Townsend 118. The Two Travelers and the Axe

Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)

118. The Two Travelers and the Axe (Perry 67)

TWO MEN were journeying together. One of them picked up an axe that lay upon the path, and said, 'I have found an axe.' 'Nay, my friend,' replied the other, 'do not say 'I,' but 'We' have found an axe.' They had not gone far before they saw the owner of the axe pursuing them, and he who had picked up the axe said, 'We are undone.' 'Nay,' replied the other, 'keep to your first mode of speech, my friend; what you thought right then, think right now. Say 'I,' not 'We' are undone.'
He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.

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.