the occasion. The Ox saw what was being done, and
said with a smile to the Heifer: 'For this you were allowed to live in
idleness, because you were presently to be sacrificed.'
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. |