Aesop's Fables (Joseph Jacobs)
Jacobs 79. The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner (Perry
370)
A Trumpeter during a battle ventured too near the enemy and was captured
by them. They were about to proceed to put him to death when he begged
them to hear his plea for mercy. "I do not fight," said he,
"and indeed carry no weapon; I only blow this trumpet, and surely
that cannot harm you; then why should you kill me?"
"You may not fight yourself," said the others, "but you
encourage and guide your men to the fight."
Words may be deeds.


The
Fables of Aesop, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by
Richard Heighway (1894). The page images come from Google
Books. The digitized text comes from Project
Gutenberg. You can purchase this inexpensive Dover edition, The
Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs from amazon.com.
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