Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
358. THE WOLVES AND THE HARVESTERS
Perry 676 (Romulus
Ang. 45)
Two wolves crossed paths one day and began to talk about the fact that
they were an object of universal hatred. People would even start yelling
at them when they had no intention of doing anything wrong. One of the
wolves then said to the other, 'It's all because they've never seen us
do anything good! If the people saw us do them a favour even just once,
then they would be more inclined to expect us to be good later on.' The
second wolf asked, 'What good thing do you think we can do that will convince
the people of our good behaviour?' The first wolf replied, 'Let's leave
the woods and go into the fields where we can help the people gathering
sheaves!' So the wolves came out of the woods and went into the fields
and gathered the sheaves, just as they had planned. But as soon as the
people saw the wolves in the field, they immediately chased them away,
shouting and screaming. The wolves were surprised and said, 'What do they
mean by shouting at us like that, when we are not doing any harm and only
trying to help them?' The other wolf replied, 'Let's go back home and
act as we did in the past. Whether we help the people or harass them,
they are going to hate us just the same!'
Moral. The same is true of wicked people: when they do not get the
reward and thanks they expect, they immediately put a stop to their good
works.
Source:
Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura
Gibbs.
Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New
cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.
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