Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
182. The Thief and the Innkeeper (Perry
419)
A THIEF hired a room in a tavern and stayed a while in the hope of stealing
something which should enable him to pay his reckoning. When he had waited
some days in vain, he saw the Innkeeper dressed in a new and handsome
coat and sitting before his door. The Thief sat down beside him and talked
with him. As the conversation began to flag, the Thief yawned terribly
and at the same time howled like a wolf. The Innkeeper said, 'Why do
you howl so fearfully?' 'I will tell you,' said the Thief, 'but first
let me ask you to hold my clothes, or I shall tear them to pieces. I
know not, sir, when I got this habit of yawning, nor whether these attacks
of howling were inflicted on me as a judgment for my crimes, or for any
other cause; but this I do know, that when I yawn for the third time,
I actually turn into a wolf and attack men.' With this speech he commenced
a second fit of yawning and again howled like a wolf, as he had at first.
The Innkeeper. hearing his tale and believing what he said, became greatly
alarmed and, rising from his seat, attempted to run away. The Thief laid
hold of his coat and entreated him to stop, saying, 'Pray wait, sir,
and hold my clothes, or I shall tear them to pieces in my fury, when
I turn into a wolf.' At the same moment he yawned the third time and
set up a terrible howl. The Innkeeper, frightened lest he should be attacked,
left his new coat in the Thief's hand and ran as fast as he could into
the inn for safety. The Thief made off with the coat and did not return
again to the inn.
Every tale is not to be believed.
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. |