Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
5. The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller (Perry
29)
A CHARCOAL-BURNER carried on his trade in his own house. One day he met
a friend, a Fuller, and entreated him to come and live with him, saying
that they should be far better neighbors and that their housekeeping expenses
would be lessened. The Fuller replied, 'The arrangement is impossible
as far as I am concerned, for whatever I should whiten, you would immediately
blacken again with your charcoal.'
Like will draw like.
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. |