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Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)20. The Farmer and the Stork (Perry 194) A FARMER placed nets on his newly-sown plowlands and caught a number
of Cranes, which came to pick up his seed. With them he trapped a Stork
that had fractured his leg in the net and was earnestly beseeching the
Farmer to spare his life. 'Pray save me, Master,' he said, 'and let me
go free this once. My broken limb should excite your pity. Besides, I
am no Crane, I am a Stork, a bird of excellent character; and see how
I love and slave for my father and mother. Look too, at my feathers--
they are not the least like those of a Crane.' The Farmer laughed aloud
and said, 'It may be all as you say, I only know this: I have taken you
with these robbers, the Cranes, and you must die in their company.' 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. |
