Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
12. Hercules and the Wagoner (Perry
291)
A CARTER was driving a wagon along a country lane, when the wheels sank
down deep into a rut. The rustic driver, stupefied and aghast, stood looking
at the wagon, and did nothing but utter loud cries to Hercules to come
and help him. Hercules, it is said, appeared and thus addressed him: 'Put
your shoulders to the wheels, my man. Goad on your bullocks, and never
more pray to me for help, until you have done your best to help yourself,
or depend upon it you will henceforth pray in vain.'
Self-help is the best help.
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. |