Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
204. The Weasel and the Mice (Perry
511)
A WEASEL, inactive from age and infirmities, was not able to catch mice
as he once did. He therefore rolled himself in flour and lay down in a
dark corner. A Mouse, supposing him to be food, leaped upon him, and was
instantly caught and squeezed to death. Another perished in a similar
manner, and then a third, and still others after them. A very old Mouse,
who had escaped many a trap and snare, observed from a safe distance the
trick of his crafty foe and said, 'Ah! you that lie there, may you prosper
just in the same proportion as you are what you pretend to be!'
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. |