Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
401. THE BEES AND THE BEETLES
Perry (Odo
32)
Against people who enjoy only carnal pleasures.
Once upon a time, the bees invited the beetles to dinner. The beetles
arrived and when dinner was served the bees offered the beetles some honey
and honeycomb. The beetles barely ate anything and then flew away. Next
the beetles invited the bees, and when dinner was served, they offered
the bees a plate full of dung. The bees wouldn't eat even a single bite
and instead they flew straight back home.
Note: For the proverbial opposition between beetles and honey, see
Erasmus, Adages 4.8.17: 'faster than a beetle makes honey.'
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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