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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.